1st post former NSC adjudicator now petitioner

[HUSKERKIEV 8]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post so don't flame me for protocol or if I say something out of place.

I joined VJ because of two reasons. First, I just sent off my initial I-129F packet to NSC for processing and 2) I used to be an Applications Adjudicator (Immigration Officer) at the NSC (2003) so I thought perhaps I could help out someone with any questions they have on how the NSC operates. Or at least the part that I worked in. Some of the processes are the same regardless of departments. I'd be happy to give you as much info as I can as there aren't any real secrets and since I don't work there any longer I can speak about it.

As for my K-1 journey, to make a long story short, I travelled last summer to Kiev and met a wonderful woman (and her daughter) quite by accident. We spent a lot of time together during my trip, fell in love and the rest as they say is "history".

We finally got around to compiling all the docs and as I said, I sent them off to NSC yesterady so I guess I fall into the February Filers category. I hope to have her and her daughter here by August (hopefully)!

So, I make myself available to anyone who has questions about the Nebraska Service Center and its quirks or the BCIS as it were in general.

Finally, to answer a question that some of you might be thinking - "no, I can't do anything to help you specifically with your petition. Just like I have to wait in line with everyone else on mine also. Yes, i still have friends who work there, but its againstthe rules to do favors and can get a person fired. And I would never put my friends in that position." But I'd be happy to answer other non-specific questions as I can. I don't know everything but I will try to help where I can.

Thanks.

D.

huskerkiev,

you're an angel!...i hope you can really help me with my K1 visa problem.

my problem is regarding my daughter who is not listed the petition. my fiance hired a visa attorney to do the paperworks for him. the petition was approved by the USCIS only to find out that my daughter was not listed in the petition.as my interview schedule is coming, i don't know how i will go about it if they question me about having a daughter when it says no children in the section where it is being asked in the form.

my daughter is 17 years old and will be pursuing her studies in the Philippines. although we all have come up of not having her join with us there in the US, we still want her to derive a K2 visa from me. my fiance and i want her to have timely visits to us in the states once i get my visa approved. is it be possible for her to have K2 visa?

if that can't be possible, we may opt to get a multiple entry visa for her will the law permit it?

so any of the 2 options will be okay for me and my USC fiance.

thank you so much for hearing my story. God bless!

Hi, I would say that on the surface that this is not good and needs immediate attention since you are getting ready for your interview. When this subject is brought up, it should raise immediate red flags with a consular officer. The reason being is why the child was left off the application.

I think if I recall the petition specifies if you have children and then asks who will be accompanying you to the US either now or later. So, the officer will probably suspect marriage fraud/marriage just to get in the US and it will be your job/your attorney's job to convince them that this is not the case and that it was just a misunderstanding. Otherwise, why would a person leave their own child off of an application? Thats what wil be thought because you signed the document as being "true and accurate".

I would have your husband immediately call his attorney who filed the original application, chew his butt for not getting it right and potentially jeaopardizing your visa approval. I hate to suggest threatening anyone, but your husband needs to strongly convey that if the attorney will not correct HIS (the attorney's ) mistake then further action will be taken against him (the atty) should his (the atty) mistake cost you your visa! That is a last resort obviously as at this point you just need your atty on your side to get you out of this jam he has created.

Take action today you don't have a lot of time to waste. Sorry to give you bad news. D.

[HUSKERKIEV 8]

Short answer this morning. Basically, because congressional are such a pain for the cIS folks to respond to and a very serious matter, I would nottake them lightly, and give them the serious consideration they deserve. Sounds like you appreciate this fact.

So, Iwould never encourage a person to just file a "congressional" to jump the line" or move ahead of everyone else. Thats not the purpose. I only recommend you use this last resort when the system has broken down for some reason in your case or there are extraordinary circumstances that require an immediate intervention by your representative (ie deportation hearing etc...).

I would say if your application has not been worked with its normal date group within a reasonable amount of time taking into accountthe additional time a security hit mighttake to resolve, then it might be appropriate. But, I would err on the side of patience and use it only as a last resort. I saythis to be fareto all the other people waiting patiently in line with you.

