rlt

I am not an english native speaker, so I have no idea of what REVOCATION ON OUR SYSTEM means.

Can anyone tell me the exact meaning of that?

As soon as I understand that I will call USCIS and if they don´t hang up on me I will demand an information further than what I have.

revoke.........in this instance taking it as meaning that the approval will be reversed within their system.....the necessary background checks then done on the petitioner before it will be approved again.

Ok, so that didn´t mean anything new, right?

I´m on hold to USCIS now.

I won´t hang up until they give me more information.

I mean, I just got an email from them telling me to call them for more information...

Just that NVC repplied to my e-mail saying they need my EAC number even if I didn´t ask anything about my case in particular. Meaning I´ll get the same thing you did. NOTHING.

In your particular case, you won´t get anything from NVC, since your NOA2 wasn´t issued yet (correct?)

Even though it´s being imposible to get an answer from them, USCIS is dealing with the processes at this stage.

---

I believe I have some news and that can be taken as the status of ALL RECALLED PETITIONS.

At least it makes sense.

Just to brief you all, because I don´t remember if I posted in this thread or another one:

I received an email from NVC saying they had my recalled case there and they returned it to the USCIS.

I had also emailed the California Service Center, even though my case is from Vermont. That was the only email contact I could find.

After 5 emails strugling for an answer, I got this from them:

"You should phone the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 and inform them of your inquiry. They will either answer your question or send it to Vermont Service Center to answer. I phoned National Visa Center (NVC) today and they did return the petition to that Vermont location. Essentially the petition has completed processing. It was approved by USCIS, Vermont Service Center who sent it to the NVC who referred it to the Consulate for interview. The Visa was not issued by the Consulate and was returned to USCIS for revocation on our system."

I know it doesn´t answer what will happen now. But I believe that´s what happening to all recalled petition.

I am not an english native speaker, so I have no idea of what REVOCATION ON OUR SYSTEM means.

Can anyone tell me the exact meaning of that?

As soon as I understand that I will call USCIS and if they don´t hang up on me I will demand an information further than what I have.

hi all.....i am emailing the burlington free press.....here is the email for metro and reporters.....metro @bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com......if anyone wants it..

up

I'm not sure if we can ask the white house about IMBRA?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/interactive/interact_1.html

Does anyone try this yet?

Yes, we can ask.

If we´ll be answered is whole other thing....

Nothing new from today yet?

Ok.

So I got my packet 4 sent to me, received and I shouldn´t make plans?

How often do you guys leave your contry to move to a different one?

this is huge for me, and I think I have the right to be frustrated by receiving a phone call saying my interview was canceled.

I´m not saying they are guilty for the plans I made.. I´m saying this is a serius situation I am in and I deserve information about the status of my case.

Is that too crazy?

Thats a good email but it was sent to the wrong place. The NVC has nothing to do with all this. They just are a go between for the embassies and the USCIS. That email should be directed at the uscis or the DHS.

I think his intention is to send this as a letter to the Vermont Service Center, isn´t it?

If that´s the case, I think it´s a great idea.

To add insult to heartbreak, my job SUCKS, the people I work for are completely immoral, disgusting and cruel. being all by myself without my beloved is terrible. I was waiting so patiently for him to come..... I feel so weak in the opposition of the mean big world out there sometimes. UGH, I need a new job, anyone know of one in New York?

Can I join you?

I had everhthing prepared to leave after my canceled interview on June 6th. My mistake, I know, but how couldn´t I be excited about it?

My father died 3 months ago, and 2 days after, my fiancée had to return to United States. I haven´t seen her since then.

I love her so much. I too feel weak compared to the whole world she has in NY.

I can´t help but feeling very depressed.

ok, i say call and email everyone you can! pete is right as long as we don't say anything, we get nothing.

come on people! while your sitting in front of your computer sending each other hugs, time is wasting. we all need to rally to get the response we all deserve.

so contact your congress people. how about your newspapers? local tv? oprah?

every bit helps.

and save your pats on the back. i don't need support, i need action!

You're kidding right? Local newspaper, tv, etc. Do you really think this is a big news item to the average person?

There's much bureaucratic red tape and inadequacy out there and I think it would be fair to say that K1 visas being delayed due to incompetence is not at the top of the list.

It's just going to be a waiting process. But I feel the frustration too.

And you also have the right to sit and wait.

As we can choose to stand up and do something about it.

If someone will care or not, we´ll only find out by trying to get their attention.

Ok folks,

The below is an email I sent to the NVC email that was posted here a couple of hours ago. I suggest sending the same or similar letter by FedEx to the boss at VSC if we don't get info soon. Please feel free to critique my plea as it's 5am here...

Dear Sirs:

Please forward this to the attention of Mr. Paul Novak or current director:

Dear Mr. Novak:

I am one of many individuals that has recently learned of the IMBRA compliance error from the VSC. I have found these brave souls through the internet. The bond the dozens of us share is that we are current K1 petitioners who are either in limbo about IMBRA compliance procedures for the future, or much worse, suffered the emotional stress of hearing from a loved one that the petition was returned, their interview canceled, or even worse, as recipients of the news firsthand.

Among our number are the pregnant, the ones who left their jobs after being approved on the consular interview only to be tripped up the following day with the new requirement, and all whose plan to join their loved one and begin a happily married life in the US has been thown into purgatory.

Our group has contacted their congresspeople, spent countless hours on hold to governmental agencies at home and abroad, with no clear idea of progress on the current situation or what will be required from us to re-process our petitions as quickly as possible.

We don't ask much, Mr. Novak, other than an open channel of communication during what is for us a very difficult period. We ask for a level of transparency in a gesture of goodwill in recognition of the countless lost hours of time and sleep we have swallowed in the last 2 weeks without information.

We certainly don't hold any individual responsible for the errors that have occurred, but the greater mistake would be if we can't begin to restore faith in your offices at this crucial time. I ask you to contact me or post an update to the website below as soon as possible.

We look foward to hearing from you personally,

Sincerely,

Steve Shaw

EAC-06-117-50418

Please find here the post viewed by nearly 10,000 so far

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13584

PERFECT!!!! You have my blessing!

We should send this letter!

The question is, do you wanna sign it yourself or should we all sign for it with our case numbers?

Great job.

I can write it, certainly...but...

I don't know if I can write it quickly enough to satisfy everyone here!

I'd like some input from more folks on what they want in the letter before I finish my draft, and of course I'd like some feedback on the draft itself, but I will try to balance that with the time-sensitive nature of the message to the Ombudsman (and the need to keep it short and sweet, because he won't read a long rant, I'm pretty sure).

I will also need to balance the time-sensitive nature of the message with my own need for rest...the stress of this situation has damn near made me sick.

I will shoot for a draft posting of tomorrow by 5 pm, and will send it with the suggested changes on Friday morning. If you want me to include your thoughts in the draft, please post them in this thread before then.

If that timeline is not acceptable to people, please let me know so that someone else can do this. I will still be sending a message to the Ombudsman in that case, but it will be my own personal message on my own personal time and I can't guarantee either a time of submission or that message will include your input.

So start thinking...problems AND solutions, people? Post 'em here!

the Tigresa

Did you get my pvt message?

You can post here if you ant.

I think friday is a good they to send the letter since it´s a holiday on Monday.

Anyting I can help you with, just let me know.

somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but the 4 service centers are all CIS.

something else i read on the uscis website was that on some applications (not I-129 F), they will have you come in to one of their fingerprinting centers for the background check. I have no idea if this will apply here.

I think so too, they are all CIS.

If they sent it to USCIS, there would be in Washington too.

I´m afraid my petition will get lost with all these trips...

dont be silly, as far as I know they do not use regular mail for these documents, they use Fedex or DHL. I think this should be the LAST worry on your mind.

Thank you.

It´s just that I´m worried about everything right now.

But come on.. ALL I129Fs after March 6th are on hold. They gotta be doing something about it, right?

What do people here mean when they keep saying that the USCIS will "request criminal records from all petitioners"?

Your average person with no criminal history doesn't possess any documentation of that fact, especially as criminal law is primarily a state administered area and getting that information would require a multi-database search. Federal agencies have more access to that kind of information than the petitioners themselves do, especially since criminal law is a state administered matter. Same goes for orders of protection--law enforcement and other agencies can search a federal registry to find out if someone has an order of protection against them, but people who DON'T have one don't have any documentation of that.

If what they want is a signed declaration of our criminal histories, or attestations that we have none, I'm just not sure what the administrative purpose of that would be...which of course doesn't mean that isn't what they want!

The Tigresa

As the official statement says:

"1. Summary: The International Marriage Broker Regulation

(IMBRA) was signed by the President January 5th of this

year. A 60-day deadline, March 5, 2006, was established

for DHS to begin asking K-1 fiancé(e) petitioners for

their criminal background information.(...)"

4. The Department presently has no information about the

extent of delay for these cases. In the meantime DHS will

send additional questionnaires to the petitioners

inquiring about their possible criminal backgrounds. When

the petition is compliant with the IMBRA, it will be

returned to post from USCIS through NVC for processing.

The full statement for those who missed can be found here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegram...grams_2927.html

I think it might be a matter of "something else they need to put inside the envelope so the case would be completed".

But if it was that easy, why would they still be waiting to send the damn things??

I could give something like that a try...if you all think I'm up to it.

