ninjarocket

Today I received a letter from my senator. What it states is not very encouraging. It seems they can take how ever long they like to process applications using a perceived security threat as an excuse. Here's the report from USCIS. Sounds like some sort of standard boiler plate that is not specific to my case but gives them unlimited time to delay. Here's the contents of the message from USCIS.

"The processing of the petitions you are enquiring about, ....... and ....... has been delayed. The petitions have been forwarded for completion of a detailed review and, until further notice, adjudication may not be expedited nor may premium processing be requested.

The ...... (USCIS) is committed to adjudicating immigration benefits in a timely, efficient manner that ensures public safety and national security.

Toward that end, USCIS requires extensive background checks for very application or petition it adjudicates. While background checks for most applications or petitions are completed quickly, a small percentage of cases involve unresolved background check issues that result in adjudication delays.

Background checks involve more than just initial submission of and response related biographical information and fingerprints. When checks and/or a review of an administrative record reveal an issue potentially impacting an applicant's eligibility for the requested immigration benefit, further enquiry is needed. The enquiry may include an additional interview and/or the need to contact another agency for updates or more comprehensive information. If it is determined that an outside agency possesses relevant information about a case, USCIS requests such information for review. Upon gathering and assessing all available information, USCIS then adjudicate the application as expeditiously as possible.

We have checked into your constituent's case and have been assured that the agency is aware of your enquiry, and is monitoring progress related to it. However, unresolved issues in your constituent's case require thorough review before a decision can be rendered. Unfortunately we cannot speculate as to when this review process will be completed.

We realize that your constituent may feel frustrated by delays related to his or her case. As an agency, we must weigh individual inconvenience against the broader concerns of public safety and national security."

I hope my situation is similar to yours, although I don't seem to have the multiple touches you received. Perhaps I would eventually get a letter with some sort of status on my case, stating that it will still take n months to process for various reasons. It would be much simpler and far preferable to have an approval of course. It depends on how the USCIS officer decides to spend their time: writing a letter of explanation or simply processing my case! My main complaint to my senator was about the k3 process... that it was originally intended to be as rapid as the k1 visa but clearly it is not.

I do wonder however why many VJ members with similar processing times as me have not had so much luck contacting their congressmen or senators. It probably doesn't help the situation that their offices are flooded with complaints from petitioners whose cases are still within the regular USCIS processing times.

My advice would be to watch your Post Box. I was in same situation with an NOA1 date of October 19th, 2007. Finally was able to get Senator Durbin's office to call the CSC. They called on May 28th. I received a followup letter from the Senator's office informing me that on June 3rd the Congressional Inquiries desk sent Durbin's office an email saying I would get a letter within two weeks from the officer handling my case informing me of the status of the case. I saw that my file was touched on June, 2, June 3rd and June 6th with the status of the case on the Website listing as still pending.

On Saturday the 7th, in my Post Box was the NOA2 with an approval date of June 2nd........ My case status on the website still says "pending"....

I have to admit that when I first heard the story I immediately imagined marriage fraud scams, having read stories on visa scams. However, if they're holding a party to meet American men who they would plan to spend the rest of their lives with then I have to agree that it's perfectly legitimate. We all make the mistake of jumping to conclusions sometimes. What we don't want is USCIS to jump to conclusions with our own petitions.

did it work?

you might want to write a letter to your senator or to USCIS because we are all made to suffer and might even have our petitions denied because of such things

it sounds like the sort of serious thing they would want to correct immediately without an appointment and it's entirely their fault...... did you explain the situation to the officer?

I once had an error on my Naturalization certificate, and they let me in to correct it immediately without making an infopass appointment

and the anoying thing is, they will probably be approved a lot faster than me!

My case just received a touch. Those with lightning fast approvals are probably wondering why I might be making such a big deal, but then this is the first touch not actually caused by me making a telephonephone call to USCIS. (service request calls to the USCIS helpline and RFE phonecalls to CSC both causes touches)

For about 1 minute I was really excited that they were finally working on my case. Then it suddenly occurred to me that the touch is probably caused only by a letter from my senator requesting a status report, which is probably the same as paking a phone call I hope it's more than that.

Clearly if I was going to make an expedite request I would consider the actual case very carefully. Use of terms like "depression" etc... would be somewhat stupid. I wasn't born yesterday. The application would effectively have to be filed on my behalf by my employer or senator or both, otherwise it would likely be a waste of time.

As for unprocessed July 2007 petitions, the one I sent in is the oldest of all of them, I believe. Therefore I would not be jumping ahead of anyone. With the exception of 1 or 2, all applications submitted between September 2007 and February 2008 have already been approved. Clearly something with the system is broken.

The situation with k3 visas doesn't seem to be understood by many. They were originally intended for those applicants with long I-130 wait times (a situation that has re-emerged recently). USCIS has found a way to defeat their original purpose, however, by relegating them merely to a faster track through NVC. They are not complying with the LIFE ACT by not approving K3 visas for those whose I-130 is being held up somewhere.

I'm sorry to see that your own time line has become very long. At least Canada is very near.

I did indeed contact one of me senators just last week {see topic "USCIS nullify LIFE ACT"}. I tried to make this more broad and not just specific to my case. There seems to be a handful of other VJers whose July 2007 petitions haven't been looked at either, and for whom the K3 process, as it was originally intended, is not providing any relief. For that reason I'm suspecting USCIS will just respond by saying that it's "within their normal processing times." I see that other VJers have gotten such a response.

So in preparation for it being considered "within normal processing times" I need to consider other possibilities. I thought it might be considered in the National Interest if I'm impeded from doing my Gov't job properly by USCIS.

I'm wondering whether to consider an expedite request and whether USCIS would consider it valid. Opinions would be appreciated.

Basically I filed a I-130 for my wife back in July 2007. Nothing has happened. Never heard anything back on any of the service requests I made. The bottom line is that USCIS have evidently ceased processing applications that were filed in July 2007. They are only processing 2008 petitions now.

My reasons for an expedite request might seem tenuous, however. Basically I work at what is historically a Govt. Weapons lab (Los Alamos) so my work is in the National Interest. I don't have anything to do with weapons themselves, but my work is still in the National Interest. But that's me. Why would they care about my wife? Well, the only case I can make is that I'm so severely demotivated at the moment with the way things are going that I am considering to quit my job in order to be with my wife and start a new life elsewhere. I know this sounds radical, but my options seem to be extremely limited. Tomorrow I have to travel abroad to give a talk at some conference. After that I have to host many visitors from a foreign country. All of this has become so much more stressful what with my complete loss of sleep of late and lack of motivation (I would even say depression). So the only thing I can hope for is a letter from my employer requesting my case to be expedited. However, maybe this sounds too tenuous for USCIS to consider?

Another possibility to consider is that I'm owed about $4000 in overpaid 2007 taxes as a result of filing my taxes jointly with my wife who doesn't earn anything as a student. I'm not sure I will even be able to collect this $4000 because it's not possible for me to open a joint bank account in the US without my wife being physically present at the bank. I wonder what USCIS considers to be financial hardship and whether $4000 would be considered enough? I've also spent almost $8000 in plane fares just to be with my wife since filing, flying back and forth across the Pacific multiple times, which isn't helping global warming one bit, but that probably doesn't count because it was a voluntary payment on my part- not to mention all of the hotel expenses etc......

Not sure whether I have a case. Opinions would be appreciated.

If I were to request a successful expedite service, does anyone know how it works and what will happen. I was just reading one of the threads on VJ where a woman was summoned to an interview at her local USCIS field office as a result of such an expedite request while her husband is abroad in Mexico. What does that mean? I thought they would only do that if they suspected visa fraud or something similarly serious.

For those who might be interested, here is the first letter back from one of my senators after faxing the form 2 days ago:

"Dear....

Thank you for your recent letter requesting assistance with regard to the problems you have encountered. I appreciate the confidence you have shown by contacting me and will be glad to assist you.

I have been in touch with the appropriate authorities on your behalf and will notify you upon receipt of their report.

Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention and for the opportunity to be of service. Should you need to contact me further, please contact me at............

sincerely

........."

Lets hope the report will be more informative that what I have got from USCIS telephone personnel. Could be a waste of time as some VJers have indicated, but then have to do something with all these sleepless nights.

