Why is my I601 waiver taking longer to take process?

[Rachellenativ 0]

Hello. I am new here and it would be greatly appreciated if anyone can help me out with my current problem. I am Married to a US citizen for more than 2 years now. We have a 2 year old son who was born here in the Philippines but is a US citizen through CRBA. But my son lives with me here in the Philippines while my husband now resides in California. We have been separated for almost 2 years now. 😔 This is due to my visa being denied last December 2016 because of my inadmissibility to acquire a US visa. 

 

Just a quick history about me. I was born here in the Philippines but my family decided to go to the US with a tourist visa when I was only 10 years old. Wanting to give us a better future, my parents decided to overstay and I stayed there for 9 years. I was already 19 years old when I got back last 2009 which gave me the 10 year ban. 

 

When I had my interview last December 2016, they didnt approve me with my US visa and was told to get a i601 waiver due to my overstaying. We were able to apply the waiver and was received by the USCIS last April 2017. The waiver was done by our lawyer. So I'm not really sure how he applied for it. But as I was doing my research, some says that it takes about 4-6 months to be processed. Some say it takes longer than 10 months, some say a year. It's been almost 9 months and the case status still says received everytime I check it online. I also inquire about it on their website and I was given an email back saying that my case is still pending adjudication however have had to perform additional reviews which has caused a longer processing time.

 

What does that supposed to mean? Is that a good sign or a bad sign? Is it normal for it to take this long to be processed? Also, since it's been more than a year now since my last interview, does that mean we have to restart all over with the whole visa processing? Or how does that affect my visa case? 

 

If anyone could help me out or any information would be greatly appreciated! My son has been longing for my husband and my husband has been longing for us. Being apart from him has now made our life very complicated and I'm hoping I can get some answer real soon. Thank you so much for your time! 

[LoveMyTico 999]

I'd say the administration has slowed processing down on everything. I read something online about it. Sorry I can't Remember where.. Just the other day actually.  Depending on what the DACA deal turns out to be and the chain migration decision.  

I think I read it on www.dmldaily.com ..you'll have to search through the articles.

[Rachellenativ 0]

I still that so? Thank you so much for that info!!  ☺️

[Rachellenativ 0]

17 hours ago, LoveMyTico said:

I'd say the administration has slowed processing down on everything. I read something online about it. Sorry I can't Remember where.. Just the other day actually.  Depending on what the DACA deal turns out to be and the chain migration decision.  

I think I read it on www.dmldaily.com ..you'll have to search through the articles.

Thank you so much for this info! Do u know by any chance if performing additional reviews for them is normal? Because according to them that is the reason why the processing of my waiver is taking a while. I'm so nervous and it's been such a long wait! 😔

[Franco007 27]

On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 9:48 PM, Rachellenativ said:

Hello. I am new here and it would be greatly appreciated if anyone can help me out with my current problem. I am Married to a US citizen for more than 2 years now. We have a 2 year old son who was born here in the Philippines but is a US citizen through CRBA. But my son lives with me here in the Philippines while my husband now resides in California. We have been separated for almost 2 years now. 😔 This is due to my visa being denied last December 2016 because of my inadmissibility to acquire a US visa. 

 

Just a quick history about me. I was born here in the Philippines but my family decided to go to the US with a tourist visa when I was only 10 years old. Wanting to give us a better future, my parents decided to overstay and I stayed there for 9 years. I was already 19 years old when I got back last 2009 which gave me the 10 year ban. 

 

When I had my interview last December 2016, they didnt approve me with my US visa and was told to get a i601 waiver due to my overstaying. We were able to apply the waiver and was received by the USCIS last April 2017. The waiver was done by our lawyer. So I'm not really sure how he applied for it. But as I was doing my research, some says that it takes about 4-6 months to be processed. Some say it takes longer than 10 months, some say a year. It's been almost 9 months and the case status still says received everytime I check it online. I also inquire about it on their website and I was given an email back saying that my case is still pending adjudication however have had to perform additional reviews which has caused a longer processing time.

