Shout Out Loud Or It Will Get Much WORSE

[coyote 3]

I completely agree with those who feel we need to speak out. The current immigration process violates our rights as citizens, period, end of story. I've put together a petition which says many of the same things this letter says, but I am also happy to send the letter. We also need to mention administrative processing, please, which is a nightmare -- no accountability whatsoever.

I do want to say that the letter reads like a rough draft and needs to be cleaned up -- I suggest that you do this, and then ask Visa Journey moderators to circulate it to all members.

There is a tremendous constituency here for change if we use this aggregation of people for something other than moral support -- which is important, but so is working for change.

In addition, it is well worth joining the group www.americanfamiliesunited.org, which is the only advocacy group for US citizens.

I have a horrendous internet connection here but I will post my petition a bit later. Let's get together on this forum and share information!

Best,

Susan

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I think all of you who are writing letters and sending petitions are well-intentioned. You aren't the first to make these attempts to make your cases heard, and you won't be the last.

If it helps you feel better and helps you pass some time during the processing, then I think it's a good thing.

[JoyDee 21]

My representative, Mike Pence just received this. Mine is not as strong as others, but it gets the point across and yes...I have statistical analysis background so what is said here is accurate based on data I have reviewed. While I am not sure if it will help me as I am likely to be at the CSC, I will not stay silent while others suffer what I would not want to endure myself. I hope this helps everyone!

RE: USCIS and K1 Visa Processing Times

I am writing today over growing concern for the processingtime of USCIS for fiancée visas. I think there has been some dis-informationgiven to several committees about the processing time and statistics in aneffort for certain people to keep their job. As a person that is now engaged to a foreign national and has anapplication into the USCIS, I am very concerned.

After doing some analysis on the current data and trends(this is one of my jobs as a software developer and former data analyst forinsurance company), what last year was taking 3 months to adjudicate for K1through USCIS is now exceed 5 months and in many cases approaching 7-8months. The current exponential trendsindicate by this summer, there will likely be cases backlogged for fiancéevisas for well over 10 months not as just an exception, but the average personwill likely be waiting that long. Thisis way unacceptable since the K1 visa has many more restrictions on it thanothers visas and actually is not even classified as an immigration visa. US citizens should not be held in limbo withtheir loved ones overseas waiting to know if they can come over and get marriedwhile the congress is lied to and no plan of act is put into place.

All I can say is if an insurance application took 8 monthsto be approved or claims to be adjudicated, congress would be going after themas well as the courts (IE. Health care reform). Why are they not fixing the USCIS, a part of our own government andmaking it work for the people, the US citizens that the government is supposedto work for?

Right, where are the statistics? You predicting the performance of the USCIS, surmising that they will take 7-8 months (god forbid 10 months!) without at least showing me some regression tables just won't cut it.

[Robby999 1,024]

Right, where are the statistics? You predicting the performance of the USCIS, surmising that they will take 7-8 months (god forbid 10 months!) without at least showing me some regression tables just won't cut it.

I think I would have changed my signature before chastising someone that is going to have the NORMAL procedures for a K-1

[Charles-n-Erica 2]

I think I would have changed my signature before chastising someone that is going to have the NORMAL procedures for a K-1

No kidding!! I totally agree Robby!!

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I think I would have changed my signature before chastising someone that is going to have the NORMAL procedures for a K-1

Robby, I have no dog in this fight, but I'd like to ask you something and I'd like you to think about it before you answer, OK?

What is the point in getting angry at others over this process? This person appears to have an "advantage" over you. Why does that make you so mad? Will getting mad help you?

[amykathleen2005 441]

I think I would have changed my signature before chastising someone that is going to have the NORMAL procedures for a K-1

Whether they have a vested interest in the process or not makes no difference to the facts of the situation. The processing centers are slow, then they get fast, then they get slow again. Look at the data over several years and see what pattens emerge, I'll bet you'll see some familiar things happening over and over again. It doesn't take someone with a background in statistics to see it.

[Robby999 1,024]

Robby, I have no dog in this fight, but I'd like to ask you something and I'd like you to think about it before you answer, OK?

What is the point in getting angry at others over this process? This person appears to have an "advantage" over you. Why does that make you so mad? Will getting mad help you?

