USCIS Customer service for I-130

[humamandrifa 7]

Hi,

 

I wanted to ask some opinions if anyone here has any. I tried calling the USCIS customer service regarding my I-130 that is processing in Nebraska Service Center and I have a priority date of Dec 6th 2016. They keep saying the same thing over and over again, like i called once a month they say I have to wait 2-3 more months and this been going on for the past 3-4 months. Well everyone there keeps saying we have to wait. Is there a way to get another visa like K-3 and have my wife come over while I-130 is pending? Im pretty sure im not the only one waiting but its like almost 7 months being apart and I had to work 2 jobs (7 days a week) just so I dont get bored of waiting and kill time faster. I wana know if they transfer it randomly to another service center, ..do they get bothered if you bug them by calling them every week? i tried that but all they keep saying is "you just need to wait..every case is different case by case etc etc" and kinda tired hearing the same thing. Any inputs on this on anyone's experience on the I-130 spousal petition on the USCIS customer service or who exactly to speak or what to do except wait? Thanks in advance!!!

[elfinkel 12]

First of all, I'm really sorry that you're going through the separation from your spouse. I recently did the same thing--I honestly couldn't emotionally handle it and I quit my job in the U.S. early to come back to Peru to live with my husband.

To me, it doesn't seem like your case is outside of the expected wait times. I submitted my husband's case with a priority date of October 31, 2016, and we just recently received our NOA2 (May 25th, 2017). So, we waited about 7 months. Also, the Nebraska Service Center is one of the most backed up ones. Which is unfortunate. If you'd like, you can keep track of estimated times with this website (https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do), although they only seem to update it every other month or so. These charts from VisaJourney can also help give an estimate of waiting times: http://www.visajourney.com/content/ir1cr1historical. (Looks like the NSC is currently processing cases from November 3, 2016). 

If you check the processing times from the two links above and you see that they are looking at cases past your priority date, I'd say then that's a time to call and say that you believe that your case has been overlooked. 

Sometimes cases do get transferred; ours did! It started at the Nebraska Service Center and got transferred to the Texas Service Center. If your case gets transferred you will receive a notice in the mail.

Unfortunately, the USCIS customer service is, in my experience, always unhelpful. I tried to get through to 2nd and 3rd Tier representatives. Each time I tried I got put on a call list and never received a call. I also tried expediting my case TWICE because of my high levels of anxiety and depression. The first time I tried it was 1 month before I heard anything, and the second time I never heard anything back. Also, they never know anything specific about their case, and I'm not even sure if the case officers ever know about any calls that are made to customer service. 

I know it's not much help, but I think right now the only option is waiting. It wouldn't even be worth it at this point to try to expedite your case--by the time you actually got a response for that you'll have had your NOA2 already!! I feel like it's the same case with a K-3; by the time anything happens with it, things will already be moving forward. Plus they would see that your wife is already applying for the I-130 visa and it might make things complicated for getting a K-3. 

Is there any way you can go and visit your wife while you wait? Even just a couple of days visit might help break up the wait time and give you some fun memories in the meantime. 

Anyway, I hope that this somewhat helps. It seems like you're almost there!! You can see the finish line! Just know that you're not alone and hang on in there!! 

[geowrian 22,337]

Who knows if they will get bothered, but officially how often you contact them has no impact on your case. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.

Until your case is out of normal processing times, you're not going to get a more detailed answer about what's going on. You can try also try  Case Inquiry, or contacting a local senator to make a inquiry.

 

K-3 is obsolete. Furthermore, a K-3 means submitting the I-129F and having it approved before the I-130. Submitting one ~7 months after the I-130 has no real realistic chance of being approved before the I-130. If it somehow was approved sooner, there's still a high chance that it would be administratively closed at NVC.

[humamandrifa 7]

18 hours ago, elfinkel said:

First of all, I'm really sorry that you're going through the separation from your spouse. I recently did the same thing--I honestly couldn't emotionally handle it and I quit my job in the U.S. early to come back to Peru to live with my husband.

To me, it doesn't seem like your case is outside of the expected wait times. I submitted my husband's case with a priority date of October 31, 2016, and we just recently received our NOA2 (May 25th, 2017). So, we waited about 7 months. Also, the Nebraska Service Center is one of the most backed up ones. Which is unfortunate. If you'd like, you can keep track of estimated times with this website (https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do), although they only seem to update it every other month or so. These charts from VisaJourney can also help give an estimate of waiting times: http://www.visajourney.com/content/ir1cr1historical. (Looks like the NSC is currently processing cases from November 3, 2016). 

If you check the processing times from the two links above and you see that they are looking at cases past your priority date, I'd say then that's a time to call and say that you believe that your case has been overlooked. 

Sometimes cases do get transferred; ours did! It started at the Nebraska Service Center and got transferred to the Texas Service Center. If your case gets transferred you will receive a notice in the mail.

Unfortunately, the USCIS customer service is, in my experience, always unhelpful. I tried to get through to 2nd and 3rd Tier representatives. Each time I tried I got put on a call list and never received a call. I also tried expediting my case TWICE because of my high levels of anxiety and depression. The first time I tried it was 1 month before I heard anything, and the second time I never heard anything back. Also, they never know anything specific about their case, and I'm not even sure if the case officers ever know about any calls that are made to customer service. 

