Does writing congress people help?

[Dominic 0]

What has been your experience?

Thanks for your feedback.

[Dominic 0]

What has been your experience?

Thanks for your feedback.

[Jasman0717 9]

Several members have reports success after contacting their elected official.

[neel06 0]

What has been your experience?

Thanks for your feedback.

i just contacted my local congressman...lets see if he is able to help me.

[TimsDaisy 0]

For which part of the process?

In most cases, there is little a member of congress can do to help at the USCIS stage. However, they do have much more access (far from a guarantee) to the State Department and what goes on at NVC and the Embassy. We were able to have a member help us change our interview date.

Where are you in the process now? Fill in your timeline and we might be able to provide more information.

Whether they can and will expend a lot of energy helping also depends on the circumstances of your case. Are you way behind most timelline estimates right now? On schedule? Just curious?

[LvivLovers 39]

What has been your experience?

Thanks for your feedback.

i just contacted my local congressman...lets see if he is able to help me.

Funny...I just wrote a letter to mine today also....I guess it's getting to be about that time where we can't stand it anymore, huh?

[SqdnGuns 21]

What has been your experience?

Thanks for your feedback.

Got a Time Line? Might be useful for someone formulating a good answer for you.

[Kym 0]

Writing to your Congressman can help, it all depends on the situation (and probably the Congressman, as well). I don't want to offend anyone here, but so many people write to their Congressmen because they are just tired of waiting and impatient. Don't get me wrong, I know that the wait is very difficult, but I think they try and weed through the requests to the ones that really need the help. Not just ones where it is taking a little more time than usual.

Socalover, you don't have your timeline filled in so we don't even know your circumstance or wait time.

I did contact my Congressman and was granted an Inquiry...however it was not because I had just waited too long (which at the time, I had waited almost a year for my NOA2). It was because the USCIS messed up and closed my case without any notification to anyone (all because it was sent to the wrong service center). It was not handled properly and I had to refile. Even after I refiled and supposedly they had administratively closed my first file (which is what my lawyer was told by a USCIS liason), it was still showing pending in the system (I've yet to fully understand it) so they were telling me that they couldn't continue with my second petition because you can't have 2 pending petitions for the same type of visa, yet no one knew where my first petition was. No one has ever found it and it still shows pending in the system. It was a mess and it was then that my Congressman decided that he needed to step in on my behalf and help us out.

I do know how difficult this wait can be...trust me. Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out, I want this to be over so badly.

Good Luck

[neel06 0]

Writing to your Congressman can help, it all depends on the situation (and probably the Congressman, as well). I don't want to offend anyone here, but so many people write to their Congressmen because they are just tired of waiting and impatient. Don't get me wrong, I know that the wait is very difficult, but I think they try and weed through the requests to the ones that really need the help. Not just ones where it is taking a little more time than usual.

Socalover, you don't have your timeline filled in so we don't even know your circumstance or wait time.

I did contact my Congressman and was granted an Inquiry...however it was not because I had just waited too long (which at the time, I had waited almost a year for my NOA2). It was because the USCIS messed up and closed my case without any notification to anyone (all because it was sent to the wrong service center). It was not handled properly and I had to refile. Even after I refiled and supposedly they had administratively closed my first file (which is what my lawyer was told by a USCIS liason), it was still showing pending in the system (I've yet to fully understand it) so they were telling me that they couldn't continue with my second petition because you can't have 2 pending petitions for the same type of visa, yet no one knew where my first petition was. No one has ever found it and it still shows pending in the system. It was a mess and it was then that my Congressman decided that he needed to step in on my behalf and help us out.

I do know how difficult this wait can be...trust me. Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out, I want this to be over so badly.

Good Luck

no you didn't offend me. i am tired of waiting... especially when i see people who filed way after me get their approvals. there is no system in which uscis processes cases so thats why i am seeking my congressman's help.

[Sand 5]

he can do nothing lol i wrote him many times and when his office call CSC they tell his office nothing lol

[Kym 0]

he can do nothing lol i wrote him many times and when his office call CSC they tell his office nothing lol

If he is just calling CSC than that is not an official congressional inquiry. If your congressman is offiically stepping in on your behalf he/she can do nothing until you fill out an Assistance/Privacy Act Release Form. This gives them permission to contact the appropriate governmental agency on your behalf. Not to mention they need copies of your file so they are familiar with it. Once they contact USCIS on your behalf (usually by forms/writing...not by phone), USCIS has 30 days to pull the file and respond with some sort of action to take place. 30 days is max, but it usually happens within a couple of days.

[Donna A 4]

so far mine has done nothing to help.

[kitkat1 5]

he can do nothing lol i wrote him many times and when his office call CSC they tell his office nothing lol

If he is just calling CSC than that is not an official congressional inquiry. If your congressman is offiically stepping in on your behalf he/she can do nothing until you fill out an Assistance/Privacy Act Release Form. This gives them permission to contact the appropriate governmental agency on your behalf. Not to mention they need copies of your file so they are familiar with it. Once they contact USCIS on your behalf (usually by forms/writing...not by phone), USCIS has 30 days to pull the file and respond with some sort of action to take place. 30 days is max, but it usually happens within a couple of days.