I have no dog in this fight either, I paid my fees and jumped through the requested hoops to get my wife here. Her country experienced an earthquake a few years back and I did not see USCIS or the admin at the reins then going crazy expediting or offering fee waivers! This country was founded on the principle of equal rights and justice for all, not just refugees! The earthquake happened a year ago and what progress has been made there. Things are returning to normal, the aid continues and exiles are returning to get their share of the massive amounts of money being sent there. You can pump money into that country until you are blue in the face, but in the end all you will have is a 500 million dollar presidential palace surrounded by slums. I am sorry if I upset your karma! I think if the government is so adamant about giving illegal aliens green cards, then they should have to wait like everyone else and sign a contract with USCIS to pay the immigration fees through payroll deductions! USCIS wants them to complete an EAD form( even if they do not plan to work here) when they send in the 821 so I assume they must have jobs ready for them! Anyway, I hope that answers your question! I think what really upsets me the most is how the USCIS trys to act like this TPS is only temporary, the only thing temporary about this is waiting for the year to pass so they can file the 485! Anyway, thanks for your concern!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

A couple of things for people to think about...

The deadline for Haitian TPS filings was 3 days ago. USCIS is no longer accepting them. If you want to complain to your representatives about the slow processing times then by all means do so. It never hurts to put a little fire under them, and they subsequently put some fire under the USCIS director to improve things. However, if you're going to make the argument based on TPS filings, whether you think you've got the data to prove it or not, you're beating a dead horse. You'd basically be telling them that what you want them to do has already been done, so they don't really need to do anything. They'll write you a nice letter (on really beautiful congressional stationary) telling you "Thanks for your concern. The deadline for TPS filings has passed, so you don't have to worry about them anymore." A better argument might be that you, a US citizen, are paying the government for this service and they aren't delivering. They tend to listen to voters whenever money is involved.

Re. your "right" to have someone immigrate...

Every "right" recognized under US law has a basis in the Constitution. If you want to claim that you have a right to have your wife or fiancee immigrate to the United States then you're going to need to find a Constitutional basis for it. You won't be the first one to have tried it, and nobody has yet succeeded to have any court in the US confirm that immigration is a right for anyone. In fact, the courts have repeatedly determined that immigration is a privilege granted at the discretion of the US government. This viewpoint is reinforced in the immigration law and the policies for DHS and Department of State. If you manage to prove this is truly a right then there will be sweeping changes in those laws and policies.

What's that? This isn't their country? It belongs to US, the PEOPLE? Guess what? The US government is US, the PEOPLE! We elected them to represent US, and to make laws on OUR behalf. If you don't like the immigration laws that they passed then let them know! Tell them to change them! Just remember that yours isn't the only opinion they have to listen to. They represent a lot more people than just you, and the majority of people in the US today don't want to see any immigration law reform that's going to make it easier for people to come to the US. The majority of people want to see the current laws enforced much more strictly.

Good luck!

[Robby999 1,024]

A couple of things for people to think about...

The deadline for Haitian TPS filings was 3 days ago. USCIS is no longer accepting them. If you want to complain to your representatives about the slow processing times then by all means do so. It never hurts to put a little fire under them, and they subsequently put some fire under the USCIS director to improve things. However, if you're going to make the argument based on TPS filings, whether you think you've got the data to prove it or not, you're beating a dead horse. You'd basically be telling them that what you want them to do has already been done, so they don't really need to do anything. They'll write you a nice letter (on really beautiful congressional stationary) telling you "Thanks for your concern. The deadline for TPS filings has passed, so you don't have to worry about them anymore." A better argument might be that you, a US citizen, are paying the government for this service and they aren't delivering. They tend to listen to voters whenever money is involved.

Re. your "right" to have someone immigrate...

Every "right" recognized under US law has a basis in the Constitution. If you want to claim that you have a right to have your wife or fiancee immigrate to the United States then you're going to need to find a Constitutional basis for it. You won't be the first one to have tried it, and nobody has yet succeeded to have any court in the US confirm that immigration is a right for anyone. In fact, the courts have repeatedly determined that immigration is a privilege granted at the discretion of the US government. This viewpoint is reinforced in the immigration law and the policies for DHS and Department of State. If you manage to prove this is truly a right then there will be sweeping changes in those laws and policies.

What's that? This isn't their country? It belongs to US, the PEOPLE? Guess what? The US government is US, the PEOPLE! We elected them to represent US, and to make laws on OUR behalf. If you don't like the immigration laws that they passed then let them know! Tell them to change them! Just remember that yours isn't the only opinion they have to listen to. They represent a lot more people than just you, and the majority of people in the US today don't want to see any immigration law reform that's going to make it easier for people to come to the US. The majority of people want to see the current laws enforced much more strictly.

Good luck!

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Be careful what you wish for, Robby.