I know it's not much help, but I think right now the only option is waiting. It wouldn't even be worth it at this point to try to expedite your case--by the time you actually got a response for that you'll have had your NOA2 already!! I feel like it's the same case with a K-3; by the time anything happens with it, things will already be moving forward. Plus they would see that your wife is already applying for the I-130 visa and it might make things complicated for getting a K-3. 

Is there any way you can go and visit your wife while you wait? Even just a couple of days visit might help break up the wait time and give you some fun memories in the meantime. 

Anyway, I hope that this somewhat helps. It seems like you're almost there!! You can see the finish line! Just know that you're not alone and hang on in there!! 

Thank you for the kind details i appreciate it. I know but i guess there is nothing to do except just to be patient. But i do agree that calling USCIS doesnt help at all because they can never provide anything accurate. I have always wonder which USCIS is the tier 2 or tier 3.

 

Anyways im just feeling anxious and nervous of waiting for all of this but thank you. I just dont know also if they would randomly transfer the cases. I keep hearing the case by case basis on USCIS and keep monitoring that only 1 case or none is process daily. But i was feeling frustrated if i keep getting the same answer over and over.

 

Congrats on your NOA2! and i hope everything speeds up smoothly for you!

[humamandrifa 7]

18 hours ago, geowrian said:

Who knows if they will get bothered, but officially how often you contact them has no impact on your case. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.

Until your case is out of normal processing times, you're not going to get a more detailed answer about what's going on. You can try also try  Case Inquiry, or contacting a local senator to make a inquiry.

 

K-3 is obsolete. Furthermore, a K-3 means submitting the I-129F and having it approved before the I-130. Submitting one ~7 months after the I-130 has no real realistic chance of being approved before the I-130. If it somehow was approved sooner, there's still a high chance that it would be administratively closed at NVC.

I was told to contact a local senator and they say its the Only way but how would I do that? i have no connections with senators etc...I dont even know what they mean by that.

But since im going to be on my 7 month, based on others experience, how long typically would NOA2 last? i keep hearing 3-5 then 5-6 months etc. Thanks for your answer!

[geowrian 22,337]

7 minutes ago, humamandrifa said:

I was told to contact a local senator and they say its the Only way but how would I do that? i have no connections with senators etc...I dont even know what they mean by that.

But since im going to be on my 7 month, based on others experience, how long typically would NOA2 last? i keep hearing 3-5 then 5-6 months etc. Thanks for your answer!

That depends on your state. You don't need a "connection". As a USC, you have a right to contact any representative or senator in Congress. Assuming you live in CA, your senior Senator is Dianne Feinstein. She even has a form to request assistance with immigration casework available on her website.

https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/casework

 

It varies from case to case. The average is about 6 months right now based on data from other VJ users. Some are months sooner, and some are months longer.

[humamandrifa 7]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

That depends on your state. You don't need a "connection". As a USC, you have a right to contact any representative or senator in Congress. Assuming you live in CA, your senior Senator is Dianne Feinstein. She even has a form to request assistance with immigration casework available on her website.

https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/casework

 

It varies from case to case. The average is about 6 months right now based on data from other VJ users. Some are months sooner, and some are months longer.

Wow i really didnt know this i appreciate it. Does requesting a senator help affect my USCIS case for I-130 petition in any way if the Senator takes a look at it and how long does it take? I wonder how long is the response times from the Senators here in California assuming they already received the letter? Again thanks for the details this is super helpful. I also saw the processing times update as of today so im glad its speeding up a bit. 

[geowrian 22,337]

7 minutes ago, humamandrifa said:

Wow i really didnt know this i appreciate it. Does requesting a senator help affect my USCIS case for I-130 petition in any way if the Senator takes a look at it and how long does it take? I wonder how long is the response times from the Senators here in California assuming they already received the letter? Again thanks for the details this is super helpful. I also saw the processing times update as of today so im glad its speeding up a bit. 

The Senator won't actually look at it (they'd be overwhelmed!), but their staff will make an inquiry. They cannot influence the decision or force them to take any action, but if your case is outside normal processing times, it does seem to tend to spur somebody actually looking at the case. If the petition is pending something outside of USCIS' control (i.e. security checks), then they can notify you in the response, but you still have to wait out the checks in full. How long it takes depends on the Senator's office/workload/policies, plus waiting on USCIS. I don't have an average time, sorry.,

Edited June 14, 2017 by geowrian

[humamandrifa 7]

On 6/14/2017 at 2:06 PM, geowrian said:

The Senator won't actually look at it (they'd be overwhelmed!), but their staff will make an inquiry. They cannot influence the decision or force them to take any action, but if your case is outside normal processing times, it does seem to tend to spur somebody actually looking at the case. If the petition is pending something outside of USCIS' control (i.e. security checks), then they can notify you in the response, but you still have to wait out the checks in full. How long it takes depends on the Senator's office/workload/policies, plus waiting on USCIS. I don't have an average time, sorry.,

Thanks for your response I greatly appreciate it. Im thinking the Senate wont help because im waiting 7 months, i guess when it takes longer, Im just worried about this whole immigration law thing going on.