naam_2013

Remember I-130 filers to send letter to House Judiciary Committee THIS TUESDAY, 11/19, http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/page-7, the letter and contact information (fax/email) is in Google docs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aU0f9uipzXl8JOweHWjrUhChVX3Oon02b6x3ZoJ44hY/edit .

Thanks.

Are we trying to email it to everyone on this list?

Yes, to all of them; for the people in US the first preference is fax, and if fax is not available, then email.

If our beneficiary or family/friends sending this from outside the US, then email will be fine, as fax might be pricey for overseas.

Newer version: I fixed spelling errors and removed the quote from former the DHS Secretary as it was related to DACA. The text of this letter won't fit on one page as is in 12 point font. The footnotes and signature are spilling over. Any ideas?

November 19, 2013

Mr. Chairman:

Due to the failure of executive leadership at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the average national processing time for I-130 petitions for immediate relatives of US Citizens has increased to 13 months. I have found that contrary to its stated core values of Integrity, Respect, and Ingenuity, USCIS is ignoring delegated legal responsibilities, mistreating US citizen families, and purposely accruing case backlogs. I am writing you with the hope that the House Judiciary Committee will realize the need to take swift action to remedy the failures of leadership at USCIS.

The I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, is the first step immediate relatives of US Citizens must complete in order to obtain legal resident visas. Approved beneficiaries still must be vetted by the National Visa Center as well as embassies and consulates around the world before a visa is issued. Bureaucratic delays have directly affected adjudication of petitions for which there is no statutory limitation. 201(b)(2)(A)(i) [8 U.S.C. 1151] Working for family unification should be the first priority of all USCIS decisions.

Despite pilot programs and workload transfers tried in the past, USCIS has never been able to provide I-130 petitioners a transparent process or definite processing times for immediate relative petitions. Documents obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request show that since September 17, 2012 USCIS has taken adjudicators off the processing of I-130 petitions at USCIS service centers (California, Texas, Vermont) and designated all petitions to be routed through the National Benefits Center.¹ This decision was made knowing that the National Benefits Center was not properly staffed to adjudicate I-130 petitions and was made without a definite timeframe to resume work. Multiple requests for assistance made to Congressmen and Senators by petitioners have shown that USCIS still has no definite timeframe for adjudication of pending I-130 petitions.

According to the most recent USCIS I-130 Petition Performance report, the National Benefits Center completed the processing of only 2,755 petitions in the first two quarters of the 2013 Fiscal Year (October 2012-March 2013). In the same reporting period, the National Benefits Center received 254,890 petitions and has now accrued a backlog of 523,874 pending cases.² I believe the few petitions that the National Benefits managed to process to be limited to expedited cases. Despite announcements of USCIS efforts to dedicate staff to process I-130 petitions in Overland Park, KS, USCIS has failed to train or re-assign staff needed to process this caseload in a timely manner.³ After a year of indecision, the I-130 workload is only now being transferred from the National Benefits Center to regional service centers.⁴

If USCIS Processing tables are correct, there are pending I-130 petitions with priority dates as old as October 1, 2012 which have yet to be processed.⁵ As far back as 2006, the USCIS Ombudsman advised against the accrual of backlogs as “...there are substantial costs involved in storing and retrieving applications as well as the resources expended for follow-ups, customer inquiries, address changes, etc."⁶ These financial costs, however, will never compare to the human cost of lost time with loved ones separated by USCIS' continuing inefficiency.

I request that the House Judiciary Committee investigates the needless backlog of pending I-130 Immediate Relative Petitions and direct USCIS to re-evaluate its current adjudication priorities.

Sincerely,

Name Surname

¹http://www.scribd.com/doc/145514197/2013-HQFO-00304-Combined-Redacted-Part1

²http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/Employment-based/I130_performancedata_fy2013_qtr2.pdf

³http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2013/May%202013/NBC-AILA-QA-2013-05-01.pdf

⁴http://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/workload-transfer-national-benefits-center-service-centers

⁵https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processingTimesDisplay.do

⁶http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/CISOmbudsman_AnnualReport_2006.pdf

Thanks for your hard work.

We MUST specify the subject of letter, so that the audience does not need to read the entire letter to figure out the purpose.

