how to speak to uscis operator

[mikedaisy 0]

hi, does anyone know how to speak to live person at uscis #1-800-375-5283, there is nothing on menu to doi so

[Scott and Mhay 57]

You don't happen to be military?

[mikedaisy 0]

no

[A and T 82]

You can call USCIS and select "problem with case past due" they transfer you to Teir1 which doesn't do anything except put in a service request. They cant look up previous service requests and know nothing about your case (and dont care) You can request a Tier2 rep, they will dispute you, request a supervisor and keep hammering away. Eventually you will get to Tier2, they dont do much either but at least they have access to the information .

Mostly its all a waste of time no matter who you call if its to check status or report an issue with your case (past time frame etc)

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Imagine a building with glass double doors facing the street. Locked 24 hours a day. Access to this building is allowed only from within by some unseen guard. IF you are allowed to enter (you must have made an appointment in another building across town the previous day), and your ID passes muster, you are ushered across a large foyer, all stone and glass to an elevator. The elevator can only be opened with a key. You are asked to step in, your escort inserts his key into a slot, and somehow selects a floor for you. Then he takes his key out, withdraws from the elevator, and says, "You will be met on your floor".

Feeling a bit "Men in Black"-ish, you ride the elevator up and up, approximately 30 stories. When the elevator stops, you are met at the door again. "Please state your purpose here," you are asked. You quietly reply, "I am here to see Ms. xxxxx." (I fear to mention her name, in case Big Brother is reading this) "Come with me," you are instructed. You follow this guy down a short hall to a simple door, barely noticeable. He knocks once, the door opens, and he mentions Ms. xxxxx's name. The door closes, and after a few minutes, a lady opens the door. "I am Ms. xxxxx," she states. The burly gentleman who escorted you from the elevator steps back, allowing you to enter.

You walk into... is it an office? More like a warehouse. The entire floor is one big cavern, with cubicle after cubicle, hundreds of them in neat rows, each with a person inside. Dwarfing each cubicle is stacks upon stacks of folders. As you follow Ms. xxxxx thru this maze, you peer into a few cubicles, seeing a person, a small desk, and even more stacks in each cubicle. Finally, you arrive at HER cubicle. She ushers you inside, but obviously it's going to be cramped for her, you, and your fiancee. There is one desk chair, one stool, and more stacks of folders. Each stack on the floor is about 6-8 feet high. On her desk is a couple more stacks. She must scoot a stack out of the way, and borrow a stool from the next cubicle so both you and your fiancee may sit.

"Now, how may I help you?" she asks after you are all three seated. "Well, I was hoping to have my I-129f expedited, because I am deploying to another country soon," you state. "Did you bring a copy of your packet with you?" says the stern woman. "No, we just happened to be in town, and thought we might be able to do something about this. I figured my packet is here already."

She smiles, looks around the huge cavern that is mostly made up of paper mounds that are countless visa requests, and says, "Oh, I'm sure it's here somewhere..."

That is a story related to me a few months back by a guy who attempted (successfully, it turns out) to speed up the process when he was in Atlanta, and decided to visit the USCIS while on vacation. He said there were literally thousands upon thousands of stacks surrounding hundreds of workers. Filing was non-existent. Even spending only a few minutes with each packet, the lady told him it could easily take over a week to go thru each stack to process it. And as soon as a stack was gone thru, another magically appeared the next day in its place. So the fact that it takes months to process our packets, and the fact that people on the phone are basically useless... after hearing his story, it didn't surprise me.

I had called the USCIS military hotline, trying to expedite my case due to my upcoming deployment, and after FINALLY getting to talk to a lady, and have her read from a card for about 5 minutes, and told her what I wanted... she said, "Yes, we may be able to help with that." About 10 days later, I got a letter from the USCIS, thanking me for taking the time to contact them, and that my request for expedition was pending review, and I would receive an answer within 45 days. L O L

I received NOA1 about 3 weeks later, at about the 5-month mark, and well before the 45 days. I suspect my call did absolutely nothing except take up a few minutes of that lady's time that day. Hopefully this gives you some insight on what goes on at just one processing center in the USA.

[analou scott 8]

i learned a trick that worked about a year ago. i did it 3 or 4 times. when you call it asks you to push a number, i forget which one. BUT DONT do it. after a little while the computer assumes you are on a rotary dial phone, and puts you to the spanish speaking operators but dont worry, they speak english too. just dont tell anybody that i told you this :rofl: