I-601 Expedite

[tom_luvz_morelia 0]

Hi,

My name is Tom and I am new to this forum. I have a question and was wondering if anyone knew the answer. My wife is filing her I-601 waiver on Wednesday 03-07. We have been unable to file this waiver for over a year because of errors made by the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez Mexico. Can a waiver be expedited on the grounds that a U.S. consulate made errors in processing information in a case which resulted in delays?? If so, how would I go about making the request? Thanks everyone.

Tom

[kitkat1 5]

Generally CDJ only agrees to expedite requests when the USC spouse is near death or about to be deployed. It would help to have the request come from a Senator.

Also, you should definitely read the thread in the 601 forum on www.immigrate2us.net here: http://immigrate2us.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14107

which was posted on Friday by attorney Laurel Scott in reference to a possible new Pilot Program for speedy waiver processing in CDJ. She says "If its all true, then people who file waivers in CDJ will be in Mexico for much, much, much less time than they currently must remain there. Those whose cases are already pending when the pilot program goes into effect will unfortunately not benefit from it".

It's impossible to know if and when it may happen, but if it does only people who have not yet filed their waiver will qualify. This *may* mean you should wait to file your waiver and cancel your appointment - it could be the best thing but again, it's impossible to know right now until CDJ makes a formal announcement.

Good luck.

http://ciudadjuarez.usconsulate.gov/wwwhciswaiver.html

Expedited Waiver Processing

The Ciudad Juarez USCIS Office may consider the expeditious processing of a waiver in cases where the waiver applicant can show that an extreme medical condition or medical emergency exists or if the applicant’s military spouse is preparing or has already deployed to an overseas post.

Expedited waiver requests should be made to the Consular Officer or to our office using the above address.

[tom_luvz_morelia 0]

I copied and pasted this from the USCIS Home page. You can find it on www.USCIS.gov. Click on my case pending. Then click on expedite criteria. As you will see, a USCIS error qualifies under expedite criteria. Why is it that the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez does not have to follow the guidelines made by USCIS for expedite requests concerning I-601 waivers?? Thanks!.....Tom

USCIS Expedite Criteria

All expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The criteria are as follows:

Severe financial loss to company or individual

Extreme emergent situation

Humanitarian situation

Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States

Department of Defense of National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government)

USCIS error

Compelling interest of USCIS

[kitkat1 5]

Tom,

A US consulate is not the same as USCIS and CDJ is not responsible for making up for USCIS errors - believe, they do not care. If I were you, I would focus on the amazing opportunity that you may have since you have not yet filed your waiver -- you may very well be in a position to fly through the process as part of the pilot program. If I could have waited for that, I know I would have. Read through the thread so you understand why you may want to cancel your appointment and wait just a bit longer.

[tom_luvz_morelia 0]

Kitkat,

The consulate in Ciudad Jaurez is a USCIS sub office. They must obide by all regulations under USCIS. I can understand that the Juarez office would not be held accountable if the errors were made by a different USCIS office here in the U.S., however the Juarez office was infact the one that made the errors. We were given false information by them and were lied to. I have documented proof of this but I am looking for the office who has jurisdiction over ciudad juarez (I believe it is in Mexico City) to make the complaint and therefore request the expedite. If all elso fails, I will contact the Washington D.C. USCIS main headquarters.

Also, thank you so much for the info on the pilot program. I, however, still think my wife will file her waiver on Wednesday March 7th. Here is my reason. If and when this pilot program does take effect (we don't even know when it will begin), there will be a huge outcry from all those people who already filed their waivers. It is simply unfair. I believe the DHS will be forced to go back and process the waivers in the order they were filed, or allow those filed before the pilot program to enter the program and move to the front of the line. Fair is fair. Although exciting, this program seems poorly structured and does not look like it will fair well. I know the minute it takes effect, I will be calling my senators and congressman to complain and I encourage everone else who has filed their waivers to do the same thing.

Thanks again,

Tom

[kitkat1 5]

There is a big difference between an error made by a USCIS office in Mexico, for example, and an error made in the US. If the California Service Center made a huge mistake with my petition, CDJ is not going to expedite anything. Doesn't matter if they are all the same entity, CDJ has rules about expedites based on their incredible backlog. Believe, I tried, with a very valid reason for an expedite and they denied it. Since your situation is totally different, it would not hurt to try, but I think it's highly unlikely.

For that reason, I would not file your waiver and I would wait for the pilot program. They do not care about "public outcry". They are doing whatever they can to manage the backlog and I can't see them going back to process existing waivers. It's the same thing that happened when IMBRA went into effect last March. People who had filed in March were screwed. People who filed later flew through the system. That's life with the US government.

Again, focus on the fact that you have the chance to file a waiver in the first place and that you have an amazing opportunity to go through the pilot program. If things change and you don't fly through, what difference does it make? You will have waited an extra few weeks to file and lost nothing.

[tom_luvz_morelia 0]

Kitkat-

I took your advice and we cancelled our appointment. But now I am starting to worry.

I am sure you already know, but people now have to go online to schedule their appointment for the I-601 waiver through infopass after you have your general interview. They no longer allow you to file the waiver at the same time as your interview. So that's what we did. After my wife was interviewed last Monday Feb. 26th, I scheduled her appointment online for March 7th. You are able to get your appointment to file the waiver like 1-2 weeks after the initial interview. But.....when I cancelled the appointment, it said on the screen that you may not be able to reschedule this appointment. So then I went back on to try to schedule just to see if I could. They do let you reschedule, but the window they had for me was between now and March 16. My question is do they only give you a window of a couple weeks to schedule your I-601 waiver filing after your interview? They wouldn't even allow you to schedule for April yet. I am worried. We have been waiting for 15 months now to file this waiver and now I am not sure if we will get another chance if we don't file it now. Thank you Kitkat for all the info.

Tom

[chikimyrn 0]

Kitkat-

I took your advice and we cancelled our appointment. But now I am starting to worry.

I am sure you already know, but people now have to go online to schedule their appointment for the I-601 waiver through infopass after you have your general interview. They no longer allow you to file the waiver at the same time as your interview. So that's what we did. After my wife was interviewed last Monday Feb. 26th, I scheduled her appointment online for March 7th. You are able to get your appointment to file the waiver like 1-2 weeks after the initial interview. But.....when I cancelled the appointment, it said on the screen that you may not be able to reschedule this appointment. So then I went back on to try to schedule just to see if I could. They do let you reschedule, but the window they had for me was between now and March 16. My question is do they only give you a window of a couple weeks to schedule your I-601 waiver filing after your interview? They wouldn't even allow you to schedule for April yet. I am worried. We have been waiting for 15 months now to file this waiver and now I am not sure if we will get another chance if we don't file it now. Thank you Kitkat for all the info.

Tom

Tom, you are within the pilot program dates.

On March 1st the pilot program has started. If you scheduled an appt through infopass for waiver submission you are in the new program limits. If your case is a clearly approvable case the waiver could be approved that day. Then the consulate will either approve the immigrant va\isa that day or wihtin the next one to two days.

This is posted on immigrate2us.net I don't know how to post the link, sorry