A newbie with timing concerns!

[TimsDaisy 0]

M -

Do you know what lawyers "can do" that others can't? For this process specifically?

Absolutely nothing - except provide advice based on experience.

This guy either a) lacks the requisite experience to advise his clients or B) got lazy and didn't read the instructions.

Granted, there are details to this story that the involved parties know better than any of us do - even throughout this long thread. But here's an illustrative story about who really helps us out.

Congressional staffers.

A flock of underpaid 20 somethings who take phone calls from guys who get paid $500/hour asking them to set inquiries in motion. That's what lawyers can do. Perhaps they have taken time to form a relationship with congressional staffers in their clients' respective districts - but that's about as good as it gets. Do I sound like I have it out for my own kind? I really don't. Just the ones who fail the profession and their clients. And who don't return phone calls - which is, by the way, the number one basis for client complaints filed with state bars across the country.

The result IS the most important thing - but it doesn't sound like this guy is able to deliver a satisfactory one - which is why Kym needs to take simultanous courses of action: going to the managing partner and preparing a complaint for the MO state bar.

Lawyers *are* mere mortals. Mortals who spend a lot of time reading boring documents so you don't have to. But mortals nonetheless. If my number one piece of advice for other lawyers is to call your damn clients back promptly, my number one piece of advice for clients is manage your expectations and remember that you lawyer, while hopefully trustworthy, is falliable.

[meauxna 15]

Do you know what lawyers "can do" that others can't? For this process specifically?

Yes. Specifically, immigration attorneys have 3 things to help them that we do not have access to:

-A dedicated telephone line into the Service Centers, answered by someone hired to respond to them

-Contact available with the liason (troubleshoots for specific cases) and the SC Director

-"Insider" resources through their trade group AILA

I submit that an immigration attorney has the ability to make contact, and get action, that DIY petitioners do not have.

heheheh.. bit of a funny argument to be having---usually I am on the other side of it with an atty!

[bostonparis 0]

Do you know what lawyers "can do" that others can't? For this process specifically?

Yes. Specifically, immigration attorneys have 3 things to help them that we do not have access to:

-A dedicated telephone line into the Service Centers, answered by someone hired to respond to them

-Contact available with the liason (troubleshoots for specific cases) and the SC Director

-"Insider" resources through their trade group AILA

I submit that an immigration attorney has the ability to make contact, and get action, that DIY petitioners do not have.

heheheh.. bit of a funny argument to be having---usually I am on the other side of it with an atty!

My immigration attorney told me that had no contact with Service Centers or any inside resources!!

[TimsDaisy 0]

9x out of 10, the attorney's "inside access" comes from congressional staffers to whom you and everyone else have the same right of access.

Despite what I had hoped, there is no magic phonebook issued when you pass the bar that gives you a right to get more from the government than any other citizen. Regardless of how the industry - and it IS an industry - spins it.

Good lawyers, experienced, trustworthy lawyers, can be worth their weight in gold if you have a complicated case or have the money to pay for the hand-holding. But hanging on to a bad one because of a mistaken belief that he has special powers is lunacy.

[meauxna 15]

9x out of 10, the attorney's "inside access" comes from congressional staffers to whom you and everyone else have the same right of access.

Despite what I had hoped, there is no magic phonebook issued when you pass the bar that gives you a right to get more from the government than any other citizen. Regardless of how the industry - and it IS an industry - spins it.

Good lawyers, experienced, trustworthy lawyers, can be worth their weight in gold if you have a complicated case or have the money to pay for the hand-holding. But hanging on to a bad one because of a mistaken belief that he has special powers is lunacy.

While I don't like everything about the person who put this information out, I hesitate to call him a liar. He's a practicing family-immigration attorney and has made this assertion many times (that there are attorney-dedicated phone numbers into the Service Centers and personnel who work with them).

Since he's been blowing down our ear for 5+ years, I suppose I add the weight of that to the other verifiable comments he's made and draw my conclusion. I'm certainly not going to stake my life on the veracity of what the fellow posts.

I think it comes down to something you've said a couple of times here: Experience of the specific type of benefit one is applying for.

I really don't have a dog in this fight; I wish Kym the best of luck with her case whichever way she chooses to resolve it.

