Lets collect some information about IMBRA effects

[pax 0]

I do hope you two wake up a bit and lay off the kool-aid.

Yodrak,

Did you know we were supposed to get Kool-Aid? Hell, if I'd known, I'd have signed up for this whole immigration thing YEARS ago.

pax

***

To our intrepid defender of human rights:

Please tell me, again, which civil liberties are being violated.

Also please explain to me how you intend to get a class-action lawsuit against the government off the ground before the problem is actually resolved—which, from everything I've read, should be happening fairly soon.

Finally, please tell me how telling you that you're wasting your time on this one amounts to a claim that everything is "hunky dory" in the United States.

[zethris 0]

Well now that the USCIS "officialy" knows, they can act upon it, and i am sure they want to immediatly train all staff on the changes and what this law means immediatly. Especially how the troublesooters plan to attack the flood of us coming in from both newly filed applications, and those of us who have had our already approved visa's revoked because of this.

Your visa was revoked?

Surely you mean your PETITION for the visa was sent back.

once you have NOA2, it's an approval. Those that have had it approved are in revokation status. However, it's a special consession that is being made to run an RFE on the Visa's that had been approved past the march 6th deadline. Some, actually are finding their final interviews canceled until further notice. Others even finished everything and were waiting for the visa in the mail, but had it canceled. Meanwhile they had quit their job in preparation to move, which is about as bad as it can get.

[pax 0]

once you have NOA2, it's an approval. Those that have had it approved are in revokation status. However, it's a special consession that is being made to run an RFE on the Visa's that had been approved past the march 6th deadline. Some, actually are finding their final interviews canceled until further notice. Others even finished everything and were waiting for the visa in the mail, but had it canceled. Meanwhile they had quit their job in preparation to move, which is about as bad as it can get.

Please tell us where visas have been cancelled—actual visas, not approved petitions.

Second of all, the petitions have not been revoked. That's a whole other process. They've been recalled.

[zethris 0]

I do hope you two wake up a bit and lay off the kool-aid.

Yodrak,

Did you know we were supposed to get Kool-Aid? Hell, if I'd known, I'd have signed up for this whole immigration thing YEARS ago.

pax

***

To our intrepid defender of human rights:

Please tell me, again, which civil liberties are being violated.

Also please explain to me how you intend to get a class-action lawsuit against the government off the ground before the problem is actually resolved—which, from everything I've read, should be happening fairly soon.

Finally, please tell me how telling you that you're wasting your time on this one amounts to a claim that everything is "hunky dory" in the United States.

because it's the lackadaisical attitude of the two of you who not only seem to be looking to troll in an already difficult situation, but is a sign of the times and state of the people in America who just sit by and not take matters back into their hands because they are too lazy to do anything more than talk about it, or act like a troll in a message board as some sort of "devil's advocate" knowing that they can get a rise out of the people that are suffering. I don't appreciate that, and I would like it to stop or please leave.

[pax 0]

I understand that you don't know me from Eve, but to call me, or Yodrak, lackadaisical just shows your own ignorance of the facts of the matter.

For that matter, so does saying that we're "trolling." Trolling is harassment, or intentionally disseminating misleading or untrue information. I am doing neither. I'm not even playing devil's advocate. I'm saying that what we seem to have here is a lot of confusion, a lot of anger, and a lot of disorganization...none of which will add up to productive change in law or policy when there is in fact no substantive argument to be made for a violation of civil liberties.

I won't call myself any kind of expert in this, but Yodrak knows more about the immigration process than most folks here, and dissing him really lowers the quality of your argument to longtime VJers. Again, IMO.

[zethris 0]

once you have NOA2, it's an approval. Those that have had it approved are in revokation status. However, it's a special consession that is being made to run an RFE on the Visa's that had been approved past the march 6th deadline. Some, actually are finding their final interviews canceled until further notice. Others even finished everything and were waiting for the visa in the mail, but had it canceled. Meanwhile they had quit their job in preparation to move, which is about as bad as it can get.

Please tell us where visas have been cancelled—actual visas, not approved petitions.

Second of all, the petitions have not been revoked. That's a whole other process. They've been recalled.

