Andy Platt

My only critique is that it is way to detailed. You could always include
some as supplementary information but I would stick to something along the
lines of, "According to the latest figures released by the Texas Service
Center, they are currently processing I-129F applications filed by US
citizens for their fiance(e)s that were submitted on or before 12/30/2002 -
in other words they are currently taking more than six months to process
these. After that the fiance(e) must apply to the consulate and that may
take whatever time you want to put here".

"Contrary to what the spokesman says, it is currently faster when applying
through the Texas Service Center to get married first and file a two-step
petition - namely an I-130 followed by the I-129F."

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

"lairdside" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by lairdside
    > > Where is the other one Rete - I'll write to them too
    > >
    > > (Typing as I speak).
    > Ok - what did I miss? I ain't perfect but we'll see if anyone reads
    > it first eh?
    > Dear Sir/Madam,
    > I am writing to you regarding the article
    > published in your paper entitled "Cross-
    > border couples wed in 'no man's land'" By
    > Lynn Brezosky
    > Associated Press.
    > There was one error in the article, regarding the time which someone
    > must be a LPR before becoming eligible to apply for US Citizenship if
    > they are married to a USC. The time stated is five years, actually yuou
    > must be married for three years at the time of application and must have
    > been a LPR for three years less ninety days (although someone may not
    > Naturalize before they have been an LPR for at least three years). As
    > the Naturalization process takes six months plus this is not a problem.
    > My main objection is to the following portion of the article, which
    > includes a quote from a BCIS spokesman:
    > "Many couples don't seem to grasp that the Mexican half will be allowed
    > in the United States almost immediately if they sign a "K" visa, which
    > is promise to get married in the United States within the next 90 days.
    > "They think they have to have the wedding first and then go through the
    > whole process, which takes six months. They're almost doing it 100
    > degrees backward," said Art Moreno, a spokesman for the Bureau of
    > Immigration and Citizenship Services."
    > K-1 (Fiancé(e) ) visas are far from "immediate"!
    > In fact for the couple in question, as the Service Center through which
    > they would have to apply is the Texas Service Center filing the I-130 at
    > TSC, followed by the K-3(spousal visa), which would instead be filed
    > through the Missouri Service Center which processes all K-3's, would
    > presently take longer for the K-1 than the K-3.
    > My basis for this assumption comes from the Just In Time (JIT) reports
    > issued by the Service Centers themselves. Even the Service Center which
    > currently processes K-1 visas the fastest, Vermont (VSC) would require
    > allowing three plus months for the visa to be "in hand" at the Foreign
    > Consulate - hardly immediate- and this is with the remainder of the
    > processing post VSC being done by a "fast" Consulate, such as London, UK
    > and with the alien fiancé(e) not being subject to additional security
    > checks due to an IBIS hit or the country of origin or residence.
    > Texas on the other hand currently shows the following processing times
    > for K-1's (I-129F(Fiancé(e)) petitions:
    > TSC Report as of 06/17/03
    > I-129F(Fiancé(e)) : 12/30/2002
    > To file for a K-3 an I-130 must first be filed with the Service Center
    > having jurisdiction over the USC's place of residence in the US. Once
    > the I-130 filing receipt (I-797)is received by the petitioner, which
    > takes approximately one month, they may then file for the K-3 visa for
    > their alien spouse at the Missouri Service Center (MSC). The most
    > current JIT report for Missouri shows a processing time as follows:
    > MSC Report as of 06/15/03
    > I-129F :05/06/2003
    > After being approved by the Service Center both types of petitions must
    > be forwarded to the National Visa Center and then on to the Consulate
    > abroad to complete processing. This processing, as mentioned above,
    > takes anywhere upwards of two and a half months in addition to the
    > service center processing time and this is a VERY fast processing time
    > as many cases are subject to Requests for Further Evidence, further
    > security checks at any stage of processing and many Consulates are
    > slower than others.
    > It's not sent yet - I was hoping that you guys would critique it for me?
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Just Jenney

I think it's great that you (and anyone else) are providing feedback to this journalist regarding this article. After reading the article, and the errors it contains, it almost seems like the journalist didn't do much research at all.

That said, I fear your response as you've written it here contains too much jargon for this journalist to understand. It makes perfect sense to those of us going through the process and dealing with it every day, but your average person -- including this journalist, I suspect -- is not going to understand certain points of your letter. The abbreviations, for instance, or the terms K-1 and K-3 (don't assume the journalist knows the difference between them; after all, only a "K" visa was mentioned in the article, it didn't say which one!).

