February 2015 filers - Texas Service Center

[HislittleSecret 21]

Anybody heard anything. Was anyone approved yesterday?

[desi123 21]

Make sure it's a US senator [ those 2 folks that reside in DC] not your local district one. I've contacted my other senator too.. so far nothing !

Here's an interesting tidbit from an adjudicator interview..i'm not sure i believe that anymore since my petition is still 'actively being worked on' when my congressman's inquired 2 weeks ago.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/adjudicator-q-and-a

Q HUSKERKIEV - "Then again you could always file a Congressional" - Could you explain what that means? Inquiry?

Glad to help. Anyway, a "Congressional Inquiry" or "congressional" is a formal inquiry by a member of Congress made on behalf of their constituent. Any federal agency that receives a Congressional inquiry has 48 hours to respond to the member of Congress. Each Service Center has a special office to handle "Congressionals". That's their sole purpose in life is to keep the member of Congress informed upon request.

(i.e. Senator Numbnuts says "CIS - I understand from my constituent - Mr. Hotn'bothered that (according to him) you have been processing his application for his dear fiancee in a less than timely manner. Can you please look into this matter and let my office know when it will be approved.")

System usually says - "pull and work file immediately" 'Nuff said.

[dmaven 7]

They have completed about 60% + of February filers.

They have completed about 60% + of February filers.

That's too high. Where is your info from?

Anybody heard anything. Was anyone approved yesterday?

ImmiFairy.com tracked approvals from February yesterday.

[dza 46]

 

Agreed.

The petitioner should be contacting the Senator/Congressman, not the beneficiary. In all cases, the Senator/Congressman's office will verify that you are indeed a resident of their jurisdiction and verify your social security number as well. Beneficiary will be powerless to do any of this.

Beneficiaries, tell your petitioner to get on the ball and contact their respective Senator/Congressman.

 

thanks so much for your answers, we should try this

[Pennycat 880]

Make sure it's a US senator [ those 2 folks that reside in DC] not your local district one. I've contacted my other senator too.. so far nothing !

Here's an interesting tidbit from an adjudicator interview..i'm not sure i believe that anymore since my petition is still 'actively being worked on' when my congressman's inquired 2 weeks ago.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/adjudicator-q-and-a

Q HUSKERKIEV - "Then again you could always file a Congressional" - Could you explain what that means? Inquiry?

Glad to help. Anyway, a "Congressional Inquiry" or "congressional" is a formal inquiry by a member of Congress made on behalf of their constituent. Any federal agency that receives a Congressional inquiry has 48 hours to respond to the member of Congress. Each Service Center has a special office to handle "Congressionals". That's their sole purpose in life is to keep the member of Congress informed upon request.

(i.e. Senator Numbnuts says "CIS - I understand from my constituent - Mr. Hotn'bothered that (according to him) you have been processing his application for his dear fiancee in a less than timely manner. Can you please look into this matter and let my office know when it will be approved.")

System usually says - "pull and work file immediately" 'Nuff said.

I used to be one of those people who worked in a Member of Congress's district office, fielding calls and emails from constituents having trouble with all manner of federal agencies. We're talking like, everything from some issue about having falcons for hunting and needing to call the congressional liaison office for the Fish and Wildlife Service, to calls from people from inside VA hospitals having serious issues with care there, to people whose Social Security Disability checks stopped arriving for no reason, to yes, a LOT of immigration stuff. For the record, neither I nor anyone I have worked with called on my behalf--that would be too...just wrong. Just wanted to put that out there

First and foremost, you need to understand that with USCIS, there's not a huge amount that they can do for you, besides get information. Congress has very little power over USCIS. One, USCIS (like 90% of the federal government) is an Executive Branch agency meaning that the President is their "boss", not Congress (which is Legislative Branch). Congress tends to be able to boss the Executive Branch agencies around because Congress is who makes and allocates the Federal Budget. Most agencies feel the need to play nice with Congress because of this. But USCIS is completely funded by our fees and so this takes a huge amount of power over USCIS away from Congress.

