When should I have a Senator petition on my behalf?

[Que Saudade 284]

Ahhh, the dreaded wait. We all here have waited. Do not expect any sympathy at 10 days in. It is horrible, yet we all have waited.

There is nothing you can do to speed up the process, but there is plenty you can do to slow it down. (i.e. not following the directions)

I recommend a Skype account if you don't already have one.

[Moomin 292]

Please try to understand and study the entire process before you jump the gun and expect a senator or congressman to do anything. They can't and they won't. Odds are they're already standing with a case like yours, except the other case actually went beyond the normal processing time, and is willing to inwuire about the delay. You have no delay, ergo no reason to contact a senator.

A petition is to verify that the USC is eligible to petition a foreign fiance(e) (in your case). The verification process is easier to accept when you understand what is done through these steps. Background checks are done mostly on the USC at this stage and if there's a hit on your name, it'll most likely take longer than the standard 5-6-7 months . Absolutely nobody can get a background check expedited which is also why some couples are stuck in Administrative Processing after an interview. For months. The months worth of waiting.. Well, It's goddamn hard however not impossible for the couples with enough patience.

Nobody is telling you that you cannot see each other throughout the waiting. Go visit, have fun, enjoy each other. Get to know each other even better and most importantly; forget about the process. Some people are fine with visiting each other for years. In between visits, they never blamed the US government. In fact, there were happy to just visit. When you're ready to take it to the next level, the USCIS needs to know who they are dealing with. It's to protect US citizens first and foremost, and to protect against fraud(whether it's the USC or the alien comitting it).

Immigration is a priviledge, not a demand you can make as a US citizen.

I'm the alien in case you were wondering.

To sum it up, I'll finish the way I started: Please try to understand and study the entire process before you jump the gun and expect a senator or congressman to do anything.

[mounir412 101]

you just filed 10 days ago. Now sit back and relax for the next 5 months. If you don't hear anything by end of December-beginning of January, then you can start contacting your senator. Contacting him now would have no effect. Be patient.

[Ryan H 3,810]

I would like to request that both my senator and my governor call the USCIS to petition on my fiance and my behalf

In addition to what everyone else has posted, the only thing I will add is that your governor can't do anything. Their office would simply refer you to your Senator or Member of Congress.

[Rob & Monika 87]

This question is answered in a thread pinned at the top of the K-1 forum:

So how can I speed up my petition? You can't really. If it gets to be too long and if you can get a congressman or senator to call, that will get some action, but half the time those guys dont'' call or they do and the petition has only been there 3 months. Sometimes one falls through the cracks, gets overlooked, we are human. A congressman can get through and get them to dig it out if it has been too long, but I wouldn't call that "speeding it up". That's a fix for whn it is too slow.

Given that, wait 30 days after your "estimated processing date" in the VJ timeline. If everyone did this at the "6 month mark", all these current VSC K-1 petitioners would start calling now, and getting the same "sorry we are behind right now" answer.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Rob & Monika

[Chicagoguy 2 27]

I once asked my congressman for help with a visa related problem and he got right on it. Plus a reply within 24 hours.

To paraphrase the reply: Look junior congressman from Illinois - he will wait his turn like everyone else. No cutting into the line.

[Sophinette 1]

Bryan and isabel, i will prefer if we party together instead of waiting;)

[bigdog 376]

Waiting, waiting, waiting together, enjoy the community in the mean time..