I-130 MARCH 2013 FILERS!! NBC

[Blueberry Pancake 311]

I understand the feeling of impotency, Tico, but I do feel that ought to keep trying. I just wrote to the AILA again. Hat-tip for the "question 14" quote. Let's keep doing our best. Here's my letter:

One month ago, I shared the information below about fears that the processing of standalone I-130's would slow down significantly. Recent events confirm that our predictions were correct. I would like to suggest a possible resolution.

First, you should know, if you do not know already, that since I wrote this email to you, the USCIS has revised its national average processing times for I-130's, so that now they report 16 months, between a NOA1 and NOA2, just to adjudicate an I-130 petition. That means, that American citizens and legal residents who are married to foreigners, are now expected to wait up to two years to unite with their spouses.

Members of my online community of I-130 petitioners and beneficiaries at VisaJourney.com had already noticed the slowdown, based on our self-reports, when I wrote to you. We foresaw this slowdown, because we noticed that petitions were being sent to the new NBC facility in Overland Park, Kansas, which we knew was not operational. And the USCIS did not appear to be sending petitions to field offices to keep up with the pace of adjudication, as they said that they would, because very few of us in our online community were notified that our files were being sent to field offices. Hence, we foresaw the stockpiling of I-130s, which has created this slowdown now.

My suggestion is that you again ask, in stronger terms, will the "USCIS reconsider its policy to… adjudicate K-3 petitions within 30 days in order to achieve the clear policy imperative announced by Congress with the creation of the K-3 visa?" I am referring to question 14 in "USCIS – American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Meeting April 11, 2013". That document is here:

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2013/April%202013/AILAagenda041113.pdf

Their answer at that time, was, "The K-3 visa was intended to reunite families separated due to a backlog in I-130 adjudications. However, I-130s are no longer backlogged and are currently being processed in under 6 months. Therefore, USCIS does not, at this time plan to implement a new policy on the K-3 visa petition process."

But clearly, the premise of no "new policy on the K-3 visa petition process" is that " I-130s are no longer backlogged and are currently being processed in under 6 months." That premise is no longer true, by their own self-report - 16 months for I-130 adjudication.

Maybe the new Division 8 Overland Park facility is operational now, as USCIS stated it would be, in their conference with you in the spring. However, we have seen little evidence that adjudications are proceeding at a rate that will quickly reverse these trends. Our inquiries have not yielded any information that might relieve us of distress. We are facing unimaginable circumstances – very long separations.

We expected to wait when we sent our petitions. But even the most patient of us are now bewildered and angry. We are reaching out to our congressional delegations, notifying television news and starting online petitions, but these efforts do not seem to carry any noticeable influence. Proof of all that I am saying is available online, and publicly viewable.

We hope that you might do something that will stir USCIS to action.

Nice job!

[BOS_LHR 829]

To be honest, I don't care about the K3. Not even a little. I want the I-130 for our CR-1 approved in a timely fashion, and I think that's what we should all be campaigning for -- not the revival of this secondary form. The K-3 has the same limitations that made the K-1 undesirable for me and my husband (e.g., no immediate work authorization or residency status). It's not what we want, it's not what we filed for. I just want the form that we did file for -- that all of us in this community filed for -- to be processed in a reasonable timeframe.

[LoveMyTico 999]

To be honest, I don't care about the K3. Not even a little. I want the I-130 for our CR-1 approved in a timely fashion, and I think that's what we should all be campaigning for -- not the revival of this secondary form. The K-3 has the same limitations that made the K-1 undesirable for me and my husband (e.g., no immediate work authorization or residency status). It's not what we want, it's not what we filed for. I just want the form that we did file for -- that all of us in this community filed for -- to be processed in a reasonable timeframe.

I agree.... and all the bitchin' in the world won't bring back the K-3 in time to benefit any of us here anyway. Its all a bunch of #######. A politician passing a law for brownie points... then it fades away.... I just want the I-130 to be processed in a timely manner. We all paid a hefty fee, which at this point seems like it funded the processing of the K-1's. How annoying....

