alizon

The international students I know say that once USCIS knows you are no longer enrolled, you receive a letter telling you to vacate the US within 30/60 days...

Why not return on the F-1?

Your daughter as a US citizen is free to return to the US at any time. You, as the non US citizen, will need a visa to enter.

If your daughter needs to be in the US for medical reasons have the father travel to Brazil and take her back while the visa process continues.

Agreed.

I feel like I was fooled by the person that gave me the first info on the uscis costumer service number. They made it seem like was going to be super simple. Omg if I knew even though my mother was really sick I would not have left.

Well, I don't know all the details of immigration law or of your specific case, so maybe the person you spoke to is right! Best thing to do is just get the files started, if that's what you need to get back to the US.

yes I should have but as stated on my first post due to pregnancy complications and then health issues my daughter had this was the last thing on our mind.

How do I file expedite? My husband cannot stay without his daughter for that long neither can she stay without her treatments there.

Sorry, I missed that part (corrected my initial post). I filed for an expedite well after we submitted the I-130 (we had a change in circumstances), so I think you would have to file the I-130, wait for your NOA1 which gives you your receipt number, then call customer service, and tell one of the operators that you want to file for an expedite. They'll ask you what your reason is, but it'll be just a brief conversation; they pretty much only want to know whether it's military, health, or financial. They'll then submit the request and you'll be contacted for more information and evidence of your specific circumstances, which in your case will probably have to be a doctor's note of some kind.

But the medical emergency probably has to be on the part of your daughter, not your mother. They most likely won't grant an expedite simply because you don't want to keep your daughter away from your husband.

I am new here and need some help.

I have been living in the US since september 2005 when i went as an au pair did that for two years got into college and was with an F-1 visa until I married my husband in may 2011. I had complications with my pregnancy and our baby was born july 2011 with some health issues and a lot of hospital stays so I did not send my papers in. Now december my daughter was addmited again and my mother was really sick so i had to leave the US with my daughter in the hopes of getting a second opinion and help with her issue. I called the costumer service hotline before i left and explained my situation. They said my husband would have to file the I-130 petition, wait to be approved and then the consulate would call em for an interview. Well they never said that i would have to do my green card journey here and that it could take up to 5 months. I really did not want to take my daughter away from her dad for that long. Since i am married in the US and have a US CITIZEN DAUGHTER is it possible that my process could be faster? we were living together since december 09 in the same house , have cars and other things in our names. How do I go from here? Have him file the I-130 and then what kind of visa would i be getting? the greencard would be sent to my house in the US or I would receive it here?

Thank you

Getting married in the US vs. anywhere else isn't going to affect the speed at which you will be approved for your green card. Don't know if having a US citizen daughter will affect it. You might be able to file for an expedite based on the severity of the medical issues, but shouldn't you have filed for adjustment of status (to a green card) after your wedding anyway? You can't stay in the US on an F-1 forever...

Nevermind, I see that it was the hospitalization that prevented you from filing for the change of status.

Hi Alizon,

Which number did you call? and how did you get a hold a real person to talk to? How did you carry on the conversation?

"If you have a question about case status information provided via this site, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed, please contact the USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375 - 5283 or 1-800-767-1833 (TTY)."

Congratulation by the way !

Thanks! I called that first number, 800-375-5283 (I think the second one is for the hearing impaired). I can't remember the exact numbers it asks you to press to get to a real human, but I am pretty sure I pressed 1 for "getting case status" or something like that, then I entered my receipt number, and listened to it tell me "we received an I-130 application on July 20 blah blah normal processing blah." After it tells you about your case, the recording talks about changing your address and something else, but eventually it asks you to press a number to "report a problem with your case." Then it connects you to real operator almost immediately.

I got a good operator so the conversation pretty much went like this: after they asked me for my receipt number, name, etc. I told them, "I'd like to place an expedite request on my case."

"Okay, on what basis?"

"My husband has a job interview for a job that would start in June, so he needs to be in the US no later than the end of May to accept any offer that might be made, and I think this qualifies under severe financial loss to the individual."

Then the operator just confirmed a bunch of information about who I am, and entered the request. A few hours later, I received an email from the field office asking for more information, I faxed a letter explaining things more fully + some evidence, and that was the last I heard from them.

Congrats

What was your expedite request based on? Also, I notice that your last touch date was 4August. Excellent, good to know that they haven't lost all those they previously touched on that day.