100% correct. This is the only way to contact them -- people who send an email will likely get no response or a form letter, months later, thanking you for your support of their stance on immigration.

That said, they can only help if there is a reason to help i.e. your petition has gone beyond the 6 month processing guideline, etc. If you are just impatient and want a status update for a recently filed petition, there is little they can do.

[Kym 0]

For which part of the process?

However, they do have much more access (far from a guarantee) to the State Department and what goes on at NVC and the Embassy. We were able to have a member help us change our interview date.

I have yet another question for you...

A congressman here in the states can contact the Embassy and help with the interview date? The reason I am wanting to clarify this is because of this silly APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) thing that is held every year....well this year of all places it is being held in Sydney, Australia the beginning part of September. We were trying so hard to beat it but it looks like we just missed out...they are now scheduling interviews after APEC. (could we possibly have anymore bad luck? lol) If it was not happening his interview would easily be by the beginning part of August. Now it looks like it will be the end of October...and once again...effecting our wedding plans. (when will I learn). Darryl is actually still waiting for his official interview date and has attached a letter to his statement of readiness to be interviewed form he sent back. I still have a glimmer of hope, but doesn't look good.

Are you willing to share a little more info regarding your situation?

[TimsDaisy 0]

For which part of the process?

However, they do have much more access (far from a guarantee) to the State Department and what goes on at NVC and the Embassy. We were able to have a member help us change our interview date.

I have yet another question for you...

A congressman here in the states can contact the Embassy and help with the interview date? The reason I am wanting to clarify this is because of this silly APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) thing that is held every year....well this year of all places it is being held in Sydney, Australia the beginning part of September. We were trying so hard to beat it but it looks like we just missed out...they are now scheduling interviews after APEC. (could we possibly have anymore bad luck? lol) If it was not happening his interview would easily be by the beginning part of August. Now it looks like it will be the end of October...and once again...effecting our wedding plans. (when will I learn). Darryl is actually still waiting for his official interview date and has attached a letter to his statement of readiness to be interviewed form he sent back. I still have a glimmer of hope, but doesn't look good.

Are you willing to share a little more info regarding your situation?

Sure, although I really don't have too much more to share other than I contacted the immigration staffer in the congressional district office and explained the situation. In my case, I was concerned because the Embassy took quite awhile to indicate they had received our material (past what the norm had been lately in London). (I should pause here to say that Tim and I know that we're fortunate to be dealing with London which is faster and better about working with applicants on times, etc. Also, the processing times for an Embassy can change from month to month).

So after having remailed our packet 3, on a Thursday, the following Friday (week + day) we heard that he was "eligible" for an interview (meaning the Embassy finally entered the packet 3 information in the computer). The next monday we found out our interview date was nearly 2 months away, longer than most London experiences over the past 3 months or so. It was a bittersweet notice.

We had included a cover letter explaining our timing concerns. So I contacted the congressman's office (full disclosure, I have a friend who works for the Congressman in the DC office BUT - and this is really important to note - I got NO special treatment. Any congressional staff who pulls favors for friends can pretty much kiss of the job plus future jobs with other legislators. I know this from my own time working in state and federal government). He referred me to the district office immigration staffer. I sent a letter addressed to the congressman that was basically a revised version of what the cover letter to the Embassy said. I don't exactly know if they passed that letter on, or used it to send an email or what. But a few days later - much to our COMPLETE shock, we were forwarded an email from the Embassy to the staffer telling us of the new interview date.

I would recommend to anyone who wanted to try to ask for congressional help to CALL the district office and have a conversation with the congressional staffer in charge of immigration case work FIRST - lay a foundation for the letter you can send later. Give them a personal interaction to pair with an otherwise cold piece of paper. And don't expect miraculous results. Different Embassies are VASTLY different in how the respond to congressional efforts and in their ability to do so to begin with. Some Embassies are simple THAT backed up. Which is awful.

So give a call, explain your situation in detail, with all dates and case numbers, calmly and rationally. You may get a bit emotional, but the goal is to present yourself as a knowledgable, engaged person, familiar with your case and understanding of what might be possible in the way of help and what might not.

Kym- your case sounds especially compelling to me, I would give a call and explain everything that's gone on, see if there's some room with the Embassy's schedule.

All of this information applies to asking for help when your case is at the Embassy stage. I should reemphasize that the wily, uncontrolled Dept of Homeland Security is WAY less responsive. They have too much to deal with, not enough money, and crappy oversight. Really poorly established Department. Congressional offices are usually the first to admit that they have MUCH more access to the State Department.

So there you go. I think our case is like the Jenny Craig ads that say "*results not typical" at the bottom of the screen. We got lucky because we were dealing with an Embassy that can be more accomdating, and with an experience congressional staffer who didn't need the process explained to him.

It's always worth a shot, but the best advice is to make a calm phone call and see where things can go from there. Not much help for NOA2s, but perhaps more so for Embassy dates. Good luck!