The 2010 London Waiver List

[city2countrygirl 0]

Oh look, someone mentions "Irish sausages" and I miraculously reappear.

Thanks to all of you for remembering me, and thanks especially for your prayers. We need them.

Clearly, with all of these UK moves to Texas, I am going to have to invest in a box of cowboy hats.

I'm glad you're all still here, and C2C, it was lovely to see an update from you. One of the things I complained about when Hubby was here visiting was his tea cup (always on the furniture with no coaster). I would give ANYTHING to have him slopping a big mug of tea from one end of this house to another right now. When you reach a bump in your relationship, just think back to how hard you fought to be together, and I'll bet whatever you are facing will pale in comparison to the 601 struggle.

As for us, wow. What a whirlwind these past 6 weeks have been. It took me a good week to start eating again, then another 2-3 weeks of therapy to be able to function properly. I really just wanted to die. God has other plans for me, I guess, because here I am.

We did hire Mr. Heller as our attorney, and he has been wonderful. He spent an awful lot of time answering what must have seemed to him an unending series of questions. He did a really good job for us, and he's hopeful. I, however, am not. If you've been in this thread for a while, you know that I have had way too many "ups" that turned to "downs" in very cruel ways. It nearly killed me, and as a result, I refuse to have hope. The entire process has been so unfair to us, and having hired a good attorney NOW, I truly do see the differences. It is so hard to tell when you have hired a good attorney. I mean, how do you really know? Our first one talked the good talk, but when there are mere days before the interview and the waiver packet isn't complete, you know there's a problem. He just threw it together. I wrote my own hardship letter, my husband wrote his own letter, and all the attorney did was type up the 601 form. I paid him thousands to fill in forms that I could have filled out myself. He offered no guidance on the hardship letters or anything. He filed no legal memorandum or anything. It was all done last-minute, and we paid the price for it. This time around, we received much more guidance, and Mr. Heller seems to be not only an intelligent man, but a compassionate one, which is sorely needed when one is as tender as I am these days.

So, we did get the appeal filed on time. So far, I have not received anything to indicate that it has been received by the AAO, so I don't know if that means London is reviewing it, or if the AAO is just backed up in sending cards. All I know is that when I turn the key in my post office box, you would swear there's a hornet's nest in there.

The stress of all of this has been unGodly. I continue to suffer horrific bouts of anxiety and depression, and it is really hard to find the motivation to do much of anything. I truly need the harvest from my garden to get me through, but with everything that has happened, it's nothing but weeds. I try very hard to stay focused at my job, and I'm lucky that my boss is very understanding, but my job requires me to be compassionate and mentally sharp, and as you might imagine, I'm neither of those things right now.

That's the news from Happyville.

Hi Julie, I am so sorry to hear of your recent heartache, its just too cruel for words. lets hopeit doesn't go as long as you think and that your new lawyer will do the business for you , I was very fortunate in my choice of that Steve Pattison of MaGraths in Fitzrovia, London and he came through for us in spades, so if you or anybody else here should ever need a London based Immigration Lawyer he comes highly recommended. I think of you often especially when I hear or read what Obama wants to do for the illegal Mexicans, its just not right and I hope you can hang in there and it all works out in the end. I am in Texas now and preparing to Adjust my status, and THAT is a nightmare compared to the K1 petition.. Steve referred me to a Lawyer in Houston just in case we should need one. Bye for Now Julie and try to keep your spirits up

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hi Everyone

Today 10th August 2010 the I-601 Waiver Status PDF File was Updated

It has been 18 days since the last update, yet there is not a lot of movement this time around, maybe the adjudicators are taking vacations in July/August?

So the highlights of todays update are:

3 UK & Ireland based cases were added to the UK cases Pending this time around!!

LND2010 505 012 - LND2010 064 011 - DBL2009 583 001

1 case has changed status to Under Review from Pending

LND2008 826 010

1 case was completed from London.

LND2008 611 008

This was an overdue update, considering the 18 days since the last one, Remember If your case number is above as a change of status or new case and you are on Visa Journey then please let me know your Case number and I will add VJ User and your Initials to the Spreadsheet.

The current USCIS average cases per week figure is down to 1.3.