In other words, it's a great start, but I would "dumb it down" by assuming the journalist has no clue what you're talking about and needs to have everything spelled out for her.

~ Jenney

lairdside

Good point. I doubt the journalist will ever see any reponses though, looks as if they are a freelance journalist?

I wonder how much the Editor knows about immigration.....

jcapulet

Hi Lairdside,

This is a good letter. I have some suggestions, but they are just nitpicky ones so it's all up to you

I'd say "There are errors" rather than "There was one error" as in addition to the citizenship issue, the reporter's depiction of the K-1 time frame is wrong, since there is no such thing as an immediate K-1

Also...the reporter made it sound like an alien is eligible for a green card based on marriage alone, and does not mention or make clear that a spousal or fiance(e) visa is required first.

These are just some of my thoughts...if I am wrong though, anyone please feel free to correct me

Please let us know what response you get from the AP after you send the letter!

Juliet

lairdside

Thank you also

I WAS trying to make it a dumbed down version..lmao

Gawd I could have gotten into real semantics and ranted for ages and ages....

Caro

My impression after reading the letter is that the part on the K visas is probably too technical for somebody who wrote in the article that it is just a matter of "signing the visa". I also know that the fact that the petition has to go through a service center and that there are 4 of those in the US might pass over the heads of a lot of people (even people who have gone through part of the AOS process... I was trying to explain that to my husband yesterday... No comment!).

As a suggestion, I would say that I would make that part very simple, so that a lay person would understand. Here is something but I might have got caught up with way too many details...

"For the couple in question, it is very likely that the fiance visa process would take over 6 months. The first step of the process is having a fiance petition approved by the BCIS, and the Texas Service Center is currently processing petitions received on 12/30/02 (cf JIT, I-129F, TSC), that is over 6 months ago. Therefore, engaged Texan couples who sent their application for a fiance 6 months ago are still waiting for the first step, and there are additional steps in the process until the application reaches the consulate where the foreign spouse resides.

If the couple is already married, they are eligible for a K-3 visa, and the BCIS records show that petitions received on 05/06/03 are currently processed, meaning that people who sent their application at the beginning of May are being approved, reducing dramatically the wait for the first step to be completed."

It is great that you are writing to them to correct this article!!!

Just my opinion!
Caroline

lairdside

I sort of typed it pretty quickly and "off the cuff" so to speak and knew it wasn't perfect. I also wondered how much blood and tears it would be worth putting into it as I'd like to know if they will read it first

Hey if anyone replies at the paper I can really start in on them then..

The journalist needs to look for a day job IMHO.

Caro

The 6 months wait for the green card cracked me up too.... It is not quite that simple!

Caroline

lairdside

You'd think that the journalist would have done at least some minimal research beofre writing the article.

Just for the record - I didn't go through the K-1 or K-3 process myself but AOS'ed (filed I-130/I-485 concurrently) but even I managed to pick up a few things (mostly from hanging around on here).

I mean how much would it have killed her to have read the BCIS's own info?

Rete

LOL it was in the Seattle piece yesterday. They said all you have to do is sign the K-1. I already wrote the author and we are having an ongoing dialogue. In fact have directed him to this particular NG if he wants to really learn about marriage-based visas.

Rete

jcapulet

Hi Lairdside,

I'm sure someone will see it! News organizations do print corrections, although I don't know how one would go about getting it done. It might help to send copies or cc more than one AP contact. I looked all over the AP site but all I could find was:

For general questions and comments: [email protected]

(Not all that helpful, eh? ) Are you going to send your letter with the "feedback" link at the bottom of the news article, or do you already have an e-mail address?

Juliet

lairdside

Good that one is covered then

No wonder no-one does anything if the misconception is that commonplace that it is so easy

It annoyed me somewhat that the BCIS spokesman made it sound as if the couples getting married are so "dumb" not to realise how much more quickly they could have just obtained a K-1 visa.

Of course they are "just a couple of store clerks" and he's a BCIS spokesman.... in fact I think they are being VERY smart considering the service center they are under.

lairdside

I just sent it via the feedback link.

If they don't answer I was going to call them and ask for a fax #.....

lairdside

I thought about that.

Send them here so that they can see just how "immediate" K-1 visas are first-hand........

dbark

That's great, lairdside -- I have not had time myself to respond to the article yet today, I guess you have done a brilliant job already! It makes me mad that so many people think it is easy to get a K1 visa -- or any kind of visa.

Debbie