An open letter to my Senator

[Delicia 1]

Dear Senator Kyl:

On December 15, 2007, I sent an email to your office regarding the state of 'legal' immigration and intolerable delays at USCIS. To summarize, I am a U.S. citizen who lived in Canada with my Canadian spouse and after suffering through the Canadian immigration process for 2 years with no forward movement on my case, we elected to withdraw our application and I relocated to the U.S. Fortunately, I have work experience that is in high demand and was able to secure employment immediately, and I relocated to Phoenix to start my job and begin the U.S. immigration process and sponsor my husband for an IR-1 visa. My husband remains in Canada awaiting adjudication of the application.

I received a very nice voice mail from Scott Douglas in your office who mentioned that you are sponsoring a immigration reform bill. First off, I thank you for recognizing there is a problem with the current U.S. immigration system. Secondly, I would like to read the text of the bill. Could you provide the bill number? I attempted to google it, but with all the 'illegal' immigration bills pending, there is too much to sort through. If this bill would benefit individuals such as myself, who are experiencing incredible delays, I would gladly support this bill and do what I can to elicit some support in the immigration communities with which I have recently become familiar. These individuals share my experience and they are not adverse to contacting their elected officials to rectify situations.

Lastly, and most importantly, my own immigration case is stalled again. I originally submitted an I-130 for my husband on Oct 26, 2007. Finally, on January 23, 2008, I received my first contact from USCIS. Sadly, they rejected my application because of where I signed the I-130. I had mistakenly signed it on the line titled 'Person Completing This Form' instead of 'Petitioner.' This mistake, under normal circumstances, would have only delayed my application by just a few days. With the recent state of USCIS, this delay will cause at least 4 months of additional waiting. I have resubmitted the I-130, but according to USCIS, I have lost the original priority date of October 26, 2007 and my application will be treated as if I originally filed in January 2008. I am awaiting a NOA-1 on the second submission.

I am saddened that I am currently estimating, at USCIS current pace, that my application to sponsor my husband for permanent residency, will take at least 18 months to finalize. This is a terribly long time to live apart from a spouse. An additional part of the problem is that the process requires my spouse attend an interview at the Montreal Consulate. The wait time to get an interview in Montreal is 6 months. This is completely unacceptable to me. In certain cases, I think that the interview should be waived or that additional Consulates in Canada be made available to perform these interviews. Currently, Montreal is the only Consulate in Canada that processes IR-1 and CR-1 visas.

I appreciate any assistance you can offer with this matter. Feel free to contact me either at home in writing, or via telephone at (602)XXX-XXXX or my office (480)XXX-XXXX.

Just my Sunday pregame project. I received a voice mail from one of the Senator's assistants last week and though it appropriate to respond. I will let you all know the outcome, and the bill that the Senator has authored, that, according to his assistant, will streamline 'legal' immigration.

Thanks for reading.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Keep it in his agenda Delicia - your letter is perfectly polite!!!

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Dear Senator Kyl:

On December 15, 2007, I sent an email to your office regarding the state of 'legal' immigration and intolerable delays at USCIS. To summarize, I am a U.S. citizen who lived in Canada with my Canadian spouse and after suffering through the Canadian immigration process for 2 years with no forward movement on my case, we elected to withdraw our application and I relocated to the U.S. Fortunately, I have work experience that is in high demand and was able to secure employment immediately, and I relocated to Phoenix to start my job and begin the U.S. immigration process and sponsor my husband for an IR-1 visa. My husband remains in Canada awaiting adjudication of the application.

I received a very nice voice mail from Scott Douglas in your office who mentioned that you are sponsoring a immigration reform bill. First off, I thank you for recognizing there is a problem with the current U.S. immigration system. Secondly, I would like to read the text of the bill. Could you provide the bill number? I attempted to google it, but with all the 'illegal' immigration bills pending, there is too much to sort through. If this bill would benefit individuals such as myself, who are experiencing incredible delays, I would gladly support this bill and do what I can to elicit some support in the immigration communities with which I have recently become familiar. These individuals share my experience and they are not adverse to contacting their elected officials to rectify situations.

Lastly, and most importantly, my own immigration case is stalled again. I originally submitted an I-130 for my husband on Oct 26, 2007. Finally, on January 23, 2008, I received my first contact from USCIS. Sadly, they rejected my application because of where I signed the I-130. I had mistakenly signed it on the line titled 'Person Completing This Form' instead of 'Petitioner.' This mistake, under normal circumstances, would have only delayed my application by just a few days. With the recent state of USCIS, this delay will cause at least 4 months of additional waiting. I have resubmitted the I-130, but according to USCIS, I have lost the original priority date of October 26, 2007 and my application will be treated as if I originally filed in January 2008. I am awaiting a NOA-1 on the second submission.

I am saddened that I am currently estimating, at USCIS current pace, that my application to sponsor my husband for permanent residency, will take at least 18 months to finalize. This is a terribly long time to live apart from a spouse. An additional part of the problem is that the process requires my spouse attend an interview at the Montreal Consulate. The wait time to get an interview in Montreal is 6 months. This is completely unacceptable to me. In certain cases, I think that the interview should be waived or that additional Consulates in Canada be made available to perform these interviews. Currently, Montreal is the only Consulate in Canada that processes IR-1 and CR-1 visas.

I appreciate any assistance you can offer with this matter. Feel free to contact me either at home in writing, or via telephone at (602)XXX-XXXX or my office (480)XXX-XXXX.

Just my Sunday pregame project. I received a voice mail from one of the Senator's assistants last week and though it appropriate to respond. I will let you all know the outcome, and the bill that the Senator has authored, that, according to his assistant, will streamline 'legal' immigration.

Thanks for reading.

I can't think of anything else to add. I would change one line only. The wait time is unacceptable to every fair-minded American. You are not alone in your suffering since there is a big problem in Montreal. If the junior Senator from Arizona isn't moved by your sincerity, he's not human. Let us know how it goes Delicia, we're pulling for you.

[Delicia 1]

I can't think of anything else to add. I would change one line only. The wait time is unacceptable to every fair-minded American. You are not alone in your suffering since there is a big problem in Montreal. If the junior Senator from Arizona isn't moved by your sincerity, he's not human. Let us know how it goes Delicia, we're pulling for you.

I would of loved to work with the senior senator, but it seems he is a tad busy trying to get a promotion. No one from his office responded anyway, same for my U.S. Representative. It's just too bad Congress is focused on how to stop illegal immigration and the enforcement, deportation, and building of walls, while not really addressing the problems with the process that currently exist.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Delicia

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I can't think of anything else to add. I would change one line only. The wait time is unacceptable to every fair-minded American. You are not alone in your suffering since there is a big problem in Montreal. If the junior Senator from Arizona isn't moved by your sincerity, he's not human. Let us know how it goes Delicia, we're pulling for you.

I would of loved to work with the senior senator, but it seems he is a tad busy trying to get a promotion. No one from his office responded anyway, same for my U.S. Representative. It's just too bad Congress is focused on how to stop illegal immigration and the enforcement, deportation, and building of walls, while not really addressing the problems with the process that currently exists.

Sounds like you've run into the wonderful world of the legislative branch. My brother is in the same state as you so I'm following your case very closely. If there's anything I can do to help you out, please let me know.