[Al422 221]

Here is my letter. I re-wrote it from scratch. I welcome critique to improve its forcefulness, but please don't tell me that it is immoral or not nice to the Haitians (unless you think it would turn people off in the halls of Congress). I'll worry about St. Peter when I get to the pearly gates. For now, I am interested in results.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a petitioner in a proceeding pending before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to bring my fiance, ********** here to the United States for marriage. Towards that end, I filed an I129f Petition, which seeks approval for a K-1 fiancé visa.

There are no problems with my own petition, at least not yet, but there are multiple problems with the entire K-1/K-3 system that are causing needless hardships and delays for thousands of K-1/K3 petitioners and their beneficiaries, throughout the United States: First is that the delay in getting our petitions processed is totally out of line with any reasonable USCIS or other governmental need, and second, when a petitioner contacts the service with a legitimate inquiry about his/her case, he/she is met with no information, disinformation, and frequent hostility and rudeness by USCIS personnel.

I realize that the USCIS is an administrative agency, under the jurisdiction of the President of The United States, but it is the Congress that funds the operation, and the Congress has a right, as well as a responsibility to ensure that the public monies that the Congress appropriates to USCIS are properly and wisely used.

I regret to inform you that this is not the case. Almost a year ago, the Director of USCIS appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee seeking his appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year, promising to deliver excellent service and excellent public communication with those monies. Instead, USCIS has delivered poor service, poor public communication, and an endless plethora of excuses as to why it can’t do what the Director promised the Committee it would do.

Up until recently, the system worked well in that a petitioner could expect a decision on his/her petition in a reasonable amount of time, typically 30 to 60 days. But lately, that time frame has totally broken down such that the typical delay is now over 6 months and, in some cases, more than 7 months.

And to make matters worse, when a petitioner inquires about the status of the case, even after what USCIS deems “normal processing time” (5 months), he/she encounters a brick wall of bureaucratic insolence and often downright hostility. We are given an 800 number to call, with operators who have no idea what they are talking about and no better information than a member of the public can get off the USCIS web site. And that website is less than helpful, merely telling you that your case is “being processed”, without any hint as to how close USCIS is to a decision. The only thing the operator offers is a “service request”, which, when issued, gives no information but merely instructs you to call back in 30 days.

Lately, delays in I129f petition processing have gotten totally out of control, and USCIS communication with the public has, as well. Petitions sit and sit, particularly at the Vermont Service Center, none of them get processed, and backlogs just grow and grow, with no end in sight. Nobody at either Service Center is willing to tell the public what is going on, almost as if they are doing something wrong and have something to hide. I hear more and more stories about rude and obnoxious service personnel who are mean and nasty to the very petitioners who are the source of these people’s jobs, even hanging up on them.

There is no excuse for USCIS to be secretive. As a governmental agency whose function it is to serve the public, its operation should be as transparent as glass. And there is certainly no excuse whatsoever for any USCIS personnel to ever be rude and hostile towards the members of the public they are paid to serve.

This is no way to run a governmental agency. The United States of America deserves much better.

Keeping families separated for months and months, with no end in sight, poses great hardships on these families. And mind you, these are not indigent people looking for handouts. These are families consisting of United States citizens who paid good money to have their petitions filed and who commit themselves on paper to support their new spouses out of their own funds, and foreign fiancés who get thoroughly screened for illness, criminal history and other undesirable attributes.

This failure by USCIS does not only hurt these petitioners and their beneficiaries. It hurts the family unit as well, the very fabric of the strong society the United States is built on. This is not my own thought. It is, instead, the thought of the drafters of the Utah Compact, a wise and thoughtful group of individuals who were concerned about our broken immigration policy and how it is tearing our society apart. You can read about the group here: http://www.utahcompact.com/

While I cannot be certain as to why the USCIS is delaying I129f petitions for as long as they do since they are so secretive, I have a reasonable idea: USCIS, in their implementation of the Help Haiti Act of 2010, took it much too far. Instead of protecting Haitians legally in this country from having to return to the post earthquake chaos in their native land, USCIS is using the act to give all Haitians, even illegal aliens, broad based priority service, very much at the expense of fee paying United States citizens and their fiancés. Haitian citizens who are already here legally are safe and secure and in no need of any sort of priority. I12f petitioners and their fiancés, on the other hand, are forcibly separated and enduring long and substantial hardships while their petitions collect dust on USCIS shelves.

In November, 2010 alone, there were 21, 557 I129f cases pending, meaning that there were 21, 557 fee paying United States citizens and their fiancés forcibly separated, awaiting USCIS action. Yet, during that month, the USCIS processed only 2, 719 of those cases. At that rate, it would take nine months to process the backlog existing at that time without even considering the new petitions that would surely be filed during those 9 months.

