RFE update from congress rep

Regards,
Amol

--
09/03/03 - NOA #1
11/26/03 - RFE
12/09/03 - NBC recvd add'l documents

Posted via http://britishexpats.com

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.

--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Regards,
Amol

Originally posted by Matthew
Udall

--

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

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.

Thanks,
Amol

Originally posted by goldrush

--

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

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:):)

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

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

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.

Originally posted by Khadija

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.

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

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.

>

Sure it has:) I love how sunny Colorado is:):)
As for NBC
come on!!!!
You should smile more oftenly, It is a very good therapy:D

I would check the timelines of other people that went through Bogota to
compare. I think a month is probably not long enough to go rushing to
your congressman. However, if you can't get a response for the visa
staff, you might try to contact the Consulate General in Bogota.

Hi Rene,
I'm not an expert on
administrative review and I have no idea what it is that they might be
looking into in any given case, however if they are doing an
"investigation" I don't think it would make much sense to tip off the
person being investigated about the subject matter of the investigation.
Plus, their job is to approve an application of a foreigner who is
asking for a benefit from the U.S. government, not to appease your sense
of curiosity.

And if it takes months to do that work, that would be
because that is how long it took to get someone to do that work. The
Embassies run the Consulates, and they have certain priorities as far as
carrying out their duties are concerned. I believe top priority is
dealing with the protection of U.S. citizens and the property of U.S.
citizens located in that country.

For example, the Embassy will send
someone to the jail to check up on a U.S. citizen who might be in jail,
visit and assist a U.S. citizen who might be in the hospital, help claim
and ship back to the U.S. the body of a U.S. citizen who might have died
in that country, etc. Then there is lower priority work of varying
degrees. When they have any time left over, I believe they do the
administrative review work for foreigners applying for a benefit from
the U.S. government.

Plus there is the issue of rotating in new staff
into the Embassy each year (I think the rotate them every year, but I
could be wrong about that), and of course it will take the new staff
time to get to speed at any given post. I think (and again I could be
wrong) the rotations usually happen in one of the summer months (think
it's July).

And please don't get mad at me for relaying this
information (not saying you will get mad, and hoping you won't). I'm
just a messenger and I don't set policy.

And I'm going to call you on it! Many many studies have shown that people
get more stressed out by the unknown than the known - even if the known is
pretty bad. If they could predict reliable timescales, even if they are very
long, that would be better than not predicting them - or worse, predicting a
short timescale that can't be met.

Yes, I suggest you wait patiently for a
while longer. January 22nd is only one month ago, and I can tell you
from experience with hundreds of fiancée cases that it sometimes takes
2 or 3 months for packet 3 to arrive once the case has been approved at
a Service Center (and that is why I do what "I" do for my client's cases
to try to get the consulate on board as quickly as possible and shake
lose packet 3 from them "before" they ever receive the case file from
the USCIS/NVC).

There is nothing in your post to suggest the case is
lost, or that you have waited an amount of time where alarm bells would
start to go off. These things take time, and I would not put much stock
in a template letter sent from the NVC any more that I'd put stock in a
wild guess processing time estimate printed on a receipt notice.

Yup, that is right and that is how I
describe it as well. It used to be that from the moment the case was
approved at the service center to the point the beneficiary received
packet 3, it was like a big black hole and there was absolutely no way
to track where the case was.

"Now" they have put boilerplate language
on the approval notices about the involvement of the NVC in the shipping
of the case to the Consulate, so now everybody is fixated on the NVC
(even though cases used to go through the NVC even before they put that
language on the approval notices) but there is still no way to track
where the case is exactly.

One might even call a consulate to ask, but
the odds are that low level consular employee is not going to put you on
hold and go rummage around the shipping dock or mailroom to see if he or
she can spot your case.

Originally posted by Khadija

And you are complaining about them not giving
you any "information"? Sounds to me like they are communicating vital
things to you… what it is they want your fiancée to supply!

Originally posted by Khadija

Maybe
not, but their job is to adjudicate his case, not teach you the minutia
about what it is they do or how they do it.

Originally posted
by Khadija

I understand your
statement about anxiety; however again, their job is to process cases,
not to teach you how and why they do their jobs. Now if you want to get
a job at a Consulate and do that work yourself, "then" they will spend
time training you to do their work.

