Frustrated with Vermont Service Center

[Hank and Kato 0]

Okay,

I'm not here to just b**** and moan (or to complain about those who have been approved)! I'm really happy for those who have been approved and are so close to being together, and am very sorry for those who have been waiting for even longer then us, but it still doesn't make this whole situation okay. Now onto my question, does ANYBODY know how the service centers work? Because when I look at cases similar to ours (Germany is the country and received the NOA1 on the same date or later then us) they are all approved (three days ago). When cases come in, it doesn't seem that it's first come first serve. Do they split them up by last name? SS number? Case number? Because that would explain why some have been approved and some are still waiting. Because some officers there might work faster? Does this make any sense? It's been 7 months and counting. I have attempted to call them and they keep telling me "Call back next month". I hear people say that we should contact our Senator, but does that really work? I mean, what makes them want to help us out? I think my biggest concern is that maybe the reason we haven't been approved is because of our age. My German FI is 19 and I'm 18....does this matter? And please no "too young to get married" speeches please.

Anybody with some kind of input? Anybody been here?

Once again, I've got no negative feelings for those who have been approved and I am sincerely sorry for those who have been waiting even longer. This is just my attempt to understand why the Vermont center is out to lunch, so to speak.

-K

Edited September 2, 2012 by Hank and Kato

[jkelly07 120]

yes your past the estimated time line did you try calling the 800 number or E.MAIL the nvcinquiry@state.gov ask about your case, your age dont matter if your legal to marry,one more thing are you a f1 exchange student, if thats the case you file different forms for visa ,

[Que Saudade 284]

I concur that they are past the published processing times for VSC. But, according to VJ timeline stats, VSC is running a little more than 6 months. They should be hearing something soon. But, I am not suggesting that you just wait OP. Just pointing out this seems to be the case for others as well.

I don't think they meant German F1... I think they abbreviated fiance as FI... just my interpretation.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Incoming petitions are put into boxes in the order they are received. Those boxes are placed on shelves in chronological order. Adjudicators pull the next box on the shelf to work on. After that, things can quite easily get out of sync. Yes, some adjudicators are faster than others. More often, an adjudicator pulls a box with a number of difficult and time consuming cases in it, which slows downs processing of the other cases in that box. Sometimes, your case is one of those difficult cases. For example, they might get a hit on a name in a law enforcement database. This might mean they have to take more time to investigate and determine if you're the same Jane Doe who was convicted of shooting a bank teller in an armed robbery 10 years ago. Since USCIS isn't forthcoming with the information, you might never know why your case is taking longer than others. You can contact your senator or congressional representative. If the slowdown is the result of bureaucratic foot dragging then that might light a fire under them and get your case moving. If your case is on hold for investigation results then your senator can't do anything about that, although they might give your senator's office more information than they're giving you.

[revtech100 16]

I shared the same frustration and had the same questions a few weeks ago. I got sme great info here....

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/385340-processing-order/page__st__15__p__5642124__fromsearch__1#entry5642124

I watched those all around us getting approved and we were not. Then a week of so later we got our noa2. So keep the faith and keep looking for that approval.

Edited September 2, 2012 by revtech100

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Okay,

I'm not here to just b**** and moan (or to complain about those who have been approved)! I'm really happy for those who have been approved and are so close to being together, and am very sorry for those who have been waiting for even longer then us, but it still doesn't make this whole situation okay. Now onto my question, does ANYBODY know how the service centers work? Because when I look at cases similar to ours (Germany is the country and received the NOA1 on the same date or later then us) they are all approved (three days ago). When cases come in, it doesn't seem that it's first come first serve. Do they split them up by last name? SS number? Case number? Because that would explain why some have been approved and some are still waiting. Because some officers there might work faster? Does this make any sense? It's been 7 months and counting. I have attempted to call them and they keep telling me "Call back next month". I hear people say that we should contact our Senator, but does that really work? I mean, what makes them want to help us out? I think my biggest concern is that maybe the reason we haven't been approved is because of our age. My German FI is 19 and I'm 18....does this matter? And please no "too young to get married" speeches please.

Anybody with some kind of input? Anybody been here?

Once again, I've got no negative feelings for those who have been approved and I am sincerely sorry for those who have been waiting even longer. This is just my attempt to understand why the Vermont center is out to lunch, so to speak.

-K

Age is not an issue, "free to marry" is the requirement.

The pinned topic at the top of the page has info on how service centers work.

If they are behind due to an overwhelming number of processes calling a Senator will not help. Obama allowing 1.7 million illegals to apply for green cards doesn't help.

[ClaireGio 35]

I thought it was a temp delay to deportation... He tried getting them green cards but was stopped. But yeah doesn't help - still 1.7m petitions for them to go through....

I thought it was a temp delay to deportation... He tried getting them green cards but was stopped. But yeah doesn't help - still 1.7m petitions for them to go through....

[Hank and Kato 0]

Incoming petitions are put into boxes in the order they are received. Those boxes are placed on shelves in chronological order. Adjudicators pull the next box on the shelf to work on. After that, things can quite easily get out of sync. Yes, some adjudicators are faster than others. More often, an adjudicator pulls a box with a number of difficult and time consuming cases in it, which slows downs processing of the other cases in that box. Sometimes, your case is one of those difficult cases. For example, they might get a hit on a name in a law enforcement database. This might mean they have to take more time to investigate and determine if you're the same Jane Doe who was convicted of shooting a bank teller in an armed robbery 10 years ago. Since USCIS isn't forthcoming with the information, you might never know why your case is taking longer than others. You can contact your senator or congressional representative. If the slowdown is the result of bureaucratic foot dragging then that might light a fire under them and get your case moving. If your case is on hold for investigation results then your senator can't do anything about that, although they might give your senator's office more information than they're giving you.

See, I knew there was a reason people that have filed later then us or even same day as us have been approved and we haven't even been touched. I don't think we are being held up for being a difficult case since we haven't even bee touched. But thank you, makes this so much easier to understand!

I concur that they are past the published processing times for VSC. But, according to VJ timeline stats, VSC is running a little more than 6 months. They should be hearing something soon. But, I am not suggesting that you just wait OP. Just pointing out this seems to be the case for others as well.

I don't think they meant German F1... I think they abbreviated fiance as FI... just my interpretation.

Yes sorry for any confusion on the F1 - FI thing.....I guess I just got used to abbreviating Fiance on the wedding websites!

[TigerFlower 61]

I'm in the same boat as you, OP. Keep the faith and continue on!!

[elyhim 41]

I thought it was a temp delay to deportation... He tried getting them green cards but was stopped. But yeah doesn't help - still 1.7m petitions for them to go through....

I thought it was a temp delay to deportation... He tried getting them green cards but was stopped. But yeah doesn't help - still 1.7m petitions for them to go through....

The "Dreamers" AOS is not going through California or Vermont, Vermont did have Syrian emergency status but that seems to have been up to May.

Children who were brought to this country under 16 years of age and have no record or have served in the military ought to have a path forward in the only country they have known.

[TigerFlower 61]

The Syrian ones began March 12th, the Monday after mine was received..... tons of them, and most were rejected due to not being filled out properly or incorrect fee. Sad. I learned this by planing with the numbers.

[garlicknots 0]

As far as when adjudicators get to cases (someone who filed later than you has been 'touched' and you haven't) I have a letter somewhere that I'll put up on Change.org or the like to attempt to address that after I get my NOA2 and it gets moved to the country. Changing it from a somewhat random process to one where, at the minimum, respective filing dates are respected would relieve at least one seemingly irrational procedure.

If anyone has any other ideas on how to do that, would appreciate.