knittygurl

i am sorry bro. i wish you all the best in your appeal. 419 is the source of too many problems for fellow africans.

Today we have been able to get a good attorney for our case and he said we should re-file,he is charging $3000 for all..This is reasonable to others my wife had talked to since I got denied.I could see clearly that not all the immigration attorneys are professional and what will be good for us.My wife has come to Africa twice in six months to see me and we are expecting our baby in few months and I was told about the DNA evidence to prove my paternity of the child and for them to know that our relationship is not meant for immigration purpose has the consular officer said...My question is that is it good that we are no longer considering the APPEAL OR THE MOTION TO REOPEN..Also I wanna know if I should wait for the baby to be born before refiling another petition cuz by then we will have the baby's birthcertificate to prove that our marriage being consumated. I think the period of the next interview might be closer as I really feel upset by the refusal of the consular officer who beleived cuz we had a short engagement or how we met online means that our relationship is fraud..I wanna hear your advice on this and whoever that have similar experience should kindly share there experience..

I forgot to say that since your wife is the USC, you probably won't have to do a DNA test to prove paternity, unless things have changed. I have a few friends who had babies before their spouses came over, and they didn't have to do this. Does anyone else have a different experience?

i am sorry bro. i wish you all the best in your appeal. 419 is the source of too many problems for fellow africans.

Today we have been able to get a good attorney for our case and he said we should re-file,he is charging $3000 for all..This is reasonable to others my wife had talked to since I got denied.I could see clearly that not all the immigration attorneys are professional and what will be good for us.My wife has come to Africa twice in six months to see me and we are expecting our baby in few months and I was told about the DNA evidence to prove my paternity of the child and for them to know that our relationship is not meant for immigration purpose has the consular officer said...My question is that is it good that we are no longer considering the APPEAL OR THE MOTION TO REOPEN..Also I wanna know if I should wait for the baby to be born before refiling another petition cuz by then we will have the baby's birthcertificate to prove that our marriage being consumated. I think the period of the next interview might be closer as I really feel upset by the refusal of the consular officer who beleived cuz we had a short engagement or how we met online means that our relationship is fraud..I wanna hear your advice on this and whoever that have similar experience should kindly share there experience..

Benny, I am sorry too about your case. I and my husband had a similar experience at the Lagos consulate on Monday 6/22/09, and he too was given a blue slip with recommendation for denial due to "relationship for immigration purposes only". The interviewer was a caucasian woman instead of a man, however. I will post the questions he was asked.

inter. goodmorning ---me goodmorning

inter. who paid for your visa.... me my wife

niter.. what dose she do ... me cynographer ultera sound of the heart

inter .. how did you met....me through mutaul aquintance

inter how? me on phone,

inter how did you meet on phone? my friend mr bayo gave me her number?

inter why? me i told him that i need a wife

inter why not nigeria....me i have had two realationship and it did not go well it end up with heartbreak.

inter why bayo me cus he is my friend we lived in the same area and i trust him

inter how long have you known him me 6years

inter where dose he stay in the state me...chicago

inter how did they know each other? me...they met when she use to work for siemens

inter why did you not ask your sister or family to help you with a wife .. me cus i told bayo an he promise to help

inter how many children did she have .... me two

inter .. how old are they and their names tyler 15 joenathan 17

inter do you talk to them ..me yes

inter what will you do with the children when you get there ... me we have agreed that i addopt them

inter ... when last did you see her ... me october 2008

inter.. how long did you stayed together befor you get married ..me 4days

inter did she meet any of your family member ... me yes she did the next day meet mysister, brotherand perents

can i see the photograph ..me yes

innter how did you propose .. me on phone i mail a ring to her

which carrier .... me fedex

inter do you have the fedex slip ....me no

inter why did she take 8 days for her first visit ...me that is the vacation time she have then cus she was working with siemens

inter .. what did you intend to do over there ...... me to work and my wife is helping get a job

inter what do you do ....me am selfempolyed

inter how? ....me i ride bike but am a butcher by proffertion

inter who is paying for your ticket ...me i am

inter go an sit down I will call you …me ok

inter can i see the phone log of 2006? ... me ok here are all the phone log

inter but the 2006 is not here.......me let me see hmmmmmm you are right but this all the ones she sent to me.... inter ok

ok go an sit down i will call you

i waitted for 8 mins before she call me and gave me the paper I try to ask her why she just told me that there is nothing she can do that she will write homeland security

As you can see from the questions, it seemed she was looking for the 2006 phone logs, but I'd used phone cards to call until I found out about Pingo for tracking my phone calls. Also, for some reason, she was upset that he'd found an American to marry, and not a Nigerian woman.

