Called the USCIS Hotline: What do they say about waiting?

[az110965 252]

We never called USCIS. We got approved within 90 days including saturdays and Sundays.....

I even not think about it after we submitted it because I marked 5 months so we will not be stressful of waiting. But surprisingly it was earlier than we expected.

Hope you have your NOA2 soon. God bless.

And THAT is the way to do this... Plan on 5 months for approval. If you receive your NOA-2 prior to that then you have a bonus. If it takes a little longer then so be it.

It amazes me that people waiting 2 1/2 or 3 months call USCIS or their Representative and expect results. If USCIS's posted processing time was 30 days people would call after 10 days.

[cdneh 3,112]

The more people call, the less time they will have to process cases..

(that's how I see it!)

The people who answer the phones are not the people processing applications. When you call, you are speaking to the call center. They can only tell you very limited information that they are able to see on their screens.

Until you are out of usual processing times there isn't really much to be gained by calling. I think this could have been stated here without ridiculing the OP. VJ is meant to be a helpful website. Some people tend to forget that from time to time.

OP I wish you all the best and a speedy process.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

One inappropriate post and one post quoting same have been removed. Comments more appropriate to the Off Topic forum are not acceptable in the immigration forums. If you have nothing useful to add to the discussion it is better not to post at all.

[JudyKCski 12]

Actually this same thing about this same time last year.

[cdneh 3,112]

.

Nonsense. As Kathryn said just above, if you can be helpful post away. If you can't then don't.

Edited November 19, 2011 by Kathryn41
to remove inappropriate comment from quote

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Thank you cdneh,

Yes, this is exactly what I meant that if you have nothing constructive to contribute to the discussion, then do not participate. I have removed both the posted comment and the quoted comment, not only because it is supposition - it is completely false and the result of posting it can only be distressing.

I would like to remind everyone here that when you call the 1-800 "Information line" you are NOT calling USCIS. You are calling a call center with low paid non-immigration employees who answer the phone and have scripts in front of them that are supposed to help them answer very basic questions. They have no information on specific cases and can only access via computer the exact same information you can access for yourself when you have a USCIS status update account. The call center employee can escalate the call to an actual Immigration officer if they are faced with a situation they can't answer but they are discouraged from doing so and are very effective at resisting doing so. They have a standard line that if a certain amount of 'time' has passed they can open up a request and forward it to an officer for review but they themselves have absolutely no access to nor influence on any immigration file.

It is also good to remember that the 1-800 number is more commonly known as the Misinformation line and has got a lot of people into trouble with their applications when an call center employee has told them to do something that is absolutely illegal or has told them a situation is one way when it is not. Do NOT take advice from the Call Center employee. If you are able to be referred to the next level of contact, only then are you actually talking to someone who has any immigration experience or authority.

Please read this thread for more details - the poster worked as one of the Call Center employees and gave good information about what she could and could not do: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/316654-uscis-national-customer-service-center/page__hl__uscis+call+center+employee

Edited November 19, 2011 by Kathryn41

[jim & faith 0]

thank you all for the replies and ideas.. apparently not everyone know the term "follow-up." of course if you paid and are waiting for something very very important you wouldn't just be sitting around on your #### (excuse my language)... its your choice if you want to "follow-up" or not. I believe that if I call, it wouldn't be a waste of anybody's time because the people answering the phone aren't the same people reviewing the cases. they are placed there for people who need information and that's why we wanted to call. for information.

Im not particularly sure about what I said the "4mos." I said thats what I noticed.

Im just the same as everyone else, praying hard for time to pass quickly and that nothing goes wrong with the papers.

It was a filipino officer who answered all our questions and he hails from the same city I live in now. He was very nice.