Just got back from my Congressman's office

[islandgal 74]

I am currently at day 179, which I know is slightly under the 6 months I read you should wait, but I couldn't take it any more and the office is just down the street. I felt like I needed someone on my side... Unfortunately, that person is certainly not going to be in Congress. I didn't so much want someone to bump my application to the top or the like, but I wanted to hear that my wait was normal and my time was close at hand. OR, that I had done something grossly incorrect that I needed to fix. It was a government office, so I wasn't terribly shocked at the lack of kindness but it plainly set the tone for my experience.

I, with great hope, gave the immigration person my reference number and she went to work. After a short while she returned and told me that my application was with an officer and that was all she could provide... which is fine. I asked her, from her experience, what she thought was a reasonable timeline. She informed me that I had probably 2 more months before my NOA2. To which I balked because, from all my research, VSC is processing at around 6 months. She then asked if I was lecturing her on how to do her job and I politely responded in the negative but it didn't get much better from there. She asked why I was in such a hurry. "I was hoping to have my fiancee and her family over for Thanksgiving and I don't feel like displeasure with a 6-8 month wait is vastly impatient", I responded.... She laughed and said that I would be lucky if she made it over by new year and that I was indeed simply being impatient. She then began to quiz me on what I included in my I-129f packet. I passed everything except for the personal references she mentioned. She said that I should have included 3 personalized letters from my peers and because I didn't I would positively receive a RFE. Does anyone know if this is true? My packet was extremely detailed with ample proof but no letters from friends or coworkers...

Ok, I think that's it for my rant. Really just a long post asking about references but I would appreciate and thoughts on this. Thanks as always, Team.

Best,

Josh

Wow what an experience. My local congressional office is much more pleasant. She did an inquiry on my behalf at 4 months and 5 months... I actually contacted them at 4 months to complain about the way VSC was handling cases overall while CSC was on a roll. The first response from USCIS said normal processing time, blah blah blah. The last one received a response from USCIS stating that they're processing at 5 months + 30 days and if I don't hear anything from them by then, to contact USCIS again after the 6month mark. My local congress rep told me to "keep my head up" and "hang in there" and let her know if I don't hear anything. I plan on contacting her on Monday morning.

Regarding the "letters from friends".....that's plain BS. The I129f application doesn't require that. The only letter that's required is one from both the petitioner and the beneficiary about their intent to marry. It sounds to me like she was being a witch.

[djricky4 67]

didnt enclose any personal letter from peers and we were approved. looking @ how VSC is processing, you can expect something anytime now to a month...good luck

[sweetlymystic 19]

I think by visiting this office..you simply I have been given false information and now even more stressed out. Just follow this forum...be patient --you see the timelines and vermont is being notoriously behind(around 6-7 months)Remember..they do not work on the weekends so do not count those days as part your wait.(makes a huge difference) and also makes you feel better comparing those numbers.

It is coming just prepare for the next steps..God Bless all with the patience we need

[NYYankees355 11]

Your petition is not with an officer. It is in a box on a shelf. When its turn comes it willbe given to an adjudicator who will determine if it is approved in about 20 minutes, read the pinned topic at the top of this forum.

Reference letters are not required for any reason for any part of the immigration process and are particularly useless for the petition. They are one or two clicks above useless for the AOS or removal of conditions.

Your congressmans immigration representative in uniformed and/or simply lying to people and YES I would tell him so directly and with specificity. He is either unable or unwilling to do his job and you should write to your congressman directly or, better yet, attend his next public meeting and call him out on it in front of voters.

Congressmen have little affect on petitions anyway. But they should just say so and not make up BS that makes you worry needlessly

Its funny you says this about congressmen having little affect, then how come they have specific numbers to call for USCIS and their own departments to answer their concerns..if you think you can call and get the same response as a congressmen, you are wrong. They have specific departments that answer calls and concerns from congressmen and their associates (secretarys)

Thanks

[Mogambi 96]

Your congress person can certainly be of use in cases where something goes wrong. And yes of course they have access much more direct than you. However, your congress person doesn't have authority to 'prioritize' your case, or get them to go any faster than they are able to go. The time to contact them is if you are denied and believe it's wrongful, if something else goes wrong etc. Not just to complain that you hate waiting like everyone else.