BUT, the good news is that they can call on your behalf to get an "update" (even if they can't boss them around). Maybe that gets action on your file, maybe not. Worth a shot, especially when it's not really asking for special treatment (calling in February and demanding a 2-week turnaround would not have happened. Being put to the top of a pile of files at this the in the game, is probably possible). And it can't hurt, as far as I know.

Now. Some people find that their Senator/Congressman's staff will listen to USCIS's bogus "normal processing time" listed on their website. (here: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processingTimesDisplay.do )They'll say that they can't do anything until you're outside that date (they're kind-of-sort-of right on this, more on that in a second). If that is the case with you, move on to the next office. You have two Senators and one Representative--it's not likely that all 3 will believe that they're "not allowed" to call until you're outside of the "normal processing time". Then, also so you know, they can call USCIS and get to these dedicated congressional liaison staff people. But still, more likely than not they'll get the same line about "standard processing times", and report that back to you. Or probably at this stage "has been assigned". Now this is the big mystery. Who knows if it's "been assigned", if they know that you've had your Senator call....maybe they do decide to do yours first to get you off their back. No clue. Lots of people seem to think yes. No harm in trying.

Just remember, what they're actually there for is not to get you done faster. They're there to help you in case you've fallen through the cracks--indicated by being outside the "normal processing time"-- to solve a problem that YOUR case is having with a federal agency (not, unfortunately, to fix problems within agencies). This is why they're kind-of-sort-of right when they say they can't do anything until you're outside that date. We all know that thanks to TSC being itself that unfinished February files have not fallen through the cracks, so technically this isn't a personal problem it's a TSC problem. But still, if just by calling it'll spur them to get you done....totally worth doing.

Find your representatives here:

http://act.commoncause.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sunlight_advocacy_list_page

It's your US Senator (the people who represent your whole state in DC, not the people who represent your county in your state's capital). And your US Representative. The numbers that are listed on this site are their Capitol Hill office numbers. Don't bother calling those. The people who can help you are in the "state offices" or "district offices"---somewhere in your state. They all have DC offices for political wheeling and dealing, and writing bills etc. And home offices to meet with and help constituents and economic development projects for the state/district. You may need to use a phone book to find those numbers, I don't know a website offhand that has them.

Keep it short and sweet and specifically to the point on what you want. Try not to rant about how messed up USCIS is. They already know and they hear a *lot* of rants....you want to be the person who is *easy* to help because the more straightforward you are, the quicker they can handle your case. Just say who you are, what you've applied for, what service center you're at, how long it's been and ask if they can get a status update on your application. They will probably ask you to send in some sort of privacy release or maybe direct you through an online portal. Personally, I'd start with my Representative. They represent far fewer people (Senators represent an entire state) and will probably have fewer cases going. That's just me. And your milage may vary depending on the political stance of your elected officials.

Edited August 26, 2015 by CatherineA

[tbw 0]

CatherineA That was so helpful thank you! I have to say it but i reached my tipping point today and made some calls - uscis was so rude to me, i honestly can't believe it - so senator and reps are now being contacted first thing in the morning - is it seriously that hard to tell me why my case is taking so long? and i don't understand this processing time bullshit they keep feeding me, it says dec 21st on june 30th... not now.. anyway, thanks for all that info!!

[Pennycat 880]

CatherineA That was so helpful thank you! I have to say it but i reached my tipping point today and made some calls - uscis was so rude to me, i honestly can't believe it - so senator and reps are now being contacted first thing in the morning - is it seriously that hard to tell me why my case is taking so long? and i don't understand this processing time bullshit they keep feeding me, it says dec 21st on june 30th... not now.. anyway, thanks for all that info!!

Yes, that information comes from this site (https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processingTimesDisplay.do ) -- also linked above and has been a topic of conversation here on this thread and on Visajourney for months. That, to me, is almost criminal of them the way they lie about those dates and release the information weeks late---and then base your ability to inquire into your case on them.

