amol_k3

Just wanted to let people know what my congresswoman passed on to me today. The aide I spoke at her office said that NBC said that they are heavily backlogged and it is taking them upto 90 days *after* they receive the additional evidence to process the RFE. So basically the aide said that I need to wait till Mar 9 to hit my 90 day mark and then contact their office again if I haven't heard anything, but before that there is nothing they can do to speed things up. I will go ahead and contact my senator now and see if they can do something.

Regards,
Amol

Matthew Udall

You are of course free to contact whom ever you want, but I wanted to point out that the USCIS themselves ask that we pick one method of communication with them and stick with it. In other words, if you contact them yourself about a problem (or when I contact them about a problem), then one should not have someone else contact them again about the same thing.

In other words, it "really pisses them off" when they have to answer multiple inquiries about the same thing from multiple people sending the same inquiry (their words spoken at AILA liaison meetings, not mine). It's a huge waste of their time (and from what you say, they are already swamped with work).

But who knows, maybe it will be like it is sometimes for a child who gets turned down by Mom, so he runs to Dad to ask for the same thing.

Good luck with your case.

amol_k3

Thanks for the advice Matt - I know what you mean. I have tried to keep faith in the system and "play by the rules", but with every passing day it is becoming harder not to become cynical and skeptical about the whole system. I can understand the fact that they are overwhelmed and swamped. If they don't have the resources to process I-129F's that is one thing, but to have numerous RFE's pending and yet continue to process newer applications received months after the pending one's is what my problem is with. All I want is some sort of explanation as to why they are processing the app's the way they are, and I will patiently wait my turn.

Regards,
Amol

Andy Platt

"amol_k3" <member20494@british_expats.com> wrote:

    > whole system. I can understand the fact that they are overwhelmed and
    > swamped. If they don't have the resources to process I-129F's that is
    > one thing, but to have numerous RFE's pending and yet continue to
    > process newer applications received months after the pending one's is
    > what my problem is with. All I want is some sort of explanation as to

Hmm, I'm not sure I agree with you here. Let's assume that USCIS never makes
a mistake and asks for an RFE on anything you've already sent. Wouldn't you
agree that that incomplete petition should be processed at a lower priority
than one that was submitted correctly and could be got out of the way
faster? I certainly would expect a correctly filed petition to be processed
quicker.

Of course, USCIS frequently make mistakes or send RFEs when they don't
really need to. That's what I would like them to improve.

Andy.

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

goldrush

I don't know if its possible for you to do this or not, but I would go to India and file your I-130 over there. She would get her immigrant visa within 4 months. From what you have said, your I-129F will not be approved before middle of March. Then, it takes couple more weeks to get it past NVC and onto the Consulate. Then, hopefully, your wife will submit her packet 3 within a day or two after the Consulate receives the app. Then, it takes at least 2 months before you get an interview.

So, you are looking at sometimes in June before she can come to the U.S. ... at the earliest. That is if we hope for the best.

While with DCF, you will get things done at around the same time and maybe earlier, and she would not deal with the stupid ins until her citizenship thing comes up.

If I had gotten an RFE, I was definitely going to India over last Thanksgiving and filing DCF. Even after my wife getting her K-3, I still think that I should have done DCF.

amol_k3

I have been debating everyday for the past month whether I should cancel the K-3 and go for the DCF in India. You're absolutely right that timeline-wise, it will almost end up being the same thing and will be much less of a hassle since we won't have to worry about EAD, AOS, etc. I'm honestly just paranoid about cancelling the K-3 at this stage and having something go wrong at Delhi and then being back at square one... though it is a very straightforward case with everything according to Indian norms, so I don't see why there should be any problems. Now I really feel stupid for not having done DCF when I was there in December... but it looked like the I-129F would get approved soon. I am going to have to give it a lot of thought this weekend...

Thanks,
Amol

Derrick Williams

amol_k3 <member20494@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Just wanted to let people know what my congresswoman passed on to me
    > today. The aide I spoke at her office said that NBC said that they are
    > heavily backlogged and it is taking them upto 90 days *after* they
    > receive the additional evidence to process the RFE.

I am in a similar situation as you. My response to my RFE was received
by them on December 30th. It seems fair to me that once they get a
response to an RFE, they should put the response with the application
and put it in the front of the queue. My horrible crime was not to put
an original signature on the application, which was admittedly
boneheaded of me but having to wait an extra 90 days seems kind of an
excessive punishment.

After all, when I go to the post office, if I make a mistake with a
form or used the wrong one, the clerk will let me stand aside as she
helps people behind me, and as soon as I correct my mistake, I'm
allowed to be helped by the clerk as soon as she is free.

On the other hand, in selfishness, if I had completed my application
perfectly the first time, unlike other people not as attractive or
intelligent than I, then I would be in the opinion that the USCIS
should speedily process correctly completed applications and have
nothing but contempt for utter cretins who obviously will never amount
to any good if they cannot navigate the rules and procedures of
filling out a I-129F, and instead focus on new I-129F's to process.
Whichever gets *my* application processed first is cool for me!

My 90 days will be on March 31st, so based on your experience I will
wait until then to contact my Congressman. I will find a privacy
release form and will compose a businesslike letter stating the facts
of my case and what exactly I want them to do. Because I live close to
NYC, I am figuring that it's going to be something they routinely do,
so I won't need to go into much explanation of the immigration
process. There is an office right in town so I plan to do it in
person, to talk to the staff. Apparently there is a problem with the
mail due to the anthrax scare a while back, so my Congressman's
website specifically states that walk-ins and faxes are preferable.

