Answer from Colorado Senator

[Lizzy 0]

What did you expect this senator to do?? You only submitted your petition in May. You dont have a current status?? What was the problem in the first place??

Exactly my point to!

I waited 6 Months for the NOA2, at that point we then contacted Congress.

It was a full 9.5 months UNTIL i even got an interview!!!! and this was before the IMBRA laws.

Please be patient.........i understand your concerns, but come on May!!!!!!

Edited July 21, 2006 by Lizzy

[vartan 0]

All i am asking is what are they meant to do if your whithin the timescales?

Well I can tell you exactly why I thought I could contact my senator.. They are our elected representatives to vote and make a difference in the gov't since we can't voice our oppinions directly to the gov't .. I figured.. My senator will want to hear my problem and try to help the people that are having this problem.. but like I said.. it is not an issue they are concerned about .. and I should have thought about this.. How many in Colorado do you think are actually trying to petition for a foreign fiance? Not many compared to other states.. so not as many votes.. not as much difference..

[no name 1]

I find it amusing (NOT) that everyone (on mnay VJ threads) who is against any May/June people talking to their Senators are already approved.

There is a problem with CSC & I have every right to follow up with my Senators.

If you need to speak to your senate then go ahead i think there is nothing wrong with that at all, do everything you can to help your case.

All i am asking is what are they meant to do if your whithin the timescales?

Instead of calling your senate and giving them hell and lots of problems why not go with a solution to the problem thats all i was thinking.

It's not about timescales, for the millionth time, as vartan said earlier.

My senator is completely aware of the problem, someone else on here has contacted them as well. They are trying to get us answers on processing, when will PROCESSING BEGIN. That's what I want to know.

I'm getting very frustrated that when CSCers start a thread about action, people who are either VSC or approved jumps in. We need our space to talk, please let us have it & try to understand the frustration levels we have.

[VivaMexico 0]

Let me throw in my 2 cents. I understand everyone is frustrated with IMBRA. I'm glad I was finished before that happened. HOWEVER, it is a good law, and changing the law in something like that always causes beaurocratic nightmares for a while.

It seems like people here have some idea that they are owed a quick processing time by USCIS. No where does USCIS promise a 2 or 3 month turnaround for I-129Fs (unfortunately!). There is nothing your Senator or Congressman can do about the current situation, because it is not as simple as telling USCIS to straighten it out. Trust me, the employees and directors of USCIS realize there is a problem and are doing their best to fix it. They are faced, however, with a massive backlog that will simply take time to resolve. Having 535 Members of Congress constantly calling to inquire about cases probably won't speed things up for anyone!!

[vartan 0]

Hahah .. well I am out of this thread after this post.. it is getting nowhere and has taking a different route.. so .. its not about the timeframes people its about ownership... I don't hold anyone's oppinions against them but I am sorry unless you are in the middle of this you don't understand.. and again its NOT IMBRA! I am completely for helping violence against women .. it is implementation .. and OWNERSHIP!!..

Anyways.. I am out of this topic.. there is no need for this discussion anymore...

[VivaMexico 0]

Hahah .. well I am out of this thread after this post.. it is getting nowhere and has taking a different route.. so .. its not about the timeframes people its about ownership... I don't hold anyone's oppinions against them but I am sorry unless you are in the middle of this you don't understand.. and again its NOT IMBRA! I am completely for helping violence against women .. it is implementation .. and OWNERSHIP!!..

Anyways.. I am out of this topic.. there is no need for this discussion anymore...

Ownership of what??? Congress changed the law, USCIS implemented (admittedly not very smoothly), and they are experiencing a backlog of cases because of the change. I guess if you want the head of USCIS to stand up and take ownership that would be fine, but it won't change anything. What else is there to know?

[Robor007 0]

I think everyone should realize that vartan's frustration is with process in general rather than their own process and they have every right to complain. It is extremely unnacceptable that the CSC is so backlogged and behind. Why are Texas and Nebraska cases being forwarded to California if they're already swamped? Who made that decision? It's like a city having a traffic problem and solving it by closing roads.

