Expedite request denied (split topic)

[Petar&Wendy 30]

We applied for an expedite (Dec. 6th) over the phone, but were never told anything about sending info to the fax number. I thought I would be contacted and asked for the documentation but we were just denied (BTW in under 2 hours!)

My senator's office wrote us an email when I asked for help:

" Expedites must have ample documentation and meet the strict criteria.

Just some perspective based on what I see:

Financial hardship and documentation that I have received that has been approved included bank statements, credit notices, pay stubs, separation notices and approval for TANF benefits. Narratives without documentation are often denied. Using medical records reporting depression and stress related illness are not usually successful. Most of the time the spouses are separated, with one in the US supporting 2 or more individuals. Almost all my cases, the spouses are separated. Separation is not considered a hardship unless you can prove it.

I hope this is helpful to understand some of the terminology. It appears that your expedite request did not include the documentation, so it was dismissed. Expedite requests must have documentation. An example for expedite case approved for humanitarian reasons was the spouse was not safe because other members in the village thought she had money because she was married to an American. As a result, she was assaulted and her request for expedite had photos which showed her injuries, in addition to a police report (original and translated) and a doctor’s report (original and translated).

I know you will have to decide that your priorities are. Examples I have seen of hardships of families are one spouse supporting five people working 80 hours a week for 4 years, a couple separated for 5 years, at which time two children were born. These cases are for those that were denied a visa based on some sort of ineligibility. I share this with you to give hope that you are strong enough to make a decision that is best suited for you to help you deal with a very difficult situation.

Currently the National Benefits Center is working on cases filed early April 2013 and the wait time is about one year from the filing date. USCIS hopes to bring the wait time to the 5 month goal. In order to do this, they are moving cases to equalize workflows. We don’t know when they will catch up to meet their goal, and this is just one step of the process. Because there are many factors, any timeline is a guess. In addition, each case is different so some cases take much longer. "

[Petar&Wendy 30]

They make it sound completely impossible. The cases above are VERY extreme. I won't go into the details of our situation but it is very serious and difficult. If I have to be beaten to be approved for an expedite, then I guess we are stuck where we are, and thankful to be untouched! It is very hard to understand why some people are approved and some aren't. It is also hard to understand anything that USCIS and NVC does. I hope this helped a little, although I know it is very depressing.

Anyone else have input??

[Ryan H 3,812]

Posts split from unrelated thread.