[kitkat1985 2]

Have you submitted for a Service Request?? Maybe that will help? I'm still trying to get clarification of what exactly it will do but i'll try anything at this point.

[habibi11 16]

I am currently at day 179, which I know is slightly under the 6 months I read you should wait, but I couldn't take it any more and the office is just down the street. I felt like I needed someone on my side... Unfortunately, that person is certainly not going to be in Congress. I didn't so much want someone to bump my application to the top or the like, but I wanted to hear that my wait was normal and my time was close at hand. OR, that I had done something grossly incorrect that I needed to fix. It was a government office, so I wasn't terribly shocked at the lack of kindness but it plainly set the tone for my experience.

I, with great hope, gave the immigration person my reference number and she went to work. After a short while she returned and told me that my application was with an officer and that was all she could provide... which is fine. I asked her, from her experience, what she thought was a reasonable timeline. She informed me that I had probably 2 more months before my NOA2. To which I balked because, from all my research, VSC is processing at around 6 months. She then asked if I was lecturing her on how to do her job and I politely responded in the negative but it didn't get much better from there. She asked why I was in such a hurry. "I was hoping to have my fiancee and her family over for Thanksgiving and I don't feel like displeasure with a 6-8 month wait is vastly impatient", I responded.... She laughed and said that I would be lucky if she made it over by new year and that I was indeed simply being impatient. She then began to quiz me on what I included in my I-129f packet. I passed everything except for the personal references she mentioned. She said that I should have included 3 personalized letters from my peers and because I didn't I would positively receive a RFE. Does anyone know if this is true? My packet was extremely detailed with ample proof but no letters from friends or coworkers...

Ok, I think that's it for my rant. Really just a long post asking about references but I would appreciate and thoughts on this. Thanks as always, Team.

Best,

Josh

You did not need any references i had an attorney do all my paperwork and never once did she ask for that.. SHe told me i would only need that if i received a RFE... Sorry for having to deal waith ignorance like that....

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Its funny you says this about congressmen having little affect, then how come they have specific numbers to call for USCIS and their own departments to answer their concerns..if you think you can call and get the same response as a congressmen, you are wrong. They have specific departments that answer calls and concerns from congressmen and their associates (secretarys)

Thanks

Your congressman has a direct line to congressional liasons at the service centers. So what? They cannot speed your case unless USCIS has done something wrong. It is called "separation of powers". USCIS is executive branch, congress is legislative branch. The only way a congressman can actually do something besides inquire is when they do something outside the law. Taking longer than normal is not outside the law. They call a liason and the liaosn tells them they are backlogged and to check back in 60 days. What the congressman's representative tells YOU is up to him. Clearly the representative speaking to the OP lied and fabricated things. Reference letters are never needed, saying they are is a lie at worst and ignorance/incompetence at best.

In fact you cannot call the service centers at all.

I do not guess about this.

The OPs file is on a shelf. Petitions do not go to "officers" unless there is something very wrong. They go to adjudicators who adjudicate them.

This is a very simple, very direct process. The petitions sit in a box until an adjudicator opens the file and 20 minutes later you have an RFE or an approval. Period. So called "touches" are when the boxes get moved around and scanned, every file in that box gets an update. If you could see the actual "update" it would be that "pallet number XXXX is now located at XAXAFGAV"

[des1867 6]

My petition was at VSC and at the 6 month mark I did get my congressman involved. The rep handling the immigration services for my congressman was telling me thins like you will have to wait 8 or 9 months before your petition is approved. I told the rep that all I am requesting is a congressional inquiry to my petiton as according to the USCIS website, my petition has not even been "touched" since the receipt of my NOA1. The rep told me that they would send in the inquiry but not to get my hopes up. three weeks passed and nothing. I was not satisfied so I looked up my state senator office and talked to the immigration rep there and this rep was much more helpful and receptive to my needs. She immediately sent out another inquiry to the USCIS office and asked me to call her back in a week. Before the week was up I received a text and an email that my petition was approved.

