Should we file a class action lawsuit like Kaplan vs. Chertoff?

[Kaylara 814]

OP, I think part of the problem is that you haven't even hit their stated goal of 5 months yet. Personally, I think 5 months of processing time is completely understandable given the nature of the work that they have to do, and of course, the volume of applications. I was willing to wait a reasonable amount of time for adjudication. We have to give them a reasonable amount of time to do their job.

[aditya3245 113]

Did I say that I was more American than you or your spouse? No.

Keep my warning to myself? Who are you to tell me that? Are you more American than me that you can do this?

Oh by the way, you being an LPR does not make you a US citizen does it?

Oh by the way, I have paid far more in taxes than you ever have so hush with how much taxes you have paid. It's irrelevant.

Your response is full of patronizing comments that stem from the having some sort of unquestionable wisdom about the system and the process that others don't. You're not an attorney - please don't tell me how much you've paid in taxes.

I wasn't comparing the taxes I paid to yours - I was comparing my law abiding conduct to that of someone who jumped a fence or got on a boat - broke the law, probably faked documents and passports - and wants to devalue american citizenship with the support of far-leftist politicians.

The only difference between a LPR and a USC, that is relevant to this discussion - is none.

As a matter of fact, the ineptitude of this administration is to the point that LPRs can get their cases through faster - as of today.

You tell me how that happened without institutional faults and inept bureaucrats and a chief executive who thinks he can grant benefits by fiat. The profund absurdity of it all should be obvious. I should know, I am from India - we have to deal with this 24/7 where we are born. Endemic corruption and seemless red tape.

I lived in america since I was 16.

A grand total of 13 continuous years until recently ever since I became a freethinking adult.

Please do not go about chastizing those whom you know nothing of.

Edited December 13, 2013 by aditya3245

[aaron2020 11,651]

Your response is full of patronizing comments that stem from the having some sort of unquestionable wisdom about the system and the process that others don't. You're not an attorney - please don't tell me how much you've paid in taxes.

I wasn't comparing the taxes I paid to yours - I was comparing my law abiding conduct to that of someone who jumped a fence or got on a boat - broke the law, probably faked documents and passports - and wants to devalue american citizenship with the support of far-leftist politicians.

The only difference between a LPR and a USC, that is relevant to this discussion - is none.

As a matter of fact, the ineptitude of this administration is to the point that LPRs can get their cases through faster - as of today.

You tell me how that happened without institutional faults and inept bureaucrats and a chief executive who thinks he can grant benefits by fiat. The profund absurdity of it all should be obvious. I should know, I am from India - we have to deal with this 24/7 where we are born. Endemic corruption and seemless red tape.

I lived in america since I was 16.

A grand total of 13 continuous years until recently ever since I became a freethinking adult.

Please do not go about chastizing those whom you know nothing of.

First off, you brought up how much taxes you paid. You seem to think that it's relevant that you pay more taxes than someone else.

You are the one chastising me by telling me to keep my warnings to myself.

Who cares how long you have lived in the US. How is that relevant to the question of a class action lawsuit?

Whatever your situation is, how is it relevant? (By the way, I have been here since age 5. I have lived here for 38 years. I have been a US citizen since age 12. And none of this is relevant either.)

And speaking of chastising those whom you know nothing of - how do you know that I am not an attorney?

Edited December 13, 2013 by aaron2020

[aditya3245 113]

First off, you brought up how much taxes you paid. You seem to think that it's relevant that you pay more taxes than someone else.

Founding fathers of this country ?

Boston tea party ?

No Taxation without representation ?

Guam, DC, Puerto Rico ?

Really ?

I am not making political statements and I don't think anybody's political affiliation matters - but if you didn't pay taxes here, you made money from the US and utilized the infrastructure - maybe I don't belong at the back of the line, while you are getting work permits.

Again, by "you", i don't mean YOU.

I am an immigrant, you are not mate

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

I've been waiting about 9 months for my I130 approval. I expected that it would take about 8-9 months from the beginning to the end of the process based on all information available when I sent in my application. I'm not going to make light of your situation, because being separated from your spouse sucks no matter how long it's been. But I don't think that the particular lawsuit that you mentioned had anything regarding anything similar to our situation. There were a lot of other factors involved there, and that may or may not be relevant to the USCIS, but did have to do with how the delay in processing the AOS petition was effecting other government related programs in relation to the AOS petitioners.

I just don't think that at this time a class action lawsuit would go anywhere. Despite the ridiculous gaming of numbers that the USCIS has been applying, there is not enough proof of maleficence as far as I can see.