[Parrish77 3]

To be honest, I don't care about the K3. Not even a little. I want the I-130 for our CR-1 approved in a timely fashion, and I think that's what we should all be campaigning for -- not the revival of this secondary form. The K-3 has the same limitations that made the K-1 undesirable for me and my husband (e.g., no immediate work authorization or residency status). It's not what we want, it's not what we filed for. I just want the form that we did file for -- that all of us in this community filed for -- to be processed in a reasonable timeframe.

FOR REAL!!!!! Well said and exactly what I am thinking.

[friendlyusa 37]

Looks like NBC is working only 2 days a week. 8 days a month and 80 days a year. I don't mind paying them more money as expedite fees if that's what is holding them up.! Money.

We were all waiting for flood gates to open after 1st Oct. Still waiting for those flood gates. The excuse then was overland park new office opening. Now what's their excuse?

[Steven.Plant 11]

To be honest, I don't care about the K3. Not even a little. I want the I-130 for our CR-1 approved in a timely fashion, and I think that's what we should all be campaigning for -- not the revival of this secondary form. The K-3 has the same limitations that made the K-1 undesirable for me and my husband (e.g., no immediate work authorization or residency status). It's not what we want, it's not what we filed for. I just want the form that we did file for -- that all of us in this community filed for -- to be processed in a reasonable timeframe.

I see you dont understand the point I am trying to make. Its not about the K3.

I have studied this for some time now. Looking at all the government sites and other little know forums like VJ.

In the old days when your petition was late you could request an expedite based on the fact that your file was still not proccesed 30 days past the posted time frame.. That was standard practice 3-4 years ago. Now the USCIS has taken the precation of not posting a time frame for the NBC for the CR-1 (Which is what I'm filed for too). Yes, there is no information or us. Nothing about the new office or the Field Offices nothing, to the point where at first you think that your looking in the wrong place.

Then the calls which net more confusion. I mean is it 16 months or 12 months or 9-12 months, take your pick. The only place I have been able to find a resently stated time frame was the meeting I posted. They said 6 months in a writen statement to answer the question. A formal question asked by the group of immagration lawyers.

So what will you say to your congressman when you do contact them. Is it "please help me because this is a long proccess" or " I am out of the targeted proccess time and the USCIS needs to get more people working on this".

It must have really been something 12 years ago for people to rise up and get the congress to take action. I see some people now wanting to write news companys and get pettions going. I think its been done already just the USCIS forgot.. Congress really changed it then. No extra filing fee for the extra work just get them united ASAP..

I work for a multi-national company. Few of my co-workers even speak english. They are for the most part getting thier families back together here. They keep asking me when will my wife be here. It is very hard to to tell them that as a married USC I'm at the back of the line. Or in the wrong line.

[friendlyusa 37]

I feel cheated after having paid the Fees to do it in a legal way.

Is this all some kind of scam?

I see you dont understand the point I am trying to make. Its not about the K3.

I have studied this for some time now. Looking at all the government sites and other little know forums like VJ.

In the old days when your petition was late you could request an expedite based on the fact that your file was still not proccesed 30 days past the posted time frame.. That was standard practice 3-4 years ago. Now the USCIS has taken the precation of not posting a time frame for the NBC for the CR-1 (Which is what I'm filed for too). Yes, there is no information or us. Nothing about the new office or the Field Offices nothing, to the point where at first you think that your looking in the wrong place.

Then the calls which net more confusion. I mean is it 16 months or 12 months or 9-12 months, take your pick. The only place I have been able to find a resently stated time frame was the meeting I posted. They said 6 months in a writen statement to answer the question. A formal question asked by the group of immagration lawyers.

So what will you say to your congressman when you do contact them. Is it "please help me because this is a long proccess" or " I am out of the targeted proccess time and the USCIS needs to get more people working on this".

It must have really been something 12 years ago for people to rise up and get the congress to take action. I see some people now wanting to write news companys and get pettions going. I think its been done already just the USCIS forgot.. Congress really changed it then. No extra filing fee for the extra work just get them united ASAP..

I work for a multi-national company. Few of my co-workers even speak english. They are for the most part getting thier families back together here. They keep asking me when will my wife be here. It is very hard to to tell them that as a married USC I'm at the back of the line. Or in the wrong line.

