Parents of married children waiting over 6 years since application (I-130)

[MumtazG38 1]

My mother, a US citizen applied for immigration for my brother and his wife and two children(one son is a US citizen already), and my sister and her husband and two children...who are currently in Australia (though we still applied through Pakistan) together around 6 years and 4 months ago. My mother has been trying her best to understand everything that has been going on since but I believe she does not have a clue about what is happening, seeing as neither do I to be honest.

She does not know what a NOA1 or NOA2 is, so I cannot figure out whether or not she has gotten one or not...I went through all of the documents she has collected from the USCIS and have not found any letters mentioning the NOA1 or NOA2, although...I have noticed that both my brother and sister have reciept#'s beginning with LIN...I believe this means that they must have at least recieved the NOA1, because otherwise why would they have those reciept #'s?

Here are some letters I found that might create some sort of basis for a time-line, or maybe jsut help make some sense out of this utter garbage consisting of pathetic excuses for information.

Beneficiary: Brother

Friday, June 15, 2007

*Fathers Name*

17257 Street Name

City, MI Zipcode

On 05/08/2007 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

Case type: I130

Filing date: 05/08/2007 (although, we filed before that ^^^^^^. I'm assuming they transferred and re-filed I guess)

Reciept #: LIN-xx-xxx-xxxxx

Benificiary: *My brother*

Your USCIS Account number (A-number): Information not available

Type of service requested: Change of Address

Status of request:

Recently, you called us to update your address. We have updated your address in our systems and on your application or petition. Thank you for notifying us of your change of address. If you change your address again in the future, please contact customer service.

Any further questions...etc.

Beneficiary: Brother

Monday, July 9, 2007

*Mothers Name*

17257 Street Name

City MI Zipcode

On 06/28/2007 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

Case type: I130

Filing date: 06/28/2007 (wait...I thought it said on the previous letter that she filed on 05/08..whats that about?)

Reciept #: LIN-xx-xxx-xxxxx

Benificiary: *My brother*

Your USCIS Account number (A-number): Axxxxxxxxx (this info was unavailable before...)

Type of service requested: Change of Address

Status of request:

Same as above.

etc.etc.

Beneficiary: Sister

August 3, 2007

*Fathers Name*

Zipcode Street Name

City MI Zipcode

( ^^ The address keeps changing back and forth. first just the name changed from my fathers' to mothers', than the house number changed from 17257 to my zipcode^^^? )

Case type: I130

Filing date: 11/20/2008 (ok...all of a sudden it changed back to the proper filing date? What is going on?????)

Reciept #: LIN-xx-xxx-xxxxx

Benificiary: Information not Available

Your USCIS Account number (A-number): Information not available (how is it not available again...they just sent it??)

Type of service requested: Outside Normal Processing Times (what is this supposed to mean??)

Status of request:

( it's different this time... )

Regulations do not permit providing information directly to the beneficiary of a petition. Please have the petitioner redirect your inquiry.

( what on earth is that supposed to mean )

Beneficiary: Sister

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

On 05/08/2007 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

Case type: I130

Filing date: Information not available(Why can't they remember she filed for both of them in November?)

Reciept #: lin-xx-xxx-xxxxx

Benificiary: *My sister*

Your USCIS Account number (A-number): Information not available (how is it unavailable again...they just sent it??)

Type of service requested: Change of Address

Status of request:

You are the beneficiary of this I-130 petition. Immigration and Naturalization Law prohibits this office from responding to an inquiry submitted by anyone other than the petitioner/applicant. We will be happy to respond to an inquiry submitted by the petitioner/applicant.

One final note: When you called you or your representative asked that we update your address on your pending case for the purpose of processing. We have updated your address. Your address now appears on your application or petition as the address shown above.

( if in this letter, they believe that the beneficiary is the one who contacted....does that mean her address has been changed to the U.S address listed above by accident or a misunderstanding? My sister does not live here....might this be the reason the case has been pending for so long? )

It has been around 1 year and 1-2 months since these notices have been sent out to my mother and after this she believed that the uscis is taking care of this. They (my parents) have never heard of the NVC so they do not know that by now they should have been transferred.

I called the service center today, and also checked online status at the USCIS.gov site and both say the same thing basically, that both cases are pending standard processing....and to not contact them for 180 days(6 months) since these letters and notices have been sent out. It has been over 13-14 months since they have been sent out. Granted my mother and father may have not contacted them during this time, or any time at that matter....but that does not mean that it is fair or right for my parents to have not even gotten a single movement of the case, or a single notice of status...or change in status at that? It has been 6 years since they applied, the poor things need some hope and yet they have none.

When I found out that they had been waiting so long I immediately thought of VJ!! !. You guys have helped me so very much in my case and although, I haven't had time enough to pull away from work and actually get to send out my petition as of yet....how very sad...very very sad. You guys have given more than enough knowledge to be confident enough to finally ease up about the entire case and actually maintain my cool, and not fret...or worry anymore. Thank you so much you AWESOME VJ'ERS!!!!!!!!!WOOHOOOOOO! lol.

So yeah, I would be really grateful if you guys could help me figure out what is or maybe isn't going on, with my parents cases?

P.S.