[isleta521 5]

Hey Kym,

nothing to help out unfortunately. You just bring us back very bad memories when we used an IM Lawyer. Using the lawyer slowed us down at every corner and even got our interview cancled (which we LUCKILY were able to reverse and have rescheduled a few days later - a long story). We also got the dont worry, your petition is fine story also even though I was worried and also felt like I was a nuisance. It just irritates me to no end.

Anyway, I really hope you get this all sorted and you def. have our sympathies.

[patrick & relyn 0]

I am new to this site, found it out of desperation...trying to find answers to some of my questions.

I am a US citizen and my fiance is coming over from Australia. We filed our petition back in June, 06 and our first notice date was on July 17, 2006. (Ours is at the California Service Center) We were assured by our immigration lawyer that we should have all this taken care of in no more than 6 months and he would be here in the states with me. So with that information, we thought an April wedding would be perfect. We have planned for a pretty big wedding on April 21, 2007. Yet, we have heard nothing! I have not received the second notice and once we do, we will still need to wait on everything to be done in Australia. Paperwork, interview, etc. I check the USCIS site daily for some updated info. The last 'touch' date shows Oct. 2006.

I have read several timelines on this site from different members and it sure doesn't seem that any of the others have taken this long. Can anyone tell me if this timing seems a bit abnormal (we can not seem to get any info out of our lawyer, either)? Has anyone else had to wait this long?

My biggest fear is that I will be standing at the altar without a groom. We have talked about rescheduling our wedding plans but we will loose a lot of money from venders with deposits and so much work will be lost. (Or if we just move the date back with all of our venders, they are so booked up now, it would be the end of 2007 or even 2008) I do feel we are close since the date for the I-129F on the USCIS site is July 17 (our date). But even if we are notified and things are sent to the American Embassy in Sydney in the next couple of weeks, I still don't know if we will have enough time to get him here by April.

This has been the most stressful thing ever. If anyone has any suggestions for me, words of wisdom, or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Thank you,

Kym

ITS INCREDIBLE WHAT THIS ATTORNEY DID AND AT THE VERY LEAST HE SHOULD DO IS COMPLETE THE REST OF THE PROCESS AT NO CHARGE..........I DONT WANT TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER THING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT BUT ITS SOMETHING THAT YOU MIGHT GET INPUT ON. I DONT KNOW THE ANSWER. YOUR PAPERWORK WAS BEGUN IN JUNE 2006. ARE ANY OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE 129F EXPIRED. SUCH AS PASSPORT PHOTOS. GOD I HOPE NOT BUT BETTER TO FIND OUT NOW RATHER THAN WAIT LONGER FOR THAT "RFE" PATRICK

[TracyTN 237]

PLEASE STOP SCREAMING, PATRICK. I'M SURE KYM CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE.

[patrick & relyn 0]

I am new to this site, found it out of desperation...trying to find answers to some of my questions.

I am a US citizen and my fiance is coming over from Australia. We filed our petition back in June, 06 and our first notice date was on July 17, 2006. (Ours is at the California Service Center) We were assured by our immigration lawyer that we should have all this taken care of in no more than 6 months and he would be here in the states with me. So with that information, we thought an April wedding would be perfect. We have planned for a pretty big wedding on April 21, 2007. Yet, we have heard nothing! I have not received the second notice and once we do, we will still need to wait on everything to be done in Australia. Paperwork, interview, etc. I check the USCIS site daily for some updated info. The last 'touch' date shows Oct. 2006.

I have read several timelines on this site from different members and it sure doesn't seem that any of the others have taken this long. Can anyone tell me if this timing seems a bit abnormal (we can not seem to get any info out of our lawyer, either)? Has anyone else had to wait this long?

My biggest fear is that I will be standing at the altar without a groom. We have talked about rescheduling our wedding plans but we will loose a lot of money from venders with deposits and so much work will be lost. (Or if we just move the date back with all of our venders, they are so booked up now, it would be the end of 2007 or even 2008) I do feel we are close since the date for the I-129F on the USCIS site is July 17 (our date). But even if we are notified and things are sent to the American Embassy in Sydney in the next couple of weeks, I still don't know if we will have enough time to get him here by April.