As usual you can see these changes in my updated spreadsheet here > I-601 Status Update Spreadsheet 10th August 2010

Wishing you all the best for the next update..

Take care all..

Andrew

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hi Everyone, apologies for the delay of this update I have become a bit slack since being approved.. but I will continue.

Yesterday Monday 23rd August 2010 the I-601 Waiver Status PDF File was Updated

It has been 13 days since the last update and 18 days before that one, yet there no movement this time around apart from adding cases to the Pending pile, maybe all 2 of the adjudicators are taking vacations August?

So anyway the highlights of yesterdays update are:

5 UK based cases were added to the "Pending" pile this time around!!

LND2009 747 026 - LND2009 572 022 - LND2005 790 006 - LND2005 581 017 - LND2005 806 007

No cases have changed status to Under Review from Pending

No cases were completed.

This was an overdue update anyway, considering the 13 days since the last one and the prior update being 18 days, so it seems they have slowed down the updates to roughly every fortnight now?, Remember If your case number is above as a new case and you are on Visa Journey, then please let me know your Case number and I will add VJ User and your Initials to the Spreadsheet.

The current USCIS average cases per week figure is down from 1.3 this update to 1.2, due to the amount of time between updates and the lack of completed cases on those updates.

As usual you can see these changes in my updated spreadsheet here > I-601 Status Update Spreadsheet 23rd August 2010

Wishing you all the best for the next update..

Take care all..

Andrew

[M Burns 0]

Hello dear readers

Can anybody give a link or hint at I-212 processing times?

I have a wife to be in California and I'm Scottish. The main reason you're reading this is I was caught with a copy of my CV/Resume' at O'Hare in Nov 2008 and frog marched back onto a plane not to return for 5years . It was my 8th trip to see my Fiance. I had non refundable return tickets and not the slightest chance of earning money even if i'm qualified for H-1B speciality jobs that take 2 years to arrange.

I've completed the 2nd stage of "US security" ....passed my 15 minute($300+) medical exams that i travelled 1000 miles for. Then attended the interview (another 1000 miles)that was arranged after they legally recieved but lost my papers many months earlier, I got mucked around at the interview for 8 hours then 21 days later got told by mail I needed a 2 page I-212form instead of the I-601 form I was given at the embassy.

I promptly hired the company that comes up first when you google search "longest k-1 visa specialist in the usa". They are based in San Diego a few streets from where my Fiance lives, but that was based on a complicated I-601 form and they have added nothing to our case for the money they were paid

If the English speaking nations of both our nations could have sent a simple ackowledgement letter for the $545 fee and priceless info like 5 stacked inches of dated letters and envelopes to "prove relationship" amongst smaller things like passports and birth certicates, I wouldn't worry so much. The way the London US embassy has been so sloppy and unprofessional so far makes me expect they have lost everything.

Its been 3months since I sent everything away by 24hr embassy approved courier.......nothing. No cheap letter of acknowledgement, no taking the $545 fee or answer to 3 official attorney enquirys. Can anybody give advice? My attorney only commits to the statement of "things don't move as quick as we wish they would"

Has anybody got London I-212 Advice/Stories to share?

I know i'm new here but will keep you updated.

Mel

Edited August 30, 2010 by M Burns

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hello dear readers

Can anybody give a link or hint at I-212 processing times?

I have a wife to be in California and I'm Scottish. The main reason you're reading this is I was caught with a copy of my CV/Resume' at O'Hare in Nov 2008 and frog marched back onto a plane not to return for 5years . It was my 8th trip to see my Fiance. I had non refundable return tickets and not the slightest chance of earning money even if i'm qualified for H-1B speciality jobs that take 2 years to arrange.

I've completed the 2nd stage of "US security" ....passed my 15 minute($300+) medical exams that i travelled 1000 miles for. Then attended the interview (another 1000 miles)that was arranged after they legally recieved but lost my papers many months earlier, I got mucked around at the interview for 8 hours then 21 days later got told by mail I needed a 2 page I-212form instead of the I-601 form I was given at the embassy.

