lisa67

So, as mentioned before, my husband got his GC back in January and me and the kids are still waiting for ours (from H4s) We're in retrogression...June 2002 is the current date and we're Feb. 2005.
Son leaves HS in 2.5 years time and wants to go into the Police Force (after college) and needs to be a USC.
we still have a bit of time to play with...but I'm thinking of writing a letter to our Congress person....anyone done this? anyone got any tips?

JAJ

I don't think a letter will help, but take a look at:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Priority_Date

ian-mstm

To what end?

Ian

lisa67

I'm hoping that, by some miracle, she/he may be able to shift things along a bit so my son can persue his career of choice.
I've spent 6 years sitting around waiting for things to sort themselves out and I'm feeling frustrated...at least by writing a letter I'd feel I was being proactive!

lisa67

Thanks for that, but, without sounding like a know-all, it doesn't have anything in it that I don't already know. I'm just feeling fed up and don't want my son to be dissapointed if he gets through college and can't do what he's always wanted to do. You'd think that, by now, I'd know not to let my feelings and USCIS "mix"

JAJ

You may want to look at the following (with the link to USCIS):
http://www.murthy.com/news/n_pndchr.html

There is a long backlog of EB3 cases but many of these come from India are are subject to the per-country limit. If you look at the Rest of World pending cases, there are about 10,000 ahead of you which suggests there is a good chance of the PD moving forward to the 2005/06 range this year.

Why were your derivative cases not approved at the same time? And is there anything you can do to ensure that next time the PD becomes current, you and your children don't miss out again?

lisa67

Thanks for that link
Apparently me and the kids paperwork was filed 2 months after my husband's (god only knows why that happened!) Which meant we weren't all processed at the same time
I've worked it out that if we get our GCs withing the next 18 months, then my son can complete college and get in to the police force when he's done (as long as we put in for USC as soon as we can)

JAJ

If your case was filed by an attorney (was it?) then doesn't the attorney know the answer?

Have you looked into ensuring that medical exams, etc, that may need to be re-done get done, so as to avoid more delays next time?

meauxna

Does it do any good to have the husband petition the family at this point?
"Just in case"?

Lisa, realistically, your son should have a back up plan. He'll have to be a PR for 5 years before he can become a citizen, and assuming 4 years of college/university + 2.5 years of HS, that leaves one year and a half for him to get PR for everything to be seamless (yeah, right). The more he knows now, with little drama, the better he can plan for a contingency (getting additional training ahead of joining a force etc).

lisa67

The case was filed by an attorney which we've since had to change because my husband has changed jobs.

Good point about the medical exams...I'll call our attorney tomorrow and check as they were done in December 2007.
Thanks for the advice.

lisa67

Mr. F suggested we get my husband to petition, but our attorney was reluctant to do so, stating that it's "highly unlikely" that the GC would come through that route before it's granted through the H4 route, but I'm beginning to think we should do this as a safety net.

Yep, we've talked to our son about a back up plan, and he's thinking of possibly going into the military (where he only needs to be an LPR).

JAJ

I would have thought that an I-485 case for family members should never be filed separately, for precisely this reason. EB-3 was available with a 2005 cut-off for a couple of months after January, so things went terribly wrong somewhere. Have you discussed with your current attorney whether the previous attorney handled things professionally?

As for the rest, you should also have a serious discussion with attorney about husband filing family based petitions. These are heavily backlogged (except for spouses of citizens) and if this all gets delayed it may be needed as an insurance policy.

Also, and perhaps this may be of concern, but it may well be that if your husband was to die or you split up, there would be no basis for any of you to have GC approved. Ask attorney if this is important.

lisa67

Thanks again JAJ. I'm going to get on the phone to the attorney tomorrow and start asking some questions.

I'm very aware that if anything was to happen to my husband then me and the kids would be up the creek without a paddle
Not sure that there's anything that can be done about that though! (although I am trying to keep him away from shell fish and dodgy chinese food!! )

JAJ

Unusually, the January 2010 Visa Bulletin makes predictions on EB-3 availability for the rest of FY-2010, they are saying the cutoff is likely to move to somewhere between April to August 2005 Priority Date (worldwide, excluding India/China/Mexico).
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bu...etin_4597.html

So if PD is in February, and hence likely to become current, I'd recommend a full review (with attorney) of case file and ensure that all documentation is updated with spare copies if necessary, to ensure that if/when the PD becomes current the case is ready for a positive decision before retrogression kicks in again. Also whether it will be necessary to "remind" the service center of a case like this once PD is current.

lisa67

Thanks SO much for this info. I tried (only briefy, I have to admit) to find the visa bulletin but couldn't (maybe something to do with it being NYeve and I've had a couple of strong drinks already)
I'll call the attorney when her office reopens after the weeknd...thanks again!