Originally posted by
Khadija

I believe they were correct in
characterizing this as "routine". And I'm happy to hear they answered
your question and provided you with information that reduced your
anxiety.

Originally posted by Khadija

Another point is that they
have a lot of work to do and their job is carrying out that work, not
hand holding or teaching you the minutia of Consular processing.

Yes your right Matt what everyone is
their approval. Information would be nice but an approval is the
answer at the end of the day. The problem I had and I think all these
people who have RFE"s is let's say someone forgot a form and gets an
RFE after 75 days. They proceed to answer to answer the RFE with the
simple form that was missing, missing a signature or a form that an
officer just feels like being picky about. Once the RFE is answered I
don't see why these cases have to wait 90 days again especially after
the supposed initial processing was done. If there is any bullshit
involved it's to say that intital processing was done. I guess looking
at the application after it has been sitting on the shelf for 75 days
to finally see that a form is missing is considered initial processing.

The frustration comes to a boling point when an RFE person is waiting
another 90+ days while new apllications are being processed in anywhere
from 75 to 90 days. Even though I am not saying to do this one might
say to themselves why answer the RFE when I could just file a new
application. At least you know that you should get a response in 60 to
90 days. Yes I again know that's not the solution because who says you
won't get another RFE but common sense says that if intial processing
has been done and I answer the RFE then I should receive a decision at
least at the same time as the people who have filed new applications
from the time I received my RFE.

I don't think any given service center "wants" to have it take 90 more
days, however is the OP stated, his own rep told him that his service
center is reporting that this delay is due to being swamped with work.

Originally posted by tmushen

Yes, you are correct in your last sentence. The case arrives
at the mail room, goes through an irradiation process to sterilize any
biological agents that might be in the package, goes to presorting
(commonly referred to as "slit and peek"), then the sorting section,
then to Data Entry where a contract worker enters some data in the
computer. The claims software system then automatically prints out a
receipt notice and it is folded by machine and stuffed into an envelope
(and that machine sometimes malfunctions and more than one notice gets
stuffed into an envelope so some poor sucker out there never received
his or her receipt or approval notice).

After data entry, it is taken
to a shelf in the file room. The fiancée cases are all put together on
the same shelf or shelves. And there it waits it turn, making its way
from the back of the shelf to the front of the shelf.

As officers
finish up with the cases they have been working, they ask a contract
worker to go get a bin or a few bins of new cases from the fiancée
shelf. Usually around 25 cases fit into a bin (however I recall an
officer showing me one case he was working on that was literally 2 feet
thick) and the worker might bring more than one bin to the officer.

The
officer then starts working those cases, and if he or she feels the need
to send out an RFE (which by the way is just "more" work for the
officer) than that order goes out to clerical and they send out the RFE
(and this is actually detailed work, after all, the RFE letter has to
reflect what it is that the officer wants).

Everything up to this point
is what is referred to as initial processing, and yes, the case has to
wait its turn in order to make it to an officer.

Originally
posted by tmushen

If they are
backlogged and can't do the RFE's as quickly as they usually do, than
all the more reason to put together a well documented submission and
avoid beginner mistakes. No one is required to hire an attorney with
experience to put together their case and act as their advocate with the
USCIS and Consulate, and some instead decide to chose an advocate with
absolutely no experience whatsoever (themselves) when it comes to
preparing and submitting this important submission for their loved one.
They are certainly free to do this, but have no one but themselves to
blame if they get an RFE due to doing shoddy work (but not to blame if
the RFE is a USCIS screw up… for example, they lose something already
provided).

Originally posted by tmushen

One could
withdraw their submission, then submit a new one all over again and pay
the fee again. But the current speed in which they seem to be doing RFE
work (according to stories in this group) is unusually long right now.
From what I can tell (I don't get many RFE's) the typical RFE processing
time is usually within a week or two after the RFE materials arrive to
the Service Center, however if they are backlogged, they are backlogged.
We can "wish" they were faster now, but wishing it to be so does not
make it so.

>

Petitioner's know they will have to go through the
immigration process to bring in a loved one and that this will take some
time, and unfortunately, the very nature of this work is such that it
will always be an unknown as far as when the case will be approved and a
visa issued. Each case is different and each case requires an
application of a body of complex law to a petitioner's and beneficiary's
unique situation, and judgment calls to be made by officers applying the
law to the couple's unique situation.