We have other channels open to us, and we should utilize them to the fullest extent possible. I think that any of those options will be better received and have more chance of a positive outcome than a lawsuit.

Well said. I'm sure a lawyer would be happy to take the money of the OP and any others but there are other options open to us and they are pretty much all cheaper and more likely to be successful than a lawsuit.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Hotter Otter

[aaron2020 11,651]

Founding fathers of this country ?

Boston tea party ?

No Taxation without representation ?

Guam, DC, Puerto Rico ?

Really ?

I am not making political statements and I don't think anybody's political affiliation matters - but if you didn't pay taxes here, you made money from the US and utilized the infrastructure - maybe I don't belong at the back of the line, while you are getting work permits.

Again, by "you", i don't mean YOU.

I am an immigrant, you are not mate

You start off attacking me because you didn't like what I posted.

You brought up how much you paid in taxes. You think that paying more taxes gives you a bigger voice. It doesn't.

As I have stated, your personal situation and my are irrelevant.

Please tell me how paying taxes (since you first brought it up) or how long you have been an LPR (who is more American than a US citizen) relevant to filing a class action lawsuit?

By the way. I am an immigrant. Take your own advice and stop chastising people whom you know nothing about.

Edited December 13, 2013 by aaron2020

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

I needed a good Friday the 13th laugh.

[2018JourneyDone 77]

So, just out of curiosity, what are your suggestions to improve the system? Basis for the lawsuit? etc. As with most anything in life, systems and processes need to change to keep their relevancy and, in this instance, keep processes moving forward effectively, efficiently, and with the utmost scrutiny. All too often on this site I am reading post after post of fellow VJ'ers that fell head over heals in love, filed for either their fiance or spouse to come to the US and the moment they've entered and received their green card, they're GONE. Unfortunately, the immigrant had other intentions rather than staying with the petitioner. These are the lesser of two evil beneficiary filers. The other were referenced previously. And don't even get me started on the group of beneficiaries that take courses on how to accuse their petitioner of spousal abuse after arrival as a means to secure their green card.... If you're looking for something/one to file a lawsuit against, file it against people like those who abuse this system and ultimately are the TRUE CAUSE OF SUCH DELAYS AND THEREFORE WARRANTING THE NEED FOR SUCH SCRUTINY OF IMMIGRATION CASES.

As an alternative to that suggestion, maybe the solution lies in growing and training the workforce that is dealing with the ever-growing caseloads. However, what does that entail? More $$ from the federal government, and therefore, more $$ from taxpayers. I bet far more people support less taxes than an increase to help those of us who've fallen in love with a foreigner to expedite the process to allow them entry sooner. Is this difficult? Absolutely. Are there days I want to yell, cry, relieve my frustrations on someone? Damn right I do (ah-hem...today) But blaming my government for the time they spend to vet incoming soon-to-be green-card holders and even citizens and trying to rally the troops to file a lawsuit? Seems a bit frivolous.

Although I am currently in the midst of the process for the faster fiance visa (still don't understand why that is faster, however) I fully understood the process when we decided to take this route, fully expected the endless waiting, fully expected to expose my entire life to the government and then some and hence, fully committed to not only completing the process but committed to my fiance that no matter what, we will not quit. We will make it through this and if push comes to shove and he is not granted entry, I will go be with him. Period.

Just my 2-cents.

[Al422 221]

There are a lot of ways the system can be improved.

First and foremost, having your petition disappear behind an opaque wall and being told "Don't call us; we'll call you" is not the American way. That is the North Korean way. The American way is to have the entire process be as transparent as glass to the petitioner. People don't mind waiting if they can see the goal posts.

Second, why can't we have e-filing? Many consulates use e-fling. So what is USCIS' problem? E-filing would speed things up and cause petitions to be processed in the exact order they come in. No more luck of the draw depending on which adjudicator you get or which service center you get. Whoever you get presses the NEXT button, and a central computer sends the adjudicator the very next petition that was e-filed.

And finally, let's get rid of Administrative Processing. The last time the world had something like that, it was called The Star Chamber. Sure there may be security concerns about your fiance, but you and the State Department are on the same wavelength here. Both of you want to address these concerns as soon as possible. So tell the petitioner exactly what the concerns are and what evidence the petitioner might show them to help them clear the concerns up. With the petitioner actively participating in the process instead of being told to sit down and shut up for Lord knows how much time, it will be so much easier and so much faster.

