USCIS staff being rude

[christinejohn 0]

Hello,

Desperate, my husband decided to call USCIS this morning.

As soon as he got someone on the phone, they checked our case and told him to call back in 2 weeks... he mentioned that we are past the 180 days by 2 months already and if we call it's to get informations and not to be told to call back in 2 weeks each time.

We have been waiting and meanwhile nothing has been done, they have all they asked for so why is it taking so long?

She got mad, refused to give her name and... HUNG UP on him!

Now tell me, are they allowed to refuse to give their names and hang up on peple? My husband is a gentleman and he would never be rude or agressive on the phone, he just asked for informations.

We are so desperate, look at our timeline, why is it taking so long, we have no clue...

[Flames9_RN 358]

Never an excuse for rudeness. Has the USA citizen contacted their congress person yet? Maybe time to do so!

[christinejohn 0]

Yes my husband has and they have helped a lot and still are, though USCIS always has a good excuse to delay the process... The congressman liaison officer is enquiring as we talk, let's see if he gets this moving now...

Though USCIS hanging up is new!

[steve&mary 1]

I just read the K3 Teleconference thread, and it says that rudeness/unhelpfullness from a USCIS rep on the phone is grounds to contact the Ombudsman. Also, they are SUPPOSED to tell you their name when they answer the phone, and their # when requested. You guys are so overdue for an approval!

[heyjimi 0]

Hello,

Desperate, my husband decided to call USCIS this morning.

As soon as he got someone on the phone, they checked our case and told him to call back in 2 weeks... he mentioned that we are past the 180 days by 2 months already and if we call it's to get informations and not to be told to call back in 2 weeks each time.

We have been waiting and meanwhile nothing has been done, they have all they asked for so why is it taking so long?

She got mad, refused to give her name and... HUNG UP on him!

Now tell me, are they allowed to refuse to give their names and hang up on peple? My husband is a gentleman and he would never be rude or agressive on the phone, he just asked for informations.

We are so desperate, look at our timeline, why is it taking so long, we have no clue...

Yes,the same thing happened to me yesterday,I called to ask a question about my status on I-130....i figure it is my right to know,since 1) i am a US citizen and 2) i paid them $355.00.....but no,i had the rudest officer to date,he spoke,well let me rephrase that...he was screaming at me,and hung up on me,in two minutes.I am trying to be very pleasant with them (even though my patience is running thin).

rudeness is uncalled for,no excuse for it !!!!!!

[christinejohn 0]

My husband called back and since they obviously keep records of your calls, he reported this rude officer.

The person he talked to was nicer and explained that USCIS is changing the system is is getting delays because of it... well true or not at least he was not hung up on this time...

He wrote twice to the Ombudsman via registered mail, and never got an answer...

Yes we are so overdue and can't get an explanation for i at all. They have all the documents they have requested, they have cashed out our checks, they have not asked for anything else and still... we are stuck and waiting...

[Firstenburg 0]

I just read the K3 Teleconference thread, and it says that rudeness/unhelpfullness from a USCIS rep on the phone is grounds to contact the Ombudsman. Also, they are SUPPOSED to tell you their name when they answer the phone, and their # when requested. You guys are so overdue for an approval!

I was on the teleconference and was the one who raised the issue of rudeness and told Wendy (the moderator) about getting hung up on last week. She said that is unnacceptable and that YES, we should contact the Ombudsman office with the date, time, name and ID of rep of the call. I don't know how much wieght the Ombudsman office carries with USCIS, but every bit helps.

[memyselfandi 0]

I just got off the phone and I was being polite and the lady wouldnt even let me speakkkk! Every question I had she would cut me off! I felt as if she was rushing meee! I even forgot all the questions I had now that I was so focused on why is she cutting me off. ARG!

