The Hartford Office Sent my unapproved I-130 to Copenhagen

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

Please help me understand this.

On February 15th, I was mailed a letter that the ISO read to me stating that the Hartford field office didn't have jurisdiction over my I-130 so instead of doing something with my expedite request....they sent the un-adjudicated petition to Copenhagen. Now, Denmark does not have DCF and the embassy in Copenhagen doesn't handle IV cases (they are done in Sweden).

I've put in a service request or expedite or something on the grounds that they messed up and need to actually adjudicate the case and send it to the NVC....but the priority date on hearing back is March 6!

For those of you following our story, we've tried everything at this point - senatorial inquiries, expedite requests, mailing the evidence directly to Hartford. The ISO seemed perplexed on why they would do this and I have no idea either. Does anyone know what is going on?

Edited February 19, 2013 by Nola123

[VikingMamma 2]

I have no idea :/ Just wanted to say I hope that you find an answer!

[Roosha 51]

I'm sorry Nola, I don't have any other suggestion except to contact your embassy and see if they can help since they have the case?

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

I'm sorry Nola, I don't have any other suggestion except to contact your embassy and see if they can help since they have the case?

I'm sending them an email now, but I don't think this looks good and it doesn't even make any sense.

[NikLR 13,232]

I think your hubs should be granted an immediate US green card due to all this BS.

[speedwell 224]

You cannot possibly be serious.

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

I wish I wasn't Speedwell, but she said there is a chance it hasn't left the office yet as the last touched date was January 30. When I get the letter I'll post it up - it is sure to be a kicker.

[speedwell 224]

I wish I wasn't Speedwell, but she said there is a chance it hasn't left the office yet as the last touched date was January 30. When I get the letter I'll post it up - it is sure to be a kicker.

When I was in retail, and when I was in IT tech support, there was always ONE customer who we could NOT do anything right for. Not because they were difficult or because their issue was complex, and not because we were actively hindering them, but literally every effort on our part resulted in some screwup or unnecessary delay. It was tempting to give up and blame quantum mechanics or a trickster god, but it's really just the law of chance. I can't believe they actually have it in for you, even though they might as well.

[catknit 144]

USCIS has an ombudsman's office for "non-traditional" nightmares that have sunk into the depths of bureaucratic craziness. Have you tried them?

Your senatorial or congressperson's immigration liaison should know how to contact them and we had a user here a few years back that had a bizarro set of circumstances that the ombudsman's office helped with - I want to say his name was Gogo? His wife was Chinese and had the same exact name and birthdate of another Chinese woman who had already immigrated possibly so all their paperwork ended up in a weird catch 22??? It was just a paperwork clusterf@#$ - try searching the term ombudsman and gogo - he had phone numbers and names of USCIS higher ups in his postings too.

[Villanelle 4,122]

Its unlikely their going to expedite your case based on their error. Clearly an error was made. Somebody in Hartford saw your address was in Denmark and sent it to the embassy there and not to Sweden where it shouldve went. Its doubtful theyre going to expedite you based on that..

Youre going to have make sure it gets out of Copenhagen and is forwarded to Sweden and not returned to Hartford. Once in Sweden you can resume your efforts of insisting the expedite be granted.

You say you have a priority date on a hearing for March 6th and Im not sure what that means. Is that a deadline for your expedite? whos deadline? No one really has the case yet. Copenhagen isnt going to process it, its not in Sweden and Hartford passed it off.

So its like you have a deadline where the clocks going to stop, but not a start time yet. The deadline is 2 weeks away so its very possible it could be resolved by then.

Make sure it gets to Sweden. Hartford passed you off without adjudicating you. Its a legal technicality and theres nothing you can do about it. (you shouldnt have been in Hartford anyway and according to the letter the ISO read you Hartford could not adjudicate you because they did not have jurisdiction over your petition. It didnt say they werent going to expedite you (you were denied) just that they couldnt based on jurisdiction. This is very promising. This could mean they were going to expedite you but they couldnt.). Do not let the file linger in Copenhagen. You dont belong there. Get it to Sweden ASAP. Hopefully Sweden will approve your expedite quickly.

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

Its unlikely their going to expedite your case based on their error. Clearly an error was made. Somebody in Hartford saw your address was in Denmark and sent it to the embassy there and not to Sweden where it shouldve went. Its doubtful theyre going to expedite you based on that..

Youre going to have make sure it gets out of Copenhagen and is forwarded to Sweden and not returned to Hartford. Once in Sweden you can resume your efforts of insisting the expedite be granted.

You say you have a priority date on a hearing for March 6th and Im not sure what that means. Is that a deadline for your expedite? whos deadline? No one really has the case yet. Copenhagen isnt going to process it, its not in Sweden and Hartford passed it off.

So its like you have a deadline where the clocks going to stop, but not a start time yet. The deadline is 2 weeks away so its very possible it could be resolved by then.

Make sure it gets to Sweden. Hartford passed you off without adjudicating you. Its a legal technicality and theres nothing you can do about it. (you shouldnt have been in Hartford anyway and according to the letter the ISO read you Hartford could not adjudicate you because they did not have jurisdiction over your petition. It didnt say they werent going to expedite you (you were denied) just that they couldnt based on jurisdiction. This is very promising. This could mean they were going to expedite you but they couldnt.). Do not let the file linger in Copenhagen. You dont belong there. Get it to Sweden ASAP. Hopefully Sweden will approve your expedite quickly.