The letter will be more than 1 page, but the message and signature of the person will be on 1st page and the name of CC recipients and reference to websites will be on 2nd page, that should be OK.

I have formatted the letter in Arial 11.

I have uploaded the letter in Google docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aU0f9uipzXl8JOweHWjrUhChVX3Oon02b6x3ZoJ44hY/edit?usp=sharing

Remember I-130 filers to send emails THIS TUESDAY http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/page-6 You will find the letter written there, and on page 3 of the thread the emails.

Thanks lucybelle .

All are good efforts as far asI am concerned and I thank everyone. I do think that the most important thing is the number of vjers who will get the faxes and emails out. I am going to dig and try to find as many media sources that might be willing to listen as I can. They carry a lot of weight.

By the way, does anyone have a fax number for Bob Goodlatte that works? 202-225-7680 has been kicked back twice on me. Yes, I messed up and started sending faxes a week early! .

I called the office of House Judiciary committee on Friday to verify the fax number and they told me the same: 202-225-7680; if this does not work, then we will fax the letter to the office of Bob Goodlatte: 202-225-9681.

Email to Bob Goodlatte can be send via: http://goodlatte.house.gov/contacts/new

Can the beneficiaries send the e-mail too?

Definitely, and not only beneficiaries, but also friends and family.

I have already lined up some friends and family members to send this letter; so please ask your family and friends to join this cause.

So can someone confirm for me please- this is where we will be sending the letter: http://goodlatte.house.gov/contacts/new

But we can also send it to the others listed?

ie: alejandro.mayorkas@dhs.gov

alejandro.mayorkas@hq.dhs.gov

uscisfrcomments@dhs.gov

Lori.Scialabba@dhs.gov

Lori.Scialabba@hq.dhs.gov

cisombudsman@dhs.gov

maria.m.odom@dhs.gov

maria.m.odom@hq.dhs.gov

brandi.blackburn@uscis.dhs.gov

rand.beers@hq.dhs.gov

letters@washpost.com

executive@aila.org

newsroom@aila.org

We are sending this to Bob Goodlatte and all those you listed here.

You can email it to Bob Goodlatte using the website you listed above.

I called the office of House Judiciary committee on Friday to verify the fax number and they told me the same: 202-225-7680; if this does not work, I suggest you fax the letter to the office of Bob Goodlatte: 202-225-9681.

Thanks.

Love is blind...sweetheart..just answer me on google..not here. To all..love is blind is my husband:)

maryamwaseem and love is blind: Please join the cause:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/page-6

Thanks.

All are good efforts as far asI am concerned and I thank everyone. I do think that the most important thing is the number of vjers who will get the faxes and emails out. I am going to dig and try to find as many media sources that might be willing to listen as I can. They carry a lot of weight.

By the way, does anyone have a fax number for Bob Goodlatte that works? 202-225-7680 has been kicked back twice on me. Yes, I messed up and started sending faxes a week early! .

I will call Bob's office tomorrow and ask for the fax number.

Thanks for supporting this cause.

Please remember to join this cause:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/page-5

Letter to the House Judiciary committee on processing delays of I-130 of immediate relative.

We all send (fax/email) it on Tuesday, 11/19.

Thanks.

I don't want to step on anybody's toes but I was inspired by your letter to draft one of my own using some of your wording and mainly US government documents and data and broadening the aim to include all Immediate Relative I-130 Petitioners. I did not mention Legal Permanent Residents in this letter but it could be easily edited to include their plight as well. I also omitted mention of Visa Journey statistics and K-3 process in hopes of keeping it focused.

The Honorable Bob Goodlatte – Chairman House Judiciary Committee

November 19, 2013

Mr. Chairman:

Due to the failure of executive leadership at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the average national processing time for I-130 petitions for immediate relatives of US Citizens has increased to 13 months. I have found that contrary to its stated core values of Inegrity, Respect, and Igenuity, USCIS is ignoring delegated legal reponsibilities, mistreating US citizen families, and purposely accruing case backlogs. I am writing you with the hope that the House Judiciary Committee will realize the need to take swift action to remedy the failures of leadership at USCIS.

