Cirkul

My initial description of my lawyer was 100 percent wrong. At the time of my first ever thread here, I was quite panicked. We spoke at length about the WOM.I had not realized how smart and aggressive he actually was until I had a lengthy phone call with him. I was not coerced into paying him the money. He has done around a dozen WOMS this year. That was in August when we agreed to it. It's been nearly 4 weeks, so that tells me they are trying build a very good case. My case had been at VSC for over a year. I've been married to my wife for 29 months and filed the petition a month after marriage. My father passed away a day after my marriage. My mother has been a wreck ever since, and I KNOW my wife would bring a lot of joy into her life. They are quite the video call duo. That is why I am trying to make things move. I am also not getting any younger and I want a family of my own with my precious wife. Additionally, it has been said in this forum that prosecutors usually dismiss sexual cases because of problems with their states case. Well, I am here to tell you that their problem was that I was innocent! I have no criminal convictions for ANY crime which is why I find it absolutely ridiculous that USCIS are putting my mother, myself, and my wife through this BS!! We are going on three years now! As for the FBI, I can only speculate. The first two times I returned from the Philippines I was flagged by CBP for secondary inspections. The first time they didn't really know why. The checked my bags and sent me on my way. The second time I ended up with senior officer and he indicated there were agencies not communicating accurately at either the state or federal level. He did not specify. I have never been stopped at a POE since that senior officer made some changes to whatever it was. My defense attorney said many of his clients that have had charges get dismissed have had problems with CBP as well. He believes that there some miscommunication between the various government agencies. Sorry for the fiery nature of this post but I have just had it.... I just want my wife with me.

Can anyone touch on the scenario that USCIS will simply deny my case because it is stuck in backgrounds? Would they not reach out to my lawyer first?

I live in a cabin in the woods. There is almost no crime where I live. In a year or so I'll be moving to an even more rural location, again very little crime. Watching the news, you would think the US is a war zone. She might get the wrong impression. Just a thought. Manila Times often covers events in the US.

Yep. There were Christmas parades at MOA every day I went there in October🤣.

Lemonslice, hopefully if the Filipino Court has records of false charges they are much quicker at getting it over than the FBI in the US....

You are preaching to the choir. Unfortunately the government has a lot more money than us even if we all sued. We would be drowned in attorney's fees. 100% certain I don't live in one of those 16 states.

Thank you. I fully expect my case to be approved and I hope this thread can be a guideline. Give me six weeks. I will update

I might add there is a person on this thread that said my petition may be denied due to being in background checks. From what I have read this usually happens at the NVC level, and also why FBI will be served.I believe FBI is the problem My lawyer has never seen a case outright denied as stated.Still, the comment does scare me. I hope this thread helps others that are in my position. I hope for good news in the next 6 weeks. There is a lot of conflicting information here about a WOM.

I agree. My lawyer said it's a bunch of BS. He didn't abbreviate the expression.

Another update: my case is stuck in background checks. I will be filing a WOM tomorrow, FBI included. I sent 6k to my lawyer tonight.

Got a random E-mail today from USCIS about a case Inquiry submitted Last month. It gave me a service item number, and said they will try to respond with in 30 days. Whether they mean 30 days from today or from the date of inquiry, I don't know. I'm assuming it's from my congressman inquiring. I don't know what to expect from this because when I talked to an agent on the chat, she just said my case is processing normally. The listed inquiry issue is "case status". Nearly have the funds for the WOM too..... Guess I better wait.

*Update. Just got back from the Philippines again. Super hard goodbye this time!! Actually, all goodbyes at that airport are super tough. My congressman reached out to USCIS yesterday, have not got a response. I've heard that just an inquiry can spark action though... I'm not sure why it took him a month to send the inquiry. I chatted with a live agent last week who would only say my case was processing normally (despite the petition being filed in May,2022.) Thinking of having another congressman or two reach out. Preparing to sell one of my cars to pay for the WOM. 7k is a bit of a stab for me. I thank you all for your advice in this matter. By the way, I really thought long and hard about doing the WOM myself, but I am just more comfortable having my attorney do it. What would really stink is if I pay for the WOM and suddenly one of the congressional inquiries does the trick in a month or two.

Thanks again, Family. I believe things are moving in a positive direction right now.

Hi Family, Thank you so much for your help. Two questions for when I call on Monday.. What is Tier 2, and what is a service call? I printed the form to send to my congressman today. It would be awesome to get through USCIS stage before I go back to visit my wife in June. While that is unlikely, at least I can get some seeds planted before I leave. Thanks again! Thank you, Redro!

Hi Redro, No I have not tried to file an I129F. Nor have I tried a K3. I think because I married my wife in her country the I129F is off the table...but not the K3.

IOE

I'm afraid I don't even know how to tell where the lockbox is. But I did send a certified letter to TSC in January for a case update but no response.

I will look into the k3. Thank you so much!

Thank you, Redro. My only concern now is, do I dare file a K3 at this point? We could be approved next week. K3 might delay it a few more months. But I'm no lawyer or expert. If I'm still stuck in a background check, my worry is that the same thing will happen if I file a K3.

Thank you, Family. I really appreciate it. I'm going to give this a other month or two before I do this. Attorney or no attorney involved. I really do appreciate your help. Thank you so very much!!

Thanks. I did. Looks like we are way behind schedule but looks like there are a lot of people still st USCIS stage like my wife and I

Well, that's not very encouraging and I thank you for your oppinion. This is so hard...

Hello Everyone, I am married to a Filipina and our two year wedding anniversary will be April 18th. USCIS started processing our case early July of 2022. We are still at the USCIS stage. My lawyer wants to just file a Mandamus in July of this year. I don't want to spend the 6 grand. I will if I have to though. He has told me, reaching out to a senator will do nothing, contacting a local lawmaker will do nothing, and contacting USCIS is a "colossal waste of time". I feel like he just wants the 6k for filing the writ. He explained to me that if he files it, his "contact" at USCIS will email him and ask what can be done to avoid going to court. Does any anyone have any ideas to prevent me from spending another 6 thousand dollars? My lawyer seems confident in his plan, but I just want this petition approved. It's been nearly two years now. Read my other, threads that should answer any questions..

I'm going to assume you are in the US. I got married after 18 days and could have gone faster if I wanted. You're going to need to have someone send you your birth certificate. I would think a friend or legal courier could do this for you. The municipality you are in MAY allow you to present a copy of it in which case someone can email it to you, and you can print it off of someone's computer. Go to the embassy in Manila and get your Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry notarized (very important). You will need all divorce decree's and also certificates of any prior marriages. Your fiancée' will need a valid CENOMAR. She may need parental consent if she is under a certain age( I want to say its 24) and if the parents refuse there are forms for that. Some Municipality's you need counseling, some you don't. Go to the local registrar, apply for marriage and wait 10 weekdays. Then book the venue. Or book the venue months prior like I did. You would be wise to have your fiancée get a list of EXACTLY is required for a foreigner to marry a Filipino in her municipality. Be sure to send your marriage certificate to PSA, right away. I was lucky in the fact that I was able to have a lawyer sign my affidavit because it was still right after COVID. Hope this helped! Marriage - U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (usembassy.gov)

Well, my wait time went from 2 months to 4. Which tells me they got my inquiry letter.