Last response to you for any of this:

They are in revoked status. That is what it is called. Yes they have been recalled, but placed under administrative revoked status. With the consession that they are not permanently revoked pending a time limit set on us (later) to send back the RFE. If they do not recieve the RFE, or the person that has had their visa returned doesn't get the notice in time to fulfill the RFE, them's the breaks and they have to start all over. While those may be few, there will be a few, and thats one of the many causes of the effect of the implementation of this law that is going to come from it all.

Ultimatly, someone has to take action more than just talking about it on the message boards. You can say and think what you want, but I propose that it's your kind of attitude that has put us in this sort of mess with such lack of control over our own government that was supposed to be made by US.

[pax 0]

They are in revoked status. That is what it is called. Yes they have been recalled, but placed under administrative revoked status. With the consession that they are not permanently revoked pending a time limit set on us (later) to send back the RFE. If they do not recieve the RFE, or the person that has had their visa returned doesn't get the notice in time to fulfill the RFE, them's the breaks and they have to start all over.

Which is what happens to anyone who is RFE'd for anything. And they have not had a VISA returned, it is a PETITION FOR A VISA APPLICATION.

Yes, the recall post-approval is unusual, not to mention frustrating and unfortunate for those whom it affects. But it is not the same as a petition actually being revoked, which typically happens post-interview, if a CO makes a finding that either the petitioner, the beneficiary, or both misrepresented themselves in the petition. The CO does not actually do the revoking, but can send the petition back to the States with a NOIR (Notice of Intent to Revoke).

Which is also different from a visa being denied without revocation of the initial petition. Which also can happen.

Edited June 5, 2006 by pax

[Pete 0]

Bottom line: USCIS is charged with processing petitions in a timely manner. 90-120- who knows how many days is not a timely manner. This is a government agency, and as such is paid for by my tax dollars (and my application fees!).

Anybody remember "No taxation without representation"?? If memory serves, that particular issue led to some minor changes here in the USA :-)

There sure as hell is no applicant representation as far as USCIS goes. All there is, is stonewalling, obfuscation and hours hold time on the telephone for contract call center employees that know nothing.

They go home at night, every night, to their loved ones. I don't. And I have no idea when I will because of their lack of transparancy and inability to CARRY OUT THIER DUTY TO PROCESS APPLICATIONS.

Yes, I am not happy, yes I am willing to try to change the system for the better.

Edited June 5, 2006 by Pete

[zethris 0]

Bottom line: USCIS is charged with processing petitions in a timely manner. 90-120- who knows how many days is not a timely manner. This is a government agency, and as such is paid for by my tax dollars (and my application fees!).

Anybody remember "No taxation without representation"?? If memory serves, that particular issue led to some minor changes here in the USA :-)

There sure as hell is no applicant representation as far as USCIS goes. All there is, is stonewalling, obfuscation and hours hold time on the telephone for contract call center employees that know nothing.

They go home at night, every night, to their loved ones. I don't. And I have no idea when I will because of their lack of transparancy and inability to CARRY OUT THIER DUTY TO PROCESS APPLICATIONS.

Yes, I am not happy, yes I am willing to try to change the system for the better.

And thats what we should try to do. The trick would be to hopefully make changes for the future petitioners, should changes like these be made (and they probably will) so that this type of thing never happens again to people and their loved ones. This country was made on the idea of designing it to hopefully make it a much better place for their families present and future. In many ways they did. But that doesn't mean anything in present day when these things are being taken away in favor of someone trying to create job security for themselves (bureaucracy) and money wasted on irresponsible implementation of law.

[Igor Brukker 0]

I just spoke with Vermont. Finally I heard a good news. They resumed processing K1's, my case was

picked up by an officer last week (before they kept telling me that my petition was in security checks only).

She asked me If I submited any papers about criminal records with my petition, and I told her that it was

not required at that time. It's funny that she was telling me that everything is explained on their website

regarding this new law. So she told me, that she does not know if officer will be requesting any additional

papers from me after the review of my case.

Edited June 5, 2006 by Igor Brukker

[Pete 0]

And one more thing:

Some posters have commented that USCIS processing is like applying for a job or mortgage.

WRONG!

I spent 5 years in the mortgage business: equity, retail and wholesale and I can guarantee you getting a mortgage is 10,000 times easier than the fiancee visa process. On a mortgage app they pull a credit report. THAT'S IT! There is NO background check! Not with the FBI, the CIA, the State Department and who knows how many other local and regional databases.

A job applicant MIGHT have a credit report pulled.