And I don't care if the IMBRA is a good law or not, if the USCIS wasn't prepared to handle the additional check they shouldn't have put it into effect yet. Period. IMO, heads need to roll at USCIS but since we're talking about the US Gov't and not the private sector you know that's not going to happen.

[sbgwolf1 0]

Let me throw in my 2 cents. I understand everyone is frustrated with IMBRA. I'm glad I was finished before that happened. HOWEVER, it is a good law, and changing the law in something like that always causes beaurocratic nightmares for a while.

OK, let me get this straight....your timeline is that you sent in your i129f and had a noa2 within 30days? No wonder you have no idea how we feel. I am glad others are also doing inquirys when I am at 114 days and no positive information seems available for an expected timeframe. I know others have waited longer than me, yet others are sent and processed in 30-60 days in the other center.

[VivaMexico 0]

I think everyone should realize that vartan's frustration is with process in general rather than their own process and they have every right to complain. It is extremely unnacceptable that the CSC is so backlogged and behind. Why are Texas and Nebraska cases being forwarded to California if they're already swamped? Who made that decision? It's like a city having a traffic problem and solving it by closing roads.

And I don't care if the IMBRA is a good law or not, if the USCIS wasn't prepared to handle the additional check they shouldn't have put it into effect yet. Period. IMO, heads need to roll at USCIS but since we're talking about the US Gov't and not the private sector you know that's not going to happen.

Please understand that I do realize the frustration, and I'm not here to attack anyone who is going through a difficult situation that I very much understand! With that said, Congress implemented the IMBRA law. USCIS did not have a choice to implement or not to implement. Actually USCIS did not implement it when they were supposed to, which is the whole cause of problems now (they had to RFE everyone because they had not issued new forms when they were supposed to). I agree that Members of Congress could try to educate themselves more on the process as a whole, and that would be good for everyone. I, too, am frustrated that legally bringing a spouse to the States is such a difficult process. It just seems that there is some misdirected anger and frustration at people that can't do anything about it.

I have a deal for everyone though: I work for a U.S. Congressman, and I will discuss this process with him when I get a chance and see if he is willing to hold some hearings or otherwise tackle the problem.

[sbgwolf1 0]

Please understand that I do realize the frustration, and I'm not here to attack anyone who is going through a difficult situation that I very much understand! With that said, Congress implemented the IMBRA law. USCIS did not have a choice to implement or not to implement. Actually USCIS did not implement it when they were supposed to, which is the whole cause of problems now (they had to RFE everyone because they had not issued new forms when they were supposed to). I agree that Members of Congress could try to educate themselves more on the process as a whole, and that would be good for everyone. I, too, am frustrated that legally bringing a spouse to the States is such a difficult process. It just seems that there is some misdirected anger and frustration at people that can't do anything about it.

I have a deal for everyone though: I work for a U.S. Congressman, and I will discuss this process with him when I get a chance and see if he is willing to hold some hearings or otherwise tackle the problem.

Please follow through on this. You have the one you love there, and it was a quick process overall. Please think of those nights that you were apart and realize many of us will go well over a year without our loved ones. At this point, we are looking at missing the holidays together for those of us at the CSC. If your in a position to help those going through the process here, it would be greatly appreciated

[VivaMexico 0]

Please follow through on this. You have the one you love there, and it was a quick process overall. Please think of those nights that you were apart and realize many of us will go well over a year without our loved ones. At this point, we are looking at missing the holidays together for those of us at the CSC. If your in a position to help those going through the process here, it would be greatly appreciated

I absolutely will do what I can. I feel terrible for those of you that are stuck waiting!

On a side note, those of you from Colorado might try contacting Tom Tancredo's office. He is the national leader on immigration reform (most of the press has been on his stance against illegal immigration). He is also very interested, however, in improving the legal methods to make it a more viable route for people. I think you would find his office very interested in your plight.

