jhonster

Hey Jerry, John here. My wife applied for her Police Cert over 5 weeks ago at the Lebanese Embassy in Manila. Maybe 6 weeks by now. The lady (Jenny) told my wife that it would take 1-2 months back then. But last week, before the Typhoon hit, she went back to ask about the progress of that....and now the Jenny told my wife that it will probably be possibly 3-6 months!! Wow!! So in anger, I went to the Lebanese Embassy here in Los Angeles and asked a high ranking official there what the deal was, and they said they have no control over what other Embassies do. But, she did give me a bit of insight though.
1.) The Lebanese Embassy in Los Angeles does not charge for the efforts of getting someone a Police Certificate. Only to have it translated if necessary. So right away, I'm suspicious of the people working the counter at the Lebanese Embassy. Because my wife did not get a receipt for the 2000 pesos they asked of her.
2.) My wife as a cousin who is working just 13Km from Beirut, which is one of the places where you can get a Police Cert THE SAME DAY!! But you have to be in person. So....if your wife has a relative still working there, that may be an option if you were to give her power of attorney....and send her the same info your wife gave to the Embassy you're dealing with in the Philippines.
3.) If you do have a contact in Lebanon, and you want to go that route (which I'm going to do), the lady from the Los Angeles Embassy told me to get a letter drawn up by the Philippine Embassy you're dealing with stating you're requesting a police cert on behalf of "whomever" (your wife, etc), give that person power of attorney, and send your contact the same info you have the Philippine Embassy in the 1st place to get your Police Cert. From what I understand....they can get the Police Cert THE SAME DAY!! Then of course, your contact could mail it to your wife or you.
I'm not sure if it will be translated or not...but I noticed at the Los Angeles Lebanese Embassy, that they offer official translating services for documents. I think for a Police cert it was 12 or $20.
Anyways.....if you have any other questions, I noticed you're also here in California. Just send me a personal message here with your phone number and I'll call you.
Hope this helps.
John
Related links......
www.wikiprocedure.com/index.php?title=Lebanon_-_Obtain_police_clearance_certificate&diff=12963&oldid=7927

Hello all. I had a question. Just got a request for evidence (RFE) of a bona fide marriage. This was after I had requested that our case be expedited due to the Typhoon in the Philippines. The request said....
"A review of Form I130 indicated that you that you seek to classify the beneficiary as your spouse. Please submit evidence to establish that the marriage between you and the beneficiary is bona fide. This evidence may consist of, but is not limited to, the following:
1.) Documentation showing joint ownership of property;
2.) A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence;
3.) Documentation showing co-mingling of financial resources;
4.) Birth Certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you and the beneficiary;
5.) Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship. If you choose submit affidavits, then they must be sworn to or affirmed under penalty of perjury by two persons who were living at the time of the event, and who have personal knowledge of the event that you are trying to prove. The affidavit should contain the following information regarding the person making the affidavit: his or her full name, address, date and place of birth, relationship to you, if any; full information concerning the event; and complete details concerning how he or she acquired knowledge of the event. The persons making the affidavits need not be citizen of the United States. Affidavits should be supported by documentary evidence such at that listed above; and
6.) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing martial relationship."
Considering I have an ample amount of other information to prove our bona fide marriage, should I waste my time getting signed affidavits? How much weight to they give the affidavits anyway?
So. If the affidavits carry a lot of weight....My 1st question is about how to create the "sworn affidavits" and what is required. Considering that my wife is living in Manila with her daughter....do I need to get some kind of notary to certify what her mother, best friend and sister will write for us? My mother will also write an affidavit as well to what she can attest to...but she was not in Manila for our wedding.
2.) If a notary is required, what is the criteria of the notary so that USCIS will consider it satisfactory? A judge? A lawyer or law firm? Manila City Hall? U.S. Embassy notary?
3.) Do you think the affidavits should be typed out and worded by me for the people to sign? Or should they be written in handwriting by the people telling our story?
4.) Should I send only original copies of the notarized affidavits? Or will a copy of a notarized document good enough?
5.) I was just in Manila during Thanksgiving this year and we opened a joint account at PNB bank, but they will not give me a copy what I signed saying that those documents are considered internal documents. But I did take pictures of the account ID card which has our names hand written onto them. Would those suffice as financial co-mingling? Or do I need to request a "bank certification" from PNB bank...which again, will cause the return time of documents to be delayed.
6.) I have my hotel receipts of when I 1st visited the Manila back on Thanksgiving of 2012 where we got engaged along with pictures, videos, etc of where I proposed to her. Her whole family was there. We all went to Star City after that (the whole family) and stayed there till the park closed. Should I include those pictures? And maybe upload the videos to Youtube and send the link to the agent so they can look at the videos online?
7.) I have the condo rental agreement for one month when I stayed in Manila for the whole month of March 2013. We got married March 20th of 2013 at Manila City Hall by a Judge. Again, I have receipts for everything along with many many pictures, video, NSO stamped Marriage license (which USCIS already has) etc.
8.) I have pictures, receipts and videos of the reception at ilang-ilang restaurant in Chinatown where we had our reception.
9.) I have pictures and videos of a day we all spent at the beach in Cavite.
10.) I have pictures, receipts and videos of our Honeymoon in Puerto Galera.
11.) I have receipts of all the Western Union & Xoom money orders I've sent her since we 1st started communicating since Aug of 2012.
12.) I have a lease agreement for a house in which I relocated the whole family to (from Tondo to Bacoor) where her immediate family now resides. This agreement (pawn house) is in another squatters area like Tondo was, and is for 2 years.
13.) So.....with all this evidence, and the fact they gave me this yellow document to put on top of our file when I get all this stuff together....
Thanks in advance to anybody that can help or has already been through this. It seems silly that they would ask for all this now when they usually ask for this stuff in the interview.