As for illegals, send them home. They decided to sneak across the border instead of doing it the right way like we are doing. If you are caught sneaking into most countries and you are lucky you will simply get deported. Most of the time you will go to jail, and often you will be shot on sight. We not only let them through, we reward them with citizenship for doing so and then wonder why they chose that route instead of legal immigration.

[2018JourneyDone 77]

There are a lot of ways the system can be improved.

First and foremost, having your petition disappear behind an opaque wall and being told "Don't call us; we'll call you" is not the American way. That is the North Korean way. The American way is to have the entire process be as transparent as glass to the petitioner. People don't mind waiting if they can see the goal posts.

Second, why can't we have e-filing? Many consulates use e-fling. So what is USCIS' problem? E-filing would speed things up and cause petitions to be processed in the exact order they come in. No more luck of the draw depending on which adjudicator you get or which service center you get. Whoever you get presses the NEXT button, and a central computer sends the adjudicator the very next petition that was e-filed.

And finally, let's get rid of Administrative Processing. The last time the world had something like that, it was called The Star Chamber. Sure there may be security concerns about your fiance, but you and the State Department are on the same wavelength here. Both of you want to address these concerns as soon as possible. So tell the petitioner exactly what the concerns are and what evidence the petitioner might show them to help them clear the concerns up. With the petitioner actively participating in the process instead of being told to sit down and shut up for Lord knows how much time, it will be so much easier and so much faster.

As for illegals, send them home. They decided to sneak across the border instead of doing it the right way like we are doing. If you are caught sneaking into most countries and you are lucky you will simply get deported. Most of the time you will go to jail, and often you will be shot on sight. We not only let them through, we reward them with citizenship for doing so and then wonder why they chose that route instead of legal immigration.

Excellent, clear and well spelled out points. Very well said and absolutely agreed ;-) "...have the entire process be as transparent as glass to the petitioner. People don't mind waiting if they can see the goal posts." <----- AAAAmen to that!

[takingtoolong 10]

I actually thought that a lawsuit was not a bad idea. Not because we would win. As many of you pointed out, we will probably lose. But, to me, it is the message and publicity that matter. I think that our pressure so far has helped. A little more pressure from a different angle will help even more.

(We only now need to find a lawyer who will do it for free for ..... or who thinks that putting "sued the American government to protect the rights of citizens" on his/her resume will help with future business).

[JA_Martinez 81]

Seriously? I continue to be stunned that Nov filers are ready after LESS THAN 30 DAYS to put the gloves on and fight the govt. there are people in this line of over 500,000 people who have waited at the expense of children and elderly family members; even one (poss more) folks who waited for so long their family member died from cancer when they got to the US. Be patient, be humble and wait your turn! OR don't and get out of the line and let the folks behind you take your place. It's that simple. Better yet, rock your own boat....your wait will likely get longer. Just sayin

[aaron2020 11,651]

I actually thought that a lawsuit was not a bad idea. Not because we would win. As many of you pointed out, we will probably lose. But, to me, it is the message and publicity that matter. I think that our pressure so far has helped. A little more pressure from a different angle will help even more.

(We only now need to find a lawyer who will do it for free for ..... or who thinks that putting "sued the American government to protect the rights of citizens" on his/her resume will help with future business).

You want a lawyer to file a frivolous lawsuit for free? Getting tossed out of court for a frivolous case shows a lawyer's incompetence to practice law rather than drum up more business. I certainly wouldn't want a lawyer who cases are tossed out of court.

[PabloGarcia 36]

I feel like if you are ready for a class action lawsuit after less than a month of this you are in for a long and painful ride.

[dwheels76 5,468]

There are a lot of ways the system can be improved.

And finally, let's get rid of Administrative Processing. The last time the world had something like that, it was called The Star Chamber. Sure there may be security concerns about your fiance, but you and the State Department are on the same wavelength here. Both of you want to address these concerns as soon as possible. So tell the petitioner exactly what the concerns are and what evidence the petitioner might show them to help them clear the concerns up. With the petitioner actively participating in the process instead of being told to sit down and shut up for Lord knows how much time, it will be so much easier and so much faster.

Not good AP has to be left in place. Its in many cases more than just security checks. Do you know what is involved for some AP cases. Field test.People watched followed questions asked of neighbors and friends.

remember this is all about keeping fraudsters and bad people out. I know a few field investigations during AP that turned up that secret wife, child a whole nother life unbeknown to the USC. Nope sorry its very needed extra checks and balances have to be there.