Criminal records? FBI check? IMBRA type disclosures??? PLEASE. You are delusional or severely mis-informed if you think the USCIS checks are remotely similar to applying for a mortgage or a job.

Please don't spread that kind of mis-information or try to reframe the real problem with those comparisons.

[Yodrak 7]

zethris,

People have a right to be 'grandfathered' when something has been done contrary to the applicable law? Agreed that USCIS erred in approving some petitions improperly, but the appropriate remedy for that is to correct the error that was made. And that is what USCIS is doing. Doesn't ease the pain, but it does right the wrong.

....

Here, our rights, in my opinion, are being violated by the fact that we are not being grandfathered in for those of us who have already applied and been approved. ....

According to the information you present in your timeline, your fiancee never had an approved visa application to revoke.

Well now that the USCIS "officialy" knows, they can act upon it, and i am sure they want to immediatly train all staff on the changes and what this law means immediatly. Especially how the troublesooters plan to attack the flood of us coming in from both newly filed applications, and those of us who have had our already approved visa's revoked because of this. ...

Yodrak

Edited June 5, 2006 by Yodrak

[DavidandEli 0]

This Link Explains Most of What is Going on:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegram...grams_2927.html

Fiancé(e) I-129F Petitions Recalled by DHS

UNCLASSIFIED STATE 00077044

P 121528Z MAY 06

FM SECSTATE WASHDC

TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

SUBJECT: FIANCÉ(E) I-129F PETITONS RECALLED BY DHS

1. Summary: The International Marriage Broker Regulation

(IMBRA) was signed by the President January 5th of this

year. A 60-day deadline, March 5, 2006, was established

for DHS to begin asking K-1 fiancé(e) petitioners for

their criminal background information. DHS did not meet

the deadline for collecting additional information. Some

petitions filed after the deadline were approved in error

under the old procedures and sent through the National

Visa Center (NVC) to posts for processing. Approximately

1100 cases went to 95 IV-issuing posts. Posts are

preparing to return these cases as quickly as possible to

NVC. End Summary.

2. While most K-1 cases under the new IMBRA requirements

were held at the service centers pending development of a

new form I-129F, some cases were processed after March 5

using the old forms and procedures and sent to posts for

processing. The DHS Service Center Operations (SCOPS)

Unit of USCIS, Status/Family Branch requested that posts

return to NVC all K1 I-129F petitions with priority dates

(date received at the DHS office) on or after March 6,

2006.

3. NVC was able to run a data base list of all petitions

meeting these criteria. We have notified those

posts that have received these cases and given them the

case numbers and further instructions. All cases on this

list, even those with firm appointments or in 221(g)

status, are to be delayed while the petition is returned

for further information. No cases in issued status will

be recalled. If posts have any question about the correct

priority date of the K1 case, they should use the priority

date (receipt date) written or stamped on the original

petition. DHS has not requested return of K3 or K4 I-129F

petitions.

4. The Department presently has no information about the

extent of delay for these cases. In the meantime DHS will

send additional questionnaires to the petitioners

inquiring about their possible criminal backgrounds. When

the petition is compliant with the IMBRA, it will be

returned to post from USCIS through NVC for processing.

5. The Department understands the additional workload of

this process and the public relations demands of

responding to disappointed petitioners and beneficiaries.

We recommend that questions be addressed directly to USCIS. The USCIS customer service number is: 800 375 5283.

[elizaxyz 0]

The problem with that link, which most of us have already seen, is that it is from the State Department, which has no jurisdiction over USCIS. Just because State says on their website that USCIS is going to do something does not mean that that is USCIS policy-- basically it is State washing its hands of the matter until USCIS sorts itself out.

Edited June 5, 2006 by elizaxyz

[rlt 0]

Hey, guys.

As I posted here 10 days ago...

I emailed CSC even though my case is from Vermont.

I got this from them:

You should phone the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 and inform them of your inquiry. They will either answer your question or send it to Vermont Service Center to answer. I phoned National Visa Center (NVC) today and they did return the petition to that Vermont location. Essentially the petition has completed processing. It was approved by USCIS, Vermont Service Center who sent it to the NVC who referred it to the Consulate for interview. The Visa was not issued by the Consulate and was returned to USCIS for revocation on our system.

just to let you know, my interview was scheduled and sent back with 30 others from Brazil to USA due to IMBRA.

What do you have to say about that?