 

What does that supposed to mean? Is that a good sign or a bad sign? Is it normal for it to take this long to be processed? Also, since it's been more than a year now since my last interview, does that mean we have to restart all over with the whole visa processing? Or how does that affect my visa case? 

 

If anyone could help me out or any information would be greatly appreciated! My son has been longing for my husband and my husband has been longing for us. Being apart from him has now made our life very complicated and I'm hoping I can get some answer real soon. Thank you so much for your time! 

 

 

Hi,

I have a similar case like yours for my spouse who i am filing for and have been apart from her since 2011 when she voluntarily returned home so we can follow the law and file the I-601. But while she was overseas the last administration approved the I-601a in 2013 which is same thing as I-601 but now you do not have to leave the United States to file.... But to cut the long story short, we were approved to file the I-601 waiver in September 2016 and sent the documents in December 2016. The main issue why it takes longer now is the I-601a filers who did not leave like you and my spouse who did the right thing and left to file from home country. So since 2014/2015 when USCIS started receiving a lot of I-601a applications they tend to work on those quicker since they are already here so they do not get deported, which to me should not be the case as they are already here in the United States. I think they should help those who are apart quicker to come together as a family.

 

Below is also how you track your case specific date to know how close they are getting to your case date. which is the date they received your waiver application. Use this explanation below and follow the link to check processing times.....

 

Hope this helps make you understand the processing updates a little better.

 

Bottom Right Date:- Means the last date they updated the website on all cases (January 5, 2018).

Top Processing Date:- Means the last date they got this update from for all cases (October 31, 2017).

Case Specific Date:- Means the date the cases were submitted to that office for processing (October 12, 2016 for I-601 cases).

 

All this means is that as of close of business on October 31, 2017 they were working on I-601 cases that were submitted on October 12, 2016. 

Which means that from the previous update as of September 30, 2017 they were working on cases submitted on October 1, 2016 they only moved 11 days by the time it was October 31, 2017.

 

This has happened three time last year when they moved just a week or two instead of their usual monthly case movements.

 

I called USCIS earlier this year to know what happened and this was the explanation they gave me:

-They get behind in some months due to number of cases submitted in a given day or month they are working on (High or Low Volume of case submitted)

-They also go back to work on cases reviewed and kept on ice due to they requested the applicant to submit additional documents and when they receive the additional documents, they put on hold new applications to work on that passed case with new documents submitted.

-The verification process of the documents are tedious especially documents created outside of the United States.

-Lastly they are short staffed. 

 

Keep the hope alive and be patient it will all end one day...... I have been waiting for my case approval since December 2016 and hope i get an answer in February or March as it is not taking about 14-15months now to process. I know someone on one of the forums that i follow here who submitted on November 20, 2016 and still no reply as of today...... i am using that person as my guide, so when she post her approval date i know mine is getting closer. 

Good Luck to you!!!!

 

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do

 

Select Nebraska as service center and click service center processing date then scroll to I-601 to see the current date they are working on.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Franco007

[LoveMyTico 999]

The excuse they use is further security checks...our I130 took 11 months. The last5 months they gave us the additional security check excuse. I had the senators office checking once a week the last 6 weeks. 

The state dept only took 30 days because I followed the guide on this site. The waiver only took 4 months..I got sick of these people and asked for an expedite. It was approved. So it went fast from there..

 

I was told that all processing has been slowed down recently since the new administration took over. My friend now works in the state dept processing passports .

Nobody knows when it will pick up ... 

 

[Rachellenativ 0]

56 minutes ago, LoveMyTico said:

The excuse they use is further security checks...our I130 took 11 months. The last5 months they gave us the additional security check excuse. I had the senators office checking once a week the last 6 weeks. 