[Firstenburg 0]

I have noticed that generally (notice the word generally) CSC officers are much more polite and helpful than the USCIS customer support people you get when you call the general 800 number. They also appear to be better trained, although I've gotten W-R-O-N-G information from them too. I think anyone you talk to within USCIS is likely going to give you wrong information. However, you are more likely to get right information from the CSC officers.

IMHO....

[SusieK 3]

I have noticed that generally (notice the word generally) CSC officers are much more polite and helpful than the USCIS customer support people you get when you call the general 800 number. They also appear to be better trained, although I've gotten W-R-O-N-G information from them too. I think anyone you talk to within USCIS is likely going to give you wrong information. However, you are more likely to get right information from the CSC officers.

IMHO....

Christine,

Yes i got a response from Ombsdmn and USCIS has another twenty days in which to respond. I also sent the request registered receipt to the addy provided.

There are some politics going on though with that whole area but wont go into it right now, as I do not have a full understanding of the whole thing. Just that I dont think that the Ombdsmn will do too much at the moment. Your congress person and or senator is the route for your overdue issue.

When calling USCIS, i have noticed everytime that I do call, that they say blah blah blah my name is blah blah blah and ID# - Call back and get it going again, that is pure bs - I always say I know what you are going to ask, here are the answers and just put me through to the 30 minute wait line for the IO.

Good Luck Hun, but definetly get the Congress and Senator on this as I have seen you have gotten one. A friend of mine here got three on the case of his issue also, USCIS kept saying you are in background check yatta yattta doooo....after they got the calls from all Congress peeps, guess what, his I-130 and I129f were approved. He was way out of guidelines as you are. So I guess maybe background check was not even the real reason, probably sitting in a bin somewhere waiting to be pledged with mold.

Best only on your journey

[bob&hazel 0]

I don't know how much wieght the Ombudsman office carries with USCIS, but every bit helps.

In the organizational chart the USCIS is on the very bottom level and the Ombudsman is two levels above them (found here). Basically if the ombudsman say the uscis has done something wrong then they're in big trouble. However the ombudsman will usually not get involved unless it is something major. In a case like this they where the employee name/number is unknown they will probably just send a memo. I worked in the financial sector for a while and we had ombudsman above us, we were investigating complaints. People who were complaining usually threatened us with ombudsman action if we didn't resolve the complaint quickly. The ombudsman wouldn't even consider looking at their complaint if it hadn't been with us for at least 8 weeks. Even then most of the time they would just send us a letter asking us to look into it. it was only cases where it was really bad that they stepped in and took action, usually fines. This rarely happened. Going to the ombudsman can help, but don't look at it as a golden ticket. It may not be of immediate help, but the ombudsman could help the USCIS develop the process.

As far as the rude member of staff is concerned is was out of order. However, as I said I worked in the financial sector with complaints, it was my job to answer the phones, pretty much like the mis-information line. Sometime you just get those days when every phone call makes your blood boil because everyone just wants to shout at you. I know it's no excuse, but it happens. Unfortunately it can be really hard if you've just put the phone down on one of these calls and have to calm down straight away for the next call. Unfortunately I'm guessing your husband just happened to be the next call. As I say it's no excuse, but these things happen. Unfortunately the people that you call can't really do that much for you, people seem to think that if they shout loud enough the world will move.

[JASONandDAA 0]

[christinejohn 0]

Thank you all for sharing your experience and giving us some valuable advice.

Yes Susie my husband got the congressmen looking into it, the only thing he got out of it last time was a RFE, that was in December, then they asked him for a month... since then nothing again... The congressman liaison officer called and was told they were still waiting on the RFE when it had been delivered already...

So he put in another request today...

If we are learning one thing here it's patience... Good luck...

I totally agree... lol...

[Flames9_RN 358]

I think I only called a few times and all was fine!! My advice when calling them, state who you are, THEN ask for their ID #!! If they can be identified, more than likely they will be a bit more accommodating! I bet most employees are great, but there is always a few grumps in the bunch!!