K1 Holder Green Card Processing Times

[Tierpolizistin 0]

Hello everyone,

 

Just reaching out to see if anyone else is experiencing the hassles that I have been.

 

My now husband (from Germany) came here on a K1. I travelled to Germany in October 2016 for his Visa Interview in Frankfurt, and his Visa arrived a week later, and he moved to the US in November 2016. 

 

We filed for his EAD and Green card, and even though USCIS claims K1 visa holders should only take 75 days to get their EAD, our lawyer advised that since USCIS are incompetent, it can take 90 days. 151 days later, and still nothing, even though I had filed numerous complaints, even went down to the Tucson field office, and they advised they saw no issues that should be delaying it, and admitted that my husband SHOULD have heard something by now, and they said if the field offices issued EAD's and green cards, we would be walking out that day with it. However, only the Central Processing office in Missouri can issue those, and even they have no way to get ahold of anyone there directly. Even when I tried talking to anyone at the main Missouri office, it was frustrating and no one knew anything. I got excuse after excuse, which lead me to believe they lost our paperwork. I even involved a US Congressman as well as Senator McCain, and USCIS ignored both of them. I finally filed a complaint with the USCIS Ombudsman (who oversees USCIS) and they found out that my suspicions were founded - that USCIS had misplaced our paperwork all along. So the Ombudsman made someone go into the office the next day, on a Saturday, and issue my husband's EAD and overnight it to us. As soon as we knew his EAD was approved, before it even arrived, my husband applied for and got a job right away. 

 

So, after all that hassle and me basically being an a**hole to get things done, that is taken care of. My husband was very stressed out at having his wife working two jobs to support us both and he was helpless to do anything - and he is an Engineer so finding a job for him was easy!

 

Anyway - my 2nd problem is still unresolved and I am getting concerned. When we initially filed for both the EAD and Green Card, we were initially kicked back an RFE saying that I as the wife, "do not meet the poverty level income requirement" and they advised they could not continue with processing his green card case. I looked up exactly what the "poverty level income requirement" for 2 people were, according to USCIS, and that amount is $20,300 USD, which is roughly $9.62 per hour. At each job I work, I make significantly MORE than that, so someone at USCIS is incapable of simple math. I called the lawyer, and she explained that USCIS are morons which I already knew (which was why I hired the immigration lawyer in the first place), and that the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing there, and that since there is no way to get ahold of anyone there who will know what is going on, the best/fastest way to deal with this is to resend what they are requesting, let them know that we sent it CORRECTLY the first time, and now, due to a delay caused by THEIR error, we request they expedite my husband's green card. They kicked back a response that they received our response to their RFE on July 19th 2016 and there has been NO update since then. I am not sure what USCIS's definition of "expedite" is, but it is clearly not in sync with the rest of the world. The lawyer said is is very rare for USCIS to expedite a green card, it is based on emergency, or, if they make a mistake, which they did. 

 

I had mistakenly assumed that USCIS processes things in order of received, but I am finding this to be untrue, and there is in fact, no rhyme or reason to how they process things. My cousin who lives in the same state as I do, she filed with her wife from Brasil the same time as I did (K1 process also, so the exact same), and they already had their interview and got the green card. And I have read of many other K1 visa holders who filed WAY after we did according to their timelines, from other states, and they too, already have gotten their green cards. And yet over here, it is still "crickets chirping". 

 

Has anyone else had any issues with this? I am just fearful that USCIS lost that paperwork too, and based on experience, I obviously have no trust in them. Especially when they knew they lost the papers all along and weren't forthcoming about it, or taking any responsibility for it. 

[RJandHamid 1,133]

When did you initially file the AOS paperwork? Some offices are slower than others, which some taking just 3-4 months from filing to interview and others taking close to 12 months. Did you check the processing times of your local office? 

As for no online updates, it seems that the online updating system hasn't been working at all since early November, and that has been frustrating for many including myself, as we wait for additional information from USCIS. 

[Tierpolizistin 0]

Just now, RJandHamid said:

When did you initially file the AOS paperwork? Some offices are slower than others, which some taking just 3-4 months from filing to interview and others taking close to 12 months. Did you check the processing times of your local office? 

As for no online updates, it seems that the online updating system hasn't been working at all since early November, and that has been frustrating for many including myself, as we wait for additional information from USCIS. 

We filed May 2016. And the processing times are never correctly updated, I learned that a long time ago, so I don't even bother checking anymore. And as I said, I know several other people in my state who are also K1 Visa holders who filed near the same as we did, as well as way after we did, who have already gotten their green cards. So there seems to be no rhyme or reason for how USCIS processes things. 

 

And this is why people come here illegally - you do things by the book and spend thousands of dollars, only to be failed by a broken immigration system. My parents came here from Germany and Sweden and did NOT have this issue.

[RJandHamid 1,133]

I'm assuming you mean May 2017 since he arrived in November 2016. 

 

Check out the May 2017 AOS filers thread. There are still a number of people waiting to hear back about the green card, with some having interviews scheduled and some having heard nothing in some time. 

 

 

[Tierpolizistin 0]

1 minute ago, RJandHamid said:

I'm assuming you mean May 2017 since he arrived in November 2016. 

 

Check out the May 2017 AOS filers thread. There are still a number of people waiting to hear back about the green card, with some having interviews scheduled and some having heard nothing in some time. 

 

LOL yes...my mistake, it was May 2017. I guess my frustration is why are they going out of order? At first I thought Arizona (where I live) was just slower than other states, but other people in Arizona going through the same process have been processed faster than we have, when they filed way after we did. 

 

[C-ma'am 684]

**Post moved from K1 to AOS from family visas. Question is about that process.