Don;t give up, your fiance is worth the wait and the suffering that you are going through, believe me when you do get approved things will move faster but even then the anticipation building up inside you will only get worse and even the slightest delay will cause your blood to boil. In the end the most important this is that you two are together.

Today i am tracking my fiance's flight as she approaches her POE. I am so happy that she is on her way that I don;t even think about the delays and time that I have spent in this breaucratic nightmare. The second part of the journey will be easier to bear, at least she is here with me.

Good luck in your journey

[Olomi_811 130]

I am currently at day 179, which I know is slightly under the 6 months I read you should wait, but I couldn't take it any more and the office is just down the street. I felt like I needed someone on my side... Unfortunately, that person is certainly not going to be in Congress. I didn't so much want someone to bump my application to the top or the like, but I wanted to hear that my wait was normal and my time was close at hand. OR, that I had done something grossly incorrect that I needed to fix. It was a government office, so I wasn't terribly shocked at the lack of kindness but it plainly set the tone for my experience.

I, with great hope, gave the immigration person my reference number and she went to work. After a short while she returned and told me that my application was with an officer and that was all she could provide... which is fine. I asked her, from her experience, what she thought was a reasonable timeline. She informed me that I had probably 2 more months before my NOA2. To which I balked because, from all my research, VSC is processing at around 6 months. She then asked if I was lecturing her on how to do her job and I politely responded in the negative but it didn't get much better from there. She asked why I was in such a hurry. "I was hoping to have my fiancee and her family over for Thanksgiving and I don't feel like displeasure with a 6-8 month wait is vastly impatient", I responded.... She laughed and said that I would be lucky if she made it over by new year and that I was indeed simply being impatient. She then began to quiz me on what I included in my I-129f packet. I passed everything except for the personal references she mentioned. She said that I should have included 3 personalized letters from my peers and because I didn't I would positively receive a RFE. Does anyone know if this is true? My packet was extremely detailed with ample proof but no letters from friends or coworkers...

Ok, I think that's it for my rant. Really just a long post asking about references but I would appreciate and thoughts on this. Thanks as always, Team.

Best,

Josh

Josh, I'm sorry that you received such poor service. Anything you decided to send beyond what the I 129f instructions detailed was OPTIONAL. If there is more than 1 congressman for your area, send the other an email and ask for the help of their liasion. I seriously doubt that chick did anything indepth, because she would have had to email the service center's Congressional Liasion Unit and wait for a reply. I notified my congressman at 5 months and 1day. The day after the CSC Congressional Liasion Unit responded to the congressman's liasion we got our NOA2.

Best of luck to you!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Josh, I'm sorry that you received such poor service. Anything you decided to send beyond what the I 129f instructions detailed was OPTIONAL. If there is more than 1 congressman for your area, send the other an email and ask for the help of their liasion. I seriously doubt that chick did anything indepth, because she would have had to email the service center's Congressional Liasion Unit and wait for a reply. I notified my congressman at 5 months and 1day. The day after the CSC Congressional Liasion Unit responded to the congressman's liasion we got our NOA2.

Best of luck to you!

FYI there is never more than one congressman for a district. There are two senators for each state and you can go to them also but they have no more power to do anything than the congressman. As often happens about the time someone contacts their congres person the petition gets approved. It was already past due. There is no indication the congressman did anything but they will gladly take the credit.

Edited September 8, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[Chloe and Josh 2]

Everyone, Thank you so, so much. Great news, we were approved today. I really appreciate all of the help and kind words. Those of you who are still waiting, know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.

All the best,

Josh