Can an annoyed uscis officer delay your visa application?

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

the only way to annoy a immigration officer is to have a congressman and two senator making a case inquiry. in my case, i did annoy the hell out because i did include a ombudsman along. the more the merrier for me.

Me thinks I'm pretty adept at annoying IOs.

I've contacted scopsscata, but not the Ombudsman yet.

[Fernandez19 1]

I used to call everyday especially to find out when my interview was.. and my husband was here in about 6 months

[DaisyX 0]

Yep, it makes me very astute.

There is plenty of information available about the wait times and how some obsess over it. So yes my assumption is right on. They should not even be on these boards asking these types of questions. It will take as long as it takes. When they go over the 10 month mark, then to me, that is the time to begin to question.

You assume I was terrorizing the office through 2 calls? You seem like a happy person. This board is meant to share ideas and information. Even you say 10 months is the limit. We all don't know what the right answer is even with research available, but through the forum posts, you get an idea of what to expect or to do about a unknown, confusing process through actual experiences. What gives you the right to dictate what a suitable question is or not? Thanks for your opinion though, because the point of my phone call to the office was to figure out when I should start worrying in THIS TIME CONTEXT- not to complain or obsess. That was actually somewhat constructive. The point of this thread was to ask how much say or power an officer can have and potentially use. How carefully should I have tread in situations and what everyone is currently doing to better their chances. It's to figure out everyone's experiences and there is nothing wrong with that. It's not about obsessing, but really what the best strategy or outlook one should pursue and to find other people who are currently going through the same thing.

While you are waiting, why don't you fill in your timeline Did you know that VJ computes a general time when your petition will be approved, based on data collected here? Have you joined a monthly filers thread? Have you looked at the immigration timelines section?

I did then I deleted it, because people on this forum thread were saying calling twice about processing times was "psychotic" and "terrorizing." lol. It's not like I yelled, continued to badger the officers, or was overly rude or anything. Most posts I read previously told me that the best option was to call once you hit the 5 month mark or the expected times listed after you write in your timeline (The this website itself even suggests that). I don't understand why people are critical and mean spirited in this type of conversation. If you don't like conversation, just don't participate in it. There are still plenty of people who want to interact with each other, comfort each other, and figure out the whole situation together. Processing times and situations are not identical... It's nice finding and sharing information specific to people's needs and situations.

From this forum post, I realized that they are 1) Behind normal processing time in general, but 2) We're all in the same boat. Specific to this context, we are not behind schedule, so we should relax and wait. There is no other real option, calling and annoying officers wo't do any good, but won't completely ruin your chances (Within reason) or to help you specifically. Some people pursued political leaders to help, but ultimately, as long as you're not late compared to others that filed, you just wait.

Edited February 19, 2013 by DaisyX

[Cathi 5,795]

I will say I did call the NVC many times, as they made so many mistakes with my husband's case I wanted to choke someone

[Andie 147]

I wouldn't worry about it - most of us on here are at least a little nuts. We're going through a long legal process of Kafkaesque opacity so that we can leave our homes, families and friends and everything we have hitherto known.

This is one of the most accurate descriptions I've read of the situation. It reminds us of why it is such a difficult wait. Not all beneficiaries are leaving a bad or less appealing life or situation - they are just wanting to be with the person they love. You should be able to get support and good advice here. I don't consider your questions unreasonable and while you can complete your timeline and follow what this system reflects, it only gives you an approximate guideline. Some approvals come through faster and others take a lot longer - and for no particular reason. There is a system, but its inconsistent. I don't think it matters how often you call and what answers you get. We've found most of the responses totally inaccurate and unreliable anyway. Hope you hear something in good time... all the best !

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I did then I deleted it, because people on this forum thread were saying calling twice about processing times was "psychotic" and "terrorizing." lol. It's not like I yelled, continued to badger the officers, or was overly rude or anything. Most posts I read previously told me that the best option was to call once you hit the 5 month mark or the expected times listed after you write in your timeline (The this website itself even suggests that). I don't understand why people are critical and mean spirited in this type of conversation. If you don't like conversation, just don't participate in it. There are still plenty of people who want to interact with each other, comfort each other, and figure out the whole situation together. Processing times and situations are not identical... It's nice finding and sharing information specific to people's needs and situations.

From this forum post, I realized that they are 1) Behind normal processing time in general, but 2) We're all in the same boat. Specific to this context, we are not behind schedule, so we should relax and wait. There is no other real option, calling and annoying officers wo't do any good, but won't completely ruin your chances (Within reason) or to help you specifically. Some people pursued political leaders to help, but ultimately, as long as you're not late compared to others that filed, you just wait.

FWIW, I don't think the people who said it was "psychotic" to call did it to insult you personally. I think they were trying to point out that there is nothing the phone people can do and calling them is a waste of time. I think they were trying to say that the sooner people realize this, the better, or their mental health, because calling the phone people will make you crazy.

A person just starting out in this journey doesn't know that fact, and it seems perfectly reasonable to try to call and get information. That is where the frustration usually starts, with calling someone and getting no useable information after waiting on hold just to talk to them.

I wish there were a sticky on here or somewhere explaining what the phone people can do, and explaining what to expect for your petition. Unfortunately in the progress threads it is a lot of the blind leading the blind. The groups there feel comfortable to talk to one another but give bad advice because they haven't even been through the process themselves. That is one reason I stay on VJ in fact, not because I got good advice, but because I got really bad advice in a progress thread that caused me anguish and wasted my time calling and arguing with the phone people.

So I believe that someone told you that you should call after 5 months. But sometimes the processing goal extends to 6 months. Sometimes it is even longer. The best you can do it to try to keep track of the general file date of approved petitions right now. If just one person around your time has been approved (or none) and a bunch are still waiting, then take solace knowing that nothing is wrong with your case and it is processing.

Once USCIS publishes the date they say they are working on, and if you filed before that date, then you should call the phone people and they will put in a "service request." Trying to do that before that time is useless.

The process as I said is frustratingly opaque. It is odd to feel like you are putting a lot of effort and thought into the petition and it is just sitting in a box. But just know that the process does work. It doesn't work how'd you like, but part of that opacity is for security reasons, and a part of it is to keep costs low. Getting a fancy real-time monitor online costs lots of money and takes man-hours to update it all the time.

You will be reunited sooner rather than later, and your interactions in person with actual immigration people will be pleasant and professional. Not like the phone people.

Your realizations are spot on and I am glad you realized them.

So, looking forward, do you know exactly what to do when you get that NOA2?

Edited February 19, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[TBoneTX 46,350]

FWIW [...]

HT's post deserves to be enshrined in the pantheon of all-time VJ posts, si man.