USC Green Card Petitioner's Committee--Organization and Agenda Moving Forward

[thedude6752000 360]

So, now that I am back in a healthy mental state I and the numbers for this month are good and out (boo!) I feel the need to get the ball rolling so to speak.

Long story short, we're losing. Despite their promises the USCIS is not significantly increasing their approval rate, certainly not enough to get the wait time to 5 months by May. Currently they're in March of last year and at the end of this week it's going to be February. The USCIS will have to move their processing date up by 9 months by the middle of May to meet their goal. At the rate their going, it's not going to happen any time soon. In the meantime the Congress is soon going to start discussing a general amnesty for illegal immigrants, which if passed would be absolutely disastrous for the legal immigrant community, judging by the effects of the DACA and Provisional Waiver programs. If an amnesty is passed without provisions to reduce USC I-130 wait times those of us currently waiting from late last year and new USC I-130 filers could be facing wait times of more than 1 year just for an I-130. This cannot be allowed to happen.

They need to feel the heat. We need to remind them we are here, and we won't be ignored.

This was a good example of the actions we need to take:

http://uscisconnect.ideascale.com/

After removing my letter three times, eventually USC I-130 petitions, their spouses and supported voted the letter to the #2 place on the site (we were only 1 vote away from #1) and downvoted all of the other "ideas" in their "conversation" to oblivion. In response to this, the USCIS was forced to end their "discussion." The people in charge of this surely took note.

We need more actions like this, more civil disobediance. The USCIS hosts nation-wide teleconferences on obscure issues like O visas for artists and the usage of the Creole language for USCIS services, subjects that address a rather small minority of the USCIS's "customers." While I myself believe that art and language are important and don't have any objection to addressing them by the USCIS ipso facto, I DO take umbrage to them holding so many events on obscure issues like this when there are HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of US citizens waiting to see their loved ones again or exiled from their native land, and the USCIS refuses to hold a teleconference for us or to even address us with anything but lies.

In Occupied Territories of Palestine, the IDF engages in a number of practices which it calls (forgive me if I err as my Hebrew is really rusty) "lehargish etzmukha" or "making yourself (your presence) felt." Soldiers are sent out to map and take pictures of areas that have been mapped many times before, the IDF breaks into houses in the middle of the night, blindfolds and shackles the men, and rides them around the village in circles before releasing them, IDF soldiers go on midnight patrols through villages and throw glow sticks through the windows of Palestinian houses. What does throwing a glow stick into someone's house do to them? When the Palestinians wake up in the morning, the know the IDF has been there, they remember that they are a conquered, occupied people. As much as I oppose this terrorism against the Palestinians, it has been extremely effective: despite the continued building of settlements and the tightening of marshal law there's been no significant acts of armed resistance in the West Bank for more than 5 years. Why? Because the Palestinians know that the IDF is there 24/7, and this keeps them cowed and afraid, "on their best behavior."

I feel saddened that I am calling for such a strategy against my own government, but they way things are going I feel it is necessary. The USCIS needs to "feel our presence." Everytime they hold one of these events we need to call in and let the USCIS know that we, too, are waiting for our teleconference. Everytime they open up an idea on their website we need to flood it about the I-130 issue. I no longer think that monthly letters are enough. We need to send them letters on a weekly basis, and then if that doesn't work it needs to be daily. We need to increase our media outreach, starting with the local papers first. We need to release our long-talked about video campaign. We need to make them hear us, we need to make sure that this time the House does not forget about us in the immigration bill.

I think we have reached a point where just posting a thread is not enough. We need to be a real committee, and we need members to take responsibility for certain projects.

I would suggest that the positions should be a general chariman/woman, a video campaign coordinator, a letter campaign coordinator, a media specialist/liason, and someone in charge of making our presence felt at the USCIS outreach events. And we need people who are comitted to solving this problem once and for all--after you're in you're in, even if your I-130 gets approved. Even if we get out of this, we need to remember those who will come after us.

Thank you and God bless.

[bdrew612 1,071]

First, welcome back thedude.

