Hello.... N400 delayed, Rude USCIS Supervisor, No Changes in RFE status, Congressional Enquiry

[cashwindows 1]

Hi,

I filed my N400 at Chicago local office on Sep 20, 2012 and had an interview on feb 12, 2013. I cleared the Civic & English test, but things started turning south, when the Officer started asking about my husband. We were dating for almost an year, but we married only by Dec 2012. My husband had a previous failed marriage, to which the officer raised an RFE to send him my husband's original divorce decree from India, we responded to RFE within 10 days through our attorney and the Officer did sent us back the original documents after review, but the status was still in RFE. We called up USCIS Customer Service in mid April, they adviced us to wait for 90 days for further updates, since there was no changes even after 90 days, I made a Infopass, to which the Infopass enquiry desk officer said, "your IO has still not reviewed your case and there are no red flags with your case, I'll send a note to him and you will receive an update in 30 days".

Since I did not receive any updates in 30 days and even the online status still remained in RFE, I spoke to Tier 2 Immigration Officer thru Customer service hotline & opened a service request, to which i received an update notice, stating that I'm yet to respond to RFE, hence there are chances for my case to be denied. We were in hell of a shock & spoke to Tier 2 again, the tier 2 adviced us to make 2nd Infopass appointment with the proofs of our response to RFE and meet with a USCIS floor Supervisor at Chicago local office.

Yesterday I made my 2nd appointment with a rude supervisor, who did not bother to give me a proper response. She just said "The Officer is still reviewing your case and I can't guarantee you how long will it take, come after 90 days & make another round of enquiry", I said, my case is well past the processing time, it's been 150 days since my interview & if i had to wait for another 90 days, that's well past 1 year since filing, the supervisor responded that "there are people waiting well beyond 1 year & I can't give u any better news, I do see u have an attorney on file, ask him to stop-by, if he wants to & now you have a safe trip back home". I was really offended with such a type of response from the supervsior. I updated my attorney with these info & he adviced me to take Congressional enquiry through Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth's office. Not sure what next?

I would like to know whether any one has gone through such experiences? would congressional enquiry help? should I be prepared for anything much worse? or what can be a good solution to get my citizenship approved?

[TBoneTX 45,328]

*** Thread moved from Introducing Our Members forum to the U.S. Citizenship forum -- issues of concern pertain to USC/N-400 status. ***

[BigDaddy28 228]

I didn't go through it but congressional help is effective and it will help you a lot. It sounds like the officer is making your file collect dust there. I would call her and tell her about your situation as detailed as now and more if you want to and make sure about telling how rude was the officer. That will help you. If you want to file for a complaint through USCIS you can but I don't know if that will help. Good luck.

[DC85 113]

Since you already passed the 120 days, you can take advantage by filing a lawsuit against uscis in the Federal Court. the moment you get a court summon, uscis lose the jurisdiction on your file, and then the judge will decide epically it seems that your background check is completed and the only thing holding your case back is a lazy officer.

[cashwindows 1]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm going to file an inquiry through Congresswoman Duckworth's office by early next week, including the behavior of the rude USCIS Supervisor in my letter to Congresswoman Duckworth . I'll keep this thread updated about the progress in my case in due course.

[bigdog 376]

Good Luck with this mess.

[cashwindows 1]

My general tip for N400 Petitioners out of my experiences are:

1. Never get married during u'r naturalization filing, at-least to the point where you clear the interview.

2. If your spouse was previously married, bring the divorce decree, birth certificates of the children of your spouse from his/her previous marriage to your N400 interview.

I truly pray to god, no one should go through this kind of harassment from USCIS, this really affects all dimensions of our life & this indefinite wait makes us frustrate to the core!

[cashwindows 1]

I've sent out my Congressional Inquiry yesterday & received ack from Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth's office that they will start the inquiry on my behalf. Hoping for the best soon. Does any one have idea about how long will take for USCIS to respond to Congressional inquiry?