I was planning to write my current and former representatives (redistricting, ha) as well as Senators Clinton and Schumer anyway. I used to work under a VAWA grant and supported the reauthorized version, and don't like to see administrative incompetence make a mockery of a worthy legislative aim. So I won't be tempted to complain about IMBRA itself, just the administrative troubles surrounding its implementation.

I haven't even gotten my NOA1 yet (sent my petition last week), so I can't crank at the Ombudsman about my own case even if I wanted to--no identifying number. However, I am in the position of wondering how much dust my newly-minted I-129F will be gathering over the next few months.

For what it's worth (and I realize that may be very little as far as many of you are concerned), I'm also a lawyer (certified for admission, but not admitted to the bar and not practicing--I work in legal publishing) and many ombudsmpersons have legal training or are lawyers themselves. There can be a bit of a "language barrier" when it comes to communicating with administrative/legal types, but I think I can overcome it.

If people want, I can take suggestions and input from people on what to say to Mr. Ombudsman, draft something, and post it for people here to critique before I revise it and send it on its way.

If people think I'm full of poop, I can see where they're coming from too...my feelings won't be hurt.

The Tigresa

You have my support.

I think even the ones like me who had their case recalled, are not looking for a specicif answer, since it seems pretty clear that the Service Centers are not touching any petitions dated after March 5th.

I think that should be the main point of the letter.

We are all waiting for a new request that it´s probably not even implemented, and what is worse: no one tell us if they are working on it, waiting or anything.

What we should get the Ombudsman to do is go after the RIGHT PERSON. The person we fail to reach everyday.

If it´s not the NVC, if it´s not USCIS, it has to be someone. But they are throwing us to each other as if we were a ball.

We should not complain about IMBRA. We should only get acuratte information about what´s the status of recalled petitions that had already been approved, and status of the petitions that are being halted until someone decides to do something.

Tigresa, I hope it helps you to write the letter, and I hope you manage to write it asap.

Somewhere on one of the links of the USCIS web pages is info on the Omnibudsman [spelling?] who is supposed to be a position where conflicts are to be voiced and the customer championed to get the organization's resolution from the appropriate group, person, office, etc. -- I think, this is the purpose of that title/position. I don't know where it is on the site; try a search; I've seen it.

The link you´re mentioning is http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/edit...torial_0497.xml

There you´ll find all the information about how to contact the Department of Homeland Security Ombudsman.

Since the DHS was responsible for the recall, I think getting their Ombudsman involved is what we need.

For those who don´t know, an Ombudsman is a person who will be in this por]sition for 2 years, having their power unlimited.

They have a contract that guarantee that they will still be employed for at least the next 5 years or so.

That´s why an Onbudsman is the right person to cry for help.

They can say whatever they want, they can go to whoever they want if they have a reason to.

If his mailbox gets flooded with inquiries about the recalled and halted k1 petitions, there´s a chance he´ll do something about it.

He might not write a new I129F, but he´ll demand explanation about why no one is doing it.

So, shall we start doing it?

Yeah, I had been to this site before, but there´s no email or a different phone number.

But after reading it carefully now, I tink we should all write them a letter addressed to:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

P.O. Box 1000

Saint Albans, Vermont 05479.

Note in the heading of the letter and on the envelope: "FOR THE PERSONAL ATTENTION OF THE DIRECTOR."

They ask to mail them instead of e-mail them telling about how are they responding to customers inquiries.

As their phone service is poorless, I think it would be a good idea to let the Director know what we´ve been through.

What you think?

somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but the 4 service centers are all CIS.

something else i read on the uscis website was that on some applications (not I-129 F), they will have you come in to one of their fingerprinting centers for the background check. I have no idea if this will apply here.

I think so too, they are all CIS.

If they sent it to USCIS, there would be in Washington too.

I´m afraid my petition will get lost with all these trips...

The CIS is in Vermont, so your case should be there.

One thing that I've started to do is request copies of my criminal history from the FBI and any state that I've lived in for over 6 months. I'm hoping that this will not be needed, but just in case it is, it won't hurt.

Some of these reports take many weeks to obtain.

I think it will be needed. In fact, I think that´s exactly what they will be looking for.

If the criminal records procedure for the petitioners is anything like it is for the beneficiary, you might need to wait for the paper that USCIS is gonna send you, requesting those facts.

But as you said, it won´t hurt to start colleting them, if possible.

The CIS is really in Vermont? What about the ones in Texas, California, Nebraska...? Aren´t they called CIS as well?

thanks

Director of VSC:

Paul Novak

USCIS Vermont Service Center

75 Lower Weldon

St. Albans, VT 08479

Not sure on the spelling of Weldon. I received the info on the phone.

Ok, how are we gonna unite our strenght and contact him???

I just received an email from NVC. I didn´t even remember that I had emailed them on May 19th.

