Getting a bit hopeless

[thelastpetitioner 218]

honestly,they should have told you the first rule of immigration,the one that they have printed in BOLD font in every packet 3 regardless of the embassy: DO NOT MAKE ANY PLANS

get your senator involved and pray,cause he is your only hope,but there is so much he can do.

[Rito 28]

So I was in contact with my local USCIS center for many months before I filed my i 129f, and they assured me that I would be safe filing in late September, 8 months before my wedding. However, now VSC is taking forever to approve, and all of the timelines for the UK suggest that it will take 2-3 months to get an interview... which would probably put us at or past our wedding date, where 200+ guests will be expecting the groom to actually be there.... I guess I'm just hoping someone will tell me that the London embassy is quicker than that...

Also, I have a family friend who is a Senator in my state, but i would feel HORRIBLE asking her to call for me, and i would also feel horrible skipping all the other people who are in the same boat as I am. When do I get desperate enough to have her make that call? Will it even make a difference? (My NOA1 is Sept. 28)

HELP!

Just fake it. The groom's from the UK, a visa waiver country. Have him fly over on the visa waiver program before the wedding, and have the wedding. Have the ceremony, throw a bouquet, eat cake. Just make sure you get an officiant who knows that there won't be a marriage certificate until later - this is just a ceremony. Don't tell the guests. Then, when you get your visa, go to the local courthouse and get married.

That's what I did, though I technically got married before the big family wedding. I couldn't be happier - I have all the time I need to plan this shindig. Meaning between you and your fiance is where YOU place it - not the state. Don't let them rob you of something that was never theirs.

[Rwlaird 18]

Cutting federal agency's budget is an extreme measure that is done once Congress has given up on getting any results out of the agency, not a threat to improve service. Like someone rightfully observed, decreasing resources for an already unmotivated federal agency would not produce improved results. Congress could and should conduct oversight with the agency through meetings with agency officials and/or holding hearings to strongly urge them to improve their overall management and communication to taxpayers and fee-payers going through this process. That is why everyone here should report to your congressional representatives about your experience with USCIS customer service and the lack of good information while going through the process.

[kikip 12]

Mmmhhh... I have a question for you. You said that you were in contact with your local USCIS MANY months before filing. If you wanted to make sure to have your fiance here for a particular day, why didn't you file earlier then? Nobody can make any guarantees about this process, the time it would take, or whether the fiance(e) will be approved. Only one thing is for sure, the process is uncertain. It has been discussed many times before, K1 filers should not make any wedding plans before having the visa (or before having the fiance(e) in the US). Unless you don't mind risking having to cancel or postponing the wedding for a later date.

I brought my entire packet in, all complete, to have them check it, and the lady told me not to send it in until my fiancee was out of the country... So basically she didn't know what she was talking about, and I'm paying the price. I wish I knew about this website before I applied

[Al422 221]

Cutting federal agency's budget is an extreme measure that is done once Congress has given up on getting any results out of the agency, not a threat to improve service. Like someone rightfully observed, decreasing resources for an already unmotivated federal agency would not produce improved results. Congress could and should conduct oversight with the agency through meetings with agency officials and/or holding hearings to strongly urge them to improve their overall management and communication to taxpayers and fee-payers going through this process. That is why everyone here should report to your congressional representatives about your experience with USCIS customer service and the lack of good information while going through the process.

Well said. While a Congressional solution will never come in time to help us, we can at least draw Congressional attention to this and make it easier for those who come after us.

I just can't see how an agency that gets all of this money not work well. There is some really bad mismanagement going on here, but until the leaders of USCIS have some motivation to fix it, they will not.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Clearly you do not know how politics and government works. I've been in the "business" of politics for 7+ years. Worked with both parties etc. I know what it takes to get things moving in government.

You want USCIS moving? Have Congress inquire, have them keep sending inquiries to USCIS, force change via committee, cut budgets in certain areas until they decide to move. Make the Dept. of Homeland Security Admin. get involved and require change in certain areas. Numerous ways for change to happen. Most of it will only happen however if the current leadership care, which they don't.

Money means everything in government.

Immigration processing services are paid for largely by those who benefit from those services, meaning those of us who petition for relatives and significant others and the beneficiaries of those petitions. Any budget cuts would affect immigration enforcement, which IS taxpayer funded. If you really want USCIS to increase petition handling capacity then I'm sure they would happy to double the fees and add more adjudicators to the payroll.

In addition, Congress has oversight over federal agencies but not authority over them. USCIS is under the Department of Homeland Security - an Executive Branch agency with Janet Napolitano, a cabinet level secretary, at the top. She reports to the President, who (interestingly enough) would have to sign off on any budget changes passed by Congress.

As it stands now, USCIS receives nearly half a million petitions of various kinds (other than naturalization applications) every month. This went from a low last February of around 300,000 to a peak of about 600,000 in August. It has been several years since new applications peaked at that level, and this has significantly increased the backlog. Processing times will improve when the backlog is reduced.

[dogspot 90]

Just fake it. The groom's from the UK, a visa waiver country. Have him fly over on the visa waiver program before the wedding, and have the wedding. Have the ceremony, throw a bouquet, eat cake. Just make sure you get an officiant who knows that there won't be a marriage certificate until later - this is just a ceremony. Don't tell the guests. Then, when you get your visa, go to the local courthouse and get married.

Exactly what I was going to say! Consider yourself fortunate that this is an option for you. Stick with your plans and use this in worst case scenario.