July 2013 I-130 Filers

[ColGil 126]

So both RFE's arrive in the mail today. Considering one was supposedly sent on Feb 20th and the other March 4th, who's thinking what I'm thinking? If you have an 129f and 130 in at the same then send the RFE's out together, whichever is later. So frustrating. Hubbie is out and about just now so don't know what they are asking for but I'll keep you posted.

[ColGil 126]

So both RFE's arrive in the mail today. Considering one was supposedly sent on Feb 20th and the other March 4th, who's thinking what I'm thinking? If you have an 129f and 130 in at the same then send the RFE's out together, whichever is later. So frustrating. Hubbie is out and about just now so don't know what they are asking for but I'll keep you posted.

Won't let me edit,

129F - Passport photo's and some form

130 - Proof of a bonafide marriage.

We have mountains of evidence to send in; skype call logs, affidavits of support from 8 people (4 each), flight confirmation, hotel bookings, passport stamps, wedding contract, about 200 photo's....

Looking for a bit of advice. We are thinking of ignoring the 129f RFE and just responding to the I130. Anyone know if anyone else has done similar? Has it caused any delays?

[YulingZhu 4]

Did you sent a copy of your marriage certificate/license? Call logs, affidavits of support, flight confirmation etc only proves that you have an on going relationship.

Won't let me edit,

129F - Passport photo's and some form

130 - Proof of a bonafide marriage.

We have mountains of evidence to send in; skype call logs, affidavits of support from 8 people (4 each), flight confirmation, hotel bookings, passport stamps, wedding contract, about 200 photo's....

Looking for a bit of advice. We are thinking of ignoring the 129f RFE and just responding to the I130. Anyone know if anyone else has done similar? Has it caused any delays?

[MelRuiz 2]

My RFE wasn't even that difficult it was just proof of US citizenship, why would it take 60 days?! It's been too much already!!! I'm dying... I'm literally crying as I write these words. I try to avoid the question "have you heard anything yet?" from my husband as much as possible to not get sad and cry on our Skype calls like we usually do..... Please somebody guide me on how exactly can I contact these people or the senator or congressman or whoever!!!! I'm US citizen born in Maryland and living in Maryland but my case is in California and in RFE Review status... ? I don't know what to do

Edited March 9, 2014 by MelRuiz

[indiandude1111 27]

Although I understand the "60 day transfer notice" doesn't hold any meaning coz USCIS will only process petitions as they want. I am @ day 62 today and considering to put in a service request by calling customer service tomorrow.

Any thoughts/ ideas???

PD- 07/11

TD- 01/03, received at NSC on 01/07

no noa2

Edited March 10, 2014 by indiandude1111

[etrangais 927]

Although I understand the "60 day transfer notice" doesn't hold any meaning coz USCIS will only process petitions as they want. I am @ day 62 today and considering to put in a service request by calling customer service tomorrow.

Any thoughts/ ideas???

Go for it and don't believe the bs about service requests holding your case.

Good luck man

PD- 07/11

TD- 01/03, received at NSC on 01/07

no noa2

[meehan 43]

Although I understand the "60 day transfer notice" doesn't hold any meaning coz USCIS will only process petitions as they want. I am @ day 62 today and considering to put in a service request by calling customer service tomorrow.

Any thoughts/ ideas???

Go for it and don't believe the bs about service requests holding your case.

Good luck man

PD- 07/11

TD- 01/03, received at NSC on 01/07

no noa2

I'm in the same boat. Was planning on calling tomorrow morning but hadn't decided on the service request side of things.

[jhonster 23]

Although I understand the "60 day transfer notice" doesn't hold any meaning coz USCIS will only process petitions as they want. I am @ day 62 today and considering to put in a service request by calling customer service tomorrow.

Any thoughts/ ideas??

The Level 2 agent I spoke with last week told me he'd send a service request demanding either approval or the reason why they're not approving my i130. He said it's been past 60 days and that they should have approved the i130 after me sending them their RFE request. And if they don't, they need to say why they're not.

I sent another request to my congressman and both senators to get involved last week. If you contact your local congressperson and senators, they will send you a form to fill out to get help from them. There are many other contact avenues if you're willing to put in the time to contact them. Here is a page at USCIS where you can contact the various service centers directly. Just scroll down to the bottom where it says "Notes" and you'll see the email addresses for the various service centers you can contact about your case. www.uscis.gov/about-us/contact-us#Website Feedback.

If you want to get the USCIS Ombudsman involved in your case, you can fill out an electronic complaint form in order for them to follow up on your case here.

www.uscis.gov/tools/ombudsman-liaison/ombudsman-liaison-unit-information-room/uscis-ombudsman-liaison-unit-information-room

I just learned from a USCIS employee who works in the Office of Contracting that Alejandro Mayorkas is no longer the USCIS director. He was appointed the new DHS director. The now acting director of USCIS is Lori Scialabba. See the story here. www.cis.org/north/new-uscis-chief-appears-be-east-coast-version-alejandro-mayorkas.

