the kind people who process our cases :)

[candn 17]

Colin&Lori, it sounds like you kind of take it personal when people diss USCIS because you also work in an office. The fact is, no one will ever be happy no matter how long or short the wait is. For anything. Our society wants things done yesterday and are willing to throw money at it if they think it'll make it faster.

Last week for fun I checked out the very oldest K1 page on this forum, I think it was from 2006. Back then, it only took 30-45 days for the petition to be approved. People who were at 20-odd days were complaining it was taking too long.

You can't beat 'em and if you don't want to join 'em, just ignore 'em.

I agree. I would have gladly paid more money to expedite our case. Like you said, people will "throw money" at making the process move faster. The USCIS is juggling fees to make a dollar. All they need to do is offer more premium processing and if people can afford it, they will jump at the chance. Heck, maybe the fees earned from it would allow them to hire more workers.

[Maleman 5]

No doubt there a few “bad apples” in every institution! However, it’s not the people as a whole; the real problem remains within the immigration laws itself! There are loads of inconstant double standards and superfluous “Red Tape” relative to certain types of visas. Additionally, you now have congress attempting to pass the immigration “Dream Bill” when they should be reforming and making more rational adjustments to the current immigration laws for legal American citizens. The main reason we have such horrific problems with legal immigration is because such appalling problems with illegal immigrants!

[ghanagal 2]

Everyone is entitled to post what they want to post, freedom of speech. Quite frankly this process is long and stressful and we should be able to vent. If you don't like the 5 month complaining of NOAS then I don't recomend you ever check out the africa sub forum because most of us from Ghana constantly complain considering they are backlogged over a year from the time you are completed at the NVC until the time you get an interview. We have a right to complain, lol just saying!

And considering the people at the USCIS and NVC are clueless and always have a stupid response and barely can answer any questions, we defintly have a right to complain. Just my thoughts on this.

[thelastpetitioner 218]

Everyone is entitled to post what they want to post, freedom of speech. Quite frankly this process is long and stressful and we should be able to vent. If you don't like the 5 month complaining of NOAS then I don't recomend you ever check out the africa sub forum because most of us from Ghana constantly complain considering they are backlogged over a year from the time you are completed at the NVC until the time you get an interview. We have a right to complain, lol just saying!

And considering the people at the USCIS and NVC are clueless and always have a stupid response and barely can answer any questions, we defintly have a right to complain. Just my thoughts on this.

not all of them are as big of visa buffs as we are ( )but i dont think thats the case.they are instructed to not give more information than required,specially for the petitions that are still within the five months time frame.why you may ask?i suggest you check the progress report subforum in k-1 section.someone contacted USCIS and a naive " officer " shall we say told him that all the petitions are on a five months long pause.what she meant was that there is no way anyone is getting their noa 2 in less than five months,she worded it out wrong,and all hell broke loose.i dont blame them,but i think they shouldnt give false hope.We personally were told it " can " take up to five months,not that it most definitely will,thats why we were so bummed and stressed.

[flustered 14]

I know a lot of what is said about the people who process our cases is in jest or the heat of the moment because of the amount of time our cases are taken...

but before you start complaining and calling them lazy and all names under the sun am sure there are doing there best to try and get through our cases and there work...(well maybe apart from a few bad apples)

at the moment i work for the CSA (child support agency) in the UK and a Data Protection Officer...which when a client wants all there information there come to us and we send out everything we hold on them bar 3rd party infomation...

now from the date of when we get the request in our office we have 40 days to supply our customers with there information....now a while back there was a great influx of work and because we were short manned we were not meeting the deadlines...but we were trying our best to get the information processed and sent out...

(we are now all caught up with work may i add lol)

but before you start posting OMG NOA2 IS TAKEN AGES (and I know sometimes its just to vent and its always nice to vent every now and again) but all am trying to say is please bear in mind that these people (hopefully lol) are doing all there can to process our cases as fast as there can

maybe we could have a sticky at the top of this page where users can go to vent and let off a bit steam?

Geesh that is nothing I have had an ongoing child support file with the agency in Canada...lets see it has been 12 years and they have now just sent him to jail...Trust me I have all the patience in the world...LOL

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

As a taxpaying citizen AND a person who has to pay fees, I don't think we should be pushed to the side as much as we are for other "immigrant" issues. My tax dollars AND extra application fee should give me some say in how things go and as far as training goes: "hogwash". I work in an envirnoment where we train contractual individuals and call them as needed. Train people for emergency situations such as this and quite pushing U.S. citizens to the backburner.

