question about expediting the case

[ylime0411 0]

lorelle and mary...u r the helpful person here ..i always read all your answers to people who dont know......

my question is how to expedite the case....

my husband want our case to be expedite, his mom's health is getting worst, she is diabetic and she is losing her vision...husband wants me to meet at least his mom....he went to his attorney to ask about expedite but he was asked to pay 400 dollars.....he wants me to ask you is it worth paying that much.......please help us...

he is going to visit me here in the philippines to spend a week ...i told him maybe he can just bring his mom medical records and we will just bring it to manila embassy and he maybe he can talk to the consuls there.....

help us....give us some idea about it.......many thanks in advance... from mrkemlylinde

[aussiewench 9]

ylime0411

I am not up on expediating cases at all to gain an earlier interview date, but there are members who know about them more then me. I do know that it is not something that will just be granted just because you pay a lawyer $400. I'm sorry his mom's health is failing and I know how important it must be for you both, for you to meet her but IMO they would not grant it just so as you can meet his mom.

[luv2teach77 41]

Sorry to hear that your Husbands mother is in ill health.

I would be VERY VERY wary of any lawyer who says that $400 will get your case expedited. As far as I am aware, unless a close family member is suffering from a life threatening condition, there are very few reasons why a case will be moved up in the order.

If I were you I would ask your lawyer what means he plans to utilize to get your case expedited. Unless you are 100% convinced that this will do the job I would save your money and hope that your approval comes through in time to visit your mother in law afterwards.

Best of luck

Mark

[pax 0]

You might have some luck getting your case expedited once it hits the Consulate, but as you're going through Manila, I would not count on it. The only situation in which expedites are granted are for active-duty military petitioners facing imminent deployment.

I'm so sorry about your husband's mother, but I would not trust any lawyer who wants you to pay $400 for something he or she has no business promising. Your husband can try his Congresspersons, and he already pays their salaries in taxes. But I don't want you to get your hopes up, either; USCIS/DoS hear expedite requests all the time, and the only ones we know are regularly granted are for military personnel as I mentioned above.

Edited March 14, 2006 by pax

[MaryandMian 1]

Sorry to hear of the illness in the family. First off forget the lawyer cannot help you and you will lose the money. Fishy sounding.

Secondly where is your timeline? Is it still at service center, NVC or the embassy. I do not think you can expediate it at this time if it is still at the service center stage.

You can always contact your senator or congressman and ask them if they can step in for you? It will not hurt to ask them. You will need to fill out a release form or signed letter to the official so they can speak on your behalf.

Keep us posted and sorry I was not much help. Good luck, too.

Mary

[john_and_marlene 162]

Medical expedites are only granted when the medical condition of the petitioner warrants it. You will not be granted an expedite for the medical condition of the petitioner's relatives. The attorney cannot change that.

You might have some luck getting your case expedited once it hits the Consulate, but as you're going through Manila, I would not count on it. The only situation in which expedites are granted are for active-duty military petitioners facing imminent deployment.

I'm so sorry about your husband's mother, but I would not trust any lawyer who wants you to pay $400 for something he or she has no business promising. Your husband can try his Congresspersons, and he already pays their salaries in taxes. But I don't want you to get your hopes up, either; USCIS/DoS hear expedite requests all the time, and the only ones we know are regularly granted are for military personnel as I mentioned above.

Not true Pax. Expedites are granted, even in Manila, for some medical reasons. I know, because we were granted one by Manila.

[pax 0]

That's why I said she might have more luck once the case reaches the Consulate. They have more discretion to act than a USCIS service centre or the NVC.

Mainly I was telling the OP not to count on an expedite in Manila. It might happen, but I'm not going to tell her it definitely will. And she definitely shouldn't pay that lawyer one dime!

[john_and_marlene 162]

Medical expedites are only granted when the medical condition of the petitioner warrants it. You will not be granted an expedite for the medical condition of the petitioner's relatives. The attorney cannot change that.

You might have some luck getting your case expedited once it hits the Consulate, but as you're going through Manila, I would not count on it. The only situation in which expedites are granted are for active-duty military petitioners facing imminent deployment.

I'm so sorry about your husband's mother, but I would not trust any lawyer who wants you to pay $400 for something he or she has no business promising. Your husband can try his Congresspersons, and he already pays their salaries in taxes. But I don't want you to get your hopes up, either; USCIS/DoS hear expedite requests all the time, and the only ones we know are regularly granted are for military personnel as I mentioned above.

Not true Pax. Expedites are granted, even in Manila, for some medical reasons. I know, because we were granted one by Manila.

I was referring to this part of your post:

but as you're going through Manila, I would not count on it. The only situation in which expedites are granted are for active-duty military petitioners facing imminent deployment.

[pax 0]

Well, in that case, I should have clarified that that's the only situation in which you can count on an expedite being granted.

[zyggy 9]

Medical expedites are only granted when the medical condition of the petitioner warrants it. You will not be granted an expedite for the medical condition of the petitioner's relatives. The attorney cannot change that.

You might have some luck getting your case expedited once it hits the Consulate, but as you're going through Manila, I would not count on it. The only situation in which expedites are granted are for active-duty military petitioners facing imminent deployment.

I'm so sorry about your husband's mother, but I would not trust any lawyer who wants you to pay $400 for something he or she has no business promising. Your husband can try his Congresspersons, and he already pays their salaries in taxes. But I don't want you to get your hopes up, either; USCIS/DoS hear expedite requests all the time, and the only ones we know are regularly granted are for military personnel as I mentioned above.

Not true Pax. Expedites are granted, even in Manila, for some medical reasons. I know, because we were granted one by Manila.

Agreed... a consulate will only grant a request to expidite a case if there is a reason that is specifically related to the petitioner themselves... or the beneficiary.

The only times I have seen an interview date moved up is if for instance the USC was in the military and is going to be deployed on X date. The consulate in this case will almost always schedule the interview so that the beneficiary can make it to the US before the USC is deployed.

The other reason is for extenuating circumstances on the part of the beneficiary. A medical reason relating to the beneficiary only would be the most probable case...

But they would not put priority for an idividual just because the individuals mother was ill... this probably happens to many many people going through consulates all over the world...

[Yodrak 7]

pax,

Neither would I, but as a point of clarification I don't think we have enough information to make a judgement in this instance. All ylime wrote what that her husband asked an attorney about expediting the case and that the attorney would charge $400. There is no indication of what else the attorney may have told the husband, and in particular there is no indication that the attorney promised success.

$400 might pay for roughly 2 hours work, and depending on a number of things we don't know that's not necessarily an unreasonable amount of time or money for putting together a request to expedite.

Yodrak

... I would not trust any lawyer who wants you to pay $400 for something he or she has no business promising. ....

[pax 0]

True, good point. I suppose as long as the lawyer is honest about the fact that there are no guarantees, it's fair play to them.