Call your Senator!!!

[Rob and Jill 82]

Can someone who has actually had to call their Senator and make use of them to HELP with their immigration process, please take the time to explain the everyone WHEN and WHY you should call a Senator to help your case?

Quite frankly, almost every thread has someone offering the advice of "call your senator" now, and it's doesn't even make sense WHY it would be said 99.9% of the time when I see it.

[Otto 83]

In my opinion, it would be best to use these types of resources for the following reasons:

• The case is outside of posted processing times, or
  
• They have a compelling reason to request someone intervene on their behalf.
  

I think folks are often under the assumption that calling a Senator's office will somehow speed up the process, it's simply not true in most cases.

[gbagbo 0]

Can someone who has actually had to call their Senator and make use of them to HELP with their immigration process, please take the time to explain the everyone WHEN and WHY you should call a Senator to help your case?

Quite frankly, almost every thread has someone offering the advice of "call your senator" now, and it's doesn't even make sense WHY it would be said 99.9% of the time when I see it.

I was told by a friend who went through the K1 process before that the people to talk to is Congress, not the Senate. I hear that the USCIS gets funding from Congress so that is who they will listen to if there is a problem. Find who your Representative is in the House.

My friend did that and 1 week later his fiancée had her visa. (that was a few years ago however, i'm not sure how well it would work today)

And I don't think you should bother contacting anyone until 5 months have passed for the NOA2 or unless there is a problem with the embassy or at the interview etc....

Edited April 22, 2010 by gbagbo

[Jewel-8 21]

Can someone who has actually had to call their Senator and make use of them to HELP with their immigration process, please take the time to explain the everyone WHEN and WHY you should call a Senator to help your case?

Quite frankly, almost every thread has someone offering the advice of "call your senator" now, and it's doesn't even make sense WHY it would be said 99.9% of the time when I see it.

1) The case is 30 days beyond timelines posted on USCIS website

2) RFE has been issued but there is confusion over it

3) Interviews at embassies have gone horribly wrong and they won't tell you what's going on

4) Immigration Officers have said inappropriate things regarding your case

[Craneman 2]

Our case was past the time line.

Contacted USCIS 6 times with no resolution, 4 times within 2 hours, different person answered each time 4 different answers to the same question.

Call the Senators office and four hours later problem solved, Green Card approved.

Our case was past the time line.

Contacted USCIS 6 times with no resolution, 4 times within 2 hours, different person answered each time 4 different answers to the same question.

Call the Senators office and four hours later problem solved, Green Card approved.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I was told by a friend who went through the K1 process before that the people to talk to is Congress, not the Senate. I hear that the USCIS gets funding from Congress so that is who they will listen to if there is a problem. Find who your Representative is in the House.

My friend did that and 1 week later his fiancée had her visa. (that was a few years ago however, i'm not sure how well it would work today)

And I don't think you should bother contacting anyone until 5 months have passed for the NOA2 or unless there is a problem with the embassy or at the interview etc....

The average person working at USCIS would only be worried about the flak they're going to get from their superiors if they don't respond quickly to an inquiry from a legislator's office. A corollary would be a waitress who doesn't care if her bad service is causing the restaurant to lose money, but she cares a LOT if you complain to her boss because she might lose her job. The Secretary of DHS might be worried about congressional funding, but these sort of inquiries never make it that high up the chain of command. Besides, sponsored immigration is required by law to be funded by the sponsors, and not by the taxpayers.

I also don't understand how putting pressure on USCIS would result in a visa being issued a week later. USCIS doesn't issue visas. Maybe your friend's congressional representative called the consulate, and not USCIS.

[belinda63 3,038]

I waited until we were in AP for almost one year prior to contacting my congressman. I don't want to clog the wheels of progress with requests for assistance unless they are needed.

These persons who's response to every problem or delay is "call your congressman" are creating problems. A congressional inquiry must be answered within a certain amount of time and takes time away from the actual processing of visas/petitions.

I would advise that unless there is a serious problem to just be patient and wait.

[Rob and Jill 82]

Thank you to those who have NEEDED to call and explained WHY it is necessary. Everyone randomly saying "Call your Congressman" is really frustrating!

I am not asking because "I" intend on it any time soon, just to clarify to those who might be newer here!

