it appears there is no auto-expedite at Nebraska (split topic)

[phillamb168 19]

An update. I received the following from my Rep's immigration liaison; looks like Nebraska doesn't do auto-expedites.

Good evening Robyn,

This email message is in reply to your inquiry regarding the Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, which your constituent, Mr. L, filed with USCIS for his wife, Ms. L, on June 6, 2016. According to USCIS electronic records, Mr. L’s petition is currently pending assignment to an officer for adjudication at the Nebraska Service Center (NSC). As indicated on the USCIS Website (https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplay.do), the estimated processing time for Forms I-130 that the NSC receives directly from the USCIS Lockbox is 5 months from the receipt date. Please note that estimated processing times are processing goals and not a guarantee that applications and petitions will be processed within the estimated timeframe.

From a review of your inquiry, it appears that an opportunity to expedite the processing of Mr. L’s Form I-130 is being sought. Information pertaining to the standard criteria for expedited processing is available on the USCIS Website (http://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria). Due to the high volume of requests for expedited processing, this criteria is strictly enforced. As the general purpose of all Forms I-130 is to reunify families, family reunification is not among the criteria for expedited processing. A pregnancy is generally not considered sufficient grounds for expedited processing in a Form I-130 case unless the pregnancy is a high-risk pregnancy requiring medical care in the United States. Additionally, while expedited processing requests submitted by active duty military personnel may be considered, these requests should be accompanied by supporting documentation (for example, deployment orders issued by the U.S. military).

As indicated on the USCIS Website, “The burden is on the applicant or petitioner to demonstrate that one or more of the expedite criteria have been met.” If Mr. L believes his Form I-130 case meets the expedite criteria and he chooses to submit an expedited processing request relating to the aforementioned criteria, it should be accompanied by supporting documentation which may substantiate it. Personal statements from the petitioner and/or beneficiary are generally insufficient to substantiate a request for expedited processing. If Mr. L intends to submit an expedited processing request with supporting documentation that is in a foreign language, it must be accompanied by a full, complete English translation. The translator must also certify that the translation is accurate and that he/she is competent to translate. Your constituent may submit his expedited processing request with supporting documentation to your office; and your office may forward it to us via email or FAX. After receiving it, we would be pleased to forward the request for consideration in the Form I-130 Unit at the NSC.

If we can be of further assistance, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Jon J. Peterson

Congressional Liaison Specialist

Congressional Unit

USCIS - Nebraska Service Center

[big_promise 2]

Just my $0.02 on Phillamb's situation - Obviously we don't have the full record of what you said and wrote to them, but from this it looks like the congressional staffer and the CIS liaison didn't really get the point of the inquiry (or maybe the CIS liaison understood but pretended to be aloof on the topic to avoid admitting that the whole auto-expedite phenomena as it occurs now is embarrassingly inconsistent). You are completely within your the right to fight for the auto-expedite that I and hundreds of others on this thread alone have received. We don't have control over where our cases get processed, so "Nebraska isn't doing it" isn't an acceptable excuse. I had only established residency in Turkey a couple of months before I received mine when the Syria crisis was already well underway, so telling you that you need a high risk pregnancy or to report to your nearest recruiting station to be considered is pure BS.

What we really need is a consistent written policy on the criteria for auto-expedite. Until that comes along, I'd feel free to shove the evidence that this is happening (this thread is a great place to start) in their faces and ask them hard questions about why some citizens abroad are getting preferential treatment.

Edited July 5, 2016 by big_promise

[phillamb168 19]

Thanks big_promise; I've written back to the staffer with whom I was in contact - I talked with her over the phone and she definitely understands my situation - the general consensus between us is that USCIS is horribly understaffed and not interested in trying to improve their process. I do not have anything against people filing who haven't been married for very long, but I feel like being married for nearly 10 years and having four young children ought to be enough for getting priority, or at least speeding up the process of 'validating' the marriage.

[Ryan H 3,834]

Posts split into separate thread.

[Boiler 46,198]

What is the basis of requesting an expedite?

The time to taken to validate a marriage is minimal, most of the time it is just sitting waiting for somebody to do something.