Thanks! We asked for an expedite based on my husband having a job interview at the end of January for a job that would start at the beginning of June. I called USCIS on Monday morning to file the expedite request over the phone and received a request for more info from the field office via email a couple of hours later. I wrote a 1.5 pg letter explaining why we thought an expedite was necessary and why we thought we fell under the category of "severe financial loss to individual" even though it was only an interview (1. I listed a couple reasons why he had good odds of landing the job, and 2. explained that if we get the expedite after the formal offer, it would be too late). I included the email he received offering him an interview, plus website screen shots from the organization he would work for showing the salary, benefits, and start date. All of this was faxed directly to the officer listed in the email on Monday afternoon. I never heard anything else in response, but the person I had filed the request with over the phone said it should take about 5 days, and lo and behold, 5 days later: NOA2.

VJ User alizon's got NOA2.

NOA1 date 7/20/2011

NOA2 date 12/17/2011

Looks like August Filer will get NOA2 in January 2011? WOW this such a LOOOOONNNNNGGG WAIT ! :-(

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=104552

Just so you know, I made an expedite request on Monday, Dec. 12. They never responded as to whether it was approved or denied, but it might have contributed to our earlier than expected (compared to other July 2011 filers) NOA2.

Update: I filed the expedite on Dec. 12 at 9am, was contacted by email for more information a few hours later, and faxed them a letter explaining the situation + evidence that afternoon. We never received an answer as to whether our expedite was approved or denied, but 5 days later...NOA2!

148 days and we just got our NOA2 email!!!!! On a Saturday night, weirdly enough. We made an expedite request on Monday, and though we never were told if it was approved or denied, my guess is that it helped.

Has there been any effort to delete timelines of defunct users? Many of the timelines do not have clickable links for the names. Does that mean those accounts have been deleted and shouldn't those timelines be removed if they are incomplete?

I didnt have service request. And actually i dont know how to reach live representative on the phone. I called the toll free number provided on NOA1 and their website, but I cant find any option of speak to live rep. Can you tell me how to reach the live rep on the phone? And if I can reach them, just tell them put in a service request? Thanks

I've been speaking to live agents by going through the automated system, entering my receipt number, listening to the recorded message about my case, waiting for it to tell me what to do if I need to change my address, if I want to check another case, blah blah, and eventually it asks you to press 1 to report a problem with your case. The first time I got a really competent agent (who was practically robotic, but effective) with whom I filed an expedite request. The second time (I was told to check on the expedite in 5 days), I got someone who 1. didn't seem to understand basic logic/linear time and 2. had an attitude. I guess it's really the luck of the draw.

The second guy also gave me a new definition of standard processing time: he claimed that 5 months is not actually the standard processing time, it's an estimate. Standard processing time means that my NOA1 date is not before the date they are currently processing. He claimed they are currently processing June 16, as we've all seen them saying all over this board, with idea being that I can't make a service request at 5 months, but I can if they're processing July 21st files and my July 20th file hasn't been approved. I was tempted to mention that they've been "processing June 16th" for weeks, but I didn't think it would be useful to get in an argument with him.

How much time is there normally between finishing at NVC and the interview? The consulate review says 2-4 months, but that doesn't seem to be what people on this board are saying.

But we're still waiting for the NOA2, so who knows what could change by the time we're getting an interview date.

If you look at the July filer threads, you'll see that the overwhelming majority of people with July NOA1s are stille waiting for their NOA2. You might still have a while to wait.

to the OP - I think yer calendar is skewed, a bit.

Surely he'll have the interview at the IV unit by mid-may, yes?

Well, that's what we thought, but we are in the group of July applications that are rumored to be in a "remote storage location," and the latest news from USCIS is that we shouldn't expect approvals until January or February. So from what I'm seeing it could take a month and a half or more to get a case number and get through NVC, then Montreal is historically really backed up for interviews with something like at least a 2 month wait...that could easily put us past May.

We waited around an hour or so for one passenger on that bus to get through the border. It didn't seem like the bus driver was even contemplating leaving him behind (although I was trying to send him psychic messages to do so). He eventually got back on the bus, and we were significantly late getting to the airport. The only reason we made our flight is because that airport is the size of someone's living room.

My guess is that it's illegal for the bus to knowingly leave a passenger behind without his/her consent, but everyone is right: the other passengers will hate you.

Does anyone know if my Canadian husband will be allowed to enter the US while the I-130 is in process?, worse case senario?

Make sure he brings documents showing ties to Canada (apartment lease, letter from employer, return plane ticket, etc.) so it's clear that he doesn't intend to come across and stay. My husband has been hassled nearly every time he has crossed into the US since we started the I-130 process. He has been driving across lately, so they make him get out and they search the car to see if he's bringing enough luggage to be considered moving.

