Disparity Between VSC and CSC and

[ChrisB0707 4]

I know how all the CSC filers feel. We just got our approval at the CSC after such a long wait.

[Chris Future 0]

Insofar as VSC speed and CSC sloth - that's just the way it is. It's always been that way and it's not likely to change. If you wish to promote controversy and create a 'divide' within the community, continue to wail away. It's no more a Vermont petitioner's 'fault' they get a fast approval (based on where they live) than it is your fault that your approval takes more time.

Thems just the breaks.

One of the things that drew me to the US was the prevailing attitude that when there ARE injustices, Americans stand up and do something about it. In Canada, we just grumble. I was trying to also see if we could enlist someone in the media to help us champion our cause, and actually do something to try and effect changes. Was thinking Lou Dobbs or John Stossel. Has anyone on here have some contacts we could possibly leverage?

BTW, I don't blame the VSC petitioner getting fast approval - I blame the government for not providing speedy service to everyone. I'm also not trying to create a divide - the VSCers are doing that on their own by announcing their wonderful "jackpots" - I think everyone on the CSC list heart sinks when we see those. On the one hand, I'm happy for them but on the other hand they might be a bit more sensitive to the rest of us as well. We are all here to support each other, at least thats what I thought these boards were for.

[rebeccajo 14]

Chris -

I was a Vermont petitioner. At the time I filed my husband's petition, there were four service centers. VSC was the fastest; Nebraska was the slowest.

I announced our very speedy approval with the same glee posters do now. After all - it WAS my approval.

However, I tried to walk a very fine line in my communications on the board at that time. I really didn't want to have people hating me. Sometimes I felt like I was unnecessarily sucking up.

BUT....I did it because I knew there were other people waiting sooooooooo long. I announced my approval - I was happy and so I felt I was entitled to celebrate - but I tried to be gracious.

There is occasional media contact made by VJ members and other people traversing USCIS. But the media is more interested in a different aspect of immigration right now. Americans by and large are also not as sympathetic to your case as you would like to think they are. Some are only interested in any plan the government has for dealing with illegal entrants; some would only be interested in a government plan to stop ALL immigration. The rest of America - well - they just really don't care. Immigration isn't like taxes - it doesn't effect everybody. So while you and I might see some 'injustices' in the present system, don't expect a huge public outcry by taking your case to the press. It's just a big yawn for most of America because it doesn't affect them.

[mox 298]

I'm also not trying to create a divide - the VSCers are doing that on their own by announcing their wonderful "jackpots" - I think everyone on the CSC list heart sinks when we see those. On the one hand, I'm happy for them but on the other hand they might be a bit more sensitive to the rest of us as well. We are all here to support each other, at least thats what I thought these boards were for.

If you find yourself getting down by reading other people's approvals, and/or if you start to think that people announcing their approvals is insensitive, it's time to stay away from the "case filings and reports" section for awhile. I'm not trying to be snarky or mean by saying that. There were days when I couldn't be in that forum, it was just too depressing to see how many VSC approvals were screaming by, while CSC went for weeks with only a couple. The "case filings and reports" sub-forum was created exactly for that reason. To give people who are having a hard time dealing with the disparity an opportunity to stay away from it, and still be able to participate in VJ.

[KimandRuss 0]

I think the Vermont filers have every right to be excited about their approvals! They are not being disrespectful or uncaring and I certainly think they sympathize with the CSC filers. Turning it into a "jackpot" is just a game... a way for them to pass the time just like you are. It's not a go at the CSC filers.

You don't know their personal stories or the struggles they may have had to endure to get to even this point. They should be excited! For all the same reasons you will be when it's your turn. Do you know that their are consulates who will put you in administrative processing and keep loving couples apart for years even after approval??? Did you know that their are parents who have never even seen or touched their child??? None of this is easy... for any of us. It is what it is. Historically VSC has always been the fastest office.

I understand this is frustrating. We all do. But what you're doing with comments like that IS causing divide. All of this is hard enough.

Put that energy you have into something productive and positive...like contacting people...anyone who will listen.

[Chris Future 0]

Chris -

I was a Vermont petitioner. At the time I filed my husband's petition, there were four service centers. VSC was the fastest; Nebraska was the slowest.