This has been the most stressful thing ever. If anyone has any suggestions for me, words of wisdom, or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Thank you,

Kym

ITS INCREDIBLE WHAT THIS ATTORNEY DID AND AT THE VERY LEAST HE SHOULD DO IS COMPLETE THE REST OF THE PROCESS AT NO CHARGE..........I DONT WANT TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER THING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT BUT ITS SOMETHING THAT YOU MIGHT GET INPUT ON. I DONT KNOW THE ANSWER. YOUR PAPERWORK WAS BEGUN IN JUNE 2006. ARE ANY OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE 129F EXPIRED. SUCH AS PASSPORT PHOTOS. GOD I HOPE NOT BUT BETTER TO FIND OUT NOW RATHER THAN WAIT LONGER FOR THAT "RFE" PATRICK

ANOTHER THING KYM. REVIEW WHAT HE SENT TO THE WRONG PLACE THAT IS NOW GOING TO THE RIGHT PLACE. MAKE SURE THAT THIS JACKA** EVEN DID THE FORMS CORRECTLY.

[Kym 0]

I wanted to update everyone on how Darryl and I have decided to proceed so far and what has been done. And hopefully in turn receive a few more suggestions. I can't tell you how helpful everyone has been for us.

After much discussion, Darryl and I thought that our lawyer definitely needed to be held accountable. If nothing else, to prevent this happening to another couple. I do not wish these feelings I have had and this stress level on anyone. We decided to request our case be handled by a more competent attorney at the same lawfirm. I realize that our lawyer was already familiar with our case (at least he pretends to be) but I honestly do not think I could stomach having to deal with him any further. We plan on asking for compensation for all of our expenses we have lost in this matter (fees paid to him and money lost from the wedding) and we also plan on reporting him to the Missouri State Board. These actions will be taken at a future date. We are feeling a little overwhelmed with everything on our plate right now, we are just taking one thing at a time.

The first thing we have done is Darryl sent a letter to the head of the law firm. We have also received a response from him last night. This is mainly what I wanted to update about and get a little feedback. We were not happy with the response. He spent half of the long email defending our lawyer and also made some suggestions that I found a little worrysome as I have been advised on this site NOT to do what he has suggested. That is to get married, but not file to make it legal, then he has to go back to Australia to await his interview.

I hesitated to post the letters on here, but I am finding that will be much easier than to try and relay all that was said in both emails. I will remove the names and I do hope to get a little more feedback on this...thank you in advance.

I wish to draw your attention to ________________ email below.

Kym and I wish to express our extreme disappointment in __________ utter incompetence.

Kym and I attended your offices in June '06 meeting with ___________ after some initial contact from me by email from Sydney NSW Australia.

We employed your company's services and _____________ as our Lawyer to assist in the process needed for me to succesfully immigrate to USA under a K-1 visa application.

We decided to employ the services of an Immigration Lawyer to make the whole process smooth and professional causing minimal stress on our part as we weren't familiar with the process at all and were naive to the details, forms and protocol needed. We made a completely normal assumption that a company that advertises itself as an 'Immigration Law Group' would handle the whole process a lot more efficiently than us trying to struggle through the process on our own. We had no qualms about the cost.

Two weeks after completing all the paper work and gathering the necessary documents required, Kym contacted ____________ as her Mother had drawn her attention to a new form needed to be completed for Immigration (IMBRA). Kym was confident that lawyers need to keep up with this sort of thing and was sure that things would be fine as this new form was 'in force' a week or so before we filed, but there is no harm in checking. She found out that the new form hadn't been done and steps were then taken to rectify the situation.

It made us ask the question at the time (to ourselves) - how long would the application have gone before anything was acted upon by ___________?

During our interview with ___________ he advised that I not even try to visit Kym again (during the K-1 visa process) as the 'boarder patrol' (I think that is the correct term - we call them customs officers) may make the assumption that we are trying to circumvent the process and enter the country and get married - if they view my actions this way I would be sent back to Australia and with that against my name I would have no chance of having our K-1 visa approved.

We have since learnt that this gem of advice is incorrect - as long as I present 'ties' with Australia. ie: employment paper work, bank statements, housing ownership confirmation etc. there would be no problem at all - simply a man visiting his fiancé.

Some time later:

We advised _____________ that we were in the process of trying to arrange a wedding. As neither of us had been married before in our lives (even though we are both 40) we wanted to have quite an elaborate wedding and we both (through long distance phone calls and emails) began the exciting (sometimes daunting, sometimes stressful) process, setting a date of 21st April 2007. I contacted _____________ by phone and advised him of this and asked his thoughts - was it safe enough given our situation? He said that April 21st would not be a problem - everything should be fine by then. He didn't give guarantees but assured me that by then - no problem.

