Waiting on i-601 from Bangkok

[Peytons daddy 0]

Hi,

I am just wondering if anyone has filed a i-601 waiver with Bangkok. I have received a letter saying that it was received on April 22, 2010 and that the current processing time is 180 days. Anyway let me know if you had any dealing with Bangkok.

Thanks.

[spyrals 0]

Hi,

I am just wondering if anyone has filed a i-601 waiver with Bangkok. I have received a letter saying that it was received on April 22, 2010 and that the current processing time is 180 days. Anyway let me know if you had any dealing with Bangkok.

Thanks.

would be interested to know how this turned out. I'm in the same process now.

[Used to be broken 147]

Hi,

I am just wondering if anyone has filed a i-601 waiver with Bangkok. I have received a letter saying that it was received on April 22, 2010 and that the current processing time is 180 days. Anyway let me know if you had any dealing with Bangkok.

Thanks.

here is a recent memo saying that the IO "overall" processing times are 3.8 months. Unfortunately it appears from the discussion this means nothing in terms of how long it actually takes at different offices. The calculation is based on nothing really tangible or reflective of actual processing times anywhere. CDJ grossly distorts the processing times due to the "triage adjudication" some cases are done in 2 days others take up to a year or more. Most of the overseas offices say don't even ask about it until 6 months have passed from receipt. It appears Bangkok is one of them. I would say you are far ahead of the power curve if you got a letter acknowledging receipt which is in itself pretty rare for I601 petitions.

Q&A on I601 Processing

By the end of FY 2010, the International Operations Division achieved an overall 3.8-month processing time for Forms I-601 filed overseas, based on mathematical calculations (i.e., at the end of the year we had pending a number of cases equal to 3.8 months of receipts). In Fiscal Year 2010, we

1

reduced the total number of pending Forms I-601 by 42% from 11,318 to 6,508. Approximately 75% of all overseas Forms I-601 were filed in Ciudad Juarez (CDJ). Of cases filed in Ciudad Juarez (CDJ) and adjudicated in Fiscal Year 2010, we approved approximately 50% within 2 weeks of receipt. We reduced the pending number of cases that could not be processed within that time period (the “referred” cases) by 65% from a high of 11,000 to 3,900 CDJ cases at the end of the Fiscal Year 2010.

As you probably know, at the start of Fiscal Year 2010 the CDJ office had a large backlog of un-adjudicated I-601 applications. The elimination of the CDJ backlog was a priority for the International Operations Division during Fiscal Year 2010. All Mexico City Field Offices located in Mexico (the CDJ, Mexico City Field Office, and Monterrey Field Office), the IASB (in its first full year of operation), and four detailed domestic offices (the LA Asylum Office, Miami Asylum Office, El Paso Field Office and the Vermont Service Center) worked on reducing the CDJ backlog and, as a result, in Fiscal Year 2010,

I-601 completions for cases received at CDJ increased by 58% from Fiscal Year 2009 to Fiscal Year 2010. By the end of Fiscal Year 2010 the number of pending CDJ I-601s had fallen to approximately 3,900, well below IO’s target of 4,500 by the end of Fiscal Year 2010 that was IO’s goal.

The ZLA I-601 detail adjudicated a total of 5,361 I-601 applications or 18% of Fiscal Year 2010 completions. The IASB adjudicated 2,206 applications or 8% of total completions.

It is IO’s goal for Fiscal Year 2011 to adjudicate I-601 applications within 6 months or less from receipt of the application. This time is adjusted for any time pending receipt of information from sources outside USCIS such as responses to request for evidence (RFE) or fingerprint results. It is important to understand that if a case is not approved at CDJ during same-day processing that the applicant will generally be issued an RFE; the processing time will be tolled pending receipt of the evidence or 84 days if no evidence is received. We now have a backlog of pending Forms I-601 in some overseas offices, such as El Salvador and Guatemala, but are working to identify resources to help eliminate those backlogs.