Either way, that is all the information that the tier 1 folks have access to. They're contractors, not government employees and they probably don't even have access to the necessary databases to tell you anything more. Tier 2 should know more but I bet they're not allowed to say anything. They shouldn't have hung up on you, but they probably have that same conversation about how outdated that date is 50 times a day, for months. It's not Tier 2's choice to not update those dates. Their hands are tied and I bet they hate that fact.

Your representative may or may not get more information out of them. Don't count on it. It's just how it is. They may very well give you the same December 21st on June 30 thing (many people have). They may be able to tell you if your case has been assigned (meaning it's actually in someone's work queue), if it has been assigned. But they can't tell you how much longer. But it *may* push you to the top of the pile, to get you out of their hair.

Edited August 26, 2015 by CatherineA

[tbw 0]

CatherineA - it was a tier 2 guy that was so rude, how much information would they have compared to tier 1? and i went about 2 months ago to my field office and spoke to someone and she said the last time my case was opened was in june, so i know it has been assigned, so what does that mean? can tier 2 give me that info too or should i make another appointment with infopass at my field office? i hate being that sob story to these people, i know they hear it a million times a day, so i keep it short, but i just want answers, someone has to know, it's not right they would have information and withhold it from me, it's my case. ahhh im getting frustrated again!!

[dza 46]

Approooooooooooooooooveeeed< after 185 days, thank God i am soo happy we were just video chatting and after we finished i decided to check and found it approved, i caled him back after that immediatlyyy, i cant wait for the next steps< Good luck guys, hang in there, i still have long road here in Egypt but thank God for this step

[desi123 21]

Approooooooooooooooooveeeed< after 185 days, thank God i am soo happy we were just video chatting and after we finished i decided to check and found it approved, i caled him back after that immediatlyyy, i cant wait for the next steps< Good luck guys, hang in there, i still have long road here in Egypt but thank God for this step

Congrats ! I'm waiting and praying.

[dza 46]

Congrats ! I'm waiting and praying.

i know how hard to wait believe me, and even when approval happens after your date

i dont know if that because of the attorney, but she told us, she will not be able do anything if there is no approvals in march

and until my fiance had time we contacted her told her, there are tons of approvals happens in march, just she called them today to expedite, and it happened same day, truly have no idea if that because she called them or what

it will come, it is so hard but just be more patience,and u will share it with us very soon and all will be happy like always for each other

[desi123 21]

i know how hard to wait believe me, and even when approval happens after your date

i dont know if that because of the attorney, but she told us, she will not be able do anything if there is no approvals in march

and until my fiance had time we contacted her told her, there are tons of approvals happens in march, just she called them today to expedite, and it happened same day, truly have no idea if that because she called them or what

it will come, it is so hard but just be more patience,and u will share it with us very soon and all will be happy like always for each other

Really happy for you. We are all in this painful journey and this little VJ community has helped us tremendously. We wish the best of luck to everyone and wonderful life ahead. We know the day will come when we get approved.. hope and pray is all we can do right now.

[dza 46]

Really happy for you. We are all in this painful journey and this little VJ community has helped us tremendously. We wish the best of luck to everyone and wonderful life ahead. We know the day will come when we get approved.. hope and pray is all we can do right now.

Thanks so much truly, and you know who knows , maybe you will have the visa before me hahaha, this is true, here in Egypt the process takes long time unfortunately, but feeling something get through its a relief, and you will have yours soon, keep praying, have faith, everything will happen in the right time for you

[ch3john 308]

Approooooooooooooooooveeeed< after 185 days, thank God i am soo happy we were just video chatting and after we finished i decided to check and found it approved, i caled him back after that immediatlyyy, i cant wait for the next steps< Good luck guys, hang in there, i still have long road here in Egypt but thank God for this step

Congrats!! I'm so happy for you.

[redstripe54 42]

There you go, you're approved, I told you it comes out of the blue, just as you can't stand it anymore, Congrats !