The I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, is the first step immediate relatives of US Citizens must complete in order to obtain legal resident visas. Approved beneficiaries still must be vetted by the National Visa Center as well as embassies and consulates around the world before a visa is issued. Bureaucratic delays have directly affected adjudication of petitions for which there is no statutory limitation. 201(b)(2)(A)(i) [8 U.S.C. 1151] Working for family unification should be the first priority of all USCIS decisions. Upon announcing the “Provisional Waiver” program, former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano claimed:

This final rule facilitates the legal immigration process and reduces the amount of time that US citizens are separated from their immediate relatives who are in the process of obtaining an immigrant visa. (January 2, 2013).¹

Despite pilot programs and workload transfers tried in the past, USCIS has never been able to provide I-130 petitioners a transparent process or definite processing times for immediate relative petitions. Documents obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request show that since September 17, 2012 USCIS has taken adjudicators off the processing of I-130 petitions at USCIS service centers (California, Texas, Vermont) and designated all petitions to be routed through the National Benefits Center.² This decision was made knowing that the National Benefits Center was not properly staffed to adjudicate I-130 petitions and was made without a definite timeframe to resume work. Multiple requests for assistance made to Congressmen and Senators by petitioners have shown that USCIS still has no definite timeframe for adjudication of pending I-130 petitions.

According to the most recent USCIS I-130 Petition Performance report, the National Benefits Center completed the processing of only 2,755 petitions in the first two quarters of the 2013 Fiscal Year (October 2012-March 2013). In the same reporting period, the National Benefits Center received 254,890 petitions and has now accrued a backlog of 523,874 pending cases.³ I believe the few petitions that the National Benefits managed to process to be limited to expedited cases. Despite announcements of USCIS efforts to dedicate staff to process I-130 petitions in Overland Park, KS, USCIS has failed to train or re-assign staff needed to process this caseload in a timely manner.⁴ After a year of indecision, the I-130 workload is only now being transferred from the National Benefits Center to regional service centers.⁵

If USCIS Processing tables are correct, there are pending I-130 petitions with priority dates as old as October 1, 2012 which have yet to be processed.⁶ There are substantial costs involved in storing and retrieving applications as well as the resources expended for follow-ups, customer inquiries, address changes, etc. (AR 2006 -- 03)⁷ These financial costs, however, will never compare to the human cost of lost time with loved ones separated by USCIS' continuing inefficency.

I request that the House Judiciary Committee investigates the needless backlog of pending I-130 Immediate Relative Petitions and direct USCIS to re-evalutate its current adjudication priorities.

Sincerely,

<first name last name of petitioner>

1 http://www.dhs.gov/news/2013/01/02/secretary-napolitano-announces-final-rule-support-family-unity-during-waiver-process

2 http://www.scribd.com/doc/145514197/2013-HQFO-00304-Combined-Redacted-Part1

3 http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/Employment-based/I130_performancedata_fy2013_qtr2.pdf

4 http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2013/May%202013/NBC-AILA-QA-2013-05-01.pdf

5 http://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/workload-transfer-national-benefits-center-service-centers

6 https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processingTimesDisplay.do

7 http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/CISOmbudsman_AnnualReport_2006.pdf

Thanks for taking time to revise the letter, I like your letter and leaning to use it instead of the one I have previously. I hope you do not mind.

BBPC: I think you [and others] would also like the revised letter by Salo&Romashka.

On another note, I went to the KC USCIS office today (infopass) to get some answers; it was a useless trip.

No I didn't, and live in the US

How is the NVC looking? How long from NVC to interview date?

Also do they ask for a police report at the NVC?

Yes, you will need police character certificate for the beneficiary. Assuming the beneficiary is in Pakistan, you will need them from Pakistan.

If the beneficiary is living at the same place for 10 years, then I would go only for 1 police char cert, but if the beneficiary has moved within last 10 years, then it is better to get the char cert from all the places where the beneficiary lived for more than 6 months during last 10 years.

Good luck on NVC and beyond.

Did this thing go yesterday?

No, we decided to send it on Tuesday, 11/19.

Great job, naam!