[Caladan 19]

There's little the Senator can do given that the guidelines are as they are. Yes, it's frustrating, but if the Senator's aide is going to make an inquiry, the aide has to have a reason, like 'They said 120 days and it's been 130. What's going on?'

The Senator obviously can't change the timescales just on his own; even if he agrees that the time crunch is ridiculous, if the guidelines say X days and you're at X-n days, he can't call and make a complaint. "My constituent is calling to complain that the process is working just as he was told it would because other centers are more efficient."

What the CSC would need, I think, is more funding and more eyeballs looking at petitions. To do that is going to require the Senator sponsoring a bill or the House holding a hearing. But that's gonna take more than a phone call.

Anyhow, about the back-up leading to further! inevitable! back-ups! I doubt it, and here's why. All the CSC applications have to go through the same place, but once it's off to the different consulates, it's their timetable. Unless everyone at the CSC is sponsoring a person from the same country, it should even out somewhat once the process is decentralized.

[jen&darcy 0]

It's not about timescales, for the millionth time, as vartan said earlier.

My senator is completely aware of the problem, someone else on here has contacted them as well. They are trying to get us answers on processing, when will PROCESSING BEGIN. That's what I want to know.

I'm getting very frustrated that when CSCers start a thread about action, people who are either VSC or approved jumps in. We need our space to talk, please let us have it & try to understand the frustration levels we have.

I called my Senator because I am trying to figure out what the He!! is going on. If I was still in Nebraska where I filed and if it weren't for IMBRA, I would have received my NOA2 already. Therefore, you can start to see the frustration when you are sitting at 90 days today of nothing happening.

Edited July 21, 2006 by jen&darcy

[Caladan 19]

Oh indeed. I just don't think a phonecall is helpful. What is needed is publicity, and that might be better served by a) figuring out *exactly* what people are demanding and B) going to the AP for a follow-up on bill's story, or getting one of the big weblogs involved. If you can tie it to a Congressman that's made immigration a touchstone of re-election, so much the better.

From all the touches it looks like the CSC needs a bunch of temp workers to organize things so the regular employees can concentrate on getting approval.

[Robor007 0]

I think everyone should realize that vartan's frustration is with process in general rather than their own process and they have every right to complain. It is extremely unnacceptable that the CSC is so backlogged and behind. Why are Texas and Nebraska cases being forwarded to California if they're already swamped? Who made that decision? It's like a city having a traffic problem and solving it by closing roads.

And I don't care if the IMBRA is a good law or not, if the USCIS wasn't prepared to handle the additional check they shouldn't have put it into effect yet. Period. IMO, heads need to roll at USCIS but since we're talking about the US Gov't and not the private sector you know that's not going to happen.

Please understand that I do realize the frustration, and I'm not here to attack anyone who is going through a difficult situation that I very much understand! With that said, Congress implemented the IMBRA law. USCIS did not have a choice to implement or not to implement. Actually USCIS did not implement it when they were supposed to, which is the whole cause of problems now (they had to RFE everyone because they had not issued new forms when they were supposed to). I agree that Members of Congress could try to educate themselves more on the process as a whole, and that would be good for everyone. I, too, am frustrated that legally bringing a spouse to the States is such a difficult process. It just seems that there is some misdirected anger and frustration at people that can't do anything about it.

I don't think you're attacking anyone, I think you're just stating the 'black and white' letter of the law. My point is, it's very obvious that someone screwed up. IMO, 1) they should acknowledge the mistake 2) they should apologize for the mistake 3) they should be held responsible for this mistake and 4) measures should be taken ASAP to resolve the mistake. I don't see any of those happening, especially given the '25th anniversary celebration memo' released recently.

I have a deal for everyone though: I work for a U.S. Congressman, and I will discuss this process with him when I get a chance and see if he is willing to hold some hearings or otherwise tackle the problem.

That's good to hear and thank you! Maybe they can get some attention paid to the problem and do something about it because I doubt a few hundred people posting on a message board are going to get anything done other than relieve stress.