Otherwise, we're in the same boat: no news. Contacting my US Representative did nothing for us, and I'll be calling USCIS to complain in one week when we pass the 5 month mark.

The only expedites I've seen is for severe illness or imminent military deployments. Fair or not, your husband's job is not on the same level as that.

I don't think I ever claimed that it was "on the same level" as severe illness or deployment. I was merely asking what can qualify under "Severe financial loss to company or individual." If expedites were only granted for illness and deployment, then I'm guessing "financial loss" wouldn't be listed among the several possible criteria on the USCIS website.

EDIT: And it seems like there have been several posts lately that are people claiming that they simply asked for the expedite (with no reason or they won't share their reason), and they got it. So maybe dire circumstances aren't actually the only successful requests...

I suspect you would have to show tangible losses to justify an expedite request. Losing the opportunity to make money would probably not count. And at the interview stage you can't even claim that yet.

That's true; I expect that just having the interview wouldn't be enough, but I still find it hard to believe that having a job offer is a bad reason for an expedite. What purpose does it serve the government, who doesn't want to pay to support people who are immigrating, to forbid them from looking for jobs while we're waiting for them to take their sweet time on our application? Thanks for the further explanation though. Far more helpful and considerate than a simple "no."

Bringing up his desire to get to the US quickly so as to find job opportunities puts those motivations in question.

*sigh* This seems like such BS (on the gov's part, not yours). He's already employed at home, so moving here is more of a job risk than benefit. We're just trying to mitigate those risks so we don't have to spend much or any time living on my income alone. Sorry, just frustrated.

No

What evidence do you have? Why doesn't losing a job that you otherwise would have gotten count as "Severe financial loss to the individual?"

No. If anything it could be seen as suspicious- that you only married/ apply for the spousal visa now because he wants the job.

I thin you could try for an "informal" expedite once it reaches the embassy, ie contact them, explain the situation and say you can be ready within days for a cancelation appointment.

What on earth would look suspicious about this? He applied for the job nearly 6 months after we got married and filed our I-130. Presumably if the US doesn't want immigrants taking state benefits, they expect them to work, so why should looking for a job be suspicious?

Hi everyone,

I'm a July I-130 filer still waiting for our NOA2, and I am wondering if having a job offer is a good reason for an expedite. I've searched the forums and most of the expedites seem to be for health reasons, children, or financial strain like needing the second income (which we of course we do, but I know this isn't going to be a successful way to expedite).

Anyway, my husband is now at the interview stage for a teaching fellowship that would begin next summer (May or June, I'm not sure). Because we filed in July, we expected that we'd be done in April at the latest, but I'm starting to think that might not happen.

So my questions are these:

1. Will we be approved for an expedite if he gets the fellowship? The summer section would not be paid, but it would be preparing him for a paid high school teaching position in the fall.

2. Is being in the interview stage enough to ask for the expedite now? I'm worried that if we wait, the expedite won't be fast enough. I'm also going to make my "hey, it's been 5 months, #######" call in a little over a week. Could I ask them for an expedite then?

Thanks!

This whole process is driving me crazy!

Okay, I just had a potentially optimistic thought, and I need to see what you all think. Is this a realistic assumption or have I been pressing "refresh" on the USCIS website for too long:

We all know CSC is practically at a standstill; nothing is being sent to NVC. BUT! NVC and our respective embassies seem to be still working on the many applications that were ahead of us. So since there are barely any new apps being added to those piles, they should be shrinking, right? That means that even as we wait, seemingly endlessly, at CSC, the line in front of us at NVC and the consulates is getting shorter...so maybe, just maybe, we'll get through those parts of the process *faster* than usual? Amiright?

In case anyone was wondering, asking for an inquiry from your congressperson is a total waste of time if you're under 5 months. USCIS doesn't even lay their hands on your file when they respond to the inquiry. They'll simply tell you that you're still within normal processing times, and my congresswoman's office said they won't take another request from me for another 60-90 days.

131 days and counting.

I think having Canada rather than Russia as your beneficiary's country rather helped with that.

My beneficiary is from Canada and we are past the 4 month mark, so don't be so sure that the country makes that much of a difference in all cases. Our case is 100% straight forward, but we've been dropped down the rabbit hole.

Anyway, I'm interested to see how contacting USCIS goes for you and how you manage it. I'll be calling in a few more weeks.