Originally posted by
Andy Platt
> If they could predict reliable timescales…
>

And if Monkeys flew out of your ass, you could likely replace Roy and
you and Sigfreid could live happily ever after ;-). But seriously,
someone at USCIS HQ tells the Service Center what to put as far as the
wild guesses are concerned, but we all know how accurate that has been.

And that is probably why they are now using the net to deliver the
ability to check one's case status, and provide reports showing where
they are at in processing cases. I think they should do away with all
projected processing times listed on notices and stress this other way
to see where the case is in the system.

And even now that they have
vastly improved one's ability to check on the case and to see where they
are in processing, that is "still" not good enough for some. Some prefer
to put their heads in the sand and rely on the wild guess, then whip
themselves (and everyone around them) into a frenzy when the wild guess
is not met.

Originally posted by Andy Platt

I'll bet if they took off their wild guesses on the receipt
notices, people would cry holly hell and demand to be given a wild guess
anyway. The USCIS is never going to be able to please everybody no
matter what system they put into place. It’s a damned if they do,
damned if they don't situation. I just wish we Americans did not come
off looking like such spoiled brats who have to have instant
gratification in everything we do.

>

The uncertainity of length
of time of separation from a loved one does induce stress. It really
hurts when you can see and touch the person, but there is no
communication -- and just educated uncertainty as to time and ultimate
result.

You've got phones and e-mail and the ability to communicate.
Make use of it -- you don't know what tommorrow will bring.

--
Certified Specialist
Immigration & Nat. Law
Cal. Bar Board of Legal Specialization

Posted via http://britishexpats.com

This is especially true when the separation could be
permanent. I am glad to see you back to the group, and I am hoping for
the best as far as the recovery of your loved one.

Originally
posted by Folinskyinla

Words of wisdom my friend.

Rene

> Yes, I suggest you wait patiently for a while longer. January

Go utopiacowboy go!!! :D:D

If they
want to measure the progress the USCIS is making on the cases, they can
check here:
]https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/index.-
jsp?textFlag=N#[/url]

If they want to check the progress of their own
particular case, or to see if the USCIS is reporting anything new today
about their case, they can check here:

https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp

Both come courtesy of the USCIS, and this is a way of getting out
vital information that does not require redundant inquiries being made
at the NCSC, a Representative and a Senator and does not cost the
Service Center one minute of time (so they can focus on actually working
the cases). After all, the OP in this thread himself reported this his
rep found out and reported to him that the apparent increase in the
amount of time it takes them to finish up the case once the RFE'd
materials arrives is due to the amount of work pending at his Service
Center.

And if they want more in the way of "minutia" about service
center processing, there are people like me who have been, and are
willing to continue to share that information.

Originally
posted by Andrew Defaria

I agree that information is a good
thing.

If they want to measure the progress the USCIS is making on the
cases, they can check here:
]https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/-
cris/jsps/index.jsp?textFlag=N#[/url]

If they want to check the
progress of their own particular case, or to see if the USCIS is
reporting anything new today about their case, they can check here:

https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp

Both come courtesy of the USCIS, and this is a way of getting out
vital information that does not require redundant inquiries being made
at the NCSC, a Representative and a Senator and does not cost the
Service Center one minute of time (so they can focus on actually working
the cases). After all, the OP in this thread himself reported this his
rep found out and reported to him that the apparent increase in the
amount of time it takes them to finish up the case once the RFE'd
materials arrives is due to the amount of work pending at his Service
Center.

And if they want more in the way of "minutia" about service
center processing, there are people like me who have been, and are
willing to continue to share that information.

Originally
posted by Andrew Defaria

I'm glad the
USCIS has now provided a much more convenient way to supply vital
information (as opposed to hiding it).

If they want to measure the
progress the USCIS is making on the cases, they can check here:
]ht-
tps://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/index.jsp?textFlag=N#[/ur-
l]

If they want to check the progress of their own particular case, or
to see if the USCIS is reporting anything new today about their case,
they can check here:

https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp

Both come courtesy of the USCIS, and this is a way of getting out
vital information that does not require redundant inquiries being made
at the NCSC, a Representative and a Senator and does not cost the
Service Center one minute of time (so they can focus on actually working
the cases). After all, the OP in this thread himself reported this his
rep found out and reported to him that the apparent increase in the
amount of time it takes them to finish up the case once the RFE'd
materials arrives is due to the amount of work pending at his Service
Center.

