Noorah101

There is only one point in the process where visa fees are paid, and that is either before or at the visa interview.

My point is that you need to be talking about USCIS fees, not visa fees.

USCIS fees aren't going to get paid any faster than at the time people apply for an immigration benefit.

Rene

ian-mstm

Ah... so you did! Okay, my bad! Were that the case then, I would hope that my parents felt appropriately traumatized by forcing me to return to the UK. Knowing how good I am at keeping a grudge, I'd likely never forgive them. That said, I would be less angry if we ended up in Edinburgh but, knowing my parents, they would have wanted to return to Glasgow!

Ian

slummymummy

So visa fees don't contribute to the staff's pay?

I'm not sure about my theory so I don't wish to continue debating, I'm not going to say I'm correct for sure but I'm also not 100% sure that I don't have a point in this! IMO it can't be impossible to reduce waiting times without adding (much) to the fees. Maybe one day I'll get a job at USCIS and I'll let you know. By the way, that must have been hard waiting so long for your hubby's visa.

slummymummy

But you would have been sent back on your own so you could have gone wherever you liked! Might not have been such a bad thing? On the other hand you could have left voluntarily when you were 21 and gone to Edinburgh. I presume you wanted to stay though as that's what you did.

It is true though that the parents of E2 kids probably do feel traumatized about what they do to their kids. But you know things change, etc. Maybe they only planned to stay for a year or 2 and then they ended up staying longer. We're all just human. Just because someone made a choice and has to live with it, doesn't mean we can't feel empathy or even sympathy.

As for me I think I'm going to try and stay out of the debates on here, I like it but it takes too much time! I will only try to add any help here and there if I can.

see ya

Noorah101

I don't know.

Actually, it wasn't so hard. We knew we'd be together, it was just a matter of time. We are both independent people and had jobs/lives/hobbies before deciding to get engaged, so we just carried on with our daily life and let the immigration process happen in the background. The only frustrating part was being stuck at NVC for 3 or 4 months extra, but I knew he'd have to undergo these kinds of security checks, so it wasn't a surprise. We hadn't yet lived together, so we weren't missing anything by being apart.

Rene

slummymummy

That's good! Being independent is great, but that doesn't mean you don't miss each other at the same time although it usually makes it easier.

Noorah101

True, but we really hadn't spent much time together in person anyway, so there wasn't anything physical to miss. In the 3 years we had a serious relationship, we only spent about 5 or 6 weeks together in person, total. We were used to having our relationship on the phone, so we just continued that until he immigrated.

We still pretty much live apart. Our home is in Phoenix, but he works most of the time in Los Angeles. He stays in LA for 3 weeks and then comes home for a long weekend. We've been living this way for almost the whole 9 years he's been in the USA....so we're very used to being apart.

Rene

jeffreyhy

Not obvious, in part because USCIS employees do not process visas.

It's more than a question of semantics - immigration is a multi-step process involving multiple government agencies. The discussion thus far has been severly over-simplified, compartmentalized, and for the most part has failed to look ahead to the consequences.

Regards, JEff

jeffreyhy

Lot's of people live this way, it's not an unusual life style. Something not always understood or appreciated by those of us who don't.

Regards, JEff

slummymummy

Jeff I think it's time for you to "come clean". You work in immigration don't you?

Noorah101

Very true. Also goes to show, just because one immigrates to the USA to live with their loved one, circumstances don't always allow them to live together full time anyway!

Rene

jeffreyhy

One does not have to work in immigration to know the most basic things about immigration, once they become involved. But, it never ceases to amaze me how many people ignore or overlook things that they know, as if they didn't know.

Regards, JEff

becks_r

And because it is a multi-step process, there could be steps that are now redundant but still take up time. I know it is unlikely to happen, but it would be lovely to think that the process and the forms used are reviewed regularly to see if anything can be changed. But having worked with government departments in the UK, I think that is a forlorn hope.

But its amazing how a process can take a long time and when you actually review the process you find these redundant, time consuming steps which are only there because thats what they have always done. I worked on reviewing a process once for a software company, as it was taking too long to get products out to customers. Before the review it took 6 months, after it took 2 1/2 months. But they had a financial reason to change, they were losing customers. I'm not sure if immigration would ever have the drive to look into the processes in that depth.

I'm suddenly reminded of a friend's husband - he worked for the MOD in Uk and had to fill a form out regularly, and one field titles was illegible, the form had been photocopied so many times. But he was told to always write 0 in this field. Finally the form became so difficult to read from the countless photocopies that he decided to find the original. When he found it, the field which always had to have 0 in it was: how many air raids have happened today!!!

jeffreyhy

The forms are reviewed regularly, every time the OMB approval expires. Changes are rare, I'll grant you that, and usually insignificant when they are made, unless there's been a change in law that requires a change, such as happened with I-129f a few years ago (the IMB act).

Process is also reviewed and there have been changes over the years, such as when the USCIS NCSC 'Misinformation Line' was established to save the Service Centers from being bothered by anxious callers so that they could concentrate on processing cases. Lockboxes were established to expedite the receipt of case submissions. And processing duties are frequently shifted among the service centers to accomodate shifting priorities and case loads.

It's not as though nothing is being done, even if not obvious to the outside.

Regards, JEff

becks_r

well that is all very good to know, glad some government depts do that....