I announced our very speedy approval with the same glee posters do now. After all - it WAS my approval.

However, I tried to walk a very fine line in my communications on the board at that time. I really didn't want to have people hating me. Sometimes I felt like I was unnecessarily sucking up.

BUT....I did it because I knew there were other people waiting sooooooooo long. I announced my approval - I was happy and so I felt I was entitled to celebrate - but I tried to be gracious.

There is occasional media contact made by VJ members and other people traversing USCIS. But the media is more interested in a different aspect of immigration right now. Americans by and large are also not as sympathetic to your case as you would like to think they are. Some are only interested in any plan the government has for dealing with illegal entrants; some would only be interested in a government plan to stop ALL immigration. The rest of America - well - they just really don't care. Immigration isn't like taxes - it doesn't effect everybody. So while you and I might see some 'injustices' in the present system, don't expect a huge public outcry by taking your case to the press. It's just a big yawn for most of America because it doesn't affect them.

Yes, I agree. Graciousness is what you will get from us as well when we are approved, not outright expressions of glee, or comparing things to a "jackpot" Jackpots allude to winners and losers, and I don't want to brand anyone here "a loser". Most of the people on this forum are waiting for their approvals as well. So I will be sensitive in my communications too.

I guess you are right. Its part of the culture of America right now. People have forgotten our founding principals, and that the government was designed to serve the people and not the other way around. Now we serve the government, and most people are just happy to bop along through life just like that.

[Chris Future 0]

I'm also not trying to create a divide - the VSCers are doing that on their own by announcing their wonderful "jackpots" - I think everyone on the CSC list heart sinks when we see those. On the one hand, I'm happy for them but on the other hand they might be a bit more sensitive to the rest of us as well. We are all here to support each other, at least thats what I thought these boards were for.

If you find yourself getting down by reading other people's approvals, and/or if you start to think that people announcing their approvals is insensitive, it's time to stay away from the "case filings and reports" section for awhile. I'm not trying to be snarky or mean by saying that. There were days when I couldn't be in that forum, it was just too depressing to see how many VSC approvals were screaming by, while CSC went for weeks with only a couple. The "case filings and reports" sub-forum was created exactly for that reason. To give people who are having a hard time dealing with the disparity an opportunity to stay away from it, and still be able to participate in VJ.

Of course you are right. Like I like to tell my kids when one teases the other - you are both wrong - one for teasing and the other for not having a thicker skin. I can choose not to view their expressions of unadulterated glee at begin winners of a jackpot, thus implicitly labeling the rest of us losers, and they can choose to be more selective in their terminology.

[BlakeandOlha 0]

BTW, I don't blame the VSC petitioner getting fast approval - I blame the government for not providing speedy service to everyone. I'm also not trying to create a divide - the VSCers are doing that on their own by announcing their wonderful "jackpots" - I think everyone on the CSC list heart sinks when we see those. On the one hand, I'm happy for them but on the other hand they might be a bit more sensitive to the rest of us as well. We are all here to support each other, at least thats what I thought these boards were for.

Chris, I understand the feeling of "relative" unfairness between the two processing centers. But it's only relative to other people's good fortune. I was also getting a bit frustrated that some were getting approved that had filed around my time already. But I asked myself, would I be happier if VSC filers were approved in the same slow time frame as me? Of course not. I also would not expect someone who does get approved to be silent on the subject out of fear of offending someone waiting at another processing center. You and I are both January CSC filers, and there are a bunch of us. I know my first reaction to January VSC approvals was frustration (Mox can attest to that rant), but I also realized that the VSC filers recognize and appreciate their good fortune at where they filed - hence the "jackpot" reference. I don't think VSC filers are being devisive - just providing a thread where they can express their excitment without stepping on the toes of us other poor slobs.

I actually started a thread first - as a support for January CSC filers to try and help each other during the long wait - come over there and vent. So, if anyone was devisive, I guess you can say it was me first.

[Chris Future 0]

I think the Vermont filers have every right to be excited about their approvals! They are not being disrespectful or uncaring and I certainly think they sympathize with the CSC filers. Turning it into a "jackpot" is just a game... a way for them to pass the time just like you are. It's not a go at the CSC filers.