Could we maybe revise the letter yet again and add some of this stuff? http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464883-i-130-workload-transfer-linked-to-daca-foia-finding/

BBPC: Thanks; the letter can definitely be revised, we just need to keep it 1-page. Can you take the lead to revise it further with your suggested URL, then post it here?

The reason to keep it 1-page is that if this goes beyond 1 page, the reader will lose focus, might not be interested in reading the letter at all, etc; so in order to make the letter most effective we need to give the message in 1 page.

Here is the updated letter (V1.1):

{

To: The Honorable Bob Goodlatte – Chairman House Judiciary Committee

From: US Citizens unfairly treated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Subject: Failure of the USCIS Executive Leadership - Separation of US citizens from their foreign spouses for almost 1.5 years

Date: November 19, 2013

Mr. Chairman:

Due to the failure of executive leadership at the USCIS, I and several thousands of US Citizens have been separated from our spouses for many months, and unless House Judiciary Committee takes swift action now, we will remain apart for an unbearable length of time.

The USCIS is now reporting that the average national processing time for petitions for spouses of US Citizens’ green cards, the I-130s, is 13 months. Please note that this length of time does not include the US Department of State’s processing time for a visa. Adding that time, we are now facing separation from our spouses, for almost year-and-a-half.

Misleading statements like the following, from USCIS, falsely led us to believe that applying for the K-3 would not be necessary:

The K-3 visa was intended to reunite families separated due to a backlog in I-130 adjudications. However, I-130s are no

longer backlogged and are currently being processed in under 6 months. Therefore, USCIS does not, at this time plan to

implement a new policy on the K-3 visa petition process. (pp. 8-9, “USCIS-AILA Meeting”)

This statement was made on April 11, 2013 when USCIS had already drastically slowed I-130 adjudications.

On the surface, our government appears to support family unification. We note, that upon announcing the “Provisional Waiver” program, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano said:

This final rule facilitates the legal immigration process and reduces the amount of time that US citizens

Are separated from their immediate relatives who are in the process of obtaining an immigrant

visa. (January 2, 2013).

But in fact, the policy that she announced has produced an effect opposite to the goal that Secretary Napolitano proudly cites.

We maintain that our government is maltreating our spouses and us, and is probably not meeting its legal obligations. According to federal law, adjudicating residency petitions of US citizens, for their foreign spouses who are living abroad, must be a top priority of USCIS, in the interest of unifying our families. Our government's recent actions do not accord with this requirement.

We have suspected that I-130 petitions routed to the new NBC Division 8 facility, in Overland Park, Kansas, have been stockpiling, with few exceptions. We knew that adjudications of our petitions slowed considerably since the beginning of this year.

We knew this because many hundreds of us have reported our petitions' filing and adjudication dates (initial review [aka NOA1] and final approval [aks NOA2]) to each other.

At least until our cohort of January 2013 filers, the median number of days between an NOA1 and NOA2 for adjudicated I-130s, had consistently been 90 days. Our data showed that something significant had changed after January. By June we saw that fewer and fewer of our petitions were being adjudicated within those 90 days. As of today – nine months since March – a vast majority (around 88%) of our I-130 petitions filed in March remain un-adjudicated.

We humbly request that the House Judiciary Committee looks into this matter and take swift action against those in the management of USCIS who allow these petitions to keep piling up, month after month, keeping us from our families.

Sincerely,

<first name last name of petitioner> (Citizen of the United States separated from his beloved spouse)

}

Please remember to fax/email this on Tuesday, 11/19.

I am also adding the "Senate subcommittee on immigration" to the list of recipients; I will update the list of recipients by weekend.

Thanks.

I-130 is a USCIS form to petition for an eligible relative, even like an unmarried son over the age of 21. We had no problems with USCIS in processing this form some odd over five years ago. But then it was turned over to the NVC, with priorities, spouses come first, children under 18 come second, and an unmarried son over 21 comes third, but still up in the list.

I contacted my senator on this issue, while he was very helpful in finding "misplaced" applications, not once but three times, and how to respond to the USCIS as they wanted my stepdaughter to answer to assault and battery charges when she was 17 months old living in Venezuela. When it came to the NVC, he said he was totally helpless. And with the current executive branch, they have full say on this matter.