Yet, in that same time period, USCIS processed 87, 312 Haitian TPS cases, including illegal aliens who do not deserve it, and legal aliens who were already in the United States and already safe and secure and who therefore did not need the priority that USCIS gave them.

While USCIS may deny processing TPS claims from illegal aliens, the New York Times discovered otherwise. Here is a link to their article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/americas/16immig.html?_r=2

Now, despite the deadline for TPS petitions having passed, our i129f petitions are still collecting dust, at least in the Vermont Service Center and going nowhere, and our fiancés are still exiled in their countries of origin, effectively banned from their rightful marital homes, with no end in sight. I do not know what USCIS is doing with its time, maybe more TPS petitions, or maybe something else. But I do know what it is not doing: Attending to its responsibilities to U.S. citizens.

During the upcoming budget cycle, the Director of USCIS will no doubt make his annual appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee, requesting his appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year. I ask that you refer this correspondence to the members of that committee so they can ask the director what the citizens of this country want to know. Ask him why his agency has failed United States citizens so miserably. Ask him why delays in attending to the needs of United States citizens have been spiraling out of control. Ask him why USCIS personnel refuse to communicate with fee paying petitioners and give them any meaningful information, not to mention proper courtesy and respect. Ask him why his agency is allowing families to suffer needless months of separation and hardship while persons already safe and secure in the United States get pushed to the front of the line. And ask him when he intends to make his agency responsive to the needs of the public it is supposed to be serving.

I thank you for reading my letter and wish you to know that I will be tracking the budget process as it pertains to USCIS to see if the changes that agency desperately needs become implemented.

Yours truly, etc.

[Rictodd 0]

Thanks for sharing. I personally would tone it down a bit and try to be more diplomatic. It's just hard reading it without making weird faces throughout. Especially true since it's going to politicians not to X company's customer service manager.

I know many have forgotten, but your congresssional represntative is your customer service representative to the federal government

[Robby999 1,024]

Be careful what you wish for, Robby.

[B_J 2,752]

Here is my letter. I re-wrote it from scratch. I welcome critique to improve its forcefulness, but please don't tell me that it is immoral or not nice to the Haitians (unless you think it would turn people off in the halls of Congress). I'll worry about St. Peter when I get to the pearly gates. For now, I am interested in results.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a petitioner in a proceeding pending before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to bring my fiance, ********** here to the United States for marriage. Towards that end, I filed an I129f Petition, which seeks approval for a K-1 fiancé visa.

There are no problems with my own petition, at least not yet, but there are multiple problems with the entire K-1/K-3 system that are causing needless hardships and delays for thousands of K-1/K3 petitioners and their beneficiaries, throughout the United States: First is that the delay in getting our petitions processed is totally out of line with any reasonable USCIS or other governmental need, and second, when a petitioner contacts the service with a legitimate inquiry about his/her case, he/she is met with no information, disinformation, and frequent hostility and rudeness by USCIS personnel.

I realize that the USCIS is an administrative agency, under the jurisdiction of the President of The United States, but it is the Congress that funds the operation, and the Congress has a right, as well as a responsibility to ensure that the public monies that the Congress appropriates to USCIS are properly and wisely used.

I regret to inform you that this is not the case. Almost a year ago, the Director of USCIS appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee seeking his appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year, promising to deliver excellent service and excellent public communication with those monies. Instead, USCIS has delivered poor service, poor public communication, and an endless plethora of excuses as to why it can’t do what the Director promised the Committee it would do.

Up until recently, the system worked well in that a petitioner could expect a decision on his/her petition in a reasonable amount of time, typically 30 to 60 days. But lately, that time frame has totally broken down such that the typical delay is now over 6 months and, in some cases, more than 7 months.

And to make matters worse, when a petitioner inquires about the status of the case, even after what USCIS deems “normal processing time” (5 months), he/she encounters a brick wall of bureaucratic insolence and often downright hostility. We are given an 800 number to call, with operators who have no idea what they are talking about and no better information than a member of the public can get off the USCIS web site. And that website is less than helpful, merely telling you that your case is “being processed”, without any hint as to how close USCIS is to a decision. The only thing the operator offers is a “service request”, which, when issued, gives no information but merely instructs you to call back in 30 days.