[kuhio 1]

My lawyer just informed me that Bangkok processing times for I-601's have recently increased due to the shut down on the USCIS office in HCMC. He says that we are looking at more like 120-150 days for the waiver as opposed to 90 days which he had told me at the beginning of our process. We are still pre interview with an interview date of June 15th. Hopefully we are denied on interview day and we can file our waiver right away. (My fiancee has an obscure conviction which my lawyer is not sure the Embassy will know whether or not it will constitute a CIMT, so there is some chance the Embassy will not just deny us on that day.)

We filed back in August with the CSC had an NOA2 in late January and interview in June. Sad when you are hoping against hope that they will give you a denial.

[Used to be broken 147]

My lawyer just informed me that Bangkok processing times for I-601's have recently increased due to the shut down on the USCIS office in HCMC. He says that we are looking at more like 120-150 days for the waiver as opposed to 90 days which he had told me at the beginning of our process. We are still pre interview with an interview date of June 15th. Hopefully we are denied on interview day and we can file our waiver right away. (My fiancee has an obscure conviction which my lawyer is not sure the Embassy will know whether or not it will constitute a CIMT, so there is some chance the Embassy will not just deny us on that day.)

We filed back in August with the CSC had an NOA2 in late January and interview in June. Sad when you are hoping against hope that they will give you a denial.

If your attorney has done the research and knows it is in fact a CIMT then you should have him lay it out in a brief that can be handed over the day of the interview in hope they will read it and agree, then let you file the waiver. No reason to let it languish for weeks waiting for the denial if you have the case laid out already. good luck

[kuhio 1]

If your attorney has done the research and knows it is in fact a CIMT then you should have him lay it out in a brief that can be handed over the day of the interview in hope they will read it and agree, then let you file the waiver. No reason to let it languish for weeks waiting for the denial if you have the case laid out already. good luck

My lawyer has a case with a similar conviction to my Fiancée for which the beneficiary went to her interview about 5 months ago. The embassy said that they had never seen this conviction before and could not be sure as to whether or not in constituted a CIMT. They allowed my lawyer to submit an argument as to why it should not be considered a CIMT and they decided to refer it to DOS legal in the US. That was 5 months ago, no decision has yet been made in that case. Since the conviction is so similar to my Fiancee's, my lawyer thinks that they will apply the result of that decision to my case as well. However as I mentioned, its been over 5 months and they still have not decided.

Basically my Fiancée worked as a clerk in a retail DVD shop in a shopping mall 7 years ago when she was 19. The police did a sweep of all of the DVD shops in the provincial town where she lived. Of course this is Thailand and it would be hard to find any DVD shop which did not sell copied DVD's. Because my Fiancee happened to be working at the time, she was the one who got the conviction. Her boss, (the owner)paid the fine but made sure that it was my Fiancee who got the conviction on her record because the DVD shop was a side business and the boss was actually a public school teacher and would have lost her teaching job if the conviction would have gone on her record. Of course the way it reads now is that she has a conviction for an Intellectual property theft statute. It seems pretty obvious that such a conviction would be a CIMT given that shoplifting a pack of gum is a CIMT but the fact of the matter is that the Bangkok Embassy has actually never had an applicant with an IP conviction before (shows how there is pretty much zero enforcement of this type of thing in Thailand given how widespread the selling of fake goods is there) and needs to decide on whether or not is is a CIMT.

Anyway, they have been evaluating the other similar case for 5 months now and have not made a decision. So we are hoping with fingers crossed that they make the decision before our interview in June.

Discussing our long road ahead with my lawyer the other day he mentioned that waivers are now taking longer because of the closure of HCMC USCIS office. He mentioned 120-150 days now for waivers in BKK.

Anyway, thats the background,

[spyrals 0]

My lawyer just informed me that Bangkok processing times for I-601's have recently increased due to the shut down on the USCIS office in HCMC. He says that we are looking at more like 120-150 days for the waiver as opposed to 90 days which he had told me at the beginning of our process. We are still pre interview with an interview date of June 15th. Hopefully we are denied on interview day and we can file our waiver right away. (My fiancee has an obscure conviction which my lawyer is not sure the Embassy will know whether or not it will constitute a CIMT, so there is some chance the Embassy will not just deny us on that day.)