I work for the City of Los Angeles and was in the same boat. I didn't file within the 30 days and didn't know I only had 30 days, so I had to wait for open enrollment. If you're HR dept is telling you that you can't add your wife without a social security number, you're dealing with an idiot. You most certainly can add your wife without a Social Security number. I added both my wife and adopted daughter. If you don't get anywhere with the person you're dealing with at your work....call the health insurance company directly. They will tell you yes or no. And if they say yes, call your work's HR dept back and tell them you've already spoken to your insurance company and they said yes.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

I'll tell you how you gather sympathy (or actually rather anger) for your cause. You turn the story around into a political football. This whole was actually caused by a program that Obama fought for called the "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" or DACA.
USCIS completely botched the implementation and handling of about 527,000 undocumented aliens, that by no fault of their own, were born here by undocumented parents. If you want to get a fire started under USCIS's butt, read here and follow my instructions. Basically Republicans are always looking for a good reason to blame Obama for anything and everything. And even as a supporter of most of his policies, he blew it on this one. The Republicans can easily turn this story around from helping people like you and I get loved ones into our country to "Obama puts illegals in line before American citizens". And I can see them over at Fox (Faux) News have a field day with this.
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/486862-the-truth-behind-the-i130-hold-ups-at-uscis-what-they-wont-tell-you/

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

Ok. Update on the SLOW processing for TSC (Texas Service Center). Hopefully this means there might be some movement with these people at USCIS. It's so unfair what they've done to i130 filers these past 16 months or so. And no apology, no nothing. But here is the letter that seemed to spark some movement with the politicians that are charged in making USCIS work for us. I faxed this letter to each and everyone who is on the Homeland Security Congressional oversight committee. To both of my Senators and my Congressman's office. My congressman's office wasn't really doing anything for me, but when they caught wind that I sent a fax or email to anybody that would listen to me....I got an email lickty split from my Congressman's office finally.

Why? Because this would make the current administration look bad (and I'm an Obama supporter for the most part....not on everything though) because it was his program (DACA "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals") that caused the back up with i130's. And magically....when I called USCIS today and spoke with a level 2 agent/supervisor, they said they can see my file is now currently with an adjudicator. Wow! And all this time (since last November) they couldn't make up their mind if my file was under a "security check", or if it needed "additional processing" (aka bullcrap). How could it have been under a "security check" if the file wasn't even with an adjudicator? Hmmmmm.........