Second, let's do this. I'm happy to help with writing (I think there should be a few of us on board in this area). I also think it might be a good idea to have a social media coordinator, too.

[thedude6752000 360]

Sounds good to me! Anyone else want to help out on the letter front?

[bdrew612 1,071]

Just got off the phone with Sen Klobuchar's office. I'm goung to be sending her office copies of the letters we've sent to USCIS, the Community Idea fiasco and some data that shows USCIS is not doing their job!

On a side note, her staffer remembered me lol

[Kat&Abhi 42]

I just want to say that I fully support what you have said, and while I can not spearhead any movement due to my family obligations (it sure is hard being a single mom, working full time while my hubby is waiting to join us here) I will do what I can to get the word out!

I have already contacted my local newspaper (haven't heard anything back yet) since they recently did an immigration piece about the illegals being deported from the Cleveland area.

I have already been in contact with my senator (Sherrod Brown) and since I have a contact there I have no problem going to them again once we have some organized material to share.

[angeldaemon13 42]

I agree. It isn't civil disobedience, it is standing up what you believe in and fighting for. We didnt break the laws nor have we entered illegally. i think in some ways, we need to separate the issue. We need reform, to OUR cases. We are not DREAMers, nor DACA's nor do we need Provisional Waivers.

We didn't just meet our spouses, we didn't just start popping out children just so they can be US citizens. We are spouses abroad. Some of us have lived with our spouses, no matter what the case is, we are SEPARATED and we are looking to be with the one we love in that country. And we certainly should not be cast aside for the next cases of amnesty, or new generation of DREAMers, and we arent just entering a relationship for K1 status. I think we need to strategize and market our plight based on USC FAMILY UNITY.

i agree with theDude, we need designated members. All or nothing. If we run in 100 different directions, we appear unorganized and "poor me". We dont want that. It isn't clearing the backlogs in one foul swoop but having them recognize us for us and I do believe our cases should be handled differently because we have established a relationship. Some have children who are USC born abroad.

We need to stand up and fight for OUR CASES. no more waiting in line like Kaylara and her family or LoveMyTico and her family for close to a year on a redundant petition alone. it is not right but do it practically.

[angeldaemon13 42]

Something i did up today. i am not good at it but if you want touse it, tweak it, change it, by all means: (TheDude, opening quote is yours)

“If an amnesty is passed without provisions to reduce USC I-130 wait times those of us currently waiting from late last year (2013) and new USC I-130 filers could be facing wait times of more

than 1 year just for an I-130. This cannot be allowed to happen.”

-visajourney member

US Citizen and Family Unity From Abroad

Many United States Citizens are currently living in the United States, separated from their families. Whether they had been abroad for travel, work or relationship.

These citizens is someone's husband or wife, separated from their spouse and young child/children. Some returned to the United States to establish domicile, some returned to provide for their family abroad, some are living abroad, and filed a petition for Alien Relative. They are waiting for their I-130 petitions to be approved.

The current waiting time as indicated on USCIS website is currently 8.9 months....

JUST FOR THE PETITION

While they wait, their spouse and child are not allowed to enter the U.S., even for a brief visit. In order to obtain a Non-immigrant Visa, you must demonstrate you have no intent to live in the US but during the immigration process, it is recommended to finish the process in its entirety in your country of origin. If your spouse does provide ties to his/her country and made it over the border, you should not Adjust Status as you then demonstrate you had the intent on your approved visit.

A K-3 spouse visa was originally introduced to allow the foreign spouse of the U.S. citizen to enter the United States on a temporary visa while awaiting processing of the I-130 immediate relative petition to backlogs that would cause you to wait years. Children of the foreign spouse were allowed to enter on K-4 dependent visas. This was to help reduce family separation time.

At the current time, only the I-130 immediate relative petition is being processed by the USCIS. If a spouse/Petitioner has filed for the K3, it is basically obsolete. Once K3 is processed, it is then married up with the i-130 with reduction of wait time but rather, increased wait time because of today's backlog.

Family members should qualify to immigrate to the US if they fall within any of the family immigration categories currently designated by Congress.