Since then Kym has been doing research via the internet finding out small snippets of information. e.g.: there is a site that gives more accurate up dates for processing times. (The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ) site, all she had to do was sign up and she had access to it when ever she wanted - this follows our case profile etc. ______________ made no reference to this at all even after attempts from us to gather some idea of updates given that the date of our intended nuptials was getting closer and closer. ___________ said things like ' no news as yet - I will contact you when I get anything substantive on the case'. Simply one sentence (if we were lucky - two sentence answers). In my emails to him I explained that we have a healthy respect for the process and understand that necessary security checks etc have to be done.

My last email to __________ generated this response: '.....So it is moving forward at enough pace to make me believe that you should be seeing an approval notice in the next couple of weeks..."

This was more than two weeks ago.

Now, given that information Kym decided that she would try to find out the next part of the process .

During this process Kym found out that there is actually a place you can call to gain some insight on our file and that they are actually nice, friendly and co-operative people. That is how she got to know that the file was lodged at the wrong place !

How does that happen ? Wouldn't it come to light way back on July 17th 2006 when the receipt was given ?

Within his email back to Kym he says:

"I picked up your file and looked at the address where the I-129f was sent, and it was mailed directly to the Missouri Service Center, which is the location where K-3 and K-4 visas are filed. Your case should have been filed with the Nebraska Service Center instead."

Why wouldn't he 'pick up' our file before now ? Why does it take more than 7 months before he reviews anything on our file ? Why were we told wrong information about me attempting re-entry into USA ? Why were we told wrong information about information updates? Why do we get the feeling that its like pulling teeth to get any information from __________ ? Why does it take Kym to advise him of anything new? - he is the Lawyer, not Kym.

Another part of his email says:

"This doesn't happen that often, but the CIS does change where they want things filed without notice from time to time."

I ask you, has the Missouri Service Center ever been the correct office for processing K-1 visas ?

I have been told that it never has.

He then states:

"In those instances we have seen them reject or transfer the cases immediately, not wait for months with the case still pending."

I can only gather that his meaning here is that the incorrect Govt. department should have fixed his mistake before this and that they are to blame for the time delay.

I don't think that __________ realizes what he has done to us. He has wrecked our hopes and dreams of a wonderful wedding with all our friends and family, as now it is certain that the April 21st date has no chance. Not to mention our out of pocket expenses that will inevitably be wasted due to being forced to cancel the wedding: reception site, photographers, and many items already purchased, the wedding dress etc....

Mr __________, both Kym and I formally request that our file be transferred to some else - we do not want to deal with __________ anymore. We have lost all confidence in him.

I also put it to you that incompetence of this scale reflects very poorly on your company and its reputation. Without a doubt had our file been lodged correctly Kym and I would be together by now and arranging the final details for our wedding, instead you have a very intense person writing this email to you and my fiancé in constant tears since early Monday morning.

We ask that you redirect our file to someone that does know what they are doing and has some communication skills that gives his/her clients the feeling of confidence and the knowledge needed to do such a process. In addition can our file be reviewed for accuracy as we have no confidence that further delay won't be experienced simply due to errors on our application.

We also ask the following questions:

What can be done to expedite the transfer of our file from the wrong office to the right one? (I do note that __________ has attempted to answer this - but what has actually been done? )

Once that is done, what can be done to explain to the Immigration people the details of this file and that we now potentially have to wait double the time to process a simple K-1 visa ?

After reviewing our file I would like you to advise me of what can be done about Kym and I paying $684 to your firm for nothing ( $500 retainer, $170 filing fee, $14 CL fee) ?

Many other things come to mind to describe how we are feeling at the moment but being totally insulting doesn't help.

I eagerly await your reply,

Darryl *** &

Kymberly ***

Darryl,

__________ and I had talked about your case before your email and I was familiar with what happened. I too am sorry for the mistake and delays. __________ is a very good and competent immigration attorney with many years of experience. He is well known in the immigration lawyer community and this mistake is the rare exception, but I understand your frustration and at your request have asked another immigration attorney in our office, __________, to work on the case.