[Steven.Plant 11]

I understand the feeling of impotency, Tico, but I do feel that ought to keep trying. I just wrote to the AILA again. Hat-tip for the "question 14" quote. Let's keep doing our best. Here's my letter:

One month ago, I shared the information below about fears that the processing of standalone I-130's would slow down significantly. Recent events confirm that our predictions were correct. I would like to suggest a possible resolution.

First, you should know, if you do not know already, that since I wrote this email to you, the USCIS has revised its national average processing times for I-130's, so that now they report 16 months, between a NOA1 and NOA2, just to adjudicate an I-130 petition. That means, that American citizens and legal residents who are married to foreigners, are now expected to wait up to two years to unite with their spouses.

Members of my online community of I-130 petitioners and beneficiaries at VisaJourney.com had already noticed the slowdown, based on our self-reports, when I wrote to you. We foresaw this slowdown, because we noticed that petitions were being sent to the new NBC facility in Overland Park, Kansas, which we knew was not operational. And the USCIS did not appear to be sending petitions to field offices to keep up with the pace of adjudication, as they said that they would, because very few of us in our online community were notified that our files were being sent to field offices. Hence, we foresaw the stockpiling of I-130s, which has created this slowdown now.

My suggestion is that you again ask, in stronger terms, will the "USCIS reconsider its policy to… adjudicate K-3 petitions within 30 days in order to achieve the clear policy imperative announced by Congress with the creation of the K-3 visa?" I am referring to question 14 in "USCIS – American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Meeting April 11, 2013". That document is here:

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/2013/April%202013/AILAagenda041113.pdf

Their answer at that time, was, "The K-3 visa was intended to reunite families separated due to a backlog in I-130 adjudications. However, I-130s are no longer backlogged and are currently being processed in under 6 months. Therefore, USCIS does not, at this time plan to implement a new policy on the K-3 visa petition process."

But clearly, the premise of no "new policy on the K-3 visa petition process" is that " I-130s are no longer backlogged and are currently being processed in under 6 months." That premise is no longer true, by their own self-report - 16 months for I-130 adjudication.

Maybe the new Division 8 Overland Park facility is operational now, as USCIS stated it would be, in their conference with you in the spring. However, we have seen little evidence that adjudications are proceeding at a rate that will quickly reverse these trends. Our inquiries have not yielded any information that might relieve us of distress. We are facing unimaginable circumstances – very long separations.

We expected to wait when we sent our petitions. But even the most patient of us are now bewildered and angry. We are reaching out to our congressional delegations, notifying television news and starting online petitions, but these efforts do not seem to carry any noticeable influence. Proof of all that I am saying is available online, and publicly viewable.

We hope that you might do something that will stir USCIS to action.

Thank you we need more of this type action from alot of people. The AILA knew this back in April. Strange that after the K3 was established the USCIS found that they could get the I-130 proccessed in 5-6 months to the point where there was no longer the need.

[BOS_LHR 829]

I see you dont understand the point I am trying to make. Its not about the K3.

I have studied this for some time now. Looking at all the government sites and other little know forums like VJ.

In the old days when your petition was late you could request an expedite based on the fact that your file was still not proccesed 30 days past the posted time frame.. That was standard practice 3-4 years ago. Now the USCIS has taken the precation of not posting a time frame for the NBC for the CR-1 (Which is what I'm filed for too). Yes, there is no information or us. Nothing about the new office or the Field Offices nothing, to the point where at first you think that your looking in the wrong place.

You quoted a question pertaining specifically to reintroducing the K-3, expressing your wish for that same question to be asked again. That is why people are responding about the K-3. I agree that a method should exist to get petitions approved within stated time frames, but I don't think that reviving the policy you quoted is the way to do it. Re-asking that question is unlikely to result in higher staffing or anything else that would help our petitions get adjudicated within the goal time frame. We need to ask a new question: if they were willing to address a slow down previously, why isn't anything being done this time? The answer, however, could be that that's what the Overland Park office is for.

[LoveMyTico 999]

There is a Feb Approval today ! The timeline is confusing but the post is today. It was an approval from the NYC local office according to the signature on the posts.