You don't know their personal stories or the struggles they may have had to endure to get to even this point. They should be excited! For all the same reasons you will be when it's your turn. Do you know that their are consulates who will put you in administrative processing and keep loving couples apart for years even after approval??? Did you know that their are parents who have never even seen or touched their child??? None of this is easy... for any of us. It is what it is. Historically VSC has always been the fastest office.

I understand this is frustrating. We all do. But what you're doing with comments like that IS causing divide. All of this is hard enough.

Put that energy you have into something productive and positive...like contacting people...anyone who will listen.

Sorry, but I'm tired of people who always want to hear the positive side of things. I prefer to be more realistic and open, understanding that there are two sides. If you only want to hear sweetness and light from me and then I can shut up and not post anything until sometime later this year when our approval appears out of the abyss. I'm happy to do just that and save the ranting for my radio show.

As I said at the beginning of this thread, its a discussion of the frustration I have of the disparity between VSC and CSC, and a general rant about the idiocy of the whole process and about how long it takes. I'm sure that there are many of you out there feeling the frustration and depression of seeing all these cases whip by while we sit and sit and sit with no action, peering into an inscrutable black hole just hoping that someday we will see some light at the end of this tunnel. I understand that there are probably a lot of people out there who agree with me and this thread but may be afraid to post lest they be branded troublemakers and kicked off.

If you guys don't want to read/hear about my frustrations, then fine, I'll stop posting and find another venue. In any support group I've been in, you get both the good and the bad, and you get negativity and frustration as well and positivity and sunlight. For some reason, online groups seem to prefer the latter. I prefer a balance.

Anyways, never mind. This thread can end now if you like.

Let me leave you with one thing.

I just found a song by Simple Plan which encapsulates how Susan and I we feel about each other and this wait and I thought I'd share it with you:

Its called I Can Wait Forever

Listen here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=p94_b0dCCEI

Lyrics: http://music.yahoo.com/Simple-Plan/I-Can-W...lyrics/57125211

Thanks...Chris

[rebeccajo 14]

I have to say...if recent VSC petitioners are referring to their good fortune as a 'jackpot' - I think that's kind of tasteless.

I guess I'd have to see how it was written.

[dbears 1]

I'm also not trying to create a divide - the VSCers are doing that on their own by announcing their wonderful "jackpots" - I think everyone on the CSC list heart sinks when we see those. On the one hand, I'm happy for them but on the other hand they might be a bit more sensitive to the rest of us as well. We are all here to support each other, at least thats what I thought these boards were for.

It is obvious you have not read the content of the "jackpot" thread as you call it and yet you are so negative about it... was it created to put CSC's filers down? NO sir.... it was speciafically created for this reason:

"This is just to easily track movement amongst January filers who submitted application @ VSC. For us to monitor who gets the 'happy dance' for the day and who will need the most encouragement in a few months time when the list starts to dwindle."

That's taken from my first post on that thread. Is that bad? or maybe you have not seen VSC filers from way back several months ago still waiting for their NOA2 while majority of the people who filed within their month have already received their approvals.. and i say majority, meaning both from VSC & even CSC.... do you ever pause to think how these left behind VSC filers feel? Let's not go far, of the first 3 janaury approvals, 2 of them filed towards the end of the month and there are so many who have filed on the first week who do not have approval yet.... do you know how do these people feel?

as has been emphasized by others again and again, it is not the waiting per se that is frustrating and depressing but seeing others who filed within your time, after your time and within the same center get approved and you being left behind... what's worst for these early january filers is, they have no place to vent because there are so many people like you saying how unfair and that they cant empathize with VSC whiners but would that make them feel any better? No, It just double their agony.

Yes, it is unfair that most (not all) VSC filers get approved faster but does it mean ALL VSC filers (those that are left behind) have an immunity to feelings of frustrations and depressions in this visa process? Gosh, if you haven't noticed we are also human like you, we get envious of those who got approved within our timeline, we cry and we get depressed that others have been approved around us left and right while we still continue to wait and wait but it does not give us the right to hold grudges against those who got lucky, it does not give us the right to take away from them the right to celebrate.