We contacted the attorney liaison with the National Benefits Center (NBC) and he told us that the problem of filing K-1's in Missouri was the most common problem he sees at the service center and that he believed it was because the initial instructions from the immigration service were very unclear in this area. At the time we filed the case, the NBC was still newly created and almost all of the family related immigration cases that were previously filed at the NSC and other regional centers were being transferred to the NBC, and I'm not sure it was so clear at that time which was the proper service center to file in. There was a lot of confusion among the public and the immigration bar about which cases should be filed in which center. K-1's and K-3's are filed on the same form (I-129F), yet one goes to NBC and one to NSC. It doesn't surprise me that this has been a common mistake. Last year all of the service centers changed their filing requirements to initiate a new program of "bi-specialization" where cases were filed in certain offices according to the type of filing, rather than the geographic area of the persons involved. I point this out not so much as an excuse but as an explanation of how it could happen, and continues to happen among the public and immigration attorneys.

It is surprising to me that a receipt was generated from the filing and that the case was not either rejected or forwarded to the NSC, which is the CIS standard practice on filing errors. The fact that a receipt was issued typically indicates to us that the case is properly filed. In fact, there is nothing on the receipt itself that would indicate that it was not properly filed. The liaison says that the K-1's filed at NBC are not being rejected (as we would have expected), but are being forwarded to the NSC. Usually a notice is sent out that the case has been transferred, but he says there is not always a notice and that is why it is difficult to determine whether it is still at NBC or has already been transferred to NSC. I'm trying to find out more information about this. The liaison attorney, who is a friend of mine, said he would try to follow up on the case with the NBC, and I have sent him the necessary details. We have also sent a letter to the NBC requesting the transfer, although I expect that it has either already been done, or will be done automatically before they process the letter. It is also possible that the NBC will adjudicate the case itself since they have done that on other kinds of applications filed with them that should have been filed elsewhere, but I think that is unlikely.

Nevertheless, it is a serious problem and I don't have a good solution that we can be confident will be timely for your wedding plans. The CIS will not expedite these kinds of cases and it won't likely be approved in time for you to get the visa. Even if we had the approval today, I’m not sure you could get the visa in time because the consulates have been very delayed due to new requirements for completion of security checks before the interviews are scheduled.

We've considered several options, none of which are very positive. We considered filing a new K-1 now, but I don't think it will be processed any quicker than the one that is already in the system.

It is true that we do not usually recommend persons enter the U.S. as visitors if they have a fiancé. If they are aware you are engaged, the immigration service will deny entry as a visitor virtually 100% of the time. I would not expect a B-2 visa to be issued for someone who is engaged to someone in the U.S. But technically you should be able to enter as a visitor as long as you can demonstrate that you will return home and not stay and apply to adjust status to permanent residence. We attempted a visitor entry for someone who was still waiting for their K-3 to be processed and they were given a very bad time by the immigration service, but eventually allowed in as a visitor. If you come in as a visitor and then get legally married and attempt to stay, the CIS would consider that a fraud and would likely require a waiver at the adjustment interview, which may not be approved. I don’t recommend for you to try that.

My thought, however, is that perhaps you could enter as a visitor on the visa waiver program without a visa, have your wedding ceremony and then return within the 90 day visa waiver period to continue to process the K-1 visa when it is ready. You aren't eligible for a K-1 if you are legally married, so I’m suggesting you have the ceremony, but wait until you return again to the U.S. with your K-1 visa to finalize the legal marriage procedure (filing with the court clerk, etc.). Then you still should be eligible for the K-1 because you are not yet legally married when you finally process the K-1 visa. Legally, that should be acceptable as long as you returned to your home country by the end of your 90 day period of stay on the visa waiver program. The question is whether you would have a problem getting in on the visa waiver program. It's possible that you will not be questioned about it, but if you are, you can’t make false statements to the immigration officials as this could result in a bar to the U.S. We could write a letter for you to show, if necessary, to the immigration official upon entry indicating that you were only entering for a limited visit and would return to complete processing of your K-1, etc. I can't guarantee that it will work, but you may decide that it is worth a try given your wedding arrangements. I know that this isn’t ideal and doesn’t fit with your expectations or plans, but it is the only suggestion I can think of that will still keep you on your present wedding schedule.

Let me know if you want to try this. Otherwise, we will try our best to push the K-1 through, but as I said, I’m not confident this will happen in time for your present wedding plans.

