Any crazy expedite options for I-129 / I-130 apps?

[Stu4Lee 66]

When you go out to eat, does your food ever taste funny?

[squirrelisan 23]

The immigration process cannot be influenced by a US government official without a valid reason. Think about the president of Iran being denied a visa to come to a UN meeting. The reason for this is because of exactly what you are suggesting, bribery or favors. Your representative can certainly contact the appropriate agency to inquire about your case but they can do NOTHING to speed it up without a valid reason.

USCIS, DOS, etc do keep a log of all your phone calls and like most people, will actually out of vindictiveness place your file at the bottom of the stack if you hound them enough.

But, if you have money to use, send it to me and I will call them as many times as you like.

Interesting...do you know for a fact my file could be placed at the bottom of the pile out of spite? Did you hear an actual anecdote of this happening, or just based on "common sense"?

[squirrelisan 23]

Okay, you are not a teenager. You're in your 30's. This makes it even worse. Haven't you figure out by now that it IS A FREAKIN' CRIME TO BRIBE A US GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL? THIS IS HOW YOU WANT TO START YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR WIFE???? Wow.

If you to apply political pressure than get ready to write a very hefty contribution to your favorite politician (assuming you find one with the right connections). How much do you think a congressman will take in political contribution to help you? How much of his/her career and family security will he/she risk for your contribution? Will $200 work? Will $2,000? How about $10,000?

And finally, no one likes a pest and no one likes helping a pest. Pestering people is not the way to get what you want. It like being a spoiled child. Fortunately, most children outgrown this.

Thanks for the tip about bribing. I should've used cleaner language. My mistake.

But your second comment is really what I was trying to learn about. How much of a political contribution will get me facetime with a Congressman? I know they can't circumvent any processes for no reason, but there are ways to get things done without actually doing anything "illegal" you know? Palm greasing is still alive in this government, is it not?

[RobbyUSA 26]

Thanks for the tip about bribing. I should've used cleaner language. My mistake.

But your second comment is really what I was trying to learn about. How much of a political contribution will get me facetime with a Congressman? I know they can't circumvent any processes for no reason, but there are ways to get things done without actually doing anything "illegal" you know? Palm greasing is still alive in this government, is it not?

A BIG YES! some quotes from a smart neigbor of mine.

"This is the sort of stupidity we get when we are governed by lawyers instead of by engineers who would understand the various technical trade-offs."

"Because of crooks on the Supreme Court, we now need a constitutional amendment."

[belinda63 3,038]

Short answer before this gets completely out of hand is NO. Unless you have a valid reason your case will have to wait in line like everyone else. Hiring an attorney will not speed it up, talking to your congressperson will not speed it up, calling 20 times a day will not speed it up, sending hate mail will not speed it up, sending flowers will not speed it up.

Even people with what they feel are valid reasons to expedite the case have been denied. Immigration has tens of thousands of petitions, green card filings, work visa filings, etc waiting to be processed. Even the big companies have to follow procedures and wait their time to obtain work visas. One person who is impatient is not going to be favored by making a pest of themselves.

I've never worked for immigration but I have worked customer service most of my life, I can assure you there are ways to deal with "needy customers" that you really would not want to know about and it does not involve putting them at the head of the line.

[AmyWrites 593]

If you try bribing them or something IMO you'll be in more trouble than anything else. Wait your turn like everyone else does. I think it's extremely rude to those who really do have real REASONS to have their cases expedited to start whining so soon.

I think if you're a big time celebrity then you'll get everything done mysteriously faster... otherwise, wait.

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

If you want to play games with a government agency that DOES NOT like to play games....then roll the dice and take your chances. Just don't come crying to VJ members when you run into trouble.

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

To answer the initial question, expedites are rare with USCIS. If you hang around immigration forums long enough you'll find that lots of people get desperate and try to get their paperwork moved faster because obviously, these are marriages and relationships on the line, and the international separation is never good for any of us, but we find ourselves dealing with it somehow (my husband and I did for 3 1/2 years, ugh).

Some people try calling repeatedly. Your observation that sometimes "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" is true in a lot of industries, but immigration is not one of those. Those who try this find that they hit a brick wall, a load of frustration, and a lot of lost time. I don't know about the "bottom of the pile" but when your case gets to the embassy/consulate, there is a much bigger chance for personal prejudice to come into play, and this is a group of agencies you really don't want to upset. They hold the discretion on a visa in the balance, so obviously they have the upper hand. There are certain embassies (London, for example) that actually get notably upset when you try to interfere with their regular process, push them, contact them too often, etc. It's not a bad idea to tread carefully.

Others try involving their congresspeople's caseworkers. When you do this, you are not actually involving your elected official, which is why the "bribery" thing is irrelevant IMO. I'm not sure about what hearsay surrounds this kind of thing, but I can speak from experience. When you request assistance from your elected official, you are getting a member of their staff dedicated to constituent services to make inquiries and seek information that you may not have as much success getting yourself. This kind of assistance is most useful in cases where you are outside of USCIS reported processing times, the service center can't locate your petition, or emergent conditions have arisen that require more immediate action. A congressperson or their office is legally not allowed to influence a USCIS decision, and at least from what I've seen in the past 4 years, this seems to hold true in reality. You will also find that many elected officials' constituent service staff will not initiate any action on a case that still falls within reported processing times. They have been through these motions hundreds of times, and they know what kind of action is productive and what kind isn't.

If you have a really compelling reason for an expedite, you should consider seeking the help of your elected official's office, though. Compelling reasons that generally qualify for an expedite according to USCIS are:

Severe financial loss to company or individualExtreme emergent situationHumanitarian situationNonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United StatesDepartment of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government)USCIS errorCompelling interest of USCIS

In practice, the main expedites I've seen approved were based on urgent health issues on the part of the petitioner that required their spouse's presence and care, and imminent deployment of the active-duty US citizen military spouse. Beyond that, like the others have stated, expedite requests are most likely to be denied.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Carlos and Amy

[squirrelisan 23]

In practice, the main expedites I've seen approved were based on urgent health issues on the part of the petitioner that required their spouse's presence and care, and imminent deployment of the active-duty US citizen military spouse. Beyond that, like the others have stated, expedite requests are most likely to be denied.

Thanks for your comments on this. I have a question for you on what you said above, but not sure if you can answer it. Would being pregnant be considered an urgent health issue? If so, do you think the USCIS and/or NVC would be sympathetic and help with an expedite, or would the congressman be a better option in this scenario?

[aaron2020 11,651]

Thanks for your comments on this. I have a question for you on what you said above, but not sure if you can answer it. Would being pregnant be considered an urgent health issue? If so, do you think the USCIS and/or NVC would be sympathetic and help with an expedite, or would the congressman be a better option in this scenario?

Generally, no. It's your choice when to get pregnant. It would be too easy for a newly married couple to get pregnant to game the system. Pregnancy is not an urgent health issue unless it's a high risk pregnancy.