Gili

As I posted a couple minutes ago, I had my interview today at the Los
Angeles INS and was APPROVED! But I didn't get the I-551 stamp! They said
there's a freeze and they don't know when it'll be lifted. Is there anyone
out there who has an interview coming up? Please let us know if the freeze
has been lifted. Also, does anyone have any more info regarding this?

I want my stamp! They told me to stop by the INS office every couple of
weeks to check, because they say there's no other way for me to find out if
the freeze has been lifted.

Nobby

My wife and I had our interview on Wednesday, and the INS chappie asked our attorney if we were aware of the new proceedures. He told her that my fingerprints needed to be checked out again by the FBI, (not sure if this is because the first ones are now more than a year old) and that once these had been cleared then we would recieve notice of approval through the mail. The attorney nor the INS mentioned anything about a freeze.

Steggy

Gili wrote:
    >
    > As I posted a couple minutes ago, I had my interview today at the Los
    > Angeles INS and was APPROVED! But I didn't get the I-551 stamp! They said
    > there's a freeze and they don't know when it'll be lifted. Is there anyone
    > out there who has an interview coming up? Please let us know if the freeze
    > has been lifted. Also, does anyone have any more info regarding this?
    >
    > I want my stamp! They told me to stop by the INS office every couple of
    > weeks to check, because they say there's no other way for me to find out if
    > the freeze has been lifted.

Typical

I had my interview in July (Tucson). Everything went OK, but
no stamp. Not because of a freeze, but because they lost my
medical exam.

I was planning to go next week, and try to get a stamp,
because I still do not have a greencard. Will keep you posted.
--
steg

Gili

In my case it wasn't the fingerprints. I got my fingerprints taken like 5
months ago. The guy who interviewed us said the freeze was an internal
issue that wasn't made public. Also, I'm not sure if it was the whole INS
that had a Green Card freeze or only the Los Angeles office.

"Nobby" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My wife and I had our interview on Wednesday, and the INS chappie
    > asked our attorney if we were aware of the new proceedures. He told
    > her that my fingerprints needed to be checked out again by the FBI,
    > (not sure if this is because the first ones are now more than a year
    > old) and that once these had been cleared then we would recieve notice
    > of approval through the mail. The attorney nor the INS mentioned
    > anything about a freeze.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Lilakay

"Gili" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > As I posted a couple minutes ago, I had my interview today at the Los
    > Angeles INS and was APPROVED! But I didn't get the I-551 stamp! They
said
    > there's a freeze and they don't know when it'll be lifted. Is there
anyone
    > out there who has an interview coming up? Please let us know if the
freeze
    > has been lifted. Also, does anyone have any more info regarding this?
    > I want my stamp! They told me to stop by the INS office every couple of
    > weeks to check, because they say there's no other way for me to find out
if
    > the freeze has been lifted.

I was at the Detroit district INS for interviews on Monday and Tuesday. By
Thursday, the officer told me that they were instructed to not issue any
approvals until further notice. They anticipate that the freeze will last 7
to 10 days, which in INS time really means 7 to 10 weeks.

They said that it had to do with the FBI checks. It used to be the case
that a person's record with the FBI was clear if after entering a query, the
system either gave confirmation of a record, or the query timed out. Now
they require a positive or negative result for each query. This transition
in systems must require either hardware or software upgrade or both.

Those people who will not get results at the interview will be in a large
stack that the officers have no time to address. They have a hard time
getting through the files once, let alone twice.

Lila

Gili

"lilakay" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Gili" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > As I posted a couple minutes ago, I had my interview today at the Los
    > > Angeles INS and was APPROVED! But I didn't get the I-551 stamp! They
    > said
    > > there's a freeze and they don't know when it'll be lifted. Is there
    > anyone
    > > out there who has an interview coming up? Please let us know if the
    > freeze
    > > has been lifted. Also, does anyone have any more info regarding this?
    > >
    > > I want my stamp! They told me to stop by the INS office every couple of
    > > weeks to check, because they say there's no other way for me to find out
    > if
    > > the freeze has been lifted.
    > >
    > >
    > I was at the Detroit district INS for interviews on Monday and Tuesday.
By
    > Thursday, the officer told me that they were instructed to not issue any
    > approvals until further notice. They anticipate that the freeze will last
7
    > to 10 days, which in INS time really means 7 to 10 weeks.
    > They said that it had to do with the FBI checks. It used to be the case
    > that a person's record with the FBI was clear if after entering a query,
the
    > system either gave confirmation of a record, or the query timed out. Now
    > they require a positive or negative result for each query. This
transition
    > in systems must require either hardware or software upgrade or both.
    > Those people who will not get results at the interview will be in a large
    > stack that the officers have no time to address. They have a hard time
    > getting through the files once, let alone twice.
    > Lila

Lila:

Thanks for posting an explanation. I didn't understand what was going on.
I'm going to go by the INS building this Wednesday (probably a waste of
time) and then again in early January. Do you think there will be a way to
find out if the freeze has been lifted without going over there?