Here´s what they said:

"Dear Sir or Madam, Your inquiry has been received at the National Visa Center (NVC).

The petition has been returned to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS-formerly known as INS). Any further inquiries should be directed to CIS."

So we now have a proof that USCIS has the recalled petitions.

I´m just wondering if there is such place as USCIS... shouldn´t my application have been fwd to Vermont?

For tose who want to email the NVC here´s their contact: NVCInquiry@state.gov

Can I make a really straightforward, bordering on idiotic suggestion?

a) It seems that the problems are with the VSC (as has been noted)

B) People are reaching out to their Congesspeople, who have the power to find out info not available to us mortals.

I suggest the following:

By any means necc., find out the name (and email, if possible) of the head honco at VSC, and write him/her via FedEx (and email if possible), voice our concerns and demand (nicely) a response and an open line of communication (at least through one of us, and I nominate Gary) through which we can get real updates and info as comes out of the HH's office. the VSC boss owes us this much, and, if spun correctly, will remind him/her of their ability to be fired through the political pressure we WILL apply if we don't start getting answers.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want another boss at VSC, I just want transparency!!!

I will gladly contribute more than my share to the FedEx fund!!

Who's with me?

I´m with you.

You can count on my contribution as well.

They owe us explanation.

I spent over 170 plus days waiting for my NOA2, and i know how frustrating the wait can be TRUST ME. Especially with a baby. I have not seen my fiance in a year and a half, that can get even more frustrating. BUT, there is a new law in place for ANYONE who filed a petition AFTER March 6th. Therefore background checks will take LONGER. Where VSC used to take a week or 2 to approve at times, may take alot longer due to IMBRA. They give a timeline, yes granted it will sometimes go over that time line, but they will never tell you anything different, it is always 30 days, or 60 days. The ONLY thing you can do is wait. You can call your congressman/senator, but with the extra background checks going on, who knows if they can even do anything positive. I pray for all of you still going through the service centers, especially after March 6th, but take it from me, patience is your only key for now. I am ABOUT 2-3 weeks away from my fiance having his interview, and when i sit and think back over the last 6 months, i cant believe the medication i had to be put on, the numerous times i went to the dr for depression, and nervousnous, and so on. I know its hard, we all want to be with out loved ones, but this is going to be the biggest waiting game in your life, and soon it will be over. It will not last forever!

Hugs,

Tara

True.

The only thing is that they are not doing background checks.

They will request criminal records from all petitiners.

And at the present moment, they don´t know how.

So the waiting hasn´t already started yet.

We are waiting for them to decide what to do, and then we are gonna wait for our case to be processed.

Strange, huh?

Ok, I just spoke with Vermont. They are still have not received any instructions from headquarters and they do not know when they will come . I guess the only choice left is keep contacting our congress people and senators to get them moving and finally start processing cases again.

I think that´s what we were all afraid of.

Strange that they would give the Service Centers orders to recall and stop petitions, but would not work on what to do next.

Does it look like it will take forever ?

How in the world do you get to a human on the USCIS phone?

I just pretend like I have a rotary phone, listen to the spanish messages for 10 min, then I get transfered to a spanish speaking operator and tell them I need english and get helped everytime. I gave up trying to figure it out by pressing numbers.

I finally got through. To bad I wasted 30 minutes of my life. The nice lady I talked to didn't seem to know much about it. She went to talk to her supervisor and came back and read something off of a paper to me that had nothing to do with IMBRA. I asked her about wether we would be getting RFE for our criminal backround check or not and she said something about "fingerprinting". I doubt if she really knew what she was talking about.

As a beneficiary, when I went to get my police certificate in Brazil I they got my fingerprints.

Maybe it´s the same in the USA and that´s what she meant.

But I think you´re right. She probably had no idea.

Your must be doing something wrong, cause I've been calling them this way for the past 4 weeks. The last option your select (2) is where they ask you if you received Notice that they mailed to you. When you select it, you get connected to Vermont.

I can´t get through as well.

After I dial my receipt number they say they are accessing information about my case.

After that they don´t give me any other option. All they say is that I´ll be transferred to an operator.

And they are not from Vermont. They are from the National thing.. And they know nothing about recalled petitions.

Igor, if you can get through Vermont, please give them a call asd ask if they are processing the cases or not.

Thanks.

Billsgirl, did he get any more info from anyone?

no...not yet....he carrys his cell phone around with him religiously now...lol....the first one he called..bernie sanders..they didnt know anything about this...go figure...when he talked to leaghy...they already knew about imbra....so they both took info from bill...and they are going to get back in touch with him...so as soon as we hear anything...i will surely let you know.

Thank you so much.

I also have my cell phone as my best friend now.

This forum is comming right after, though!

Billsgirl, did he get any more info from anyone?