I think I've learned a lesson from all this though. The ONLY way you'll be able to make either a politician or govt worker do his or her job properly is to go to their bosses. And since politicians really don't have bosses, they fear bad publicity. Especially when you can make it on a grand scale. Like this....
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?hp&_r=1

So. USCIS moves when you get an EFFECTIVE politician to inquire on your behalf (key word effective) and/or the Ombudsman. Here's the link to the USCIS Ombudsman online complaint form.
https://cisomb.dhs.gov/oca/form7001.aspx

And if getting your Congressperson or Senator involved doesn't work....send a fax to the ranking people on the Homeland Securities Oversight Committees. You can get each and every one of their fax numbers here. Just click on their names or pictures.
http://homeland.house.gov/about/membership

And if you want the press to listen in...just send an email to the nice lady who wrote the New York Times article (Julia Preston) on the i130 delays. She would want to hear your horror stories for a follow up story. Send her an email here. Just go down to the bottom of her bio and click on "Email Julia Preston" and include her name in your message.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/julia_preston/index.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=Byline&region=Header&pgtype=article

Anyway....here's the letter I faxed all over the country today. Feel free to do the same.

USCIS self admittedly considers 5 months to be the "normal" wait time for a i130 to be processed. Many people like me are way past that timeline. People whom are citizens of this country should expect better service from a Federal Dept that is self funded. In other words, USCIS does not need to get money approved from the U.S. Congress. If they are having "unanticipated hiring difficulties", then they need to get on top of that. We, the tax payers, AND people whom are PAYING for this service deserve to have the best service possible. And if it means they need to start hiring some people ASAP, then that's what they need to do.
I suggest ANYBODY who is having this problem contact their Congressperson for your area and you're states two senators. You can find them on the internet by just doing a google search & entering your city or zip code. Both the Senators and Congresspeople have liaisons in their office that handle ONLY Visa petition problems for U.S Citizens.
You can also file a complaint with the USCIS Ombudsman if you're not getting anywhere with your Congressperson or Senator here (form 7001).
http://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance
You can also send an email to the Ombudsman and explain your experiences with USCIS and any issues or extended wait times they have here.
OLUInquiries@dhs.gov
There is no reason why USCIS should be taking more than 5 months to process any Visa provided the applicant or petitioner is providing information to them in a timely fashion. They are a self funded entity. And since I work for a govt agency, that is the big difference between agencies that CAN get things done and those that have to "make do" with what they get in terms of funding.

Call USCIS. They will ask you if you are the petitioner or the applicant. Give them your information like case number etc. Make sure you document all the calls you make and get the operator number and name of each person you speak with. That way, if they decide to be rude and hang up on you, you have their ID. Tell them your i130 is outside of normal processing times as per USCIS's own documentation. It says on their own website, and Allejandro's Mayokis's own "mission statement" to the U.S. Congress was to process i130's in a 6 month time period. So, by their own "mission statement", your case is outside of its normal processing time. Ask to speak to an agent and you want to open a service request. Make sure you get the service request number. Have them respond to you via email so you know exactly when the agent responds to your file. You will get this notification before anyone or anything else, because as soon as they hit "send" to respond to the service request, an email is dispatched to you at the same time. Whatever reason they give you in the email is what they need to stick to (their story).
I got a response in January saying my case was under "security check". Typically the security check isn't done at this stage of the game. I verified this with an immigration attorney who worked as an adjudicator for 25 years here in Los Angeles and is now an immigration attorney,
There are sincere problems with USCIS right now especially with i130's, and I'm trying to bring this to light with my 2 Senators (Boxer and Feinstein) and my Congressman (Brad Sherman). More people need to call their Senators and Congresspeople to make them aware this is an ongoing and growing problem with th Federal govt. And I'll tell you this now. This is a political situation. And I'll tell you why.
Currently the fight Washington DC is between the two parties. One is trying to make the President look bad at all costs, and the other is trying to appease that party by cutting government expenditures. This is what we call the "sequester". Cuts made on many Federal agencies. Having spoken to a few higher up USCIS officials now, I can tell you that their staff is working at full tilt. They are working with less now than they ever have. And the ship is splitting apart at the seams. Having just an acting director doesn't help matters much either because now Lori Scialabba is doing the deputy directors job and the directors job. If you want to shoot an email to the deputy director, you can here at Lori.Scialabba@uscis.dhs.gov. and let them know the New York Times has done a story reflecting the hold ups in her department.
Don't fight with your hubby. It's not his fault. Try to help him if you can. The only way to get any resolve on your case is to be involved. Remember. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

