My IMBRA nightmare extends...

[bungeegirl 0]

We just had our Infopass today and it has left me with a horrible feeling.

My timeline as follows:

01-12-07 - Sent k1 petition

01-23-07 - Received NOA1

03-15-07 - Transfer to local office ("They now have jurisdiction over the case")

***** We were instructed by USCIS to wait 180 days *****

Realized we made an error on our petition and immediately made an ammendment and attached a waiver as per IMBRA law.

04-03-07 - First Infopass with local office and submission of amended forms

***** We were instructed to wait 3-6 months to hear something from them ******

08-17-07 - Second Infopass with local office

*****Short of 180 days, we decided to find out what's going on with our K1. Feedback below.. ******

- We were advised that it usually takes 18 months for cases like ours to get processed. 1 year for the processing and 6 months for the background check, etc.

- We should try resending our entire file to National Records Center so in turn, it will be sent to local CIS, and our papers won't be left at the bottom of the pile since the adjucator will have to keep on attaching any new documents that come in related to our case.

- We were made to write an inquiry with the hope that the person handling our case will get in touch with us.

All this has left my fiance and I very miserable. We've been waiting for 7 months now and it seems like we have another whole year ahead of us.

Has anyone ever had a similar experience? Does our case make sense at all? DO they really check every country to find out if the USC has filed any more k1's in the past? And do background checks really take forever? Are K3's affected by IMBRA as well? If we withdraw our K1 and file for K3 instead, will the same so called extensive background check be necessary? He's had no criminal history whatsoever and its just infuriating how innocent people get affected by their inefficiency.

Any input will help. Thank you!

[bszoom42 0]

Try to update your timeline here http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=35379 when you get a chance.

In order to better understand your situation, I have some questions.

1. Was the only error made in your petition the omission of the IMBRA waiver?

2. What alerted you to the omission of the IMBRA waiver?

3. What specific part of IMBRA do you have contention with which requires the waiver?

4. How was your petition amended? Through an RFE or some other process?

Background checks can take a long time.

As far as I am aware, IMBRA only affects the I-129F form, not the I-130. I'm not sure if a K-3 would be affected, as it uses the I-129F form. I would be surprised if an IR/CR1 was affected by IMBRA though.

[bungeegirl 0]

Try to update your timeline here http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=35379 when you get a chance.

In order to better understand your situation, I have some questions.

1. Was the only error made in your petition the omission of the IMBRA waiver?

2. What alerted you to the omission of the IMBRA waiver?

3. What specific part of IMBRA do you have contention with which requires the waiver?

4. How was your petition amended? Through an RFE or some other process?

Background checks can take a long time.

As far as I am aware, IMBRA only affects the I-129F form, not the I-130. I'm not sure if a K-3 would be affected, as it uses the I-129F form. I would be surprised if an IR/CR1 was affected by IMBRA though.

My fiance previously filed for a K1. It was approved but due to things not working out, he immediately cancelled it even before she was interviewed in her own country. Therefore, she never entered the US at all.

As to our own K1, he made an oversight regarding the question "Have you filed for this type of petition before?" At this point, neither of us knew about the IMBRA law that sets limitations as to the number of K1's a USC can file. SO when our case was transferred to a local office, we immediately went through our file and realized our mistake. So we filled out another form, this time with the correct answer of a previous K1 and attached a waiver that we read is usually needed due to IMBRA.

So my feeling is, they are probably doing an extensive (maybe over extensive) background check on him because he has filed 2 k1's. The feeling of hopeless is overwhelming. ANd not knowing if we'll ever have a chance to be together makes things even worse.

How do i input my timeline without strictly following the format given in this site? I want to be able to put comments on the side like you do

Edited August 18, 2007 by bungeegirl

[kitkat1 5]

I-129Fs don't get sent to local offices - there are only two processing locations so yours is in the wrong place.

Sending an addendum after filing the petition but without receiving an RFE is never a good idea - even if you think you know where your file is, the chance of the addendum and your file meeting up are slim to none.