Hope that helps.

That does help - thank you. I guess my only other question would be what you mean by 'normal date group' - to me, I see cases on Visa Journey that have a NOA1 date around or after mine which have already been approved, yet here we sit.

Are those folks considered my 'normal date group', or what other barometer should I use to determine that?

It FEELS like I'm languishing, but it may just be my heightened, emotional perception (moreso than reality). And I don't want involve my congressman if it would be out of order for me to do so.

And thanks, too, for your comments on a file being misplaced.

I would say that its waaayyy to soon for you to file a congressional. You just have a lot of people in front of you is all. Give it some more time like maybe 30 days.

[flutter95 4]

It's interesting to hear about the congressional pull because my now mother in law went to her congressmans office and asked for them to enquire about my case and if you look at my time line, it went really fast after my NOA2

Is that why?

[HUSKERKIEV 8]

It's interesting to hear about the congressional pull because my now mother in law went to her congressmans office and asked for them to enquire about my case and if you look at my time line, it went really fast after my NOA2

Is that why?

It's a fair bet that it was, but then again you already were approved (NOA2). So, it could or could not have had an impact. If nothing else, it brought your file to the top of the pile for whatever outcome.

[flutter95 4]

I certainly think so, it wasn't taking long but then all of a sudden I got my NOA2 and then it just move like crazy.

Then ofcourse, I had issues with the embassy and had to send in a missing document. Lots of times when this has happend I have seen people waiting ages for their visas, well once again my mother in law got the congressmans office to find out what was going on and my visa came back to me in a week!

Thanks for your all helpful info :-)

[TracyTN 237]

I would say that its waaayyy to soon for you to file a congressional. You just have a lot of people in front of you is all. Give it some more time like maybe 30 days.

Right on, brutha! Thanks for the info.

Vermont. Vermont is notoriously, wickedly FAST. I'd give my left eyeball to have gone through VSC.

So there's another question - why the h#$% can't they send some of the TSC/NSC/CSC backlog to freaking VSC (ever known as 'greased lightning')????

[warpedbored 0]

I would like to know why so many I-751 petitions are screwed up with mis-spellings, typos etc. Of all the people who have filed one about half get screwed up. In our case they sent back the NOA with her middle name as last and middle name. after two attempts to get them to send a new corrected letter I get a letter saying it takes a year to process these and be patient. In the mean time my wife's green card is expired and the only proof she has of being a legal resident has her name wrong.

[GabachaYucateca 0]

It's very kind of you to offer your inisght and knowledge. Obviously, you won't need help answering questions about filing the petition, but hopefully you can find some support, camraderie, and shared celebration of the success of each step here!

[JODO 2]

With all due respect to the long timers on this forum I honestly believe there are many on here who feel they just need to be heard rather than offer sincere advice based on their experiences with these institutions. My post should have been reworded to reflect the fact that we finally have someone who has worked behind the curtain to give the answers we've been longing for. I dont know about you but I would rather sit here and read his posts all day rather than some of the nonsense that takes up space on this forum. For those in the process I understand this can be an extremely frustrating time and, like myself, would rather skip the drama and get straight to the facts.

Thanks for answering my question about expediting.

[Bruce n Jen 0]

Hi and again, welcome to VJ - you're shedding much light on this "dark" process many of us have undertaken.

I do have a quick question: I was ill advised by a mutual acquaintance claiming to know the K1 process very well, to file an I824 - APPLICATION FOR ACTION ON AN APPROVED APPLICATION OR PETITION with my I129F for the K1 visa, with the notation to Cable Notify the consulate. Well that never happened. Of course my $200 was gratiously accepted.

Now what? I'm curious to ask for my money back. Nothing was ever done on the I824. Currently the online status of the I824 is the same showing the Sep 29th day received, but the update date has changed a few times, once on Jan 31, then on Feb 20 - the day the visa was approved at the interview, and again on Feb 21.

[TracyTN 237]

Do they ever 'cable notify' the consulates anymore? I thought that was a thing of the past.

[Bruce n Jen 0]

Do they ever 'cable notify' the consulates anymore? I thought that was a thing of the past.