USCIS self admittedly considers 5 months to be the "normal" wait time for a i130 to be processed. Many people like me are way past that timeline. People whom are citizens of this country should expect better service from a Federal Dept that is self funded. In other words, USCIS does not need to get money approved from the U.S. Congress. If they are having "unanticipated hiring difficulties", then they need to get on top of that. We, the tax payers, AND people whom are PAYING for this service deserve to have the best service possible. And if it means they need to start hiring some people ASAP, then that's what they need to do.
I suggest ANYBODY who is having this problem contact their Congressperson for your area and you're states two senators. You can find them on the internet by just doing a google search & entering your city or zip code. Both the Senators and Congresspeople have liaisons in their office that handle ONLY Visa petition problems for U.S Citizens.
You can also file a complaint with the USCIS Ombudsman if you're not getting anywhere with your Congressperson or Senator here (form 7001).
http://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance
You can also send an email to the Ombudsman and explain your experiences with USCIS and any issues or extended wait times they have here.
OLUInquiries@dhs.gov
There is no reason why USCIS should be taking more than 5 months to process any Visa provided the applicant or petitioner is providing information to them in a timely fashion. They are a self funded entity. And since I work for a govt agency, that is the big difference between agencies that CAN get things done and those that have to "make do" with what they get in terms of funding.

USCIS self admittedly considers 5 months to be the "normal" wait time for a i130 to be processed. Many people like me are way past that timeline. People whom are citizens of this country should expect better service from a Federal Dept that is self funded. In other words, USCIS does not need to get money approved from the U.S. Congress. If they are having "unanticipated hiring difficulties", then they need to get on top of that. We, the tax payers, AND people whom are PAYING for this service deserve to have the best service possible. And if it means they need to start hiring some people ASAP, then that's what they need to do.
I suggest ANYBODY who is having this problem contact their Congressperson for your area and you're states two senators. You can find them on the internet by just doing a google search & entering your city or zip code. Both the Senators and Congresspeople have liaisons in their office that handle ONLY Visa petition problems for U.S Citizens.
You can also file a complaint with the USCIS Ombudsman if you're not getting anywhere with your Congressperson or Senator here (form 7001).
http://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance
You can also send an email to the Ombudsman and explain your experiences with USCIS and any issues or extended wait times they have here.
OLUInquiries@dhs.gov
There is no reason why USCIS should be taking more than 5 months to process any Visa provided the applicant or petitioner is providing information to them in a timely fashion. They are a self funded entity. And since I work for a govt agency, that is the big difference between agencies that CAN get things done and those that have to "make do" with what they get in terms of funding.

USCIS self admittedly considers 5 months to be the "normal" wait time for a i130 to be processed. Many people like me are way past that timeline. People whom are citizens of this country should expect better service from a Federal Dept that is self funded. In other words, USCIS does not need to get money approved from the U.S. Congress. If they are having "unanticipated hiring difficulties", then they need to get on top of that. We, the tax payers, AND people whom are PAYING for this service deserve to have the best service possible. And if it means they need to start hiring some people ASAP, then that's what they need to do.
I suggest ANYBODY who is having this problem contact their Congressperson for your area and you're states two senators. You can find them on the internet by just doing a google search & entering your city or zip code. Both the Senators and Congresspeople have liaisons in their office that handle ONLY Visa petition problems for U.S Citizens.
You can also file a complaint with the USCIS Ombudsman if you're not getting anywhere with your Congressperson or Senator here (form 7001).
http://www.dhs.gov/ombudsman-case-assistance
You can also send an email to the Ombudsman and explain your experiences with USCIS and any issues or extended wait times they have here.
OLUInquiries@dhs.gov
There is no reason why USCIS should be taking more than 5 months to process any Visa provided the applicant or petitioner is providing information to them in a timely fashion. They are a self funded entity. And since I work for a govt agency, that is the big difference between agencies that CAN get things done and those that have to "make do" with what they get in terms of funding.