I promptly hired the company that comes up first when you google search "longest k-1 visa specialist in the usa". They are based in San Diego a few streets from where my Fiance lives, but that was based on a complicated I-601 form and they have added nothing to our case for the money they were paid

If the English speaking nations of both our nations could have sent a simple ackowledgement letter for the $545 fee and priceless info like 5 stacked inches of dated letters and envelopes to "prove relationship" amongst smaller things like passports and birth certicates, I wouldn't worry so much. The way the London US embassy has been so sloppy and unprofessional so far makes me expect they have lost everything.

Its been 3months since I sent everything away by 24hr embassy approved courier.......nothing. No cheap letter of acknowledgement, no taking the $545 fee or answer to 3 official attorney enquirys. Can anybody give advice? My attorney only commits to the statement of "things don't move as quick as we wish they would"

Has anybody got London I-212 Advice/Stories to share?

I know i'm new here but will keep you updated.

Mel

Hi Mel

I don't suppose the immigration lawyers you used was a company called Holmes & Lolly were they? if so we used the same company to start with and what a waste of space they ended up being, lots of promises up front to get your money, then they got us to do all the work and after the K1 Visa failed and we had to proceed with a I-601 Hardship Waiver they told us that this was $3000 more and they could get it done by another lawyer that specialises in doing I-601's... We promptly fired them and decided to look for a better lawyer who advised us to go down the K3 visa route and then submit an I-601 as our case would be stronger and more likely to get approved, which it did.. but we wasted a year of our life listening to our first lawyers, we should have gone the K3 route from the start as it is quicker than a K1 and prove extreme hardship.

Extreme hardship is a lot harder to prove when the US Citizen id just your fiancee, if she was to come over to Scotland and marry you, you could then file a K3 and have a far better chance on getting approve due to you having a wife, maybe step children and a mother-in-law and father-in-law...

Just some food for thought..

As for I-212's i think they can take the same as an I-601 as they are adjudicated by the same team in the London US Embassy.

Regards

Andrew

[Mintchip 0]

I can hear your frustration loud and clear! I had a $250 consultation with an immigration lawyer 3 weeks ago. He looked over my papers, listened to my story and gave me hope that we had a good case for proving extreme hardship for our waiver application. Since then? Nothing! He told me to collect affadavits from friends and relatives reiterrating our predicament, and to find a better therapist. I've done all this, called his office 4 times and cannot get hold of him. Via an Employee Assistance Program that I have at work, I contacted another immigration attorney today. He was a complete #### and left me with absolutely no confidence in him at all. Now, I'm back to the start, still trying to find a competent attorney who will actually be available. I want to pull my hair out at this point!

[Justine+David 218]

Andrew--just wanted to point out that newly filed K3s are effectively dead, since early February. USCIS will approve them, but they are administratively closed at the NVC and the file turns into a CR1 visa.

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Andrew--just wanted to point out that newly filed K3s are effectively dead, since early February. USCIS will approve them, but they are administratively closed at the NVC and the file turns into a CR1 visa.

Hi

Thanks for the update, I must admit that I had not realised that they had done this already.

Thanks again for pointing that out though.

Regards

Andrew

[M Burns 0]

Hi Mel

I don't suppose the immigration lawyers you used was a company called Holmes & Lolly were they? if so we used the same company to start with and what a waste of space they ended up being, lots of promises up front to get your money, then they got us to do all the work and after the K1 Visa failed and we had to proceed with a I-601 Hardship Waiver they told us that this was $3000 more and they could get it done by another lawyer that specialises in doing I-601's... We promptly fired them and decided to look for a better lawyer who advised us to go down the K3 visa route and then submit an I-601 as our case would be stronger and more likely to get approved, which it did.. but we wasted a year of our life listening to our first lawyers, we should have gone the K3 route from the start as it is quicker than a K1 and prove extreme hardship.

Extreme hardship is a lot harder to prove when the US Citizen id just your fiancee, if she was to come over to Scotland and marry you, you could then file a K3 and have a far better chance on getting approve due to you having a wife, maybe step children and a mother-in-law and father-in-law...

Just some food for thought..

As for I-212's i think they can take the same as an I-601 as they are adjudicated by the same team in the London US Embassy.