Since all employees who work for USCIS have an @uscis.dhs.gov email address, and since their email addresses are usually their name separated by a dot. I figured out that the acting directors email address is lori.scialabba@uscis.dhs.gov. I would STRONGLY suggest you let the current acting director know that approval times seem to be a comprehensive problem with her department. And let them know that you are willing to get others involved in order to make USCIS improve their servicing times.

Here is a copy of the letter I sent Ms. Scialabba and I suggest you either use my letter as a guide to write the acting director or send your own email to her. She needs to know that her dept is not working up to standards that we pay for or expect. You can put "Solicitation number CSDRFI. New USCIS customer engagement model" in the subject line of your email to her based on the Federal Business Opportunity RFI (request for information) from USCIS. USCIS was looking for input from contractors that could provide real customer service data to USCIS. Well, I figured having live applicants telling them where their system is failing is better than anything. So put this avenue to good use.

Subject: Solicitation number CSDRFI "New USCIS customer engagement model"

Dear Ms. Scialabba,

I understand you are the new acting director of the USCIS. My name is John Stevenson. I work for the City of (Name withheld) , so...I too am a govt worker. I thought I would share my personal experience along with a few hundred or so other USCIS applicants personal experiences with the Visa process and working with USCIS in 2013/2014.

I recently applied for an i130 Spousal Visa for my wife and adopted daughter on July 25th 2013 (USCIS receipt date). My wife (Name Removed) receipt #MSCXXXXXXXXX And my step daughter (Name removed) receipt# MSCXXXXXXXXXX.

I've noticed a big trend currently with delays at USCIS. Specifically with i130 applications. Not only have I experienced this, but there is a website called "Visa Journey" (www.visajourney.com) where thousands of people share their own personal experiences with various Visa processes and the USCIS. There are threads there created for each and every month, and each and every Visa classification.....and exactly where they are in the process, and how long they've been waiting. This also includes all the other criteria like RFE's and whatnot as well. I would assume this real, verifiable, and personal data would be useful to what you seek in regards to developing a "New USCIS Customer Service Model".

My application was stuck at the MIssouri Service Center for several months before it did anything at all. Part of the problem to start with was with your data entry section. Whomever entered my street address data for my step daughter transferred the wrong street address to the USCIS database. They put it as 7822 Genesis rather than 7822 (name withheld). I called several times about this, and it was never corrected until FOUR MONTHS LATER when I had to speak to an agent supervisor at the USCIS call center. I FINALLY received the receipt for my step daughter in November, when my wifes receipt showed up in the beginning of August.

I started to learn more about your system and found the normal processing times based on each Service Center at the USCIS website. I had noticed last year that Missouri Service Center was taking about 1 1/2 years to process an i130. Whereas California was at about 7 months. I asked an agent with USCIS to transfer my file to California. They granted this request and sent the file to the Texas Service Center instead. I shortly thereafter requested an expedite due to the Typhoon that hit the Philippines for humanitarian issues. Almost immediately an RFE was generated for bona fide proof of marriage. This bogged down my application by another month. Because getting the banking documents and signed/sworn affidavits had to come from the Philippines. USCIS received my RFE package on December 31st, 2013.

I continued to call USCIS in January and February. On January 15th, I was told my file was undergoing a security check. I spoke with an immigration attorney about this and I was told that was not a normal thing to have to do at this stage in the process. That a security check was normally done only on the applicant and NOT the petitioner. So, to me, this seems like a stalling tactic as was the RFE. But we are 219 days into the process of just approving the application. The RFE was issued 11/30/13 & was received by USCIS from me on 12/31/13. By this date, it's been 68 days since the RFE was received and accepted by USCIS. This file hasn't even made it yet to the state dept or the foreign consulate yet. So, by the time it's already taken....my wife and daughter won't be here for probably another year. THAT is unacceptable and is NOT the model that Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas had testified in front of congress to provide to our citizenry.

You can see a recent story that was produced by the New York times documenting the same problem that I'm experiencing as well. So this is becoming a national problem.

www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/program-benefiting-some-immigrants-extends-visa-wait-for-others.html?_r=1

You can also see the thread that was started at Visa Journey for those whom applied for i130's like I did in July of 2013. These are real people and real cases. My screen name is Jhonster there.

www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/441102-july-2013-i-130-filers/page-148#entry6863887

I feel that there needs to be a streamlined way in order to communicate directly with whomever is processing these files. Because many times, the customers of USCIS are left in the dark and are given very generic or non answers as to why their case is being held up. A more transparent process where we could have interaction with the people whom are intimate with our files would make things move faster, especially in the data acquisition process. An agent may be stuck on something were an applicant could provide necessary information faster. There should be a pipeline for that applicant to communicate with the agent processing the file. Possibly like an email/data porthole where an applicant could upload electronically scanned documents if necessary.

I have already contacted my Congressman (Brad Sherman) and my two Senators (Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein) regarding this matter. And just for the record....I am providing my particular case information. Not so much as to get my case moved forward as much as trying to address a comprehensive problem that seems to be effecting USCIS nationwide.

Please let me know if there is a better person to contact if need be.