They should not have to compete with other immigrants

who are coming to the US for employment; DREAMers or DACA's.

Current USCIS backlog:'

USCIS were flooded with "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”)" petitions. This program was signed into law and on August 15, 2012 they started processing this paperwork which basically pushed I-130's to the sidelines. (provide info on this)

Then March 2013, Provisional Unlawful Waivers were introduced. “certain immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives) can apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. The provisional unlawful presence waiver process allows individuals, who only need a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence, to apply for a waiver in the United States and before they depart for their immigrant visa interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. “

This is only available to undocumented immigrants who can prove that their immediate family members would suffer "extreme hardship" in their absence, among other criteria. USCIS did not have an estimate for the number of people it expected to apply, but could impact as many as one million of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. http://fusion.net/justice/story/white-houses-change-immigration-process-families-15378

The change will cut down on the amount of time that some undocumented immigrants are separated from their immediate family members during the journey to legal status. So instead of spending months or even years abroad, a person may face as little as a few weeks outside of the U.S.

What about US Citizens and their Immediate Family?

For US Citizens and Spouses, there is no waiting list. Yet, the petition takes an absurd amount of time. For example, Nebraska Service Center, up to 8.5 months. If you are lucky, you have not received an infamous Request For Evidence (RFE) which could delay you longer. The petition is to check validity of your Bona fide relationship in which you have to prove this again at the interview stage. The petition also does a background check which is redundant because in the instructions, the beneficiary (spouse) must provide bio data from their passport.....from the country of origin in which they do a check before they issue your passport and later in the process must provide a police clearance at the the exit interview at your Embassy.

???

If you have your receipt number, you can go to the USCIS website and see processing times. USCIS average processing times vs Service Center your case may be sitting at and no matter what day you check it, still says last update as of October 31, 2013. Your case is in the midst of all other immigration cases.

Meanwhile,,,,Mom and Dad are chatting on Skype, missed another wedding Anniversary, dad missed his daughter's first tooth or James' first day of school, waiting to hear something, anything, when they possibly can go to the next stage so they can ALL be together.

US Immigration Reform 2014 should be to overhaul and prioritize legal Immigrants rather than fixing first the illegal immigrants

This is not the first time USCIS experienced a backlog of this magnitude. Due to September 11, 2001, many changes were made due to Homeland Security. It was a very tragic event, not just for the US but around the world. USCIS created the Backlog elimination Plann, updated June 2004. One of it's points in regards to the i-130.

Form I-130.

USCIS has formed an Action Team to streamline

the immigration process for eligible family members of United

States citizens and permanent residents. The long-standing

process first requires adjudication of a Petition for Alien

Relative (Form I-130) to determine if a relationship exists that

comports with the statute. Once that petition is approved, the

applicant either files for adjustment of status to permanent

resident in the United States or files for an immigrant visa

abroad at a United States Embassy or Consulate, where the relationship

issue is again adjudicated. USCIS is exploring ways

in which to eliminate the duplicative effort that the current

process mandates.

It is now 2014. there is yet another backlog. In this day of technology, this process should be more streamlined. It states it was exploring in 2004 how to eliminate the redundant steps in this process and 10 years later, USCIS and the I-130 is no further ahead. At whose expense.

Maybe eliminate the Petition, raise the fee for the actual Visa Application to help eliminate the backlog or reinstate the K3. Assess cases on 3 categories:Low, medium and high risk.

Foreign spouses are known immigrants. Easy to track through US spouse whereas fiance's are unknown. We have to clear Police/Background 3 times in the process when we have been married and can prove bona fide relationships!

If you can travel to the United States under a Visa Waiver Program and stay for 6 months for a visit, or come from Canada as a Snowbird for 6-8 months and have no intent to move when you are allowed to have a rental home in the United States and a home in Canada but you can not adjust Status to be as a family because you can no longer apply for K3 visa due to USCIS backlog?