Regards

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Yes we are thinking of the same people, just add Lawrence R, to the first part of the business name as I believe him and Lolly split a while ago

I honestly never knew I was banned for 5 years until the embassy interview. My 8th and last visit to see my Fiancé was conducted by the CBI person at Chicago with a very heavy Latino accent who ruffled my wallet and bags and I had to speak to in my politest "baby English" to understand... but that’s a different matter.

I accepted my suckerpunch punishment at the embassy interview and was told I had a good case when I was handed the I-601 form, 3 weeks later I get a letter saying I only needed to fill out the enclosed 1page duplicate form. I had plenty extreme hardship to prove including signed Doctors letters explained why my Fiancé can't move to Scotland, her qualifications for job prospects, her child and who's father has legal visitation rights, etc. The I-212 is much simpler and is based on purely establishing a relationship for re-admittance. Signed & dated letters/envelopes post cards and family wedding invites going back 4-5 years. I know i had a very good I-601 case so included everything in a 5 inch thesis that would earn me a 2nd degree whilst firmly keeping in mind the law of diminishing returns when sending perhaps too much useless info.

They've had my stuff based on a 1page, duplicate form, 3 months and have screwed up on both the times I've previously had to deal with them. My attorney Lawrence R. H***** has had their secretary check my form, sign an attorney hiring form and supposedly ask them for updates 3 times, $1500 fee but not a peep so far. Its very depressing

If I signed on unemployed tomorrow I would get a multi page letter within 3 working days. We're paying $545 to hear nothing. Theres an online state by state stats of processing times for 1stNOA, but it there’s nothing for local I-212 visa processing times.

I’m going to be try and to be cheery and upbeat while I wait. Tomorrow is time for my monthly request info from the attorney. I’ll stop at it 3 sentences and post their professional opinion here. I’d like to think it would include a reason why they’ve had no reply to legal emails but I doubt I’ll get it.

Here is a my attorneys last email reponse….

“I have contacted the London US embassy by phone and they have given me a code and an email address to send an email to the unit that is working on the I-212’s so I can check status. If you do not have this code you can not get to send an inquiry to the second level supervisor in this unit. I have sent my email inquiry and I am awaiting their response on the status of you case. I will let you know as soon as I receive your response”

Mel

[M Burns 0]

After 48hours and 3 monthly official attorney requests for confirmation of reciept, I still have nothing of anything.

Heres some news i-601/i-212 people at London might not have seen...

According to official sources they seem to be working on a 5 & 1/2 month turnaround on applications as of 2 weeks ago. All applications received by 1st April are listed online

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/unitedkingdom/164203/dhs/i601_status-web.pdf

I can't see a I-212 help page but noticed this on the I-601 waiver page...

" Upon receipt of the I-601, USCIS will send a postcard to the applicant confirming when the I-601 was filed with the USCIS London Sub-office."

http://london.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/ivwaiver.html. I've still had nothing from them in 3 months even though both forms are processed by the same office and everybody pays the same fee and will wait the same time. Can we get any sort of confirmation that they have recieved our forms and evidence since we don't get the same treatment as I-601 cases.

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hi Everyone, I am a bit quicker off the mark this time round and have managed to update you the same day.

Today Wednesday 8th Sept 2010 the I-601 Waiver Status PDF File was Updated

It has been 16 days since the last update and 13 days before that one, but this time it has been worth waiting for as they have given us a bunper update today, maybe all the adjudicators are back off holiday now and are concentrating on trying to catch up with the backlog from their vacations in August?

So anyway the highlights of todays update are:

2 UK based cases were added to the "Pending" pile this time around!!

LND2010 111 021 - LND2005 812 017

7 cases have changed status to Under Review from Pending

LND2009 597 023 - LND2009 596 004 - LND2009 577 023 - LND2008 706 006 - LND2008 595 001 - LND2008 343 002 - LND2008 301 001

7 cases were completed.

LND2009 627 007 - LND2009 549 013 - LND2008 854 005 - LND2008 594 010 - LND2008 826 010 - LND2010 526 010 - LND2005 561 018

This was an overdue update but considering their was 16 new changes made on this update I think we should forgive them.

Remember If your case number is above as a new case and you are on Visa Journey, then please let me know your Case number and I will add VJ User and your Initials to the Spreadsheet.

The current USCIS average completed cases per week figure is back up from 1.2 to 1.3 this update.