And those late January filers who got approved very early in the process, do you think their happiness was really complete? A lot of them have expressed feelings of guilt even if it wasn't their fault that they were approved faster than others... and if you are really sensitive like you're claiming, you would feel that that shouldn't be the case, getting the NOA2 should only be a happy moment and not tainted with guilt because after all, we all went into the same trouble filing our papers.

Now, what do you want us January VSC filers to do? be depressed and focus on how unfair it is like the way you do and make those who got approved feel worst? NO sir, we just have to find a way to lighten the mood... we have to find a way to celebrate those who got approved and at the same time give encouragement to those who are being left behind.... and since there is no pattern in how VSC chose approval, it does feel like a 'draw lots' and that's why I chose to use that "jackpot" word for it to become a game... so that those who got approve feel that it was not their fault that they were approved faster than the other, they just got lucky.. and for those who are still waiting to know that it is also not their fault that they are still waiting... and that sooner or later we would all get our approval... the thread is also our little community where we share or just talk about anything... it is a way for us to pass the time in a positive way and provide encouragement and positive vibes to those around and a way to monitor who will be needing the most encouragement later, because after all, this is a game of draw lots, we do not know who will be left behind BUT we all want to be there to continue cheering them on.

There are so many things that is unfair in this world, if we will all count all the unfair things we have gone through and are still going through, how bleak the world would be. In this visa journey, we have a choice: to focus on the negative and all the unfair bureaucratic red tapes OR to focus on the day that we will finally be with the one we love and the happiness that we will be sharing for the rest of our lives. I don't know if 'crying foul" is more important to you but as for me, I just want to stay focused on being with the man I love. I've already waited 5 years before I opened up my heart to really love again, and as a couple. me and my fiance have waited almost 3 years already to be together. It does not make this additional months of waiting for approval any better but what is a couple more months compared to all the years I will share with him later.

now, if the title of the thread offended you, then I am sorry.. i can assure you, not all CSC filers feel your sentiments towards that thread because we do have CSC filer visitors drop by from time to time... and also, the one who gave me the full list of VSC filers, our first ever "approved and still waiting VSC filers" list is Blake, a CSC filer himself.... a very positive guy, who also have a thread specifically for January CSC filers, a thread not meant to propagate negative feelings against VSC approvals but instead, it is a thread nurturing positive vibes within the group and also offering ways to make the most of their waiting time in the most positive way.

Good luck on your journey.

God speed.

[rebeccajo 14]

Chris -

You say you don't just want to hear positive things and you want honesty.

You want to hear a really true honest thing? From someone who has been there?

Someday - when you and Susan are reunited - this wait will all be a memory. Really and truly it will. I've been married to my husband for 2.5 years now.

Sometimes, when we are reminiscing, we talk about our separations. They are almost sweet things now. A testament to us, I guess. That we made it.

Trust me. It's true.

[Cassie 8]

Chris -

You say you don't just want to hear positive things and you want honesty.

You want to hear a really true honest thing? From someone who has been there?

Someday - when you and Susan are reunited - this wait will all be a memory. Really and truly it will. I've been married to my husband for 2.5 years now.

Sometimes, when we are reminiscing, we talk about our separations. They are almost sweet things now. A testament to us, I guess. That we made it.

Trust me. It's true.

Amen, I second that!

[mox 298]

I think the "jackpot" think is just a morale booster. I haven't read the entire thread, but I don't see anything distasteful, at least in the first page. It's being run as a "lottery," and participants do seem to be in good spirits.

I should point out that until not too long ago there was a "CSC Sweepstakes" thread that was very popular too. It pretty much died when CSC came to a screeching halt, but for a time it kept a lot of us distracted and in good spirits.

[rebeccajo 14]

I think the "jackpot" think is just a morale booster. I haven't read the entire thread, but I don't see anything distasteful, at least in the first page. It's being run as a "lottery," and participants do seem to be in good spirits.

I should point out that until not too long ago there was a "CSC Sweepstakes" thread that was very popular too. It pretty much died when CSC came to a screeching halt, but for a time it kept a lot of us distracted and in good spirits.

Ah. I see.

Maybe everybody ought to just take a chill-pill then and not get so bent out of shape about innocent phraseology?