[az110965 252]

Very interesting question, one I just recently had to deal with and ultimately I ended up getting my Congresman involved, who solved my problem in less than 2 hours.

The Congressman has a specific emoployee who is the liason between his office and USCIS, but in my case I was confrenced in on the call where the Congressman HIMSELF called CSC to inquire as to my case. 2 hours later a touch showed up on my case, the next morning (a Saturday), another touch. NOA2 was issued less than 24 hours later on a SUNDAY...

I can't believe how quickly a phone call from the Congressman untangled a difficult situation for my fiancee and I. I do believe that because I had a legitimite need for his intervention that thingsd happened so quickly...

Best of luck to all that are still waiting for their NOA2's. I truly hope they come soon and you have smooth sailing.

Alan

[swimminupstream 0]

Can someone who has actually had to call their Senator and make use of them to HELP with their immigration process, please take the time to explain the everyone WHEN and WHY you should call a Senator to help your case?

Quite frankly, almost every thread has someone offering the advice of "call your senator" now, and it's doesn't even make sense WHY it would be said 99.9% of the time when I see it.

I did...I emailed my senator and he inquired into my case. My case was then in "expedited status". If only Id done this earlier. I did it towards the end because I was getting impatient and was worried my case got lost (as im sure everyone does). So, yes it behooves you to contact your senator.

[ScottThuy 140]

I am amazed at the fact that so many folks have congressional inquiries after a couple months @ USCIS... what happened to waiting until the normal processing time had expired or something odd was going on? We had our congressman inquire when we were in AP @ NVC.. didnt help a bit.... he also made a couple of inquiries while in AP @ the consulate.. still no visible results.. its sad that the inquiries mean less because the system is flooded with inquiries about cases within normal standards... and not outside the norm...

[JohnAnwesha 4]

Thank you to those who have NEEDED to call and explained WHY it is necessary. Everyone randomly saying "Call your Congressman" is really frustrating!

I am not asking because "I" intend on it any time soon, just to clarify to those who might be newer here!

Nice question indeed.The 'contact your senator' suggestion is only for extreme cases ,unfortunate situations ,or for those cases which are way passed their time-frame.Not for kicks.!Else soon they might start thinking people are just not concerned about waiting it out even a bit,and will stop entertaining those calls which really are of a serious nature.

People who start this process have to wait.Then if you are super-lucky and things happen faster than you expected, it is well,just cause you got lucky

[coraliesolms 47]

After 3 and a half years of fighting with immigration, and a 221(g) that took forever to process, we called our congressmen. Even then, she got a canned response, and waited 2 more weeks before she inquired again.

It should be left as a "last resort".

Good luck with your visa journey!!

[caybee 21]

A friend of ours had her senator's office open a file and signed a form giving them permission to act on her behalf before her husband's interview at a high-fraud consulate (she was in his country for the interview). They had a strong case, a long marriage and many visits, but a couple of red flags. He was initially told his file was being returned to USCIS. She called the senator's office within the hour, and since they already had the permission form, they were able to contact the consulate immediately. He was granted a second interview a few days later, and he received the visa. I don't believe they clogged up the system unnecessarily before the fact, but because she had been proactive in signing the permission form and the senator's office didn't need anything else from her when time counted, I believe that was one factor which helped keep the file at the consulate long enough for them to take a second look.

Edited April 23, 2010 by caybee

[swimminupstream 0]

Nice question indeed.The 'contact your senator' suggestion is only for extreme cases ,unfortunate situations ,or for those cases which are way passed their time-frame.Not for kicks.!Else soon they might start thinking people are just not concerned about waiting it out even a bit,and will stop entertaining those calls which really are of a serious nature.

People who start this process have to wait.Then if you are super-lucky and things happen faster than you expected, it is well,just cause you got lucky

I contacted my senator and his office inquired into the case but it was at the end of the process and I was actually already approved before they received inquiry. Many were being approved in our time frame but we hadnt. I wasnt sure if I should, because I knew the *wait* was part of it. I finally decided that I am a citizen, pay my taxes, and have never asked for assistance before.....that is what our representatives are there for....to assist us (one of their many duties). I am glad I did. I did not ask for expedited case. I only asked for him to check on our case. They responded quickly to my request and supplied me with their correspondence with the USCIS. It is a great resource if needed. Hindsight...we probably didnt need to. Hope this helps!