Immigration Reform wants to try to grant Amnesty to the millions of illegals.....this is only going to be a recurring program when the system is not overhauled because it doesn't promote those who are doing it legally and suffer for insane amounts of time while it seems others are rewarded and yet, Dad misses out on another family holiday, mom wanting to tuck her children at night or Susie waiting to go for ice cream with bother her parents.

[bdrew612 1,071]

This is great!

The only statement I would suggest editing is the sentence that family members are not allowed to visit while the petition is pending (as many have been able to visit during the process). I think we should leave out anything that can be reatively easy to disprove.

[bdrew612 1,071]

Perhaps something along the lines of

'Once the petition is filed, our foreign spouses are often advised by legal counsel against visiting the US while the petition is being processed. Even after we start the process to immigrate our family member legally, we are still subject to intense scrutiny and possible rejection to visit family members in the United States.'

???? Would that work? Open to suggestions!

[jayjayj 571]

Maybe include verbiage about "overcoming the burden of intent to immigrate", and how that is virtually impossible once you have submitted an I-130 immigrant visa application.

The "intent to immigrate" phrase was used by the Embassy Officer both times I tried to get my fiancé a tourist visa to travel to the U.S. for a short vacation, in order to meet my family - our specific situation precluded the possibility of a fiancé visa. The second time we tried, we already had a 1 year old son together (forced to verify with DNA testing by the Manila Embassy), and the Embassy Officer told us that detail made it "nearly impossible" for us to convince him that she didn't intend to immigrate. The Embassy Officer also told us that the fact my fiancé had two sisters already living in the U.S. (legally) was a negative when trying to get a non-immigrant visa.

So basically, having strong family ties to people living legally in the United States, especially U.S. citizens, is a valid reason to refuse an individual a non-immigrant visa.

[NoelAnne 62]

In 2012 I applied for a tourist visa also and was denied for all the same reasons. I wanted to go to the US to meet my husbands family, at that time we weren't married and I really wasn't sure if I wanted to live there. I had my own home here in Ireland, my own children and grandchildren, my dog, my friends, my life! I had no criminal record, not even a parking ticket. My husband had spent a lot of time here and just wanted me to go there and spend some time travelling and meeting his family and friends. But I was denied as I couldn't show family and economic ties to my home country!! I have 5 children and 11 grandchildren, if that's not family ties I don't know what is!! I applied twice and was denied twice. I think, sometimes a lot of the decisions are based on what kind of a day the consular officer is having! So here I am 2 yrs later, now married and have just had my i130 approved and on our way to the NVC. It's been the most harrowing experience. I will support this campaign in any way I can. The whole process needs to be streamlined, there are too many repetitive steps as angeldaemon has already pointed out, but always keeping national security in mind. Good luck with this campaign, go get 'em!!!

[Dfibus 16]

This is great... Will we send to uscis or congressmen and senators alike. I can't wait to tweet and email.. I also feel like this site is monitored closely and am completely displeased in the poor service of my government.

[bdrew612 1,071]

Jayjaym, I think that's a great re-wording!

[Darnell 8,478]

you fellas posting via fax and email to the joint immigration committee?

IMO, if you make friends with the staffers there and can get the point across, the point will get presented to the Members of Congress on the committee and you'll get other results then just a 'thank you for your input' letter.

[angeldaemon13 42]

Rewording of that section:

While they wait, their spouse and/or child/children are under intense scrutiny to enter the U.S., even for a brief visit. In order to obtain a Non-immigrant Visa, you must demonstrate you have no intent to live in the US but if you present your NOA1, it shows you have the intent to immigrate which makes it tougher to have a visit. If the NOA1 is presented as proof to demonstrate it is being done properly, why would these families circumvent the system just to “Adjust Status” within the US? This demonstrates a circular argument. Most do it the legal way because CR-1/IR-1 is cheaper than the K3 route, (even it was possible). It is recommended to finish the process in its entirety in your country of origin.

In a nutshell, once the petition is filed, our foreign spouses are often advised by legal counsel against visiting the US while the petition is being processed. Even after we start the process to immigrate our family member legally, we are still subject to intense scrutiny and possible rejection to visit family members in the United States.

How is that?