And if they want more in the way of "minutia" about service
center processing, there are people like me who have been, and are
willing to continue to share that information.

Originally
posted by Andrew Defaria

Who has waited 2 years for an I-129f
approval at a Service Center (the topic of this thread is about feedback
from a rep about RFE processing time at a Service Center)? I'd be
surprised if anybody has even had to wait even 1 year for a Service
Center to process an I-129f.

Originally posted by Andrew
Defaria

I could be wrong when it comes to any particular
individual and his or her case, but whe people who already know about
the USCIS reports and how to use them to calculate an overdue date
contact their reps anyway, it might be that they secretly hope or expect
that doing so will get their cases moved up to the front of the line.
And if there is a justifiable reason to do so (they meet one of the
expedite criteria the Service Centers publish to the public) than the
case will be moved up in the line, however simply wanting it to move
faster is not one of the enumerated expedite criteria.

And as far as
"hording" information is concerned, they USCIS provides vital
information in a convenient way for most people.

If people want to
measure the progress the USCIS is making on the cases, they can check
here:
]https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/index.jsp?te-
xtFlag=N#[/url]

If people want to check the progress of their own
particular case, or to see if the USCIS is reporting anything new today
about their case, they can check here:

https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp

Both come courtesy of the USCIS, and this is a way of getting out
vital information that does not require redundant inquiries being made
at the NCSC, a Representative and a Senator and does not cost the
Service Center one minute of time (so they can focus on actually working
the cases). After all, the OP in this thread himself reported this his
rep found out and reported to him that the apparent increase in the
amount of time it takes them to finish up the case once the RFE'd
materials arrives is due to the amount of work pending at his Service
Center.

And if they want more in the way of "minutia" about service
center processing, there are people like me who have been, and are
willing to continue to share that information.

Originally
posted by Andrew Defaria

> fashion". I *understand* they are working

Comparing someone's death to waiting for an I-129f
approval is silly and an insult to those who have had loved ones die.

Originally posted by Andrew Defaria

Information? No problem. See the links I've
posted above.

Originally posted by Andrew Defaria

I won't post the links again
where they can find vital information on a daily basis. It's certainly
no secret that the USCIS is under funded and under staffed and that is
why there is a backlog. The rep himself confirmed once again that very
fact to the OP in this thread. One can see how much progress is being
made by checking the Service Centers processing time reports.

Knowing
"when" to expect progress…. That sounds like you want the USCIS to make
additional wild guesses? Didn't you just say:

Originally
posted by Andrew Defaria

But now you want them to make an
additional wild guess? And what method do you expect them to use to
provide that information to each petitioner?

The problem
with instant gratification is that it takes entirely too long.

> ]https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cr-
is/jsps/index.jsp?textFlag=N#[/url]

]https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp[/u-
rl]

> ]https://egov.immigration.g-
ov/graphics/cris/jsps/index.jsp?textFlag=N#[/url]

> ]https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/c-
aseStat.jsp[/url]

> ]https://eg-
ov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/index.jsp?textFlag=N#[/url]
>

> ]https://egov.immigration.gov/graph-
ics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp[/url]

> ]https://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/i-
ndex.jsp?textFlag=N#[/url]

> ]htt-
ps://egov.immigration.gov/graphics/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp[/url]

> Comparing someone's death to waiting for an I-129f approval is

Originally posted by Mtravelkay

Hi
Cowboy,

I can't think of anybody other than Tony (lpdiver) that has
gone through there recently. What was his timeline?

Leslie

;-).

Hi Leslie,
Last night before falling asleep (I usually put my TV
on a timer when going to sleep), I seem to recall hearing something
about a large earthquake hitting Morocco. Was that correct? If so, I
just wanted to send out my best wishes to your husband and his family
back home (plus to all the other US/Morocco couples in this group, and
there are a few of these couples).

Matt

I'm in agreement with you that premature and excessive inquiries
are self-defeating, diverting resources from the job at hand.
Unfortunately, my experience is that the reporting system you reference
here is not a reliable source of information. I have had 2 petitions
approved recently - 1 at the NSC in October and 1 at the NBC in December
- that are still showing as 'received, we will let you know when a
decision has been made'

The first of these I could care less about any
more, so I've let it go. But for the 2nd I will one day need the
approval notice, so I have little choice but to hound the CIS until they
wake up to the fact that they approved my petition more than 2 months
ago.

