Are service centers helpful?

[Paul123 0]

Can you call service centers and ask them questions even before you file? Are they helpful in that sense? I know people spend a long time trying to get through and thought that may be the reason no one calls.

On a side note, My fiancee came into the United States a couple days ago and when the Immigration officer asked her the purpose of her trip, she was totally honest and said she was here to visit her fiance. She had her ring on and everything. Even though many think its a bad idea to mention a fiance when visiting on a tourist visa, she had no problems, just some questions about how long she would be here, etc. She told him that she would be leaving to go back to school in 6 weeks.

[nane1104 146]

I did the same thing once and it was okay, I just got asked where I am working in Germany and what I am doing and how long I would stay in the US.

I think it totally depends on the officer itself sometimes. I had times I flew there with a really bad feeling and everything went well and another time I even had to go to secondary inspection just mentioning I had a bf...

But I am glad, your fiancee didn't have any troubles.

As far as are service centers helpful...ummmmh...I honestly think, the people at those hotlines don't really have too much knowlege about the process and even if they want to be helpful- usually you don't get a lot of relevant info out of them.

[Nessa 23]

Can you call service centers and ask them questions even before you file? Are they helpful in that sense? I know people spend a long time trying to get through and thought that may be the reason no one calls.

On a side note, My fiancee came into the United States a couple days ago and when the Immigration officer asked her the purpose of her trip, she was totally honest and said she was here to visit her fiance. She had her ring on and everything. Even though many think its a bad idea to mention a fiance when visiting on a tourist visa, she had no problems, just some questions about how long she would be here, etc. She told him that she would be leaving to go back to school in 6 weeks.

Are you guys starting the process while she's there for these 6 weeks or after she goes back to whatever country she's from?

[pnd629 0]

Rather than call the service center, just ask your question here.

Someone here will know the answer.

[desert_fox 32]

Can you call service centers and ask them questions even before you file? Are they helpful in that sense? I know people spend a long time trying to get through and thought that may be the reason no one calls.

On a side note, My fiancee came into the United States a couple days ago and when the Immigration officer asked her the purpose of her trip, she was totally honest and said she was here to visit her fiance. She had her ring on and everything. Even though many think its a bad idea to mention a fiance when visiting on a tourist visa, she had no problems, just some questions about how long she would be here, etc. She told him that she would be leaving to go back to school in 6 weeks.

The service centers provide no services to the public....no help desk, no phone calls...nada

[Karen_L 1]

It depends on who you get. Generally, I think it's a good idea, if you have a question that MUST be answered by a USCIS employee, to call 3 different times and ask. I filed before I knew about VJ and I wasn't 100% sure about when they would need the Affadavit of Support. I called once, the woman told me I' d have to send it with the petition. I called again, a different woman told me we'd only need it for his interview. Called a third time and a third woman confirmed what the second had said.

3 times, baby, 3 times

Of course, since you've stumbled upon VJ, you may not have to call at all!

Edited July 3, 2006 by Karen_L

[aussiewench 9]

Can you call service centers and ask them questions even before you file? Are they helpful in that sense? I know people spend a long time trying to get through and thought that may be the reason no one calls.

On a side note, My fiancee came into the United States a couple days ago and when the Immigration officer asked her the purpose of her trip, she was totally honest and said she was here to visit her fiance. She had her ring on and everything. Even though many think its a bad idea to mention a fiance when visiting on a tourist visa, she had no problems, just some questions about how long she would be here, etc. She told him that she would be leaving to go back to school in 6 weeks.

The service centers provide no services to the public....no help desk, no phone calls...nada

So true foxy. Of late though there has been many posts catagorically proclaiming that one can speak to a service center representative by pressing this and that when dialing the 1800 number. For the most part any explaination of what is really happening/who they are actually talking to, is falling on deaf ears.

Service Centers

The four USCIS Service Centers in Vermont, Texas, California, and Nebraska were established to

handle the mail, file, data entry, and adjudication for approximately 65% of applications received by

USCIS. Service Centers do not conduct interviews with customers and are not staffed to handle

walk-in applications or answer questions. (This includes telephone, fax and emails. Only California still maintains an email address.)

Telephone Centers

Through the National Customer Service Center’s four telephone centers (these are also based in Vermont, Texas, California and Nebraska), USCIS provides toll-free nationwide assistance to customers calling from within the United States. Customers can access live assistance from 8:00AM until 6:00PM, Monday through Friday; they can access recorded information (including information about the status of their specific case) 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Both live and recorded service is available in English and Spanish. Callers from outside the U.S. can access more limited information through a separate toll number.