Prime interest is offering, what I am told a limited number of visa's where Afghanistan's helping our military are first, and people from Africa come in second, Latin America is way down on the list, somewhere near the bottom.

So suggested I write to the executive branch, only getting replies like we receive thousands of letters, and can only respond to a very few of them. But thank you for taken an interest in our government kind of thing.

Yes, our senator could help us with the USCIS, but not with the NVC. This is my understanding, right or wrong, but aren't you having problems with the NVC instead of the USCIS?

Our I-130 with all the evidence they required was accepted by the USCIS and we shortly received a NOA to this effect and was turned over to the NVC.

NickD:

The current problem is with the USCIS, which has a big pile of I-130 applications, and USCIS is telling us that the current time frame to process I-130 for the spouses of US Citizen is 13 months, this is not acceptable and something needs to be done by us. Once I-130 is approved (NOA-2) then the application go to the NVC stage.

I understand NVC is under department of state, so if/when we face issues with NVC we will figure out a way to write a similar letter to John Kerry and others in state department.

Thanks.

This is such a great idea! Thank you for coming up with this amazing idea! Of course I'm in on it too! My only question is do I wait until Tuesday? And is it better to send the letter using e-mail or regular mail?

Husakovic,

The real credit goes to the people who wrote the actual petition, I copied most of the verbiage from that petition. Yes, we have set Tuesday, 11/19, as the date when we will fax/email our letters, the more letters on the same day the more visibility (I hope).

The first preference is fax, then email, and if fax and email are not available then regular mail.

Thanks for joining.

Hi-- I would be willing to join in the effort, however I might use my own language in the letter-- the question is, did you all decide on the 12th or the 19th?

Thanks for joining; I believe Tuesday, 11/19 is final.

You can change it from 11+ months to 13 months, and maybe refer to our year-and-a-half separation rather than two years.

I am also in, but I suggest push the date back a bit to see if we can get a more coordinated effort on sending it. Also, can you provide a fax number and email address to make it really convenient? I'm abroad, so I will fax it as many times as I can using an online tool that can send five free faxes per day. It's called faxzero.

Here are the POCs:

1.The Honorable Bob Goodlatte - Chairman House Judiciary Committee

Fax: 202-225-7680

Phone: 202-225-3951

Email: http://goodlatte.house.gov/contacts/new

Postal: 2138 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515

Really. These are two totally different types of petition,. K1's undergo a heck of a lot less processing, have to do AOS AND ROC once they arrive, they don't arrive with the right to work, immediately, or the instant green card. So no.

But heck, knock yourselves out. Like Washington gives a toss, given the ####### going on there atm.

How about mentioning that K1 visas are getting approved at lightning speed? I generally don't think it's good to pit people against each other, but in this case, I think the difference in processing times is stunning.

Hi nessieness,

My intent is not to complain about why other processing timeline is faster than the other; the only intent is to bring attention to how the USCIS mismanagement is impacting the I-130 application of the spouses of US Citizens. Just like you said, I do not want to get into the K1 vs K3 debate in a letter, the letter needs to be precise and focused on only 1 issue; then I am hoping (big hope) that they know what is the real problem.

We should try to add numbers to solve a common problem which is USCIS inefficiency - when it comes to priortizing and approving applications. To make matters worse they are not even approved or priortized based on priority dates - based on the latest approvals.

To increase the chances we should unify instead of creating more divide. As I have seen frequently on VJ some of the things which divide people are:

USC IR1/ CR1 Vs USC K1s

Earlier priority date pending Vs. Later Priority Date & Approved

USC vs LPRs

Cheers!

Well said

You can count me in as well. Can we each send two? One from us and one from our spouse at the same address?

Sure, you can send two.

Letter to House Judiciary Committee on processing delays of I-130 of spouses of US Citizens.

Please check this out:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/

Letter to House Judiciary Committee on processing delays of I-130 of spouses of US Citizens.

Please check this out:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/

Letter to House Judiciary Committee on processing delays of I-130 of spouses of US Citizens.

Please check this out:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/

Letter to House Judiciary Committee on processing delays of I-130 of spouses of US Citizens

Please check this out:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464330-letter-to-house-judiciary-committee-on-delays-of-i-130/