~Gili

Steggy

Gili wrote:
    >
    > "lilakay" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > "Gili" wrote in message
    > > news:[email protected]...
    > > > As I posted a couple minutes ago, I had my interview today at the Los
    > > > Angeles INS and was APPROVED! But I didn't get the I-551 stamp! They
    > > said
    > > > there's a freeze and they don't know when it'll be lifted. Is there
    > > anyone
    > > > out there who has an interview coming up? Please let us know if the
    > > freeze
    > > > has been lifted. Also, does anyone have any more info regarding this?
    > > >
    > > > I want my stamp! They told me to stop by the INS office every couple of
    > > > weeks to check, because they say there's no other way for me to find out
    > > if
    > > > the freeze has been lifted.
    > > >
    > > >
    > >
    > > I was at the Detroit district INS for interviews on Monday and Tuesday.
    > By
    > > Thursday, the officer told me that they were instructed to not issue any
    > > approvals until further notice. They anticipate that the freeze will last
    > 7
    > > to 10 days, which in INS time really means 7 to 10 weeks.
    > >
    > > They said that it had to do with the FBI checks. It used to be the case
    > > that a person's record with the FBI was clear if after entering a query,
    > the
    > > system either gave confirmation of a record, or the query timed out. Now
    > > they require a positive or negative result for each query. This
    > transition
    > > in systems must require either hardware or software upgrade or both.
    > >
    > > Those people who will not get results at the interview will be in a large
    > > stack that the officers have no time to address. They have a hard time
    > > getting through the files once, let alone twice.
    > >
    > > Lila
    > >
    >
    > Lila:
    >
    > Thanks for posting an explanation. I didn't understand what was going on.
    > I'm going to go by the INS building this Wednesday (probably a waste of
    > time) and then again in early January. Do you think there will be a way to
    > find out if the freeze has been lifted without going over there?
    >
    > ~Gili

OK that's it. I am going over there on Monday morning and
will ask the questions that are needed. They are quite
helpful here in Tuscon (after 4 hours waiting of course) so
I am confident I will get the answers.
--
steg

Gili

"steggy" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Gili wrote:
    > >
    > > "lilakay" wrote in message
    > > news:[email protected]...
    > > >
    > > > "Gili" wrote in message
    > > > news:[email protected]...
    > > > > As I posted a couple minutes ago, I had my interview today at the
Los
    > > > > Angeles INS and was APPROVED! But I didn't get the I-551 stamp!
They
    > > > said
    > > > > there's a freeze and they don't know when it'll be lifted. Is there
    > > > anyone
    > > > > out there who has an interview coming up? Please let us know if the
    > > > freeze
    > > > > has been lifted. Also, does anyone have any more info regarding
this?
    > > > >
    > > > > I want my stamp! They told me to stop by the INS office every
couple of
    > > > > weeks to check, because they say there's no other way for me to find
out
    > > > if
    > > > > the freeze has been lifted.
    > > > >
    > > > >
    > > >
    > > > I was at the Detroit district INS for interviews on Monday and
Tuesday.
    > > By
    > > > Thursday, the officer told me that they were instructed to not issue
any
    > > > approvals until further notice. They anticipate that the freeze will
last
    > > 7
    > > > to 10 days, which in INS time really means 7 to 10 weeks.
    > > >
    > > > They said that it had to do with the FBI checks. It used to be the
case
    > > > that a person's record with the FBI was clear if after entering a
query,
    > > the
    > > > system either gave confirmation of a record, or the query timed out.
Now
    > > > they require a positive or negative result for each query. This
    > > transition
    > > > in systems must require either hardware or software upgrade or both.
    > > >
    > > > Those people who will not get results at the interview will be in a
large
    > > > stack that the officers have no time to address. They have a hard
time
    > > > getting through the files once, let alone twice.
    > > >
    > > > Lila
    > > >
    > >
    > > Lila:
    > >
    > > Thanks for posting an explanation. I didn't understand what was going
on.
    > > I'm going to go by the INS building this Wednesday (probably a waste of
    > > time) and then again in early January. Do you think there will be a way
to
    > > find out if the freeze has been lifted without going over there?
    > >
    > > ~Gili
    > OK that's it. I am going over there on Monday morning and
    > will ask the questions that are needed. They are quite
    > helpful here in Tuscon (after 4 hours waiting of course) so
    > I am confident I will get the answers.
    > --
    > steg

Keep us posted!