[DC85 113]

I've sent out my Congressional Inquiry yesterday & received ack from Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth's office that they will start the inquiry on my behalf. Hoping for the best soon. Does any one have idea about how long will take for USCIS to respond to Congressional inquiry?

usually less than a week, 2-3 days

[cashwindows 1]

usually less than a week, 2-3 days

Thank you! Hoping the best soon!!

[cashwindows 1]

Congressional inquiry didn't help... Here is the response from USCIS to Congresswoman's office...

Dear Congresswoman Duckworth:

Thank you for your letter on behalf of your constituent, XXXXX.

u.s. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCrS) records confirm that the case is pending at this time. USCIS is committed to adjudicating immigration benefits in a timely and efficient manner while also ensuring public safety, national security and compliance with all relevant directives. While the processing steps for most applications or petitions are completed quickly, a small percentage of cases involve unresolved issues that may result in adjudication delays.

uscrs is unable to render a decision on XXXXX's application until certain issues are resolved. USCIS is striving to resolve these issues as soon as possible. We are unable to determine at this time when the review process for the application will be completed.

We hope this information is helpful. If we may be of further assistance, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Wondering what next?? It's now been more than 10 months passed since the interview.

[Olehandro 1]

Congressional inquiry didn't help... Here is the response from USCIS to Congresswoman's office...

Dear Congresswoman Duckworth:

Thank you for your letter on behalf of your constituent, XXXXX.

u.s. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCrS) records confirm that the case is pending at this time. USCIS is committed to adjudicating immigration benefits in a timely and efficient manner while also ensuring public safety, national security and compliance with all relevant directives. While the processing steps for most applications or petitions are completed quickly, a small percentage of cases involve unresolved issues that may result in adjudication delays.

uscrs is unable to render a decision on XXXXX's application until certain issues are resolved. USCIS is striving to resolve these issues as soon as possible. We are unable to determine at this time when the review process for the application will be completed.

We hope this information is helpful. If we may be of further assistance, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Wondering what next?? It's now been more than 10 months passed since the interview.

HOW TO FORCE USCIS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH YOUR CASE

Writ of Mandamus & Private Immigration Bills

If you have ever had to deal with the United States Citizenship and Immigration

Services (formerly the INS) you know that the agency does not always move forward with a

case even when the individual has taken all the correct steps. When this happens, the

aggrieved party ultimately has the option of filing a lawsuit. This usually is the only

option available to you when USCIS refuses to take action on your case.

This type of lawsuit is known as a “writ of mandamus” (Writ). A Writ is a form of civil

action designed to compel a government official to perform a duty owed to the

plaintiff. In this type of lawsuit you are the plaintiff and the government is the defendant.

It is important to note that mandamus only forces the USCIS to take action that it is

legally obligated to take. It is not used to force the USCIS to reach a

favorable result, and it can possibly result in a denial of the application.

Before filing the lawsuit

There are several initial steps that should be taken so that when the suit is filed,

the plaintiff has clearly done everything he or she can to resolve the problem.

A plaintiff who appears in court without having tried to resolve the situation in

other ways will not be viewed particularly sympathetically.

The first step

The first step to take when processing on a case that has gone beyond the stated

time is to make inquiries with the USCIS.

The second step

If no resolution is reached, the next step is to draw up the legal complaint that will be

filed in court. The suit will be filed in the federal court with jurisdiction over the petitioner

or applicant.

There are a number of formal requirements for the complaint, including a statement

that jurisdiction and venue are properly filed with the court. The lawsuit must also lay

out the facts of the case. Some of these facts should include efforts that have been

taken to resolve it. It is a good idea initially to send a copy of the complaint to the USCIS

office handling the case, with a letter explaining the situation and noting that if the case

is not resolved within a certain period, generally 30 days, further action will be taken.

This step will often have the desired effect, if not producing a decision, of at least

prompting the USCIS to begin working on the matter. If the USCIS asks for additional

evidence (which can sometimes function as a delaying tactic) and still will not take action

after the requested documentation is supplied, the mandamus process should be resumed.