I would get a lawyer and senator involved - your file needs to be relocated back to the correct service center - you might even be better off starting over completely. Even with IMBRA, I-129Fs do not take 12-18 months to process (read the cases in the IMBRA forum - were there ANY that took that long?)

[pushbrk 12,821]

I-129Fs don't get sent to local offices - there are only two processing locations so yours is in the wrong place.

Sending an addendum after filing the petition but without receiving an RFE is never a good idea - even if you think you know where your file is, the chance of the addendum and your file meeting up are slim to none.

I would get a lawyer and senator involved - your file needs to be relocated back to the correct service center - you might even be better off starting over completely. Even with IMBRA, I-129Fs do not take 12-18 months to process (read the cases in the IMBRA forum - were there ANY that took that long?)

I had the same reaction to your opening post. "Local office"? No way. Let's face some facts though. If there is a problem it may not be as simple as having filed two petitions for fiance. He also gave the wrong answer on the first rendition of the current petition. You both not knowing about IMBRA as an excuse for giving the wrong answer sounds more like a deliberate attempt to lie because you thought you could get away with it. That can prompt some extra scrutiny.

[bszoom42 0]

How do i input my timeline without strictly following the format given in this site? I want to be able to put comments on the side like you do

The timeline you are seeing beneath my post is part of my signature. You can create your own signature with any details you wish to provide. In the timeline itself, you can also specify additional comments; and I believe you can edit "your story" as part of your VisaJourney.com profile.

As for the rest, both kitkat1 and pushbrk are right - something is definitely atypical. Whether that is due to providing an incorrect answer for the number of petitions filed previously, or some other issue, it sounds like you need to step up your level of involvement and scrutiny of the process. Also, it sounds like the case has been transferred to a local office for an investigation.

You might want to contact a congressperson, vist the USCIS local office a bit more frequently, and take some consultations from lawyers to see if there are any lawyers that you think can help your case and are within your budget.

Also, I have some more questions..

1. Did you fiance receive any paperwork from either USCIS or the Department of State confirming the prior petition was been withdrawn/cancelled?

2. If it was cancelled after receiving the NOA2 (I-797 Approved Notice) was the NVC and Embassy contacted?

3. If you put your case number on the USCIS case status website, what status do you get now?

4. When you call the USCIS service center, what do they tell you about your case now?

5. What address did they provide for the National Records Center?

[bungeegirl 0]

I-129Fs don't get sent to local offices - there are only two processing locations so yours is in the wrong place.

Sending an addendum after filing the petition but without receiving an RFE is never a good idea - even if you think you know where your file is, the chance of the addendum and your file meeting up are slim to none.

I would get a lawyer and senator involved - your file needs to be relocated back to the correct service center - you might even be better off starting over completely. Even with IMBRA, I-129Fs do not take 12-18 months to process (read the cases in the IMBRA forum - were there ANY that took that long?)

I had the same reaction to your opening post. "Local office"? No way. Let's face some facts though. If there is a problem it may not be as simple as having filed two petitions for fiance. He also gave the wrong answer on the first rendition of the current petition. You both not knowing about IMBRA as an excuse for giving the wrong answer sounds more like a deliberate attempt to lie because you thought you could get away with it. That can prompt some extra scrutiny.

We do have a lawyer, but she is quite useless since she has never heard of a case transferred to a local office and therefore is unsure of what's the next best step. As for the senate's office, we spoke to someone and all she could do was confirm that our papers were indeed at the local office and not at CA.

As for starting over, what are the implications of withdrawing a current K1 (aside from starting all over again) If we do that, that would techinically be the 3rd K1 my fiance has filed, and if we submit everything correctly from the get-go, wouldn't they still do the same check they are doing now? Or is it possible that they might just forget about that? Would k3 be a better option? I'm just worried that re-filing a k1 would go down the same path we are in, considering that we have waited 7 months already, we might just waste more time.

