278 Days Later...

[TX-G 0]

I last posted here back in February, starting this thread:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=179485

Philosykos's trick to talk to a person (ie. select "lost receipt number") has worked quite well. They very promptly answer the phone, probably because no one can figure out how to get to them. The NOA1 date was Nov 10, 2008. Since then, the following has happened:

May 19 - I called USCIS to ask about the status of my case since it had been over 6 months. They claimed that it was probably already on its way to me but that if I hadn't heard anything in ANOTHER month, I should call back.

June 19 - I called again and they said they were filing a Service Request and gave me a Referral Number and told me that I should hear from someone within 45 days. They also said that they were currently processing applications filed on November 25th, 15 days after mine was filed. Why mine hadn't been processed yet, they didn't know but promised that the people handling the Service Request would find out.

They asked for and I gave them my e-mail address, my home phone number, my cell phone number, and my mailing address. Naturally, they chose the slowest means of contacting me.

July 6 - I received a letter from them dated June 29, denying my request for Expedited Service. Which was odd because I hadn't requested Expedited Service, I was requesting why it had been nearly 2 months outside of Normal Processing Time and I had still not heard anything.

I also checked the processing times on USCIS.gov and, instead of the "6 Months" that it had been saying, it now said "November 25th, 2008". I suspect this is the exact same thing the "customer service" rep was reading off of when she told me that Nov 25th applications were "currently" being processed. The website also claimed to have been last updated on April 30th.

July 7 - I called them back and asked what was going on. The "customer service" person confirmed that a Service Request had been filed on June 19 for "Outside Normal Processing Times" and that an "Expedite Request" had been denied June 29. And she agreed that it didn't make any sense. HOWEVER, she said that since I had already filed one Service Request, I would be unable to file another one for 45 days. The fact that they had failed to address the Service Request was apparently my problem, not theirs.

This CR rep also insisted that they were currently processing applications filed on Nov 25th and when I told her that I had been told the same date nearly a month earlier by a USCIS rep and that their own website claimed that that information was over 2 months out of date, she was completely un-phased and simply insisted that the system said Nov 25 so it must be correct.

I was now expecting to have to wait another 45 days of silence before contacting them again and then having to resort to calling my congressman. So, I was somewhat surprised to finally receive a NOA2 dated Aug 5 (48 days after the Service Request and 278 days after the NOA1) a few days ago. Wow.

NOW, I am suddenly able to see my Current Status on the USCIS webpage when I had never been able to before. Better late than never, I suppose.

Today, I just received a letter from the NVC dated Aug 10.

So, finally things are starting to happen. I still have no idea why it took so long and I suspect I never will. Does anyone know about how long to expect to get the visa now that it's been approved? We really need to start planning wedding details; would a December date be a safe bet? The NOA2 claims that it's only valid through Dec 5 (whatever that means).

[TBoneTX 44,674]

Great news finally, si man!

(Is your consulate really Armenia? Also, you didn't file for "N/A." Please double-check these things, because it will affect the accuracy and detail of how people respond in order to help you.)

The lesson here is to bypass the "customer disservice" front line by cutting them off before they begin their "script" and to insist on escalation to an immigration officer. If there's an objection (likely), sternly inform them that they are required to escalate your call upon your request.

One thing cannot be emphasized enough: Do not (do NOT! do NOT!) make ANY wedding plans until your consular interview has occurred and the visa is IN HAND.

Again, congratulations on your persistence amidst the quagmire of incompetence.

[Saska+Tim 7]

[TX-G 0]

Thanks, TBone. I do know about the ability to escalate to an "immigration officer". In fact, my above story should probably be amended to say "immigration officer" rather than "customer service rep" at every point. the initial CR reps you talk to have been pretty useless but did know enough to immediately escalate my to an actual officer once I told them what was going on. However, the "officers" weren't much better giving me, as I said, "current" information provably 2 months old and claiming it was impossible for them to do anything (or escalate me any higher) for 45 days after the Service Request Debacle.

[Richard-Joanna 1]

congrats... finally!

[TBoneTX 44,674]

the "officers" weren't much better giving me, as I said, "current" information provably 2 months old and claiming it was impossible for them to do anything

Good grief, si man... for me, the IOs were like an oasis amidst a sea of idiocy. Regardless, continuing congrats with respect, si man.

[TX-G 0]

the "officers" weren't much better giving me, as I said, "current" information provably 2 months old and claiming it was impossible for them to do anything

Good grief, si man... for me, the IOs were like an oasis amidst a sea of idiocy. Regardless, continuing congrats with respect, si man.

Well, to be fair, I think most of it wasn't their fault but the fault of whoever set up their computer system. Their computer told them what applications were "currently" being processed and it wasn't the IO's fault that no one had updated the "current" list for over 2 months although it might have been their fault that they didn't know the limitations of that part of the system.

And they said that they COULD file another Service Request for me, but since it was under 45 days since the last one, "the system" would just remove it. So I suppose telling me that was better than filing another SR for me and then having it mysteriously vanish, never to be seen again.

[TBoneTX 44,674]

I think most of it wasn't their fault but the fault of whoever set up their computer system.

Your observation lends further credence to what my Congressman's "immigration" aide told me: "The USCIS is our very worst [Federal agency]." Sad, man, si man.