Thank you in advance,

My name, address, contact phone numbers and email address.

[indiandude1111 27]

I decided today to put in a SR and because I couldn't do it online myself I called customer service.

The lady tried and said I'm sorry but I can't put one in for you because your case is under normal processing time. I said whats up with the 60 day transfer notice. She said NSC is processing April 2013 petitions. I said thats not true coz last time a tier 2 officer told me they are processing June 2 2013 (which was about 7 days ago).

She said she didn't have any further information on my case. Its for sure going to be mid April for me and all others whose priority dates/ transfer dates are around me.

PD- 07/11

TD- 01/03 to NSC. Accepted on 01/07

Edited March 10, 2014 by indiandude1111

[etrangais 927]

I decided today to put in a SR and because I couldn't do it online myself I called customer service.

The lady tried and said I'm sorry but I can't put one in for you because your case is under normal processing time. I said whats up with the 60 day transfer notice. She said NSC is processing April 2013 petitions. I said thats not true coz last time a tier 2 officer told me they are processing June 2 2013 (which was about 7 days ago).

She said she didn't have any further information on my case. Its for sure going to be mid April for me and all others whose priority dates/ transfer dates are around me.

PD- 07/11

TD- 01/03 to NSC. Accepted on 01/07

did she put in a service request for you at the end or not?

[VNBCI130 94]

I decided today to put in a SR and because I couldn't do it online myself I called customer service.

The lady tried and said I'm sorry but I can't put one in for you because your case is under normal processing time. I said whats up with the 60 day transfer notice. She said NSC is processing April 2013 petitions. I said thats not true coz last time a tier 2 officer told me they are processing June 2 2013 (which was about 7 days ago).

She said she didn't have any further information on my case. Its for sure going to be mid April for me and all others whose priority dates/ transfer dates are around me.

PD- 07/11

TD- 01/03 to NSC. Accepted on 01/07

You can't talk to tier 1, period. They are clueless as always. They see the same information as you see on the web. Somehow, you would have to convince them to speak with Tier 2 and put a service request that way. That is your only alternative.

[jhonster 23]

You can't talk to tier 1, period. They are clueless as always. They see the same information as you see on the web. Somehow, you would have to convince them to speak with Tier 2 and put a service request that way. That is your only alternative.

Call them back and speak to another cust service rep. Demand that you speak to an actual agent. You are totally outside of the "normal processing times" as USCIS themselves say that their goal is to do these i130's in a maximum 6 month time period.

I literally just got this email from them. It's been 69 days since I returned my RFE and they're past the 60 day limit. This is the BS they come up with to stall because they've already run out of lies. They sent me an RFE last year when they transferred my file from the Missouri Service Center to the Texas Service Center. Then after I sent them back the RFE, they said my case was under security check. What the hell? Security check for whom?? Last week when I called, the tier 2 agent said he sent a message to either approve the file or give me a reason why. Here's their BS reason. I just got this literally in my email.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

P. O. BOX 851488 - DEPT. A

TEXAS SERVICE CENTER

MESQUITE,TX 75185

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Monday, March 10, 2014

On 03/05/2014 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

Caller indicated they are:

-- Applicant or Petitioner

Attorney Name:

-- Information not available

Case type:

-- I130

Filing date:

-- 07/25/2013

Receipt #:

Referral ID:

Your USCIS Account Number (A-number):

-- Information not available

Type of service requested:

-- Expedite

The status of this service request is:

We have received your service request and researched the status of your case. We had to perform an additional review and this has caused a delay in processing time. Your case is currently under review. You should receive a decision or notice of further action within 30 days.

XM1268

-------------------------------

Address Changes

If you move, please provide us with an updated address. For more information about address changes, please visit our Web site atwww.uscis.gov/ar-11, and click on "Change Your Address Online."

For More Information

If you need further assistance, you may contact our National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 or 1-800-767-1833 (TDD for the hearing impaired).

They don't even give you a reason. They just say screw you, we just need more time because we can't seem to do our jobs in a timely fashion. This is just complete and utter BS.

[indiandude1111 27]

did she put in a service request for you at the end or not?

No she didn't put in a service request.

You can't talk to tier 1, period. They are clueless as always. They see the same information as you see on the web. Somehow, you would have to convince them to speak with Tier 2 and put a service request that way. That is your only alternative.

Okay I'll wait for a few days and insist to put in a service request

[indiandude1111 27]

Alright,

some good news to share. The status on my case just changed to this-

On March 10, 2014, your Alien Registration Number was changed relating to your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please check our website at www.uscis.gov for further updates on your case. Please wait until the end of normal processing time before calling customer service at 1-800-375-5283 for live assistance.

[VNBCI130 94]

Alright,

some good news to share. The status on my case just changed to this-

On March 10, 2014, your Alien Registration Number was changed relating to your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please check our website at www.uscis.gov for further updates on your case. Please wait until the end of normal processing time before calling customer service at 1-800-375-5283 for live assistance.

This is definitely a good sign as your application has been there for couple of months now! Please keep us posted and good luck!