My letter to the CIS Ombudsman

[tigretigre 0]

I submitted the following to the CIS Ombudsman about ten minutes ago.

Let us hope he answers his own email. And reads it.

I included my address, home, and office phone numbers. Maybe he will think I'm clever and want to talk to me.

Maybe I'll get a pony for my birthday this year.

May 25, 2006

Prakash I. Khatri, Esq

Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman

United States Department of Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Mr. Khatri:

I recently filed a K1 fiance(e) visa petition (Form I-129F) with the USCIS Vermont Service Center on behalf of my husband-to-be, a citizen of the United Kingdom. According to the United States Postal Service returned receipt, my petition arrived at the Center on May 19. I have since heard some very distressing news from the Department of State concerning the processing of K1 fiance(e) visa petitions in light of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) (please see the Visa Telegram at http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegram...grams_2927.html, dated May 6th, 2006).

This information included news of the recall of over 1,000 approved K1 petitions from their consular destinations, and provided the vaguest of explanations concerning the future of submissions currently awaiting processing at the USCIS Service Centers. I am writing to seek some general information on the current K1 visa processing situation at the Service Centers (particularly the Vermont Center, where the recalled petitions appear to have originated), and to offer my input on how the USCIS can best address the concerns and understandable anxiety of United States citizens and their fiancé(e)s abroad.

I write to you not only out of concern for my own case, but out of concern for other K1 petitioners who have shared their distress with me. People seeking family-based immigration benefits suffer anxiety and frustration resulting from separation from loved ones and the uncertainty of the process by which they are hoping to be reunited with their family members. It is not surprising that the World Wide Web is home to communities of family-based immigration petitioners and applicants who seek understanding and support during this difficult time. As a member of one such community, my thoughts as I write to you are as much of them as they are of my own situation.

My areas of concern include the following:

1) The relevant federal agencies (which include the USCIS under the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Department of State), have failed to keep the public informed of the IMBRA-related developments and how they affect the way K1 petitions will be processed at the USCIS Service Centers.

2) The relevant federal agencies have failed to provide effective channels through which current petitioners and applicants can obtain reliable, complete information concerning their pending cases.

3) Officials at the relevant federal agencies, having made the grave error of failing to implement the required procedural measures for IMBRA by the legislative deadline, have compounded that error by requiring that petitions received after that deadline be processed in compliance with IMBRA when petitioners and applicants were not themselves informed of the need for compliance.

4) Officials at the relevant federal agencies have now released information (see the Visa Policy Telegram from the Department of State) stating that petitioners for K1 visas submitting on or after March 6, 2006 will be subject to new requirements when completing Form I-129F, but have failed to explain what information (if any) the petitioner will be required to supply. References to a “new Form I-129F” and “additional questionnaires” have triggered panic among petitioners and applicants, who envision massive delays as the petitioners collect the IMBRA information and turn it over to Service Centers for processing.

The situation has become untenable for those of us who have submitted a K1 petition we know or think will be affected by IMBRA, and some remedies are necessary. People who have resigned from jobs, sold or purchased homes, relocated, and made wedding plans upon receipt of an approval notice (or even upon approval at the foreign consulate) are now suffering financial as well as emotional hardship as their approvals are revoked. We who have not yet received an approval notice from our Service Centers are left to wonder anxiously about the future of our petitions, and to speculate on what information will be required from us in order to proceed (as well as how long it will take to obtain it).

We are United States citizens who have acted in good faith and conformed to the laws and regulations of the United States, and the requirements of the K1 petition process as published at the time of filing. To effectively penalize our petitions for an administrative failure we could not possibly have anticipated is rapidly eroding our faith in the ability of our Government to provide transparent guidance and competent administrative service.

My proposed solutions are as follows:

1) The Department of State and the USCIS must as soon as possible publish a notice describing any new requirements for the submission of K1 petitions due to IMBRA. The notice should include information on any new version of Form I-129F that may be forthcoming, and instructions for submitting K1 petitions pending new regulations or forms. In addition to any other forms of publication, the notice should be displayed prominently on the homepage of the USCIS website, and should also be available on the Department of State web page concerning visas.

2) As soon as possible, the web pages displaying the visa processing dates at the individual USCIS Service Centers should provide a notice updating the user on the status of Form I-129F processing at the Center (i.e., whether all processing has been suspended, some processing is taking place, normal processing has resumed, etc.).