I will be calling the USCIS to talk to a representative tomorrow evening as soon as I come home from work to ask them about the case and why on earth is it taking so long at the USCIS stage alone. I mean if this stage, being the easiest, is taking this long jsut sitting there...then god only knows what on earth is going to happen when NVC rolls around!!! YIKES!

[Mononoke28 135]

There's absolutely nothing they can do because they both fall in the F3 category and they're currently processing petitions they received in Aug 2000, so they still have to wait at least, another 3 years or so.

You should also check out the Visa Bulletin January 2009 site where you'll find more info.

But for now, this is what they say:

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

01AUG00

Diana

Edited February 10, 2009 by Mononoke28

[payxibka 10,045]

getting there but still a while to wait

[MumtazG38 1]

wow......3 more years. And that's for the USCIS part alone....then they have NVC and then the embassy/consulate still. I don't know but having waited 6 years already seems really unfair....there has to be something they can do to speed it up to at least a year....maybe even two. Waiting a total of 9 years my parents are going to become absolutely hopeless if I tell them that there isn't anything that can be done about it now.....

Wish there was something we could do.....

[aaron2020 11,651]

wow......3 more years. And that's for the USCIS part alone....then they have NVC and then the embassy/consulate still. I don't know but having waited 6 years already seems really unfair....there has to be something they can do to speed it up to at least a year....maybe even two. Waiting a total of 9 years my parents are going to become absolutely hopeless if I tell them that there isn't anything that can be done about it now.....

Wish there was something we could do.....

Why is it "unfair?" Filipinos siblings in the F4 category have to wait 24 years. Each country has the right to establish its own rules on who gets to enter the country. No foreign person has any rights to immigrate to another country, whether it is the US or Pakistan.

The US can only absorb so many immigrants at any one time. There are always more people wanting to come to the US then there are visas. We cannot build new houses and create new jobs to absorb everyone who may want an immigration visa.

P.S. My father petitioned for my brother and his family in the F3 category. They have been waiting for nine years (since 2000) and his PD is still not current. It would be truly unfair for your brother and his family to skip in front of my brother and his family. Everyone has to wait until it is their turn.

[Mononoke28 135]

I know it sucks but just think that everybody has to go through it. My aunt petitioned my cousing (her son) 9 years ago and is still waiting. If your family was the only one having to wait then yes, it would be totally unfair. But everybody has to go through the same thing.

Just hang in there.

Diana

[MumtazG38 1]

I know it sucks but just think that everybody has to go through it. My aunt petitioned my cousing (her son) 9 years ago and is still waiting. If your family was the only one having to wait then yes, it would be totally unfair. But everybody has to go through the same thing.

Just hang in there.

Diana

Okay, yeah I thought it was unfair because I had absolutely no idea that the wait time was so much. The lawyer my parents asked was obviously a complete idiot when he told them that it wouldn't take anymore than 5 years....so maybe I got pulled into believing that lie too and got worried....

Edited February 12, 2009 by MumtazG38

[L179 1]

I know it sucks but just think that everybody has to go through it. My aunt petitioned my cousing (her son) 9 years ago and is still waiting. If your family was the only one having to wait then yes, it would be totally unfair. But everybody has to go through the same thing.

Just hang in there.

Diana

Okay, yeah I thought it was unfair because I had absolutely no idea that the wait time was so much. The lawyer my parents asked was obviously a complete idiot when he told them that it wouldn't take anymore than 5 years....so maybe I got pulled into believing that lie too and got worried....

If your mom has filed for the entire family then it definately takes longer cause she has no blood relation with your brothers wife. She would have been better off just filing for your brother and sister as her siblings and they in turn file for their spouses and kids followed. Thats what we did. My step sister filed for my mother alone as she is not blood related to my father or me. Then once my mother got her green card she filed for my father and myself

[aaron2020 11,651]

I know it sucks but just think that everybody has to go through it. My aunt petitioned my cousing (her son) 9 years ago and is still waiting. If your family was the only one having to wait then yes, it would be totally unfair. But everybody has to go through the same thing.

Just hang in there.

Diana

Okay, yeah I thought it was unfair because I had absolutely no idea that the wait time was so much. The lawyer my parents asked was obviously a complete idiot when he told them that it wouldn't take anymore than 5 years....so maybe I got pulled into believing that lie too and got worried....

If your mom has filed for the entire family then it definately takes longer cause she has no blood relation with your brothers wife. She would have been better off just filing for your brother and sister as her siblings and they in turn file for their spouses and kids followed. Thats what we did. My step sister filed for my mother alone as she is not blood related to my father or me. Then once my mother got her green card she filed for my father and myself

You are so wrong. His mom filed for his brother in the F3 family category. The brother's wife is a derivative beneficiary. How can a mom file for a child as a sibling? There is no other category that a USC mom can file for her married child.

Your case may be different. If your step sister was over 18 years old when your father married her mom, then she could ONLY sponsor mom for a visa. If she was under 18 years old when your father married her mom, she could have applied for your father. BOTH of these cases would be Immediate Relatives which have immigration visas immediately available to them.

A USC sibling petition (F4 category) takes 12 years while a LPR petition for unmarried child (either F2a or F2b) takes considerably less time.

YOU NEED TO KNOW THE PROCESSES BEFORE YOU GIVE OUT MISINFORMATION.

If you are married, your LPR mother will NOT be able to petition for you.

Edited February 16, 2009 by aaron2020