Good question, but like I said, I was misled with the false hope to do so.

[AngelD 0]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post so don't flame me for protocol or if I say something out of place.

I joined VJ because of two reasons. First, I just sent off my initial I-129F packet to NSC for processing and 2) I used to be an Applications Adjudicator (Immigration Officer) at the NSC (2003) so I thought perhaps I could help out someone with any questions they have on how the NSC operates. Or at least the part that I worked in. Some of the processes are the same regardless of departments. I'd be happy to give you as much info as I can as there aren't any real secrets and since I don't work there any longer I can speak about it.

As for my K-1 journey, to make a long story short, I travelled last summer to Kiev and met a wonderful woman (and her daughter) quite by accident. We spent a lot of time together during my trip, fell in love and the rest as they say is "history".

We finally got around to compiling all the docs and as I said, I sent them off to NSC yesterady so I guess I fall into the February Filers category. I hope to have her and her daughter here by August (hopefully)!

So, I make myself available to anyone who has questions about the Nebraska Service Center and its quirks or the BCIS as it were in general.

Finally, to answer a question that some of you might be thinking - "no, I can't do anything to help you specifically with your petition. Just like I have to wait in line with everyone else on mine also. Yes, i still have friends who work there, but its againstthe rules to do favors and can get a person fired. And I would never put my friends in that position." But I'd be happy to answer other non-specific questions as I can. I don't know everything but I will try to help where I can.

Thanks.

D.

huskerkiev,

you're an angel!...i hope you can really help me with my K1 visa problem.

my problem is regarding my daughter who is not listed the petition. my fiance hired a visa attorney to do the paperworks for him. the petition was approved by the USCIS only to find out that my daughter was not listed in the petition.as my interview schedule is coming, i don't know how i will go about it if they question me about having a daughter when it says no children in the section where it is being asked in the form.

my daughter is 17 years old and will be pursuing her studies in the Philippines. although we all have come up of not having her join with us there in the US, we still want her to derive a K2 visa from me. my fiance and i want her to have timely visits to us in the states once i get my visa approved. is it be possible for her to have K2 visa?

if that can't be possible, we may opt to get a multiple entry visa for her will the law permit it?

so any of the 2 options will be okay for me and my USC fiance.

thank you so much for hearing my story. God bless!

Hi, I would say that on the surface that this is not good and needs immediate attention since you are getting ready for your interview. When this subject is brought up, it should raise immediate red flags with a consular officer. The reason being is why the child was left off the application.

I think if I recall the petition specifies if you have children and then asks who will be accompanying you to the US either now or later. So, the officer will probably suspect marriage fraud/marriage just to get in the US and it will be your job/your attorney's job to convince them that this is not the case and that it was just a misunderstanding. Otherwise, why would a person leave their own child off of an application? Thats what wil be thought because you signed the document as being "true and accurate".

I would have your husband immediately call his attorney who filed the original application, chew his butt for not getting it right and potentially jeaopardizing your visa approval. I hate to suggest threatening anyone, but your husband needs to strongly convey that if the attorney will not correct HIS (the attorney's ) mistake then further action will be taken against him (the atty) should his (the atty) mistake cost you your visa! That is a last resort obviously as at this point you just need your atty on your side to get you out of this jam he has created.

Take action today you don't have a lot of time to waste. Sorry to give you bad news. D.

Would this be a case that a "congressional" request might help in? With the aid of the lawyer (notarized letter admitting his mistake maybe?).

[meauxna 15]

Do they ever 'cable notify' the consulates anymore? I thought that was a thing of the past.

Good question, but like I said, I was misled with the false hope to do so.

By a mutual acquaintance. And? Cabling the consulates certainly stopped with the invention of the NVC, if not before. Cabling was being halted when I was still new in this process.

Sorry, it just underscores the need to check further when you learn something new.

[GrenadianCrix 1]

Welcome HuskerKiev!

I hope you can enjoy the benefits of the site as much as you have helped others already.

Welcome to our anxious family, good luck in your own journey.

It's nice to have you onboard.

Sue