Capri, the I-130 has not been adjudicated or approved. What is Sweden going to do with it? It was my understanding that in non-DCF countries the embassies won't touch the I-130s until approved.

[sherryandyashpal 7]

Please help me understand this.

On February 15th, I was mailed a letter that the ISO read to me stating that the Hartford field office didn't have jurisdiction over my I-130 so instead of doing something with my expedite request....they sent the un-adjudicated petition to Copenhagen. Now, Denmark does not have DCF and the embassy in Copenhagen doesn't handle IV cases (they are done in Sweden).

I've put in a service request or expedite or something on the grounds that they messed up and need to actually adjudicate the case and send it to the NVC....but the priority date on hearing back is March 6!

For those of you following our story, we've tried everything at this point - senatorial inquiries, expedite requests, mailing the evidence directly to Hartford. The ISO seemed perplexed on why they would do this and I have no idea either. Does anyone know what is going on?

WTH? how much more can they mess you guys around? blind leading the blind seriously... I wish I could suggest something... somehow i'd go back to the senator's office and see if they could throw some weight behind getting this sorted out , nag the hell outta them( in a nice way) maybe that will get some action.. I am really sorry this is so all over the place and I hope they somehow expedite it

Edited February 19, 2013 by sherryandyashpal

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

USCIS has an ombudsman's office for "non-traditional" nightmares that have sunk into the depths of bureaucratic craziness. Have you tried them?

Your senatorial or congressperson's immigration liaison should know how to contact them and we had a user here a few years back that had a bizarro set of circumstances that the ombudsman's office helped with - I want to say his name was Gogo? His wife was Chinese and had the same exact name and birthdate of another Chinese woman who had already immigrated possibly so all their paperwork ended up in a weird catch 22??? It was just a paperwork clusterf@#$ - try searching the term ombudsman and gogo - he had phone numbers and names of USCIS higher ups in his postings too.

I'm getting one off to the Ombudsman tomorrow. Hopefully they can help.

Capri, the I-130 has not been adjudicated or approved. What is Sweden going to do with it? It was my understanding that in non-DCF countries the embassies won't touch the I-130s until approved.

As an addition to that these are the criteria for special processing on an I-130 in Sweden:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=2b2a3e70369ff210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

I don't think we meet the requirements.

WTH? how much more can they mess you guys around? blind leading the blind seriously... I wish I could suggest something... somehow i'd go back to the senator's office and see if they could throw some weight behind getting this sorted out , nag the hell outta them( in a nice way) maybe that will get some action.. I am really sorry this is so all over the place and I hope they somehow expedite it

I'm sending a follow up email to the Senator's assistant and a new one to the Representative. I am kind of hoping that they send the notice to CT mailing address so that I can see it. I feel weird getting all uppity about something I haven't even read and that the ISO who was reading didn't have the best English skills... I really want to read it for myself.

[NikLR 13,232]

Its unlikely their going to expedite your case based on their error. Clearly an error was made.

Actually they SHOULD expedite it. According to their expedite criteria:

Expedite Criteria

All expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The burden is on the applicant or petitioner to demonstrate that one or more of the expedite criteria have been met. The criteria are as follows:

• Severe financial loss to company or individual
• Extreme emergent situation
• Humanitarian situation
• Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States
• Department 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 error
• Compelling interest of USCIS

Note: Discretionary expedite requests for petitions and applications that have Premium Processing Service available will not be considered for expedite processing. The only exception is when the petitioner is a not-for-profit organization designated by the Internal Revenue Service. For information regarding premium processing, please refer to the premium processing webpage.

If you have already filed your application or petition:

You can make an expedite request by contacting the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283. The NCSC will take a “service request” and forward your expedite request to the office with jurisdiction over the application or petition. You also have the options of 1). visiting your local office by scheduling an InfoPass appointment or 2). writing a letter to the local office or service center.

They have made an error. A very bad error. They should expedite it just based off of this. But she also has medical grounds. Seriously, it's past the point of ridiculous.

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

Actually they SHOULD expedite it. According to their expedite criteria:

They have made an error. A very bad error. They should expedite it just based off of this. But she also has medical grounds. Seriously, it's past the point of ridiculous.

I don't even care about the expedite at this point. I'd just like to know where my case is, why it is being sent abroad, and what good they think that will do? I don't want it to disappear into a black hole. I have not seen a single case on VJ where an unapproved I-130 was sent to the a non-DCF consulate. I know there is a way for USCIS to allow DHS and the embassy to adjudicate the petition, but they've given us no indication that this is the case. I'm almost half tempted to call back and see if a different ISO can see something else, but I think I'd probably fall asleep before the hour long hold was up.

It makes almost no sense but maybe one of the 5 emails I've sent will prompt someone to clarify it for me tomorrow. The embassy? The ombudsman? scopsscata? the senator? the representative?

I'm finding it very frustrating not being able to do an infopass and Hartford not having some direct contact info besides snail mail.