The state dept only took 30 days because I followed the guide on this site. The waiver only took 4 months..I got sick of these people and asked for an expedite. It was approved. So it went fast from there..

 

I was told that all processing has been slowed down recently since the new administration took over. My friend now works in the state dept processing passports .

Nobody knows when it will pick up ... 

 

Oh I see. Btw, when did you apply for your i601 waiver? And since you applied for an expedite for your i601 waiver, it got approved faster? Would you happen to know if I'll be able to apply for an expedite on mine too? And how much extra did it cost you? Thank you so much for your time and your replies! I greatly appreciated all the infos! 😊 

[Rachellenativ 0]

14 hours ago, Franco007 said:

 

 

Hi,

I have a similar case like yours for my spouse who i am filing for and have been apart from her since 2011 when she voluntarily returned home so we can follow the law and file the I-601. But while she was overseas the last administration approved the I-601a in 2013 which is same thing as I-601 but now you do not have to leave the United States to file.... But to cut the long story short, we were approved to file the I-601 waiver in September 2016 and sent the documents in December 2016. The main issue why it takes longer now is the I-601a filers who did not leave like you and my spouse who did the right thing and left to file from home country. So since 2014/2015 when USCIS started receiving a lot of I-601a applications they tend to work on those quicker since they are already here so they do not get deported, which to me should not be the case as they are already here in the United States. I think they should help those who are apart quicker to come together as a family.

 

Below is also how you track your case specific date to know how close they are getting to your case date. which is the date they received your waiver application. Use this explanation below and follow the link to check processing times.....

 

Hope this helps make you understand the processing updates a little better.

 

Bottom Right Date:- Means the last date they updated the website on all cases (January 5, 2018).

Top Processing Date:- Means the last date they got this update from for all cases (October 31, 2017).

Case Specific Date:- Means the date the cases were submitted to that office for processing (October 12, 2016 for I-601 cases).

 

All this means is that as of close of business on October 31, 2017 they were working on I-601 cases that were submitted on October 12, 2016. 

Which means that from the previous update as of September 30, 2017 they were working on cases submitted on October 1, 2016 they only moved 11 days by the time it was October 31, 2017.

 

This has happened three time last year when they moved just a week or two instead of their usual monthly case movements.

 

I called USCIS earlier this year to know what happened and this was the explanation they gave me:

-They get behind in some months due to number of cases submitted in a given day or month they are working on (High or Low Volume of case submitted)

-They also go back to work on cases reviewed and kept on ice due to they requested the applicant to submit additional documents and when they receive the additional documents, they put on hold new applications to work on that passed case with new documents submitted.

-The verification process of the documents are tedious especially documents created outside of the United States.

-Lastly they are short staffed. 

 

Keep the hope alive and be patient it will all end one day...... I have been waiting for my case approval since December 2016 and hope i get an answer in February or March as it is not taking about 14-15months now to process. I know someone on one of the forums that i follow here who submitted on November 20, 2016 and still no reply as of today...... i am using that person as my guide, so when she post her approval date i know mine is getting closer. 

Good Luck to you!!!!

 

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do

 

Select Nebraska as service center and click service center processing date then scroll to I-601 to see the current date they are working on.

Wow! So as of November 2016, they're still processing it? So it's true that now, it takes a little longer than 12months for the waivers to be processed unlike before which only took 4-6 months?

 

I check their website all the time. But I just wasn't sure on how to check their processing time page. I got a letter before from the USCIS and the address it had was from Phoenix Arizona. Doesn't that mean that mine is being processed there?  How do you know where to check like which service center? That's where I get really lost. 

 

Atleast yours is almost there! Hoping mine will be too! My son is a US citizen and he's still staying here in the Philippines with me. I'm afraid I'm going to end up paying for some fee soon since he's a US citizen. And he's been longing for his father! Which is making this whole waiting game even harder for me. 😔

 

Thank you so much for all these informations! I greatly appreciate all the help! If you could update me with your status? I'll make you as my somewhat timeframe also. Thank you! 