3) As soon as possible, the Departments of State and Homeland Security, as well as USCIS itself, should issue a notice providing the public with a single information resource for questions concerning the IMBRA situation as it affects pending K1 petitions. This resource should be able to provide individuals with, among other things, a) the current location and status of the individual's petition; B) any information that is still needed from the petitioner before the petition can be approved; c) an estimated timeline for approval of any petition recalled from a foreign consulate by the Department of Homeland Security.

4) Given that petitioners with cases currently pending at a Service Center, the National Visa Center, or a foreign consulate received no notice concerning any additional procedures or requirements for approval of their petitions or applications for visas, and that there is no guidance on the IMBRA requirements available for U.S. citizens contemplating a K1 petition, it may be argued that fundamental fairness requires that all K1 submissions be processed under the pre-IMBRA regulations until notice of new procedures and requirements can be widely disseminated by the relevant federal agencies. It is one thing to require that all petitions submitted after a specific date conform to a specific set of regulations made available prior to that date; it is quite another to subject all pending and future petitions to a set of regulations that do not yet appear to exist and therefore cannot be followed by petitioners, researched by attorneys, or explained to users by USCIS officials.

I recognize that USCIS and other Department of Homeland Security personnel work hard on a daily basis to provide the most efficient and thorough service possible, for the benefit of visa-seekers and for the protection of American citizens. It is disturbing, however, to witness at this critical point in the development of our country's immigration policies and procedures, such confusion and absence of transparency. I urge you to consider the issues I have identified here, and their accompanying proposals, and to recommend that USCIS take action as soon as possible. I very much appreciate your time and attention to this matter, and would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Very truly yours,

[my name], J.D.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

Nicely worded

[raymaga 25]

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!! ha ha

I think you made all the relevant points in an orderly way and I hope you get as orderly an answer back.

This whole IMBRA thing sure makes me glad I'm long past the K-1 Visa stage!!!!!! And I thought waiting for more than 6 months for our NOA2 was stressful!!!!!!! I guess things CAN get worse at USCIS!!!!

Good luck to all of you that are being affected by IMBRA.

Edited May 25, 2006 by raymaga

[*Robert* 2]

Dayum!!! You have been to law school!

Did you breath while writing that?!

Nice job!

[babybunny 2]

[bwaaderant 0]

The only thing I would add is I would like for them to post the top 10 reasons why we should continue the legal path to bring our loved ones here to be with us and not just fly them to Mexico and waltz across the border.

Yeah, I'm being sarcastic!

But it's a great letter and it should be sent to every frickin' newspaper, newsroom, radio station, any and every media outlet!

[babybunny 2]

Dayum!!! You have been to law school!

Did you breath while writing that?!

Nice job!

yes they went to law school hince the J,D

[usarandyo 0]

well done and when I become Your Royal Supreme Imperial Majesty I will emplace you as Master of Visadom.

Seriously, very good work and I sincerely hope it does some good!

[noBS 0]

Now THAT is being part of the solution! Very nice work Tigre.

If you are reading this forum, and you have not already called, written or mailed ombudsman, Senators, Congresspeople regarding the processing standstill of fiance visas, then PLEASE write your letter tonight and mail it tomorrow. It doesn't have to be fancy or long, just hit the high points and MAIL IT.

[Ladylethal 12]

This is awesome, really good!

[rlt 0]

Tigre,

you should be proud of yourself. I am.

Just one thing: I don´t know if you sentthis as a letter as well, but you should.

Always better than an email.

[tigretigre 0]

The Ombudsman supposedly actually prefers to receive correspondence as a Microsoft Word document attached to email.

So I followed directions.

[I'm Gone 60]

Well I hope you have better luck than I did with the Ombudsman. I e-mailed the office about a problem and got a responce 2 months later telling me to put it in writing and mail it to them, because they can't respond to e-mailed requests for assistance. Two freakin months to send me a form letter. By that time the problem had been resolved by making an INFOPASS appointment.

[rlt 0]

Well I hope you have better luck than I did with the Ombudsman. I e-mailed the office about a problem and got a responce 2 months later telling me to put it in writing and mail it to them, because they can't respond to e-mailed requests for assistance. Two freakin months to send me a form letter. By that time the problem had been resolved by making an INFOPASS appointment.

Tigre, would you please consider sending this letter by mail as well?

Please?

[I'm Gone 60]

Well I hope you have better luck than I did with the Ombudsman. I e-mailed the office about a problem and got a responce 2 months later telling me to put it in writing and mail it to them, because they can't respond to e-mailed requests for assistance. Two freakin months to send me a form letter. By that time the problem had been resolved by making an INFOPASS appointment.

Tigre, would you please consider sending this letter by mail as well?

Please?

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/edit...torial_0731.xml