Nobody is pushing anyone to the "backburner". They've had a 64% increase in applications compared to this time last year. That's why things have been slowing down.

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/N-400%20and%20Application%20for%20Benefits/applications-for-benefits-2010-sep.pdf

They allocate resources according to volume and time required to process each application. I-129F's and I-130's take 20 to 30 minutes each, and constitute about 20% of the non-naturalization applications. For September alone, this constitutes over 42,000 man-hours of labor just for I-129F's and I-130's.

For those who suggest they bring in temps - this is only possible for positions that require only clerical skills. An adjudicator who processes I-129F's and I-130's needs to be trained in the relevant immigration laws that apply to each petition type. They also have to be trained how to examine documents, like birth certificates and marriage licenses, to determine if they are legitimate. They also need training in using the various computer systems used by USCIS, CBP, Department of State, and various law enforcement data bases. Pause for a moment and think about how long it took you to understand all of the requirements you need to meet, and all of the documents you needed to submit, and then multiply that by 100. You can't just hire random people off the street and put them to work processing visa petitions.

[Jun&Scheillo 6]

Why would anyone blame the employees? the employer is always responsible for their employees' actions. for example, when you sent your I 129 package to the lock box would you have blamed the employees if it did not get there accordingly, or would have blamed UPS or what have you? I think people HERE are aiming @ the employees simply because they do not want to sound like they are dissappointed in the Gov't. I never heard anyone sueing an employee but always " the employer "

This whole waiting thing is an easy fix... easy as 1 2 3, they are short handed and in need for help. what would any one do in such case? HIRE MORE PEOPLE.

By the way, the work load is just about to get heavier after Nov 23rd.

Good luck!!!

[Jun&Scheillo 6]

I agree. I would have gladly paid more money to expedite our case. Like you said, people will "throw money" at making the process move faster. The USCIS is juggling fees to make a dollar. All they need to do is offer more premium processing and if people can afford it, they will jump at the chance. Heck, maybe the fees earned from it would allow them to hire more workers.

Yeah, but I think the Gov't has mad more than enough $$$$ from us filers. The question has always been what have they done with it.

[Afrikan Queen 11]

For me, it has NOTHING to do with the people processing the work but everything to do with our files sitting in storage for months. And, when a backlog hits some people take longer to be processed yet we all pay the same amount of money. Why should some be processed in two months and other five or six months yet pay the same fee? Is that fair? No. I don't doubt the people are working hard but there is the law of supply and demand. When the demand is high then increase your number of workers and vice-versa.

[mari2010 4]

I can tell you from personal experience that nothing moves slower than the US federal government. I am a fed gov employee and I go crazy every day at how long it takes to get anything done. Two things are to blame. First and foremost it's the system. The government simply has to cross every t and dot every i. Approval chains are ridiculously long and processes have many extras steps, all to make sure everything is done correctly and consistently, safety is ensured, security is protected, and information received and disseminated is correct. (Timeliness is important but not the top priority.) The second part is that some employees see this and know it's easy to blame the system so they get lazy. Add that to the fact that in any office with cubicles you find some people who are just slow and lazy workers by nature. All that can slow things down even further. Plenty of us feds are highly efficient and work hard every day to get things off our desks and out of our inboxes the moment they arrive, but we are just one stop along the endless route to completion of a task or product. I can only imagine the processes those of us waiting for our visas don't see, when it comes to an agency that is doing background checks on foreign nationals who want to become citizens in the post 9-11 era.

Another thing not related to the gov end of things is all the visa fraud that actually does go on. Every time some scam is attempted and uncovered, another step is added to the visa approval process to ensure it doesn't happen again. It's just like the recent scandals with new airport security. Every time some moron comes up with a new way to build a bomb or sew it into their underwear, we get another level of searches and pat downs added to our flight. People may not like it, but in the end, you can only get mad at the terrorists not the people who are trying to protect us.

And yes I am now edging toward month 5 waiting for my NOA2 and going crazy over here.... I just know exactly what is going on in those offices....

[Jun&Scheillo 6]

Nobody is pushing anyone to the "backburner". They've had a 64% increase in applications compared to this time last year. That's why things have been slowing down.

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/N-400%20and%20Application%20for%20Benefits/applications-for-benefits-2010-sep.pdf

They allocate resources according to volume and time required to process each application. I-129F's and I-130's take 20 to 30 minutes each, and constitute about 20% of the non-naturalization applications. For September alone, this constitutes over 42,000 man-hours of labor just for I-129F's and I-130's.

