Called USCIS

[KiwiBird 132]

Well here's a realistic option for you..when someone asks a question or makes a statement how about if you have nothing constructive or helpful to say you don't say anything at all. Sarcasm and rude responses are not needed here.

I think you have me confused with the author of another post. My reply was not sarcastic in any way. I was pointing out that there are three options and I named them. I find naming the only real three options we have as 'helpful.' I'm sorry you do not. There was nothing rude about my post.

If you are talking about the post which named six options, three being 'keep waiting', then you are not talking about my post.

Edited January 23, 2011 by KiwiBird

[Mr. Florida 11]

To contact your elected official . . . if you don't know who that is you can find them through these websites:

http://www.senate.go...enators_cfm.cfm

http://www.usa.gov/C...t/Elected.shtml

http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

Go to their webpages and they will have information about how to have them investigate a concern or complaint. You will need to fill out an authorization form of some type - most of them have one online that you can download - and then either fax or mail or hand-deliver it to their office. Most of them have staff dedicated to immigration concerns and all of them have access to immigration department liaisons who they can approach for information/advice/assistance.

Some elected officials are really good about 'pushing' for the information you need; others are not so good and either don't do the necessary work or don't put the necessary effort into it. If one fails to deliver, remember the name (you won't be voting for them next time ) and then approach another representative. Hopefully one will be able to help. They don't have the ability to get your case processed faster by jumping the queue, but they can find out what is going on and if there is a problem, help you get it resolved.

Remember that they, too, will not get any real information unless you are outside of the posted processing times.

Kathryn, thank you for the links. I think I will wait another 2 weeks to see if I get any movement with my visa after emailing them repeatedly. If nothing comes to fruition at the time, then I will begin contacting my congressman. I appreciate you showing me a clear direction in a situation like this. In such a complicated process, some times newcomers find it difficult to know what the next step might be, especially if things do not go according to plan, not to mention I, along with most people on here, have only applied for a visa once in their lives, so most of us really cannot speak from experience and our only option is to hear the advice from veterans of this visa process. Thanks again.

To all Florida residents....just remember that it is illegal in Florida to record telephone calls unless you tell the other side you are recording them.

On The Road Again, yeah I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the caveat. Does anyone know if USCIS records the conversations with customers?

Mr Florida,

It took us little over 5 months to get our I-130 approval from USCIS. However, i had to put a service request in . Initally when i tried to i was given the run around and the some hocus pokus that i am not elgible to place a service request and then two weeks later i called again and then i was able to place a service request. After doing so i saw some movement on the application and then a week latter i got the approval. I would suggest you place the service request first and see what happens and then contact a congress man if nothing moves further. I say this because thats what the congress man office may tell you to do first.

KVP

KVPandPKP, I appreciate your advice as well. I think I will take a similar road. Since on last Friday I tried to put in my service request and was denied, I think I will start emailing from next week onwards. I'll call next Friday and try to put in a service request again. If they still deny me, I'll wait until the Friday afterward and call again. If they still deny me, I will then contact my congressman because by then 2-3 weeks would have passed.

I agree with Ally's post -- "got my N0A2 (recently) and honestly believe it was after sending an e-mail....... if you don't get a reply in a couple of days forward them the same mail, and again, and again. If you get a reply that looks automated? Forward it again and again.. we did and we got a reply from a real person and an approval shortly after."

Mine was recently approved and maybe the timing was merely coincidental but the process I pursued was 1) waited about a week after 5 month mark 2) contacted Customer Service, wrote down the date and name of person I talked to (it turns out that I should have also written down her employee number or something like that) 3) contacted my congressman's office and told them that USCIS's response of "wait 30 days and maybe it will come" is unacceptable 4) waited a few days and called back to the congressman's office to make sure he was following up 5) got a worthless response (they expected it to be done within 30 days) 6) contacted my Senator 7) started emailing the VSC - sent 1 email, waited a few days with no response so sent another, sent 2 that day, sent about 5 the next - finally got a response with a person's name at the bottom - the response said to first contact customer service or email back to VSC if you already have and give them the date and name and number of the person you talked to 9) I emailed that info back 10) waited a few hours and started sending multiple emails with that person's name who answered my email in the subject (none of those were answered) 11) the next day I got approval and within an hour after that got email from my Senator with the same info.

Maybe the timing of my approval was merely coincidental and all my efforts did nothing. I'm fine never knowing but I sure wasn't going to sit idly by according to their instructions of "wait 30 days and call back."

Rwlaird, yeah it's hard to say what actually spurred them to action about your visa. Hopefully, one or many of the things you've done during your repeated petitions was the right thing. I feel the same as you since I waited patiently without complaining for 5 months. I've read and read the posts on here on a daily basis. I understand the 5-month mark is not a prediction, but USCIS does post misleading information on their site because the processing time is listed as 5 months in the table for Form I-129F. Otherwise, they themselves declare right above the processing table that we should see an exact date if they are taking longer than the 5-month time-frame. On Friday, I did not call to ask them why my visa is not approved. I only called them to ask them why their process is much slower than before since 5 months ago this entire process on average between the notices was taking people 3-4 months. Hence, I initiated my K-1 visa based on this knowledge. Obviously, we all were misled and we continue to be fed with this nonsense of waiting another 30 days when we are all running short on patience. I think USCIS should post the worst-case scenario and not an average time frame so none of us would feel disappointed about the outcome. For example, if their table listed I-129F as 6-7 months, I would feel much better. I don't know if I would have started the K-1 visa or not based on this new knowledge, but even if I did, at least I would not have ran to my mailbox every couple of days.

Amazing to see how people talk this way when they were approved in no time.Such comments are really not welcome.Thanks but no thanks for your advice.

Thanks babes for the support and thanks to all who feel the same way as me. I just don't have the time or the interest to deal with people who post sarcastic and condescending remarks on a post when the whole purpose was to elicit something constructive, helpful, and productive from other members.

[Ramisgreat 20]

What does the fact that someone is already reunited have to do with the reality of a situation?

I don't need to answer u.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I don't need to answer u.

Ramisgreat, what do you think would happen to VisaJourney if all the members who were already reunited left the site? Do you think there would be any information on here for people like you who are still in the thick of the process?

My husband's case was processed in 2005. Since that time, he came to the US and we got married. It's been five years now. Five years. It's hard to explain to you and the others how this whole mess fades away once it's over.

For those who stick around though, i guess we want to help or we still wouldn't be here. I've always wished we could be some sort of "beacon of hope" for the rest of you. Like, look we survived it all! We remember it; we know it sucks; we lived to tell about it; you can too.

We tell you the reality. We tell you how to get through it. We tell you it will pass. Some people say things differently than others. But saying that those of us who are reunited don't remember - well that's just wrong. We must remember or we still wouldn't be here trying to help you out.

I hope you get what you want soon. Then you will understand.