I think that most people would accept a limited amount of
information if the agency had some credibility, but it doesn't.

Regards, JEff

> ...

>
> ...
>

--
Of course, the Internet also tells us that hot naked women want to befriend us, so we can't be 100% sure about everything we read there. (Dave Barry)

Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Hi JEff,
Your posting above confirms yet again
the suspect nature of the number chunchers reports about "old" cases
still not approved. This old cases should therefore probably not be used
as ammunition when contacting a rep with a "See what a screwed up agency
this is" sort of complaint. Complaints about one own case are fine and
dandy, however as your report clearly shows, there are times where cases
have been approved but that information does not make it to the online
system.

I asked about this phenomenon years ago while touring the CSC
(the online system is new, but it matches the older telephonic checking
system and is tied into the claims software system just like the old
telephonic system is. I've saved an old posting of mine that deals with
this issue, and this posting is based upon what the Ombudsman at the CSC
told me in relation to this problem (when the system indicates the case
is still pending).

I'll paste in my old posting immediately below (I
wrote this back in 2001 when the service was still known as the INS):

-//-
I've posted similar replies to this type of "INS Direct says they
can't locate my case" question before and I have saved this reply to my
hard drive, so I’m pasting it in as an answer to your question.

When
a contract worker at the data entry room at a Service Center has entered
your data, the INS computer (which runs the CLAIMS software system)
automatically generates your receipt notice and also automatically sends
the information to the INS telephone system called INS Direct. Keep in
mind that this task of updating the INS Direct phone system is
automated, not done by a human.

If the internal phone lines are down at
a Service Center (which they often are for maintenance or a variety of
other reasons) the information (that your case was received on..) never
makes it to the INS Direct phone system. The computer simply sends out
the information to the INS Direct system, but has no way of knowing if
that information “made it” to the INS Direct phone system. The
computer only sends that information out once, and does not keep sending
it out over and over again.

When you call the INS Direct phone system,
you are hearing information about the last thing that happened in your
case (the last information that “made it” to the INS Direct phone
system). In your particular case, if the internal lines were down when
the Claims software tried to send out the “received on this date”
information, the last thing that the INS Direct system would have about
your case is that it does not yet exist as far as that system knows, so
you hear the message that your case cannot be found.

Now lets say
someone has a case on file and they call the INS Direct phone system and
hear the message stating their case was received on a certain date. Then
that case is approved, but the Service Center’s internal phone lines
are down for maintenance at the time the INS computer tries to send the
new information (about the case approval) to the INS Direct phone
system. Even though the case had been approved, that petitioner would
still hear information about the last thing that happened in the case
that had “made it” to the INS Direct system... in other words, he or
she would still hear, "your case was received on...".

The odds are that
your case is not lost, but rather that the Service Center’s phone lines
were down when the INS computer tried to update the INS Direct phone
system.

Odds are that when your case is approved (or heaven forbid
denied or if they decide to send you an RFE) the internal phone lines at
your Service Center won't be down, so you will eventually hear about the
next thing that happens in your case (and which information “made it”
to the INS Direct phone system).

Good luck with your case.

Best
Regards,
Matthew Udall
Attorney

http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/fiancee.htm
Copyright 2001
Matthew Udall

-//-

Originally posted by jeffreyhy

If you have not
received an approval notice, than that is a "USCIS screw up" and you
"should" be hounding them for that. The receipt and approval notices are
printed, folded and stuffed into envelopes by machine (I've seen these
machines in action at the CSC, NSC, NBC and TSC). The receipt and
approval notices are not touched by human hand during this process, and
unfortunately sometimes the machine that folds and stuffs them into an
envelope malfunctions and more than one notice gets stuffed into an
envelope. That means that some petitioner is likely never going to
receive his or her receipt or approval notice.

I've had that happen
before. I've opened up an envelope from a service center only to find
someone else's notice in there along with my client's notice. That other
person had an attorney working on his case, so I did what I would hope
someone else would do for me, and I looked up that attorney and send the
notice to him (never got a thank you reply though). Last time I was at a
CSC liaison meeting, this potential problem was brought up again, and
the CSC asked that we attorneys do what we can to try to help each other
out when this happens (like I helped that other person's case).

So
hound them to get your notice. They might try telling you to submit an
I-824 and pay that fee, but try to get it without filing that form. I've
had luck in this regard before (without filing an I-824 when a notice
never initially arrived to my office for one of my cases).