I have been wondering if there is a list of case numbers of RFE's in
the November-December range for MSC, my idea is that I could monitor
them to see which ones are being approved, and hopefully have a good
idea of when they'll get around to taking my packet out from
underneath the leg of the wobbly table in the break room to look at
it. Of course, if I start randomly typing in numbers for too long, the
USCIS website scolds me for abusing their website, which makes me
cringe in shame. On the other hand, since there is no indication in
published reports to which RFE receipt dates they are processing,
there's no way to know if they're processing RFE's before or after new
cases are processed, or if they are doing it at all.

Hopefully such a list won't get slapped down, after all, there's no
way to identify who the applicant is, all you know is a case number,
date and the status. Seems to me that it would be really helpful if
the USCIS would just print a report of all cases starting from any day
you enter, so you can see the general state of progress without having
to do any 1337 HAXX0R-ing by typing case numbers one by one like a
cyber-criminal.

-Derrick

Hypertweeky

Aww Amol, I am so sorry this is happening to you. I wish you nothing but the best!
By the way what a nice and sunny day! It is cold though

amol_k3

Thanks for the wishes Hyper... you are always smiling It seems NBC is speeding up, so let us hope for the best. The weather this weekend has warmed up nicely!

Spahi

I also have an RFE pending with MSC center. 1st NOA was 09/05/03 RFE
01/14/04, and Reply was received on 01/30/04. I also have contacted my
congresman, and her aide is assisting me. I talked to my wife and she
told me that she is coming over on her visitor's visa in May even if
the I-129F application is not approved. I can totally understand the
frustration with this whole process. Good luck.

Khadija

Matt,

I, too, understand that the BCIS/Consular staff feel it is frustrating and a waste of their time to reply to multiple inquiries from multiple sources. However, if they would share more timely, relevant information in the first place, some of the anxiety would be alleviated and the petitioner would relax.

In addition, I used to work for a US Senator and while it's true they can't perform miracles, it's a lot harder to continually blow off a member of Congress than it is a lowly individual.

In my own current case, the Senator's staff is well aware of the sensitivities of the Consulate staff and that is why we're proceeding gingerly with our inquiries so as to not unduly "piss them off". However, I won't stop using them as a source of information and assistance just because the Consulate is frustrated with their own inability to process cases in a timely fashion.

Patty

Matthew Udall

I have to call bullshit on this one! Petitioners are not interested in information, they want an approval of their case and they want it yesterday. Theirs is the most important case the government is processing, and to hell with slowing down everybody else's cases due to wasting the time of the agencies having to deal with multiple inquiries.

And what is it that you want in the way of information? You know they have your case, you know its not lost, you know they are doing an administrative review of the case (I believe I recall you saying that was the case and sorry if I'm remembering that incorrectly). They have sent out packets to your fiancée (I assume) with instructions, they send out appointment letter or letters, right? So what is it again that you want them to tell you so you can "relax"?

Who said the consulate is frustrated with an inability to process cases in a timely fashion? They do process cases in a timely fashion (as fast as they can). Sure, use them for information and assistance, but know that using them won't get your case put in front of someone else's that filed before you and know that you are slowing everybody's case down at that post. Every minute they spend replying to your rep is one less minute they have to actually work on cases.

If the USCIS or Consulate screws up, sure bring in the reps for help, but if its just to nag the USCIS or Consulate about them being too slow, than your nagging them just slowed them down even more.

Noorah101

Hi Matt,

I'm a petitioner, and I am interested in information. Of course I want approval, but if approval in my case means months of waiting after the interview, I'd be happier and more "relaxed" knowing what it is they are doing (besides the vague admin processing - whatever that means, or the general, "it's being processed").

Obviously those of us with Middle Eastern/Moslem partners have to wait several more months than those with partners of other nationalities/religions. Evidently that entails further investigation by the consulate. Fair enough. But I, for one, would like to know what it is that they are doing with my fiance's case as opposed to someone coming from the UK, for example. I guess I have a curious nature - I'm interested to know what they are looking at in my case which takes months to resolve, as opposed to someone else's case which takes 6 hours to resolve. I understand that it doesn't change the speediness of the process....but it helps me cope with the wait to be informed.

But, that's just my personality and someone else could feel completely different, and not even care to follow up with anything and pay absolutely no attention to their case, from the time they submit the I-129F to the time their fiance(e) enters the POE and calls to say "I'm here!"

Rene

utopiacowboy

OK, Matt. And what if you received a letter on January 22, 2004 from the NVC saying that they had sent the petition to the embassy in Bogota and to this day, your wife has heard nothing from the embassy. Nada! Of course they do not answer either their telephones or their email so what would you suggest? Waiting patiently?

Khadija

Well, from my personal experience, I have not been terribly frustrated with the lack of information up until this point - administrative processing. True, not knowing when the service center would cough up my I-130 or I-129 was annoying but could be dealt with.

Administrative processing is a whole new kettle of fish as they say and the Consulates are like one giant black hole. For example, today, my husband received a call asking for a copy of his passport. Would it have compromised national security for them to state why! Or, in response to my emails, would it kill them to say, we've concluded x and have a, b and c to complete! Trust me, knowing the steps helps calm the anxiety. I was so pleased with the one response I did receive to a specific question as to whether or not this was routine (answer yes) and not just related to our case. I felt, well, OK, it's routine, we'll just have to get through it rather than stewing that it's just us who are put on this "list".

I agree that many of the posters here want it and they want it NOW. When I read some posts by people who've waited a mere 3-4 months for this or a couple months for that and they're complaining about how long everything takes and how hard it is to be separated, I, too, have to roll my eyes. These folks don't have a clue what long is compared to some of us who've waited years. But that's not the point. The point is, information is knowledge and knowledge is power whether it's the power to calm yourself or to know when you need the help of a Congressional Rep or an attorney for that matter.