[Steven.Plant 11]

You quoted a question pertaining specifically to reintroducing the K-3, expressing your wish for that same question to be asked again. That is why people are responding about the K-3. I agree that a method should exist to get petitions approved within stated time frames, but I don't think that reviving the policy you quoted is the way to do it. Re-asking that question is unlikely to result in higher staffing or anything else that would help our petitions get adjudicated within the goal time frame. We need to ask a new question: if they were willing to address a slow down previously, why isn't anything being done this time? The answer, however, could be that that's what the Overland Park office is for.

It was incredable to me when I read that a K3 is set up to be proccessed in 30 days. So yes I like the Idea. Then again as you say getting that policy changed will not help our present situation any time soon. But since I see that the K3 is still an option on the USCIS and Department of State Web Sites I think our government still thinks we could file for that if we were in a hurry.

I have read in the past on VJ that I-130's were being sent to the feild offices, now i see them being aproved for I-F2A's at the service centers faster than what we are getting. Take a look. Why do we think Overland Park will proccess our files soon? Do you have a time frame for the IR1 /CR1 that I dont know about from somewhere?

So yes we need a voice to get thier attention but what is the right thing to say. I mean on what do you base your request. Less than 30 days there is a meeting. I found somethings maybe others can find more.

[r060106 109]

I work for a multi-national company. Few of my co-workers even speak english. They are for the most part getting thier families back together here. They keep asking me when will my wife be here. It is very hard to to tell them that as a married USC I'm at the back of the line. Or in the wrong line.

So you're saying you're seeing green card holders etc. get family here faster than US Citizens, correct?

[LoveMyTico 999]

So you're saying you're seeing green card holders etc. get family here faster than US Citizens, correct?

yes, I saw that too.. I am too angry to comment..I don't want to offend anyone and get the "STAMP OF DISAPPROVAL" again.

I just want to know how being a USC benefits us these days....

[BOS_LHR 829]

It was incredable to me when I read that a K3 is set up to be proccessed in 30 days. So yes I like the Idea. Then again as you say getting that policy changed will not help our present situation any time soon. But since I see that the K3 is still an option on the USCIS and Department of State Web Sites I think our government still thinks we could file for that if we were in a hurry.

I have read in the past on VJ that I-130's were being sent to the feild offices, now i see them being aproved for I-F2A's at the service centers faster than what we are getting. Take a look. Why do we think Overland Park will proccess our files soon? Do you have a time frame for the IR1 /CR1 that I dont know about from somewhere?

So yes we need a voice to get thier attention but what is the right thing to say. I mean on what do you base your request. Less than 30 days there is a meeting. I found somethings maybe others can find more.

My issues with the K-3 are that it: requires more money, requires more paperwork, and denies the rights that would be granted by the initial petition we filed. We need the I-130 process to work correctly. Band-Aids look good in comparison because they might get our spouses here faster, but it's a slap in the face if you think about it. The government acknowledges they can't process something efficiently, so they create a messy secondary process rather than fixing the first? That strikes me as being very backwards.

None of us has a time frame for our petitions anymore. We're all just hanging onto the hope that Overland Park is processing someone at this point. The process should be that once we're outside the posted goal processing time (still 5 months, somehow), we can file service requests to bring attention to our cases. Unfortunately those requests are being entirely disregarded at the moment. The basis we have for complaint is that processing times are well beyond the USCIS's national goal, yet they refuse to either adjust the goal to something realistic or bring their service in line with the goals they've set. We need someone to clarify expectations and we need a way to hold them accountable. Currently we have neither, and I'm not holding my breath for ever getting the latter. Hopefully the AILA meeting 10/31 will address the former.

So you're saying you're seeing green card holders etc. get family here faster than US Citizens, correct?

Yes, this seems to be true. I've seen a number of F2As absolutely flying through, so permanent residents are bringing their spouses over much more quickly than a USC can.

[r060106 109]

Yes, this seems to be true. I've seen a number of F2As absolutely flying through, so permanent residents are bringing their spouses over much more quickly than a USC can.

As Tico said, I'm fuming as well. This just angers me to no end.