Again, I’m sorry for the problem and we will try to fix it, but there are limits on what we can do. I’ll let you know if we find out anything further from liaison with the NBC.

I apologize for the very long post. Given the limited amount of time I have, I found this to be the easiest way.

Let me also say that it angers me even more that no one from that lawfirm has been courteous enough to actually pick up the phone to give me a call...even to apologize verbally or say hey...here is where we stand now. We have received 2 emails and both has been after we contacted them first. (Although I do realize written communication is best for documenting).

Thanks,

Kym

[bostonparis 0]

Kym, how absolutely frustrating. I wouldn't recommend having a wedding ceremony - I think that could put you in dangerous territory. As far as your lawyer stating that 100% of the time people are turned away that try to visit during a K1visa processing, just based on the people HERE that have done it, it's BS.

He really hasn't given you any help, or any hope at all. I do hope you proceed with reporting him to the bar association. The ####### that he spews about "the public and immigration attorneys" not knowing where to file the K1 is BS, too. They're IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS. I'm so frustrated for you, you must be just out of your mind.

[TracyTN 237]

The guy is a dimwit.

First of all, the I 129f instructions clearly denote where to send your form whether you are filing it for a spouse or a fiance. I guess that was too difficult for them to do (read directions)?

Second, his suggestion of the 'non legal wedding'...if USCIS has any whiff of that - legal or no - they will more than likely deny you the fiance visa. For this guy to recommend that to you is putting you guys at great risk of an even longer process. I laughed when he said, "Legally, that should be acceptable as long as you returned to your home country by the end of your 90 day period of stay on the visa waiver program." Yeah - LEGALLY, he's right. What he doesn't seem to grasp is that USCIS may view that very differently, and not give two hoots about splitting legal hairs. Maybe I'm over reacting, but I would be very afraid for you guys to do that. Sounds to me like they just don't want to compensate you the costs of the wedding because of their incompetance.

Its also scary that he doesn't even know that Nebraska isn't even processing fiance visas anymore.

They need to either get the lead out of their a$$es and get your petition to the correct place (California Service center, in case he didn't know) where it will then unfortunately sit for 3 months like the rest of ours or have you start all over again (either as a fiance or spouse, if you were to use your April plans to get married).

About the only thing he was right about was entering as a tourist (with immigrant intent), marrying and staying being illegal.

Now that I've given you this advice, please pay me $100 an hour.

*sorry for the edit but I was so angry, I couldn't type

Edited February 1, 2007 by TracyTN

[isleta521 5]

That just SUCKS!!! Im so sorry for you. . I wonder if they would charge you another 170 bones plus their fees to refile? I would ask them just to see what they would say.

Also, Like Patrick said, if you dont already have one get a complete copy of everything your idiot lawyer sent and go over it with a fine tooth comb. If it is all messed up you may have to start a new petition over anyway. Then here is where it could get messy. You would have to cancle your prior petition and then USCIS may cancle the wrong one - like what happened to us.

Good luck w/ whatever you decide.

[Kym 0]

Second, his suggestion of the 'non legal wedding'...if USCIS has any whiff of that - legal or no - they will more than likely deny you the fiance visa. For this guy to recommend that to you is putting you guys at great risk of an even longer process. I laughed when he said, "Legally, that should be acceptable as long as you returned to your home country by the end of your 90 day period of stay on the visa waiver program." Yeah - LEGALLY, he's right. What he doesn't seem to grasp is that USCIS may view that very differently, and not give two hoots about splitting legal hairs. Maybe I'm over reacting, but I would be very afraid for you guys to do that.

This is exactly the type of response that I figured we would get, I was quite surprised at his suggestion as well. Darryl and I have no plans of trying this because we certainly do not want to risk any further complications.

BTW...thanks for all of your advice....the checks in the mail!

[Kym 0]

I DONT WANT TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER THING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT BUT ITS SOMETHING THAT YOU MIGHT GET INPUT ON. I DONT KNOW THE ANSWER. YOUR PAPERWORK WAS BEGUN IN JUNE 2006. ARE ANY OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE 129F EXPIRED. SUCH AS PASSPORT PHOTOS.

I didn't realize that these forms or a passport photo expired. Does anyone have any info on this? In the meantime, I will start googling....