I have called the Lagos consulate several times, only to be hung up on by the Americans who answer the phones (the Nigerians are very nice on the phone), sent several emails to every email address on the website, including Abuja, which have all been ignored/not answered, have both my Senator's and Congressman's offices working on this case to find out a valid reason, have prepared packets with copies of all my documentation to be mailed to both the Consulate General in Lagos as well as the Ambassador in Abuja, and have seen an immigration lawyer (non-profit that a good lawyer friend of mine recommended - she's married to a man from Benin). The lawyer told me to wait until the paperwork comes back and see if USCIS denies before deciding to refile or appeal. The appeal process can take up to 18 months (90 days for paperwork from Lagos to USCIS, 120 days for USCIS to review and make decision, the up to 11 more months for a decision). The refile means that "marriage fraud" is stamped on your case, and it will be hard to overturn. However since your wife is pregnant that is an excellent way to get the case overturned. I had a miscarriage due to the stress of this situation, but my doctor wrote me a letter to include, and I'll be going over again in August with the hopes of conceiving again.

If your wife would like to compare notes, she can email me here. Maybe we can compare notes on lawyers.

If your wife is on your health insurance, your insurance should pay for this test at your doctor's office. Some travel/health clinics here in MI tell you that your insurance won't pay and you can't get the tests done at the doctor's offices, but they will.

I just received my NOA1 today - my US Postal service receipt says it was received and signed for on 11/19 @7:07 am, but USCIS has 11/21 on the NOA1 as the receive date. There seems to be a little hope and light at the end of the long, dark tunnel!

Hi all,

I just found this forum so I'd like to contribute as I am going to use recipes from here. When I was in Lagos last time, my sister-in-law taught me how to make Sallad and Fried Rice & Chicken. Here are the recipes.

Fried Rice & Chicken (feeds about 6 to 10)

1 whole chicken, cut up

6 c. rice

about 3 cups vegetable oil

2 red medium red onions, chopped medium

4 large carrots, peeled

1 can peas

1 can corn

2-3 handsful fresh green beans

1-2 tablespoons curry (more curry makes your chicken more flavorful)

1 tablespoon thyme

2 maggi cubes (the ones from African stores are better than the ones in the supermarket)

2 packets Benny Chicken (African store) or if you can't find it, use 2-3 more chicken flavored maggi cubes

salt to taste

red pepper to taste

Wash and boil chicken until half done. In pot with chicken, place 2 maggi cubes, salt, red pepper, thyme and curry, bring to a boil over high heat then lower to medium heat, adding Benny Chicken seasoning (or additional maggi) now. Let cook until halfway done, maybe 30 minutes or so. While meat is cooking, drain corn and peas and chop carrots and green beans. When meat is cooked, take from pot, and measure your water. Put the rice in the pot, and pour in your chicken stock with enough additional water to make 12 cups. Bring to boil over high heat, then turn down flame to low, cover and cook about 10 minutes. While rice is cooking, heat oil in skillet and fry your chicken until golden brown (don't flour it!). If rice is halfway done (water level reduced, but not fluffy), then put corn, peas, carrots, and green beans on top of rice. Pour about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cupshot oil on top of vegetables and rice (this "fries" the rice) and cook until rice is done. Mix vegetables into rice until well blended, and serve with fried chicken.

Sallad (feeds 6 to 10)

1 large cabbage, minus the dark green leaves

1/8 cup salt

1 large bowl with COLD water

6 boiled eggs

2-3 carrots, peeled

1 large cucumber, peeled if you like, otherwise wash well to remove wax

Miracle Whip or mayo to taste

Cut cabbage in half and slice both halves with sharp knife on diagonal as finely as you can. You want it to look shredded, but need long strips. Rinse cabbage, then soak in large bowl of ice cold water, or as cold as you can get it with salt. (This flavors the cabbage.) While soaking cabbage, grate carrots, finely cube cucumber and chop eggs. Drain cabbage and add carrots and cucumber. Add Miracle Whip or mayo and stir until a creamy consistency is reached, then fold in eggs. If you serve this with fried rice and chicken, you will win over any Nigerian, or person who loves Nigerian food!