[bungeegirl 0]

1. Did you fiance receive any paperwork from either USCIS or the Department of State confirming the prior petition was been withdrawn/cancelled?

2. If it was cancelled after receiving the NOA2 (I-797 Approved Notice) was the NVC and Embassy contacted?

3. If you put your case number on the USCIS case status website, what status do you get now?

4. When you call the USCIS service center, what do they tell you about your case now?

5. What address did they provide for the National Records Center?

My answers as follows:

1. Yes, he did receive the notice of withdrawal. A letter from the Director and the letter they sent to the alien in both english and Vietnamese versions. We attached these with the waiver.

2. All parties were notified. He even called the US consulate in Vietnam to make sure they cancelled it.

3. Because our case is at local level, we no longer receive any updates online in terms of "touches". So last update we have there is the notice of transfer from last MArch.

4. USCIS doesn't know anything about our case. They just say it has been transferred.

5. For the NAtional Records Center, it's the one at Lee's something (sorry, I forgot the whole name)

[bszoom42 0]

We do have a lawyer, but she is quite useless since she has never heard of a case transferred to a local office and therefore is unsure of what's the next best step.

If I were you, that would be my signal to start consulting with other attorneys to find one more experienced.

You definitely have a complicated situation. Perhaps a good move would be to try to make friends with your local USCIS office and ask them the implications of withdrawing this petition, and just marrying and pursuing a spouse based visa. My gut feeling is now your names are probably flagged in the USCIS system, so refiling under another petition that they handle will not help. The other thing I am thinking is perhaps you should review your recent I-129F submissions against the original I-129F submission (for the prior fiancee) to see if any other discrepancies come out. Perhaps between the three I-129Fs USCIS now has (1 from prior, and 2 from this time, there may be another discrepancy or discrepancies.)

One possiblity I can think of which could potentially bypass this (though i am not certain and you definitely want to get more opinions) is if you bypassed USCIS by doing some sort of Direct Consular Filing (DCF) is that is available to you. That would require the U.S. Citizen to relocate to the foreign country, become a resident therein, and then once that criteria is met then file I-130. Of course, you would have to marry there, and then making sure the domecile remains U.S. and the U.S. Citizen's income may become an issue...

[Seattle2Cebu 0]

you dont have to file a waiver if you had only one previous k-1 application do you?

I thought you got 2

[pushbrk 12,821]

you dont have to file a waiver if you had only one previous k-1 application do you?

I thought you got 2

My reading of the law says no. However, the answer is yes because USCIS is reading more than two as "two or more".

[payxibka 10,045]

you dont have to file a waiver if you had only one previous k-1 application do you?

I thought you got 2

My reading of the law says no. However, the answer is yes because USCIS is reading more than two as "two or more".

No, the USCIS is not reading the law the way you indicated....... I speak from experience....

Edited October 8, 2007 by fwaguy

[pushbrk 12,821]

you dont have to file a waiver if you had only one previous k-1 application do you?

I thought you got 2

My reading of the law says no. However, the answer is yes because USCIS is reading more than two as "two or more".

No, the USCIS is not reading the law the way you indicated....... I speak from experience....

Whom do you refer to as "you", the OP or me?

USCIS is requiring a waiver for the second K1 petition.

Edited October 8, 2007 by pushbrk

[payxibka 10,045]

USCIS is requiring a waiver for the second K1 petition.

Pushbrk, the "you" was you

No they are not requiring a waiver on the second K-1. I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE... You do not... I did not request or need a IMBRA waiver on my second K-1! If it is in the two year window, then yes a waiver will be needed.

Edited October 8, 2007 by fwaguy

[pushbrk 12,821]

USCIS is requiring a waiver for the second K1 petition.

Pushbrk, the "you" was you

No they are not requiring a waiver on the second K-1. I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE... You do not... I did not request or need a IMBRA waiver on my second K-1! If it is in the two year window, then yes a waiver will be needed.

I only addressed them reading "more than two" as "two or more". Of course, the two year window applies. No argument here.