 

 

[Franco007 27]

On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 8:27 AM, Rachellenativ said:

Wow! So as of November 2016, they're still processing it? So it's true that now, it takes a little longer than 12months for the waivers to be processed unlike before which only took 4-6 months?

 

I check their website all the time. But I just wasn't sure on how to check their processing time page. I got a letter before from the USCIS and the address it had was from Phoenix Arizona. Doesn't that mean that mine is being processed there?  How do you know where to check like which service center? That's where I get really lost. 

 

Atleast yours is almost there! Hoping mine will be too! My son is a US citizen and he's still staying here in the Philippines with me. I'm afraid I'm going to end up paying for some fee soon since he's a US citizen. And he's been longing for his father! Which is making this whole waiting game even harder for me. 😔

 

Thank you so much for all these informations! I greatly appreciate all the help! If you could update me with your status? I'll make you as my somewhat timeframe also. Thank you! 

 

 

Sure i will post an update here as soon as i get my approval notice......

 

Since you have a son who is a USC and leaving apart from his father, i think you should have your spouse get a lawyer that can help you expedite your waiver. I have tried to expedite my case twice but got denied saying i do not financial, medical or personal issues that needs immediate attention.

 

If your letter states Phoenix Arizona, than your case might be at the Arizona office. To the best of my knowledge Phoenix Arizona is a field office and not a service center, so they receive applications and forward the applications to the service center in charge of each case.

 

The best way to find out is to call USCIS and ask. 

[Rachellenativ 0]

22 hours ago, Franco007 said:

Sure i will post an update here as soon as i get my approval notice......

 

Since you have a son who is a USC and leaving apart from his father, i think you should have your spouse get a lawyer that can help you expedite your waiver. I have tried to expedite my case twice but got denied saying i do not financial, medical or personal issues that needs immediate attention.

 

If your letter states Phoenix Arizona, than your case might be at the Arizona office. To the best of my knowledge Phoenix Arizona is a field office and not a service center, so they receive applications and forward the applications to the service center in charge of each case.

 

The best way to find out is to call USCIS and ask. 

We do have a lawyer And he was the one who filed for my waiver. But he didn't mention anything about expediting my waiver. How much did it cost you to expedite your waiver? I was actually thinking of talking to my husband about that but I'm just not sure how it works. 

 

Arent all i601 waivers get sent to the Nebraska service center? Or does it depends on the case itself? It's just difficult for me to contact uscis since I live abroad. But thank you again for your time and all the infos! 

[Franco007 27]

9 hours ago, Rachellenativ said:

We do have a lawyer And he was the one who filed for my waiver. But he didn't mention anything about expediting my waiver. How much did it cost you to expedite your waiver? I was actually thinking of talking to my husband about that but I'm just not sure how it works. 

 

Arent all i601 waivers get sent to the Nebraska service center? Or does it depends on the case itself? It's just difficult for me to contact uscis since I live abroad. But thank you again for your time and all the infos! 

I am filing the waiver myself without any lawyers help.

 

I used a lawyer earlier, while trying to get the embassy to deny my spouse the immigrant visa quickly so i can file the waiver because the embassy just kept asking for documents we do not have and stalling to deny the visa trying to prolong the case to go over the one year make from first interview so that we will have to start all over again. But the lawyer was too slow in acting and did not really do anything, so i had to reach out to the embassy multiple times myself via email to get them to ban my spouse before the one year anniversary of the first interview. Hence i am filing and completing the remaining process myself. 

 

You can reach out to your lawyer and ask if he/she can help file an expedite request. I was quoted $3,000 by a lawyer to file an expedited request but opted to filing it myself because i know it is not a guaranteed approval. 

 

Yes all I-601 waivers are sent to Nebraska to the best of my knowledge. 