For those who suggest they bring in temps - this is only possible for positions that require only clerical skills. An adjudicator who processes I-129F's and I-130's needs to be trained in the relevant immigration laws that apply to each petition type. They also have to be trained how to examine documents, like birth certificates and marriage licenses, to determine if they are legitimate. They also need training in using the various computer systems used by USCIS, CBP, Department of State, and various law enforcement data bases. Pause for a moment and think about how long it took you to understand all of the requirements you need to meet, and all of the documents you needed to submit, and then multiply that by 100. You can't just hire random people off the street and put them to work processing visa petitions.

great defense, but the gov't has been in this type of business for a long time. I would expect them to know that certain petitions were going to increase a whole lot and be ready for it. Also, I don't think they care too much since no other company can bid against them, that gives them absolute power. any private company would be able to do that job mch better, cheaper, and faster, with real educated customer service. So I do not want to hear excuses.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

great defense, but the gov't has been in this type of business for a long time. I would expect them to know that certain petitions were going to increase a whole lot and be ready for it. Also, I don't think they care too much since no other company can bid against them, that gives them absolute power. any private company would be able to do that job mch better, cheaper, and faster, with real educated customer service. So I do not want to hear excuses.

I don't think anyone expects the government to perform like a "for profit" company in a competitive business, however I think that affects the access and information more than the processing time. The waiting is a relative thing anyway. For us it was 6 months from filing to Alla's arrival and that was TOO fast in my book. Seriously I would have delayed it but she needed to get into her school (which I had already arranged for) and so did Pasha. There was just way too much to prepare, besides my normal job, visiting Ukraine 6 times and all the arrangments for my wife and two sons. Yikes! I was barely ready and still sweeping the mess from remodeling the house off the porch just before I drove to the airport to pick them up!

I found I was working day and night to get prepared and never ONCE looked at the useless online update system.

Anyone trying to track this like a Fedex package is wasting their time. Get ready for you SO and have things arranged for them when they arrive.

[FawkThisSite 13]

1.NO ONE called USCIS officers anything.the problem people have is with people who order officers to completely abandon a type of visa in order to catch on with another.

2.The amount of people that go over the five months processing time is growing.I am in no way saying its the USCIS employees fault,but it is USCIS's fault

3.I wish you would have checked processing and report subforum,there are support posts there.

4.Freedom of speech gives people the write to state whatever they want whether its politically correct or incorrect and they are entitled to their opinion.

PS: I see you have been waiting for about two months,let me know if you believe in the same things when youre a week away from the five months mark.

Off topic... Did you mend things?

[thelastpetitioner 218]

Off topic... Did you mend things?

for now,yes.we have our problems,im by no means perfect,specially after this process,im just an emotional mess.i have to take at least some of the blame for what happened.thanks for asking

Edited November 24, 2010 by ygr

[candn 17]

Nobody is pushing anyone to the "backburner". They've had a 64% increase in applications compared to this time last year. That's why things have been slowing down.

http://www.uscis.gov...ts-2010-sep.pdf

They allocate resources according to volume and time required to process each application. I-129F's and I-130's take 20 to 30 minutes each, and constitute about 20% of the non-naturalization applications. For September alone, this constitutes over 42,000 man-hours of labor just for I-129F's and I-130's.

For those who suggest they bring in temps - this is only possible for positions that require only clerical skills. An adjudicator who processes I-129F's and I-130's needs to be trained in the relevant immigration laws that apply to each petition type. They also have to be trained how to examine documents, like birth certificates and marriage licenses, to determine if they are legitimate. They also need training in using the various computer systems used by USCIS, CBP, Department of State, and various law enforcement data bases. Pause for a moment and think about how long it took you to understand all of the requirements you need to meet, and all of the documents you needed to submit, and then multiply that by 100. You can't just hire random people off the street and put them to work processing visa petitions.

I understand the time it takes thus I suggest the training of select individuals for such times as needed. These people could consist of professionals who do not have to work consistently, etc. Again, my issue is being charged the same for unequal service. If there is an increase then those individuals who have been properly trained during slow times can be of service. None of the facts mentioned above address the fact that we all pay the same and yet, depending on what's going on, receive unequal service. I do feel that there is a backburner effect when some of us are sitting in storage while others move on depending on the luck of the draw. Thank you, though, for your thoughtful response and facts. Your knowledge is always appreciated.