If sending the complaint does not produce results, it should be rewritten to include the

latest efforts to resolve the case and sent to the USCIS again as well as to the appropriate

U.S. Attorney. This is when most cases are resolved. The U.S. Attorney does not want to

spend time in court defending the USCIS’ failure to take action. Consequently, the

U.S. Attorney often contacts the USCIS office and advises that it should act.

Filing the complaint

If after a month there is still no action on the case, the complaint should be updated.

Next the case should be prepared for actual filing. Procedures vary from jurisdiction

to jurisdiction, but the general process is the same. The complaint is taken to the Clerk

of Court, where it is registered as filed. When a suit is filed against the government,

a copy of the complaint must be sent to the government official who has failed to act

(the head of the USCIS office involved), the proper U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Attorney

General. This action often has the effect of prompting the USCIS to take action. If not, the

parties proceed with the case. As in any federal case, the first step is a conference with

the judge assigned to the case, the plaintiff’s attorney and the U.S. Attorney representing

the government. At the conference, the judge makes efforts to help the parties resolve

the dispute.

If this effort fails, the case then proceeds to trial. Given the large caseload of federal

courts, this process can take many months. A few months after the trial, the judge

issues a decision. If the decision is favorable to the plaintiff, the decision will also

include an order compelling the USCIS to take action on the application. If the USCIS

fails to act, officers of the agency are subject to being held in contempt of court.

Only rarely is there an excessive delay that does not have a favorable outcome,

at least at the trial stage of a mandamus case. The good news is that most of these

cases can be resolved with favorable results without having to go to court.

Private Immigration Bills

When there is no other form of relief available you may want to consider

Private Immigration Bill. Private bills are a rare form of relief from immigration laws.

Additionally, these bills are generally reserved for the most compelling cases, when

all other immigration options have been exhausted. In the legislative process,

private bills are treated like any other law, going through the committee process to a

vote by the full Congress. However, getting a private bill introduced is not easy.

The immigration subcommittees in both the House of Representatives and the

Senate have detailed rules on what is required for the introduction of such a bill.

The most important step in obtaining a private bill is finding a member of Congress

willing to sponsor it. Following the introduction of the bill, detailed information about

the person it will benefit needs to be supplied to the chair of the immigration

subcommittee by the member of Congress sponsoring it. The procedure from there

is similar to other legislation, although once passed by both houses of Congress and

signed by the President, the bill becomes a private, not public, law.

The members of Congress who support private bills do a tremendous amount of

work to ensure their success and, without their efforts; the beneficiary of the bill

would not have other immigration options.

[cashwindows 1]

HOW TO FORCE USCIS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH YOUR CASE

Writ of Mandamus & Private Immigration Bills

If you have ever had to deal with the United States Citizenship and Immigration

Services (formerly the INS) you know that the agency does not always move forward with a

case even when the individual has taken all the correct steps. When this happens, the

aggrieved party ultimately has the option of filing a lawsuit. This usually is the only

option available to you when USCIS refuses to take action on your case.

This type of lawsuit is known as a “writ of mandamus” (Writ). A Writ is a form of civil

action designed to compel a government official to perform a duty owed to the

plaintiff. In this type of lawsuit you are the plaintiff and the government is the defendant.

It is important to note that mandamus only forces the USCIS to take action that it is

legally obligated to take. It is not used to force the USCIS to reach a

favorable result, and it can possibly result in a denial of the application.

Before filing the lawsuit

There are several initial steps that should be taken so that when the suit is filed,

the plaintiff has clearly done everything he or she can to resolve the problem.

A plaintiff who appears in court without having tried to resolve the situation in

other ways will not be viewed particularly sympathetically.

The first step

The first step to take when processing on a case that has gone beyond the stated

time is to make inquiries with the USCIS.

The second step

If no resolution is reached, the next step is to draw up the legal complaint that will be

filed in court. The suit will be filed in the federal court with jurisdiction over the petitioner

or applicant.