I'm sorry Mimolicious. I have to totally disagree with you here. To accept how this government is operating is un-acceptable. And there is NO reason why USICS (or any other agency within the Fed govt) should be working to provide services IN WHICH WE PAY FOR. And it's not only the fee's that we pay, but the Federal taxes (billions upon billions) that we send in every year to make the Federal govt work for US!!
This whole idea of the "security check" becoming a black hole is a real one. This is something that totally needs to be addressed. And if it takes Presidential, Senatorial or Congressional involvement....then so be it. I work in govt, and I know how things work within it. And much of the reasons why things don't get addressed is because of lethargy and poor management. It seems like anytime a better and more efficient idea is submitted to one group, division, or dept, it falls upon deaf ears at the upper management level. I'm sorry. I worked in the private sector for almost 25 years before coming work for the govt, and if you operated that way there....you'd be out of business in now time.
There is really no reason other than political when it comes to getting the staffing needed for Federal jobs. And if those departments are experiencing such backlogs, then the govt needs to address that and make changes. It's really that simple. But, we have one party in Washington DC right now that are becoming obstacles in funding Federal departments, and that is the the Republican party. Right now, the Federal govt is working with skeleton crews in comparison to what it had under Bush's tenure. And through the sequester, more departments have been slashed and cut. And this effects us DIRECTLY. And since USCIS is a specially funded (meaning they are a money generating dept.....unlike say police or the military), there is absolutely NO REASON for the massive fluctuations in processing times.
So....like I said. I work in govt and I can tell you FOR SURE, this is a mis-management problem purely and solely. They have the money in their depts to hire and get more officers to process Visa's. Now whether some of the bottlenecks come from other agencies which are not "specially funded" (like FBI, DHS, etc), then that's another issue. But if the USCIS is giving you static about their caseload, then that is THEIR PROBLEM, not ours. And believe you me....I'm stuck in this same "security check" black hole right now. And I've just had about all I can stand about this. I'm going to contact the director of the USCIS and demand he do something about giving us accurate information, regardless of where the application stands.

My goodness. I've been around Filipinos all my life....and I have never seen where hitting someone over the head with a plastic trashcan was considered a joke. Sorry. This woman sounds very immature and has a terrible temper. Physical abuse is never acceptable. Period.
You pointing a finger at a child is no big deal. If your wife respects you and shows you respect as the husband and head of the household....she would stand beside you in disciplining her child (which is basically your step child now). If she is a good wife, she will support you provided you are not being abusive.
It sounds like the both of you have tempers. At the very least, it sounds like she does for sure. If you have to "calm her down" and she's not able to do it on her own....that is a maturity problem. And quite frankly...shouldn't be raising any children nor telling you how to discipline hers. 4 kids? Well...I won't even go into that. But anyway, she is here. And if you love her and she loves you....try to work things out with her. Because this will be very hard to undo if she goes back. But having gone through being married to another foreign national in the past....if she has maturity issues or temper control issues, time to bail out asap. That takes LOTS of time to correct through therapy (if it ever does correct itself). Sometimes you just have to realize that you guys aren't meant to be....and getting out early might be a blessing in disguise. #1....take care of your health. There is only ONE YOU! Blood from coughing? You've got some major medical problems. Your wife should be doing everything to help you and not give you more stress than you are already experiencing. If you don't resolve this with your wife....my wife has a sister that would take VERY good care of you...and she only has one 4 year old daughter.
Hope things work out for you.

This is a bill that disguised as strong position against immigrants that may feed off the system. But is actually a bill written by big corporations & businesses via their bought & paid for politicians (mostly Republicans) that don't want to pay Americans a living wage and rather pay a foreigner less money & less benefits that most Americans wouldn't accept. It's basically the same 'race to the bottom' thats championed by big business that's destroying & eliminating the kinds of jobs that were the norm after WWII.
Here's some facts from the last decade.
Before George W. Bush got into office, there were basically about 50,000 H1 Visa's allowed per year (immigrant worker). When Bush got into office, this amount was upped to 150,000. BIG MISTAKE!! Why? There are roughly about 150,000 students graduating every year in the U.S. with higher degrees. If you allow 150,000 immigrants into the U.S. every year that will displace those AMERICANS from competing for those jobs...then its just simple math. For 8 years under Bush, this type of mentality prevailed because it was all about giving power to corporations and businesses rather than concentrating on creating jobs. Thus....George W. Bush had one of the most disastrous jobs creation records of the majority of Presidents. And thus...we are still feeling the pain of this last administration. Not that I'm a huge Obama supporter either...the last President I actually voted for was Ross Perot. If Ross would have become Pres instead of Clinton, we would have seen NAFTA & CAFTA stopped dead in its tracks. One of the worst legislations to come down the pike in many many years. It killed MILLIONS of manufacturing jobs & caused much of those jobs to move to Mexico, China, India & many other countries.
What makes me laugh though is. Drive by any working farm & see who makes up the majority of the workers. They are 99% migrant. And if you check and see what political side of the spectrum those farm owners are on, 99% of them are supposed 'conservatives' or Republicans. The very same people whom are so anti-immigrant. It's not something the main stream media focuses on....outing the very people whom are so anti-immigrant, but welcome those immigrants to pick their produce & work their farms.