As usual you can see these changes in my updated spreadsheet here > I-601 Status Update Spreadsheet 23rd August 2010

Wishing you all the best for the next update..

Take care all..

Andrew

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hi Everyone

Today Monday 27th Sept 2010 the I-601 Waiver Status PDF File was Updated

It has been 19 days since the last update and 16 days before that one, and for all that waiting they have just added 2 more cases to the pending pile? maybe the adjudicators are back on holiday holiday again, who knows, maybe one day they will have a more transparent system that will allow you to view your case like on my spreadsheet but also with a timeline indicator or rough estimate of how long you have left in the process?

Anyway the highlights of todays update are:

2 UK based cases were added to the "Pending" pile this time around!!

LND2009 816 024 - LND2009 632 014

No cases have changed status to Under Review from Pending

No cases were completed.

This was an overdue update, however I do not think it was worth waiting for just to see 2 cases added with no other movement, maybe they were worn out from the large amount of activity in the last update ;o)

Remember If your case number is above as a new case and you are on Visa Journey or Emmigrate2US, then please let me know your Case number and I will add VJ User or I2US User and your Initials to the Spreadsheet.

The current USCIS average completed cases per week figure is at 1.3 this update.

As usual you can see these changes in my updated spreadsheet here > I-601 Status Update Spreadsheet 27th Sepember 2010

Wishing you all the best for the next update..

Take care all..

Andrew

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hi

Another update again today 28th September 2010... USCIS is pulling out all the stops

One addition to the pending pile for the UK & Ireland: LND2009 809 003 also 3 others added for Scandinavia

Of course my spreadsheet has been updated to reflect this important update : I-601 Update Spreadsheet 28th September 2010

Until the next update...

Take care

Andrew

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hi Everyone, I am a slow off the mark this time round and have managed to update you almost the same day, (I am doing this just after midnight UK time).

Today Monday 4th October 2010 the I-601 Waiver Status PDF File was Updated

It has been 6 days since the last update and 1 day before that one, but this time it has been worth waiting for as they have given us a bumper update today, maybe all the adjudicators are back off holiday now and are concentrating on trying to catch up with the backlog from their vacations in August & September?

So anyway the highlights of todays update are:

2 UK based cases were added to the "Pending" pile this time around!!

LND2009 863 024 - LND2009 328 005

2 cases have changed status to Under Review from Pending

LND2009 319 001 - LND2009 844 001

7 cases were completed.

LND2008 595 001 - LND2009 563 019 - LND2009 577 023 - LND2008 343 002 - LND2008 706 006 - LND2009 596 004 - LND2009 597 023

This was a fairly prompt update, however it was still long overdue considering the last 2 updates only contained a few additions to the waiting list but as there was 11 new changes made on this update I think we should forgive them this time around.

Remember If your case number is above as a new case and you are on Visa Journey or immigrate2us, then please let me know your Case number and I will add VJ User or I2US User and your Initials to the Spreadsheet.

The current USCIS average completed cases per week figure is back up from 1.2 to 1.4 this update.

As usual you can see these changes in my updated spreadsheet here > I-601 Status Update Spreadsheet 4th October 2010

Wishing you all the best for the next update..

Take care all..

Andrew

[Traci - Andrew 14]

Hi Everyone, I am amazed... USCIS is going mad... they have produced another update in just 2 days? what is going on.. who cares I hear you cry... just let them continue this mad round of updates.

Today Wednesday 6th October 2010 the I-601 Waiver Status PDF File was Updated

It has been 2 days since the last update and 6 days before that one, and they have just completed one more case from Under Review.

So anyway the highlights of todays update are:

No UK based cases were added to the "Pending" pile this time around!!

No UK based cases have changed status to Under Review from Pending

1 UK based case was completed.

LND2009 844 001

Remember If your case number is above as a new case and you are on Visa Journey or immigrate2us, then please let me know your Case number and I will add VJ User or I2US User and your Initials to the Spreadsheet.

The current USCIS average completed cases per week figure is holding on at 1.4 this update.

As usual you can see these changes in my updated spreadsheet here > I-601 Status Update Spreadsheet 6th October 2010

Wishing you all the best for the next update..

Take care all..

Andrew