A divorce can be very cheap if you are both in agreement and have no disputes over property or kids. Disputes only make the lawyers rich. Mine cost me just $75 without ever going anywhere near a lawyer in 2004. I wqs married to my x-wife from Belgium for 4 years (after previously being gf and bf for 6 years). My x-wife filled out most of the paperwork with help some of her female work colleagues who were more experienced with divorce matters. I took the paperwork to the court building to get it processed. Never saw the judge. A clerk took the paperwork to be signed by the judge while I waited for a few minutes. The whole process only took about 30 minutes. Most of that was taken up by photocopying.

They can indeed process a I-130 (at least the service center part) as fast as a K3, but only sometimes.

[quote

When Congress authorized K-3's back in 2000, I-130's were taking about 2 years for approval. USCIS (then the INS) wanted nothing to do with the k-3's claiming they coud approve a I-130 as fast as a potential K-3. They drug their feet for a few years and didnt implement the K-3 until a few years later (after 9-11).

Now that the I-130 is a fast as a K-3...there is really no need for a K-3, and the USCIS will automatically approve an K-3 at the same time they approve the I-130.

Look for K-3's to go away.....not needed anymore.

/quote]

I became a USC in August (shortly after my I-130 application). In hindsight I should have waited until I was a USC first because it seems to be the case that August and September petitions are being adjudicated before July petitions. There are numerous other July petitioners in the same boat as me who were USCs when they applied. I do wonder whether they have simply lost a pile of July petitions and are not telling us? It wouldn't be the first time from some of the stories I've read in the past.

I looked at your timeline. Are you still an LPR and not a USC? I know that LPR's wait an unGodly amount of time to bring spouses over. If this is the case, that may be partly why your wait has been so long. Otherwise as a new USC you should be able to update your resident status to USC with USCIS and get an earlier priority date.

When they were first introduced, the INS (USCIS) forwarded approved K3 petitions on to the NVC and on to the embassy long before the I-130 was approved.

Now USCIS only approve K3 petitions at the same time as I-130 petitions, and since I-130 approvals can sometimes be very slow in coming, the K3 is no longer a fast process in those cases. It has become completely conditional on an approved I-130 because we no longer see stand alone approved K3 applications like we used to. The K3 will still be fast for the fortunate few who have their I-130 applications approved very rapidly, but then these aren't the ones who most need a K3 visa and for whom it was originally intended according to the LIFE ACT.

{I dont follow your logic...if you have an approved I-130, why would you care about a

K-3??

And if your I-130 is not approved, the K-3 would still go forward...no?? Where is this conditional approval change stated??

}

I think doing this is pretty useless, USCIS is aware of all of this.

You're probably absolutely right, but there's very little else I can do and at least there is some tiny remote possibility of something happening [http://domenici.senate.gov/assistance/fedassist.cfm]. USCIS probably will likely be contacted, but they will probably just respond by saying that my application is within their normal processing times [hahahahahaha], which obviously isn't the slightest but true.

I was thinking of sending a letter to one of my senators incorporating the following text. I thought other applicants with unusually long I-130 wait times might be interested:

I'm a ......... and filed petitions for Conditional Residence (CR, case # ......, July 10, 2007) and spousal (K3, case # ......, Sept 06, 2007) visas last year to be reunited with my wife by allowing her entry to the US. Unfortunately, we have been subjected to unusually long wait times compared both to other applicants (e.g. those registered at visajourney.com) and to the published USCIS processing times (i.e. on the USCIS website). My long wait is caused entirely by a recent USCIS procedural change in which the department of homeland security (i.e. USCIS) decided to nullify certain benefits of the immigration law introduced in the 2000 LIFE ACT.

To reunite families of US citizens separated by the long wait times encountered with their I-130 CR (alien spouse) visa petitions, a new visa category (K3) was introduced as part of the LIFE ACT, signed into law by the president in December 2000. The intended purpose of the K3 visa (as outlined in the LIFE ACT) is to facilitate family reunion by enabling the faster entry into the US of a spouse (and/or children) while their I-130 petition awaits adjudication. As stated in the LIFE ACT, the K3 visa is not intended to be dependent on the prior approval of a I-130 petition (which can sometimes take a year or more) as that defeats its original intended purpose. Recently, however, USCIS began circumventing the LIFE ACT by changing the processing procedure. In contradiction to the requirements of the LIFE ACT, K3 visas are now conditional upon the prior approval of an I-130 CR. While this matters little to the vast majority of I-130 petitions that are approved in just a few months, those applicants with very long I-130 wait times (such as myself) are now completely disenfranchised from their rights to the benefits introduced in the 2000 LIFE ACT.

me too waiting forever, spending a fortune on plane tickets, running out of vacation time to meet my wife, don't know what I'm going to do

what did we do wrong to deserve such a long wait?