Good luck.

Thanks, Matt.

I was getting
phone calls all day yesterday about this very thing. The hardest hit
area is nowhere near my in-laws and we don't even know anybody in that
particular area. We do know some people in Tangier (the avatar photo of
my husband on the beach was taken in Tangier) and the earthquake was
felt there, but I don't think there were any deaths reported in that
area.

The really sad part is that these remote villages are very under-
developed. There is really no way of accurately accounting for the
missing or the dead other than just digging them out one by one. Many
of them may never be identified because of the lack of medical/dental
and birth records in these areas. My heart really goes out to the
families of the missing and the dead.

Originally posted
by Leslie66

Well, if it's any comfort everything about our
case seemed to take a month (give or take.) One month after the I-129
was approved he got packet 3. His interview was set for one month after
receiving packet 3. He got the visa one month after the interview.

I
realize that I was dealing with a different consulate, but a month
doesn't seem too out of line. Give it a little more time.

Originally
posted by Leslie66

If they are investigating your case, it would
not make much sense to tip you off as to the subject matter of that
investigation. And besides that, it was the "Consulate" that sent your
case back to the service center. The task of performing
"reconsideration" or "revocation" at a Service Center is not a high
priority.

Most people don't have their cases sent back to the Service
Center from the Consulate for reconsideration or revocation. Don't you
remember the "hours" I spent going over this with you before while you
were going through this? This was when you used your asinine argument
about UPL being fine and dandy with your analogy about it being
perfectly fine to shout "FIRE" in a crowded theater. That's when I
decided it was not worth wasting any more time on an idiot such as you.
In fact, instead of replying further in this thread as I planned to, I
will take my own advice again and stop here.

Good luck.

Well, I'll post a little
more. I'll bet most attorneys who practice immigration law are not
members of AILA. I'll bet most AILA members do not do fiancée cases or
visit the service centers. I on the other hand have a keen interest in
fiancée cases and service center processing, so naturally I'm going to
have insight into these issues that most attorneys won't have.

And you
have a problem with shelves? What a dork!

> information “made it” to the INS Direct phone system. The computer

This could be easily fixed by making it verify a receipt so that the
sender knows it "made it" and, lacking a receipt, it will continue to
resend it. This is programming 101 and your example here only highlights
the USCIS's ineptness!

--
Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.

Thanks Cowboy. :)

When I first started out investigating this process (before I actually
go married). The MSC was cranking out I-129f approvals for K3ers within
2 months in many cases. These timelines, combined with the deathly
slow timelines for the TSC, influenced my decision to get married
overseas instead of going the K1 route. Plus my husband was standing on
his head to get married. lol. Anyway, as soon as we got married and I
got all of the paperwork together, the MSC came to an almost grinding
halt. It went from 2-3 months to 6-8 months, seemingly overnight.
Myself, along with a bunch of others that filed around the same time,
got caught in what seemed like an abyss............ The best laid
plans........

> more like they are today than they ever were before.

I
think that is what it really comes down to. The USCIS is probably doing
the best they can given the systems and resources they have. Their
systems are probably antiquated, and they're way understaffed. And the
only reason that this is still acceptable is that most people don't have
to deal with the USCIS, and therefore it isn't a high priority for
politicians. The system as it stands would not be considered
"acceptable" by a majority of the citizens (and I'm sure if you polled
people that have had to deal with them, a majority would not rate it a
positive experience).

With the volumes that they process, given the
right computer systems and the right statistical analysis, they should
easily be able to approximate how long their processing times are to
within a week. And looking at patterns over the years, you can factor
in seasonal variations as well. I work for a phone company, and we can
approximate based on past data how many customer calls we are going to
get on a daily basis, right down to hour by hour. Ofcourse there are
unexpected things like when a major phone cable gets cut the volumes are
much higher than predicted, but those are few and far between. My guess
is that the USCIS probably doesn't even have systems to collect the sort
of data that would allow for analysis like this, and they obviously
don't have the money or manpower to improve them even if they do. It's
sad that that's the case, but till we have enough people taking the
issue up with the people that matter (congress), I don't see things
improving anytime soon.

Regards,
Amol

--
09/03/03 - NOA #1
11/26/03 - RFE
12/09/03 - NBC recvd add'l documents

Posted via http://britishexpats.com