 

 

[Rachellenativ 0]

15 hours ago, Franco007 said:

I am filing the waiver myself without any lawyers help.

 

I used a lawyer earlier, while trying to get the embassy to deny my spouse the immigrant visa quickly so i can file the waiver because the embassy just kept asking for documents we do not have and stalling to deny the visa trying to prolong the case to go over the one year make from first interview so that we will have to start all over again. But the lawyer was too slow in acting and did not really do anything, so i had to reach out to the embassy multiple times myself via email to get them to ban my spouse before the one year anniversary of the first interview. Hence i am filing and completing the remaining process myself. 

 

You can reach out to your lawyer and ask if he/she can help file an expedite request. I was quoted $3,000 by a lawyer to file an expedited request but opted to filing it myself because i know it is not a guaranteed approval. 

 

Yes all I-601 waivers are sent to Nebraska to the best of my knowledge. 

 

 

Ohh. Wow. Why do they do that? Like stall and make everything even more complicated than it already is. But anyway, 3k is a lot of money for an expedite case. I'm not sure either if they'll approve me with the expedite request if i was only to reason out my son being a USC. Maybe I'll try and just prolong my patience and just wait it out. 

 

Btw, u said something about after the first anniversary of the initial interview, you'd have to start all over again? So that means in my case, Ima have to restart everything again? Even if it's not totally our fault and we obviously have no control on why this is taking this long? Coz my initial interview was last December 2016. 

[Franco007 27]

3 hours ago, Rachellenativ said:

Ohh. Wow. Why do they do that? Like stall and make everything even more complicated than it already is. But anyway, 3k is a lot of money for an expedite case. I'm not sure either if they'll approve me with the expedite request if i was only to reason out my son being a USC. Maybe I'll try and just prolong my patience and just wait it out. 

 

Btw, u said something about after the first anniversary of the initial interview, you'd have to start all over again? So that means in my case, Ima have to restart everything again? Even if it's not totally our fault and we obviously have no control on why this is taking this long? Coz my initial interview was last December 2016. 

In your case you do not have to worry about filing all over because you were denied during your first interview and you are filing the waiver now. 

 

In my spouse case, she was not denied visa at her first interview. She was asked to bring more supporting document to our claim and when we submitted more they kept asking for more and we were tired and just asked them deny her the visa so we can start next stage which is waiver. if they do not deny her the visa and it gets to one year from first visa interview then we will have to start the whole process all over. But thank God they denied her few months to the one year anniversary after much emails back and forth.

[JoyceD. 0]

On 14/01/2018 at 8:18 AM, LoveMyTico said:

The excuse they use is further security checks...our I130 took 11 months. The last5 months they gave us the additional security check excuse. I had the senators office checking once a week the last 6 weeks. 

The state dept only took 30 days because I followed the guide on this site. The waiver only took 4 months..I got sick of these people and asked for an expedite. It was approved. So it went fast from there..

 

I was told that all processing has been slowed down recently since the new administration took over. My friend now works in the state dept processing passports .

Nobody knows when it will pick up ... 

 

Hi do you mind me asking what criteria you used to request an expedite? i tried an expedite with the senators office and it was denied. 

[Rachellenativ 0]

On 1/18/2018 at 4:10 AM, Franco007 said:

In your case you do not have to worry about filing all over because you were denied during your first interview and you are filing the waiver now. 

 

In my spouse case, she was not denied visa at her first interview. She was asked to bring more supporting document to our claim and when we submitted more they kept asking for more and we were tired and just asked them deny her the visa so we can start next stage which is waiver. if they do not deny her the visa and it gets to one year from first visa interview then we will have to start the whole process all over. But thank God they denied her few months to the one year anniversary after much emails back and forth.

Oh I see. Well I'm sure you're almost there! So no matter how long the processing of my waiver, I wouldn't need to start all over with my whole petition? Maybe they'll just ask for an updated documents then right? I really hope we'll get some answers real soon!