Lately, delays in I129f petition processing have gotten totally out of control, and USCIS communication with the public has, as well. Petitions sit and sit, particularly at the Vermont Service Center, none of them get processed, and backlogs just grow and grow, with no end in sight. Nobody at either Service Center is willing to tell the public what is going on, almost as if they are doing something wrong and have something to hide. I hear more and more stories about rude and obnoxious service personnel who are mean and nasty to the very petitioners who are the source of these people’s jobs, even hanging up on them.

There is no excuse for USCIS to be secretive. As a governmental agency whose function it is to serve the public, its operation should be as transparent as glass. And there is certainly no excuse whatsoever for any USCIS personnel to ever be rude and hostile towards the members of the public they are paid to serve.

This is no way to run a governmental agency. The United States of America deserves much better.

Keeping families separated for months and months, with no end in sight, poses great hardships on these families. And mind you, these are not indigent people looking for handouts. These are families consisting of United States citizens who paid good money to have their petitions filed and who commit themselves on paper to support their new spouses out of their own funds, and foreign fiancés who get thoroughly screened for illness, criminal history and other undesirable attributes.

This failure by USCIS does not only hurt these petitioners and their beneficiaries. It hurts the family unit as well, the very fabric of the strong society the United States is built on. This is not my own thought. It is, instead, the thought of the drafters of the Utah Compact, a wise and thoughtful group of individuals who were concerned about our broken immigration policy and how it is tearing our society apart. You can read about the group here: http://www.utahcompact.com/

While I cannot be certain as to why the USCIS is delaying I129f petitions for as long as they do since they are so secretive, I have a reasonable idea: USCIS, in their implementation of the Help Haiti Act of 2010, took it much too far. Instead of protecting Haitians legally in this country from having to return to the post earthquake chaos in their native land, USCIS is using the act to give all Haitians, even illegal aliens, broad based priority service, very much at the expense of fee paying United States citizens and their fiancés. Haitian citizens who are already here legally are safe and secure and in no need of any sort of priority. I12f petitioners and their fiancés, on the other hand, are forcibly separated and enduring long and substantial hardships while their petitions collect dust on USCIS shelves.

In November, 2010 alone, there were 21, 557 I129f cases pending, meaning that there were 21, 557 fee paying United States citizens and their fiancés forcibly separated, awaiting USCIS action. Yet, during that month, the USCIS processed only 2, 719 of those cases. At that rate, it would take nine months to process the backlog existing at that time without even considering the new petitions that would surely be filed during those 9 months.

Yet, in that same time period, USCIS processed 87, 312 Haitian TPS cases, including illegal aliens who do not deserve it, and legal aliens who were already in the United States and already safe and secure and who therefore did not need the priority that USCIS gave them.

While USCIS may deny processing TPS claims from illegal aliens, the New York Times discovered otherwise. Here is a link to their article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/americas/16immig.html?_r=2

Now, despite the deadline for TPS petitions having passed, our i129f petitions are still collecting dust, at least in the Vermont Service Center and going nowhere, and our fiancés are still exiled in their countries of origin, effectively banned from their rightful marital homes, with no end in sight. I do not know what USCIS is doing with its time, maybe more TPS petitions, or maybe something else. But I do know what it is not doing: Attending to its responsibilities to U.S. citizens.

During the upcoming budget cycle, the Director of USCIS will no doubt make his annual appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee, requesting his appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year. I ask that you refer this correspondence to the members of that committee so they can ask the director what the citizens of this country want to know. Ask him why his agency has failed United States citizens so miserably. Ask him why delays in attending to the needs of United States citizens have been spiraling out of control. Ask him why USCIS personnel refuse to communicate with fee paying petitioners and give them any meaningful information, not to mention proper courtesy and respect. Ask him why his agency is allowing families to suffer needless months of separation and hardship while persons already safe and secure in the United States get pushed to the front of the line. And ask him when he intends to make his agency responsive to the needs of the public it is supposed to be serving.

I thank you for reading my letter and wish you to know that I will be tracking the budget process as it pertains to USCIS to see if the changes that agency desperately needs become implemented.

Yours truly, etc.

I like the content of your letter. In my opinion, when dealing with the Haitian issue, I would tread very lightly. I think it would be very easy to make the reader unsympathetic to our situation if we sound unsympathetic to the Haitian situation. And, frankly, the purpose of this letter is to get the reader on our side. When speaking on that subject, I would just stick to the facts; specifically the numbers that you can quote when comparing progress for Haitians and others. I think the direction you would want to take it is that; while we understand the reason for the Haitians moving forward, it should not be at the expense of others.

I'm also not sure on the length. Perhaps it's too long, but I would wait to see what others say.