kiahs_wife

ok, so here's the deal,

I have been in touch with the USCIS field office director in the London embassy who emailed me on Wednesday to say that he is going to recommend our waiver be approved. He said also that he had to check my background check and so on then we would be good to go! great news i thought!! Then i got to thinking about it and I wondered about his choice of words: 'recommend it be approved' what does this mean? Does someoene else have to adjuducate our case and approve it or is just to sign it off? I would have thought that as he was the field office directre that his decision was final? IS there still a chance that it could be denied by someoene else?

I tried to email him with this query but as yet do not have a reply. I havnt started to pack up yet as I feel uneasy that its not perhaps final.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I had my interview at the end of Nov and was denied due to overstay. Submitted my i601 the same day in london. I was approved about 3 weeks later and flew to the US in january.

Hey, I notice from your timeline that you like me had your interview in lndon. Get this: had my interview 3rd june but was denied the right to hand in comleted 601 packet which was contrary to what my husband's senator's office told me i could do. Further, they said that the CO had discretion to review it if it was a clearly approvable case. The guy appeared to be sympathetic but when I told him i had called the embassy with regards to payment and was told to bring cash, he denied this was a possibility.

Secondly, I see that your mp wrote to the us ambassador. May I ask what the letter contained and what basis they used for their argument? Do you believe it was helpful in your case and so something I should do? I thought it was beyond their control as it is nothing to do with the UK.

My case is simply an overstay of 18 months during which time i had green card paperwork filled out and was saving for the money which my ex USC husband did his best to spend the money each time. Marriage broke up and i left the US. this was in 2007 when i left of my own accord and had no clue that I was breaking the law. Shows how naiive and stupid I was to think that as long as I was married and in the filing process I was ok.

We cannot afford a lawyer and my father in law is trying to get an interview with his congressaman (Burr) to see what he can do personallyas the whole thing is a crock! We have written a hardship letter but I dont know if USCIS will consider it extreme hardsip or not. I wuld hope so as it seems pretty extreme to me. (can send you a copy as ur input would be very helpful)

Any advice is appreciated! Anyways, i wont ramble any more. So desperate as this is destroying us!

thanks

Hey, thanks for the reply but I have since found out that the 26th May refers to the priority date and NOT the date they recieve the 601. (immigration specialist at senetor's office informed me of this) This makes sense as the case number (LND etc) is on the i797 which has our priority date (11may2010) on it. On looking at Andrew's spread sheet, there are cases there which has been dealt with in a day and others a couple of weeks. I spoke to this specialist and she said our case is not complex and it is possible. So, no disrespect, but im going with her on that one as this is what she does as a job. As far as the letter and 601 packet goes, i have everything all in place for that. It has been sent down to the London embassy in advance of my interview so they will 1) see that the senetor is taking a keen interest in our case as there will be an attatched letter from his office stating that and requesting that it be investigated to the full extent of the law and the process streamlined-they are not allowed to as for it to be pushed through fast in those words-and 2) they will have plemnty of time to look at the evidence and be fully aware of the situation and all compelling evidence prior to interviewing/grilling me. As it is going to be only a few minutues long, I want them to be fully aware of whats going on so I can make the most of the time I have and convince them That I am eligable to apply for the waiver. With them having seen all evidence, they will then make their recomendation in writing and that will be added to the packet so the better the impression I and the evidence make, the better.

Maybe I wont be there for Christmas, but who knows? I am a strong chirstian and God is very much still in the miricale business. We have dedicated this whole situation to Him and I know he will take care of us regardless of the outcome and He is the best lawyer you can have on your side for He dwelleth in the hearts and monds of all mankind.

Good luck in your application-I hope the investment pays off and you guys get approved!

Hey Andrew

first of all I saw from your ticker youre fixin to go to the US in three days! Im sooooooooo jealous! LOL seriously though, congrats!

We are currently going through the process. Six months after filing i-130 it got accepted and filed AOS and so on, waiting for the packet to reach London. Hope it doesn't take too long! We have Sen. Richard Burr's office advising us as we cant afford a lawyer . The lady we are dealing with has been very hel;pful and has agreed to send all paperwork to London ahead of my interview giving them time to look oer the evidence in the hope my interview will go well and they wont give me too hard a time of it. Do you know how long the NVC usually takes to send the packet to London? do they use a courier do you know?

I overstayed though not on purpose as I was married before and my then husband was sent to Iraq (army) and i was told that i could wait on filing green card stuff til he was back stateside. We had everything filled out and medical completed though. Anyways, long story short, he was a lousy husband and I never managed to save any money for it as he would go and spend it and then threatedn to report me and have me deported (loooooong story). The marriage fell apart and I left the country, returning to Scotland where I divorced the wee #######.

I had no clue about this 10 year ban and didnt know about it til last June i tried to visit my then new fiance and was turned around being told i could no longer use the VWP to enter the US.

It was only upon the advice those at NY immigration station that I made an appt at the US embassy in London to get a visa that I was told I was banned for ten years!!!!!!!

Having done my research, i have already written a hardship letter as I know I will be denied a visa. I jus hope it is good enough. I have a 5 yr old step daughter who thinks of me as her mommy as I am all she has ever known. She is the one hurting themost in all of this and I hope, coming up to Christmas that they take pity and hurry us through. Our first anniversary is 23rd Dec and would love to be there with my husband and daughter for it.

The senetor's office has said that it is possible though after looking at your updates for the processing times at the emabssy, I am not too sure this will happen. She also said that the fact they are taking an interest in our case will go in our favor (somehow! i have no clue but not knocking it!)

This whole process has taken almost two years and I am so stressed and depressed about the whole thing. I am an unemployed student and struggling to make ends meet, paying large phone bills and internet bills to try and maintain contact. All we want is to be a family and put all this behind us. All this red tape and hundreds and hundreds of dollars PER PIECE OF PAPER is rediculous and I hate the fact they are seperating families like this! I could go on but dont worry, I wont! LOL I just get so mad at the whole thing. This mess is all I can think and worry about and its driving me craaaaaaazy!

Any help or advice you can give based on your own experience or stuff you have read would be VERY uch appreciated! Also, if you think you could help, I could send you the letter we wrote for extreme hardship and we also wrote in red 'EXPEDITE REQUEST' too to see if that will make it go faster.

How long from your charting is it taking for them to process 601s? I cant mak head nor tale of it (im dyslexic too which doesnt help!)

Also, I noticed when I checked, it says that they are processing 601s recieved on 26th may...does this mean the priority date of the case number or the actual date the 601 reached their office? if it is the former, our priority date is 11th may. if it is the latter...are we in trouble and in fora really long wait?! ARRRGH my head hurts with all of this mess!

Thanks again.

Cassia