There are a number of formal requirements for the complaint, including a statement

that jurisdiction and venue are properly filed with the court. The lawsuit must also lay

out the facts of the case. Some of these facts should include efforts that have been

taken to resolve it. It is a good idea initially to send a copy of the complaint to the USCIS

office handling the case, with a letter explaining the situation and noting that if the case

is not resolved within a certain period, generally 30 days, further action will be taken.

This step will often have the desired effect, if not producing a decision, of at least

prompting the USCIS to begin working on the matter. If the USCIS asks for additional

evidence (which can sometimes function as a delaying tactic) and still will not take action

after the requested documentation is supplied, the mandamus process should be resumed.

If sending the complaint does not produce results, it should be rewritten to include the

latest efforts to resolve the case and sent to the USCIS again as well as to the appropriate

U.S. Attorney. This is when most cases are resolved. The U.S. Attorney does not want to

spend time in court defending the USCIS’ failure to take action. Consequently, the

U.S. Attorney often contacts the USCIS office and advises that it should act.

Filing the complaint

If after a month there is still no action on the case, the complaint should be updated.

Next the case should be prepared for actual filing. Procedures vary from jurisdiction

to jurisdiction, but the general process is the same. The complaint is taken to the Clerk

of Court, where it is registered as filed. When a suit is filed against the government,

a copy of the complaint must be sent to the government official who has failed to act

(the head of the USCIS office involved), the proper U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Attorney

General. This action often has the effect of prompting the USCIS to take action. If not, the

parties proceed with the case. As in any federal case, the first step is a conference with

the judge assigned to the case, the plaintiff’s attorney and the U.S. Attorney representing

the government. At the conference, the judge makes efforts to help the parties resolve

the dispute.

If this effort fails, the case then proceeds to trial. Given the large caseload of federal

courts, this process can take many months. A few months after the trial, the judge

issues a decision. If the decision is favorable to the plaintiff, the decision will also

include an order compelling the USCIS to take action on the application. If the USCIS

fails to act, officers of the agency are subject to being held in contempt of court.

Only rarely is there an excessive delay that does not have a favorable outcome,

at least at the trial stage of a mandamus case. The good news is that most of these

cases can be resolved with favorable results without having to go to court.

Private Immigration Bills

When there is no other form of relief available you may want to consider

Private Immigration Bill. Private bills are a rare form of relief from immigration laws.

Additionally, these bills are generally reserved for the most compelling cases, when

all other immigration options have been exhausted. In the legislative process,

private bills are treated like any other law, going through the committee process to a

vote by the full Congress. However, getting a private bill introduced is not easy.

The immigration subcommittees in both the House of Representatives and the

Senate have detailed rules on what is required for the introduction of such a bill.

The most important step in obtaining a private bill is finding a member of Congress

willing to sponsor it. Following the introduction of the bill, detailed information about

the person it will benefit needs to be supplied to the chair of the immigration

subcommittee by the member of Congress sponsoring it. The procedure from there

is similar to other legislation, although once passed by both houses of Congress and

signed by the President, the bill becomes a private, not public, law.

The members of Congress who support private bills do a tremendous amount of

work to ensure their success and, without their efforts; the beneficiary of the bill

would not have other immigration options.

Thank you!

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

The danger of filing a writ is it forces them to make a decision. So if they are waiting for report X and you file the writ they will decide owith the data on hand and deny you. It forces the decision but many times that decision is negative because they are unable to approve based on the current data on hand

[cashwindows 1]

The danger of filing a writ is it forces them to make a decision. So if they are waiting for report X and you file the writ they will decide owith the data on hand and deny you. It forces the decision but many times that decision is negative because they are unable to approve based on the current data on hand

The problem is they aren't ready to move forward with another round of review. This has been going on for almost 10+ months after the interview. I'm ready to provide anymore data, if they need...but they aren't open to it yet, it's kind of in a black hole. I'm thinking of filing a writ to make them talk to us and find out if we can furnish any more data that they might need, instead of sitting idle with assumptions.