contacting your senator or rep for help, was it helpful ? pros/cons

[~~~water~~~ 0]

I am thinking of asking for help. When I looked at my senators site, it says you have to sign a relase to talk with them about your case. I remember seeing once on visa journey a post if you sign this release you personally can't contact the embassy dos anymore, is this true? If you did write for help do you think it helped? Any advice is appreciated.

[MaryandMian 1]

You can sign a release form and ask for the congressional office or senatorial office to help. Usually the congressional aide will send off a letter or call to the embassy asking for an update. If your case is in AP they cannot do anything to expedite the process and the embassy will write or tell them that they will contact the applicant as soon as they are ready to process their files. I know in Islamabad if you have congressional/senatorial aide check into the status of your processing the embassy will not respond to your emails until they are ready to contact your SO again. I did this and only time I could get updates was calling DOS.

AP does not have a time limit to complete and no one can make the process move any faster since it is considered a matter of national security if the AP is for name and fingerprint checks. In AP you can also have them checking the validity of the relationship and you have to wait out the field investigation(s) or character check.

Good luck.

. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW

"Administrative Review" refers to a Consular Official placing the case "on hold" because the Visa Petitioner or Beneficiary FAILED TO PASS the security name check or background check, or because the Consulate or State Department or Homeland Security NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE some issue or matter in the case more closely. Cases placed into Administrative Review can ADD WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS to processing time and final decision on visa issuance, typically in most cases AT LEAST 4 to 8 weeks additional time. Under current regulation, there is no right of appeal within State Department or Homeland Security for administrative review status. It is suggested that visa petitioners and beneficiaries keep track of the status of their case as best as possible, and secure, if possible, the reason or reasons their case has been placed into administrative review, which at least helps to relieve some anxiety during the waiting time. http://www.usaimmigrationattorney.com/Secu...tiveReview.html

[RAKASA 0]

Yes, I found it very helpful (coincidence? maybe?). I also just contacted the same helpful office again for some AOS help. We seem to be "stuck" and they have sent a request on our behalf. Hopefully things will get moving again very soon.

I say "DO IT"! I certainly can't hurt. And as for the release, we never had to sign one. It did say that, but I sent all our info regarding the case in an email and it was no problem. Maybe depends on the Senator. She definitely gets my vote!!!

Me

[*Maureen* 0]

How long has it been since you filed your petition? Is it over the normal processing time?

Senators can make an inquiry to the USCIS and get more of a fast reply but I don't think they have a magic wand. I have never heard of not being able to contact the embassy after contacting a senator. In my case, contacting senators didnt help, just another letter saying...we will mail you a decision as soon as your case is complete! Good luck with your journey!!

I am thinking of asking for help. When I looked at my senators site, it says you have to sign a relase to talk with them about your case. I remember seeing once on visa journey a post if you sign this release you personally can't contact the embassy dos anymore, is this true? If you did write for help do you think it helped? Any advice is appreciated.

[~~~water~~~ 0]

We started in Oct our interview was may 3rd

[tnh9479 1]

We got one of our senators involved when my husband never got any information from the consulate after his petition was forwarded. We waited about four weeks (which at that time was SO abnormal). The senator's office was so helpful!!! The same day they found the response, the consulate finally emailed me AND my SO finally got his packet (amazing what things a pretty influential senator can do).

Edited August 2, 2007 by tnh9479

[yassmine2878 1]

I tried getting help from my state reps on 2 different occasions and neither was very successful. By the time they responded to my inquires, my husband was already in the country.

[mybackpages 0]

How helpful it can be depends on the aide who handles immigration issues for the office. You have three reps you can contact - 2 senators and one US representative. If one office does not seem capable of handling it well, try another aide in another office.

[tnh9479 1]

How helpful it can be depends on the aide who handles immigration issues for the office. You have three reps you can contact - 2 senators and one US representative. If one office does not seem capable of handling it well, try another aide in another office.

This is very true. This is where VJ becomes another great resource. I found some other members from my state who had to contact one of our senators. All were helpful, suggested one senator, and told me how his office deals with these cases and what exactly to do. So...rely on the experience of others!

[allousa 1]

Our case is different than most, as I haven't ran into anyone on the MENA board yet that is having to do a I-601 like us. Our Congress rep was EXTREMELY helpful in getting his file moving in our local office. I made two appointments with our local CIS office to inquire if our file had been sent to NVC. On both occasions they said it had. It wasn't until our Congress rep got involved that we found out they had never sent it. Our rep said that we could file a letter of complaint, but they actually suggest that we wait until after the process. HA! That was 3 1/2 years ago.

But like others said, once you go into the black hole of AP, no one can help you there.

For anything other than AP, ABSOLUTELY contact your representatives!

[monnik 0]

We contacted my senator's office on May 27th of this year. We were waiting for an interview to be scheduled and we had been waiting since February. The senator's aide wrote me back on June 4th to tell me that Mon's interview was scheduled for June 14th.

I don't know how much she helped, but I have already contacted her to check on our case now that we are in AP. Even if we haven't passed the standard waiting time, I wanted to update her because she has helped us before. I HOOOOOOOOOPE that it helps - even if it's just a little bit!!!

[sarah and hicham 3]

I personally see nothing bad coming out of contacting your representitive, especially if you are in a position where you need all the help you can get.

The case worker who I talked to must not have had much to do last summer because he called me the morning that hicham picked up his visa to tell me that it was issued. Of course I had already known from Hicham calling me at 3 am but I was surprised that he started making calls the day after I signed the release form.

[morocco4ever 63]

It depends on what you are looking for. Do you want him/her to help it get approved? No. Do you want him/her to help speed it up beyond normal processing time? No. But if you are having difficulties then it can be very helpful. They can get a little more info than you would on your own. In fact, you might not get any responses from the consulates. They also assist in keeping them on top of your case rather than letting it fall between the cracks. Hopefully you have representatives that believe you, and are aggressive enough to keep after them without over doing it.

FYI, we were denied. Our rep helped greatly in getting it done within what they would call a timely matter. Oh yes, one other note, it doesn't mean you can't contact them but don't count on them on responding if they don't want too.

[chasnik 0]

Well, I went to our congressmans office the first part of July. At that point the aide got a canned response about the congressional inquiry, but last week I sent her another email and she called me and contacted someone she knows here in the Atlanta office who she says can see whatever the CSC is doing. I havent gotten an email back, but I did have two touches on my case, so I know someone at least looked at it before they put it back in the black hole. I say it cant hurt to contact them,and yes I did sign the release. They are public servants and supposed to be here to help!!!

[Marriednow 4]

Well, I went to our congressmans office the first part of July. At that point the aide got a canned response about the congressional inquiry, but last week I sent her another email and she called me and contacted someone she knows here in the Atlanta office who she says can see whatever the CSC is doing. I havent gotten an email back, but I did have two touches on my case, so I know someone at least looked at it before they put it back in the black hole. I say it cant hurt to contact them,and yes I did sign the release. They are public servants and supposed to be here to help!!!

Hi--What is the status of your case on your timeline? Just interested in knowing, since we are similar to yours. Thanks, Debbie