I wonder how many cases before ours are still sitting there waiting or whether we're just unlucky? is there a fraction of cases that they just never adjudicate..... that they just put away in a filing cabinet never to see the light of day again?

you can't believe a word anyone at USCIS CSC tells you...... back in November I was informed that they were about to adjudicate my case..... 5 months later I was told exactly the same thing from a different person!...... still one month later and nothing has happened...... i.e. they just say anything to get rid of you...... never got a response from any one of my service requests

I was under the impression that the processing time has to have gone past 30 days to get a service request? That's what I've done now on each of my I130 and I129F applications.

If I understand correctly, the service request does nothing and it takes many months for them to do nothing? I've already had enough sleepless nights wondering what I might have done wrong with my application.

I got a few of those already.. the "target date" has passed too with nothing..

Within the last month I called USCIS and made 2 separate service requests because both my I-130 (July) and I-129F (September) are looooooooooooooong overdue. Has anyone on this forum ever had any luck with such a request and how log does it take? I have confirmation numbers of the service requests, but not sure what I can do with them. I wonder whether this long wait is unique to those with a spouse in the Philippines?

Hi there, can you explain what is meant by "new start date." Does this mean that you gained nothing by sending in your I130 prior to citizenship. The reason I ask is that I'm in the same boat. I mailed my I130 in July, became a citizen at the end of August, but it seems (by the way things are going) that I should have waited until I was a citizen before mailing in my I130. I didn't upgrade my I130 until November unfortunately because at first I thought that mailing the I129F would be sufficient. It should be obvious right! No, but nothing is obvious from what you seem to be saying.

Anyway, I've called CSC several times now since December using the RFE trick (keep asking the same question about my returned 129F check and innocently asking if it was causing a problem with the I130 which seems to be gathering a lot of dust somewhere) and have been told several times since December that my application is "about to be reviewed." However, nothing has happened. Tow weeks ago I called the general help line to request action, given that my I130 is more than 30 days over due. They said that the date for taking action on that request was May 2. Lets see if anything happens.

Infopass at CSC is not convenient for me since I live in NM. Did you manage to learn anything interesting from that experience.

Hi, please add me to the list as a December filer. Just had an infopass today. Nothing new, was told by a very compassionate lady to "wait". At least she was kind....will take that....will take anything at this point...clutching at straws...

I-130

Service Center: CSC

Mailed --- April 12, 2007

NOA1 --- May 4, 2007

Notice Date --- April 18, 2007

Upgraded (USC) --- Dec 21, 2007 (Infopass says this is my new start date)

Acknowledged --- Dec 26, 2007

Touched --- Jan 16, 2008

Service Request --- Feb 5, 2008 (received letter saying another 60 days to go)

Infopass --- April 16, 2008 (same answer as above)

K-3

Serive Center: CSC

Mailed --- Dec 21, 2007

NOA1 --- Dec 26, 2007

Notice Date --- Dec 27, 2007

Touched --- Jan 3, 2008

I meant the received date, oops

quote name='pechez' date='Nov 25 2007, 01:58 AM' post='1355498']

ninja rocket is right. but The one that I spoke with told me its not the receipt date. Its the received date of the I-130 and told me that I can have my I-129f approved sooner because of the I-130 received date because they are being linked together.

so the moral of this story is if you want a foriegn spouse and want to avoid waiting forever, move to Vermont!

Since there in no way that any of us can no what USCIS might consider as acceptable evidence for a bonafide marriage, I sent as much as possible: photographs (including wedding), bank statements over last 6 months showing regular wire transfers, phone bills, copies of email in and out boxes, copies of my air ticket stubbs and itineries going back and forth between the US and the Philippines multiple times. I even signed a joint tenancy agreement with my wife in the Philippines, which then serves as the address for all her USCIS correspondence. I was worried because we had no snail mail correspondence which would provide hard evidence of dated postage. I was further worried because all of our initial emails were via some internet dating website which I was horrified to find had been deleted without my consent. The initial contact might be considered as crucial evidence.