The frst time I made this meal in the states, I cooked 10 cups of rice and invited a Nigerian friend over. It passed her inspection - and she said so to my husband!

Peggy

Thank you for this explanation. I was planning on calling in tomorrow, and still will, but ask whomever I speak to to explain a bit further to see if I can even get a straight answer out of them. I'd volunteer to go help them process applications if they'd let me! At least that would help speed up the process!

Peggy

I spoke with someone today at USCIS and they told me the way it works is that Service Centers are just piling I-130s in a box and sending them off to the Chicago Lockbox. There is no order whatsoever. He even told me when it reaches the Chicago lockbox they are just picking up boxes as they come not looking to see which box has an earlier receive date compared to the others and since vermont and california are both sending their I-130s to Chicago lockbox they don't really have the time to look for dates; they are just trying to get rid of them as soon as possible. He said they just pick up the box that is closest to them. I think this is the first legit answer I got from USCIS because it total put things in perspective. It makes more sense why some people in November got theres and some people in Sept didn't. Its not fair though. He told me to just imagine working a mailroom full of envelopes; are you A)going to take your time to sort them in order or B)put everything in a box to cut time. He said majority of the workers are going to do B. Sad but try I'll probably do B too. So I guess just sit tight and wait and hopefully they get done with all application by mid Feb. like I heard they probably do. So I guess I am also saying it doesn't really make sense to send in another app just yet.

yes,this does make sense,and this is probably the truth !!! so,we sit and wait some more.Yeah i guess i will hold off sending in a new app also.

good luck

and a prayer !!!!

jim

Hello,

I sent in my I-130 on Nov 15. It was received and signed for at the NSC on Nov 19 at 7:07 am. I still haven't received my NOA1 either, nor am I in the system, as "there were millions of applications sent in just before the price increase in July" according to the immigration officers that I've spoken to. I am truly upset with these people who seem to think that we should just wait for the buearacracy to take it's sweet time to process our applications. They have even told my husband to stop calling from Nigeria, but I told him that he has the right to call, as the USCIS even states this in the recorded mesage that plays during the hold time. I know exactly how you all feel, as I get so angry thinking about it some days that I can't call for fear that I might say something that will cause them to purposely lose my package and have to start this process all over again.

Does anyone know if the 90 day time period means 90 actual days or 90 business days? I can't help but wonder about that since we have had, Thanksgiving (2 days), Christmas (2 days), and New Year's day (1 day) in this waiting peiod as well.

Peggy

I mailed my I-130 to the NSC on 11/16 with a delivery date of 11/19 @7:07 am. I haven't received a NOA yet, so can you please tell me how the USCIS claims to be up to date on this particular form for the NSC? Would you suggest I call them? I don't know what to do and my husband is asking me every day if the NOA has come in the mail yet. Of course, we are both frustrated , but if I had some way of finding out some info, it would help.

Thanks!

Here the news for the week. And why or why I-130 didn't even move a nudge?

As of November 30, 2007, USCIS has completed initial data entry and issued receipt notices for applications and petitions received on or before the dates indicated:

California Service Center

Form Number Date Received

I-130 8/30/2007

I-751 11/13/2007

N-400 11/08/2007

All Other Forms Current

Nebraska Service Center

Form Number Date Received

I-131 11/27/2007

I-140 11/27/2007

I-485 Employment

Based 11/27/2007

I-765 11/27/2007

N-400 11/26/2007

All Other Forms Current

Texas Service Center

Form Number Date Received

I-485 Employment

Based 11/23/2007

N-400 7/29/2007

All Other Forms Current

Vermont Service Center

Form Number Date Received

I-130 7/29/2007

N-400 9/05/2007

All Other Forms 11/22/2007

USCIS Lockbox

Form Number Date Received

TPS Current