We filed back in August with the CSC had an NOA2 in late January and interview in June. Sad when you are hoping against hope that they will give you a denial.

Hey kuhio, I'm not sure where your lawyer is getting his info but the standard processing times for waivers in Bangkok is 180 days and has been for a while. I've never seen anything that said 90 days processing time. If you speak to the Bangkok office, that's what they will tell you - and they won't answer any queries before the 180 days has passed. I'm waiting on my waiver from Bangkok now and it's been 3 months and I'm pretty sure it'll be another 3 months if not longer..if your case is not totally straight forward it'll probably take longer. Not trying to discourage you just saying that your lawyer doesn't seem up to date on his info. Hopefully you won't need a waiver at all!

Edited May 19, 2011 by spyrals

[kuhio 1]

Hey kuhio, I'm not sure where your lawyer is getting his info but the standard processing times for waivers in Bangkok is 180 days and has been for a while. I've never seen anything that said 90 days processing time. If you speak to the Bangkok office, that's what they will tell you - and they won't answer any queries before the 180 days has passed. I'm waiting on my waiver from Bangkok now and it's been 3 months and I'm pretty sure it'll be another 3 months if not longer..if your case is not totally straight forward it'll probably take longer. Not trying to discourage you just saying that your lawyer doesn't seem up to date on his info. Hopefully you won't need a waiver at all!

Hey spyrals,

Yes, the standard processing time (read USCIS stated processing time) has always been 6 months. However, in reality the processing time has varied widely. My lawyer gets his information because he handles about 20-25 I-601's through Bangkok per year. He has had cases go through in 3 weeks and has had cases take more than 6 months. His average has been around 3 months. However, he is now saying this has changed due to closing of the HCMC USCIS office. Most of his cases current cases have passed the 100 day mark already.

Not really worried about it, we can do 2 or 3 more months no problem, small potatoes after waiting nearly a year for an interview.

[Used to be broken 147]

My lawyer has a case with a similar conviction to my Fiancée for which the beneficiary went to her interview about 5 months ago. The embassy said that they had never seen this conviction before and could not be sure as to whether or not in constituted a CIMT. They allowed my lawyer to submit an argument as to why it should not be considered a CIMT and they decided to refer it to DOS legal in the US. That was 5 months ago, no decision has yet been made in that case. Since the conviction is so similar to my Fiancee's, my lawyer thinks that they will apply the result of that decision to my case as well. However as I mentioned, its been over 5 months and they still have not decided.

Basically my Fiancée worked as a clerk in a retail DVD shop in a shopping mall 7 years ago when she was 19. The police did a sweep of all of the DVD shops in the provincial town where she lived. Of course this is Thailand and it would be hard to find any DVD shop which did not sell copied DVD's. Because my Fiancee happened to be working at the time, she was the one who got the conviction. Her boss, (the owner)paid the fine but made sure that it was my Fiancee who got the conviction on her record because the DVD shop was a side business and the boss was actually a public school teacher and would have lost her teaching job if the conviction would have gone on her record. Of course the way it reads now is that she has a conviction for an Intellectual property theft statute. It seems pretty obvious that such a conviction would be a CIMT given that shoplifting a pack of gum is a CIMT but the fact of the matter is that the Bangkok Embassy has actually never had an applicant with an IP conviction before (shows how there is pretty much zero enforcement of this type of thing in Thailand given how widespread the selling of fake goods is there) and needs to decide on whether or not is is a CIMT.

Anyway, they have been evaluating the other similar case for 5 months now and have not made a decision. So we are hoping with fingers crossed that they make the decision before our interview in June.

Discussing our long road ahead with my lawyer the other day he mentioned that waivers are now taking longer because of the closure of HCMC USCIS office. He mentioned 120-150 days now for waivers in BKK.

Anyway, thats the background,

I could be wrong on this but I thought it boiled down to what the law says in her country for the maximum sentence and what sentence she actually got. You need a Thailand legal expert to spell it out, have it agreed to by someone in the court system there and have it in hand on the day of the interview.

If there is an obvious correlation to the INA to what the Thai law is, it might go quickly. Better to have an not need than need and not have.

Good luck