ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Proceduresnew USCIS timelines
I'd love it if they would explain how they can be in July at VSC and yet be giving NOA2s to people who filed well after July. These dates are fairly meaningless except in that they provide them with a greater cushion.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-04-22 10:26:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Proceduresnew USCIS timelines
If you don't see the latest, either hit F5 and refresh or clear out your cache and refresh

K1 & K3s are in October...
MsZFemaleCanada2008-04-21 13:57:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresDec Filer: Approved!!!
They are K-3 filers though.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-04-24 13:24:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresI-130 Received Date Incorrect
I wouldn't say a word about it. That puts you ahead in terms of when it will be adjudicated.

Just make sure the name is right.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-04-24 08:12:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVermont go to Hell
I pay taxes for a lot of services, not just immigration. So I don't feel that I'm paying taxes for nothing just because this one thing isn't working out the way I'd prefer.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-04-24 16:04:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresThey have my file date wrong??!!
Only if they actually process your 130 would I consider that they actually corrected it. They can say anything they like, you know?

Did you call back and verify that it was corrected?
MsZFemaleCanada2008-04-24 20:12:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCR1/IR1 Marriage in the US
Your biggest problem will be entering the country if you tell them you plan to get married. Some of the border officers aren't all that up on the law and others simply have their own rule that w/o a K-1, they won't allow someone to enter to get married. So, I hope you are also planning on visiting family and touring during this trip. You tell them about your plans for vacation and visiting and seeing this and that and leave out the bit about getting married. If they probe however, you'll have to tell them the truth. Usually they don't. Then you get married and return home and do the CR1. There is certainly nothing illegal about what you propose. The question always remains whether you'll get a border officer who is cool with it or one who isn't.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-04-28 07:20:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCompletely Lost and Heartbroken
I suspect they only see it if they look. Something he said or did or just the way he looked prompted the guard to dig deeper or to ask an off-hand question like, "have you ever been arrested?"

I really don't know what happens after they deny you, what kind of notes they put into their database.

And, yes, it is totally up to the guard whether someone gets into either the US or Canada.

You should post on http://www.canadavis...board/index.php and see if you can get some direct input on how to go about getting him approved for rehabilitation. That will eliminate a big concern. And have him fill out the paperwork for his passport right now. Download it and email it to him. There's no excuse for dawdling.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-02 11:31:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCompletely Lost and Heartbroken
My suggestion is that your husband got caught because he was in a rental car. When I crossed in a rental they asked a lot more questions than when I came in my own car.

I don't know why he doesn't get himself a passport and avoid all of the hassle. Surely there has been enough time to do that.

Regardless, there is simply NO reason for you not to cross into the US again. You are legal. But it is strange that you were denied after the investigator said you were not lying. Did you ask why if he felt you were not lying why you were turned back?

(And yes, it was dumb to bring stuff with you when you crossed. Only bring what you need for the length of your stay and nothing more.)
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-02 10:32:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCompletely Lost and Heartbroken
You didn't explain why you were denied admission to the US. Unless there is something in your background that's a problem, you should be able to enter from Canada w/sufficient proof of ties to Canada.

My husband and I cross every other week or so near Thousand Islands. It is a bit out of the way for you but you could try there. The guards have always been very nice to my husband though he did get the lucky "200th vehicle" which gets the full workup not long ago. They told him that it had nothing to do with his having a CR1 in progress, it was really just because he was the 200th vehicle. He had to fill out paperwork as though he were entering the US on a plane. It cost some time but that was all.

And it does sound as though those clean 10 years should be enough to get your husband through the rehabilitation process. I don't know if you'll want to consult a lawyer or try to do it yourself. I'd suggest going it alone since you've got 10 years since the last incident.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-01 22:14:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresOne Way Trips To The U.S.
I'd do it. And since some tickets are refundable, you might be able to get a refund on the return portion. (Usually not though)
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-03 09:00:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCredit Checks For Immigrants In The U.S.
That's good to hear!
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-03 11:27:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresCredit Checks For Immigrants In The U.S.
I was under the impression that you have to establish credit within the country.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-03 09:02:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresWhen will VSC speed thier work?
Considering the jobs listed in Vermont are well-compensated, I don't really believe that an overall bad attitude is to blame for the way the system is currently operating. I should imagine it is a failure of leadership more than anything else.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 10:44:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresPl Help,VISA Denied(CR1)
I'm sorry but I don't really understand what happened. I don't understand why you would "prefer to say" only part of your story to immigration. It seems to me that you present them with all of the evidence and they'll take what they need.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 10:46:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresBased on timeline data......April 26, 2008*.
Can you update your service center?

And MissingYou, your timeline says you are a K-3 / California filer, not CR-1/IR-1 at Nebraska.

Keeping these things straight is very helpful.

Edited by MsZ, 08 May 2008 - 03:23 PM.

MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 15:21:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresBased on timeline data......April 26, 2008*.
It will only show up as a touch if they actually looked at your case. So a call may or may not result in a touch.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 14:08:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresBased on timeline data......April 26, 2008*.
Which service center are you really? California?
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 11:42:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresBased on timeline data......April 26, 2008*.
1. No
2. No

Does it hurt to call? Only if you're tying up the line that real RFEs need. Does it help? Almost certainly not.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 11:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresI shouldn't trust a USCIS phone rep, right?
I was pondering sending in a 129F myself to see if it'd nudge them. Thinking about it, it wouldn't really make a difference one way or another. If it made it in sooner, great. If it didn't change a thing, it didn't hurt.

I'm going to give it 2 more weeks.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 15:16:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresQuestion for those who contacted Congressman
If there were a queue that we could identify, it'd be one thing. But not understanding their queueing mechanism causes a lot of confusion. And, being told one thing and watching them do another is also confusing. So calling a government representative to tell you what the hell is going on at USCIS with your application isn't really trying to jump ahead in the line.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-04 08:21:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresQuestion for those who contacted Congressman
Some people are being approved who had the delay in receipting so there's a chance that there won't be a complete shaft. I think what they're telling us though is that until 180 days from the NOA1, nobody will lift a finger to help despite the fact that we were told they'd honor the actual receipt date and not the NOA1 date.

We really don't have a choice but to resign ourselves to the fact that we have zero control and zero influence.

If I had to do it all again, I would have not gotten married, he would have come under NAFTA, we would have dated a while longer (or maybe a lot longer, who knows?) and we would have gotten married later and just adjusted status. But no. I wanted to do things the most honest way. And all that has done is cost us a lot of time and money and it has damaged my trust in my government.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-01 22:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresApprovals
Since USCIS doesn't provide any meaningful feedback, it would be difficult if not impossible to determine if a common name posed any problems and would hold someone up at this level. But only after a touch on the file would I even consider something like this. Simply not getting processed is another issue entirely.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-03 08:52:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresApprovals
I suspect that if there have been no touches they haven't even looked at the case.

October filers just got lucky (NOT!) protest6wz.gif
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-02 16:20:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresI-130 approved!
This is good news. Glad to hear it!
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-08 23:01:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVSC
What might be helpful would be for several people from each state to get together and submit complaints to an official (congressman, senator, whatever) so that the official sees that this isn't a single person with a question -- it is many people with the same questions.

And we can let them know that other officials from other states are getting similar documents from their constituents.

They may not be able to act on a particular case but it would seem to me that they would be able to focus on a system that's clearly broken.

At least one of us in each couple is a voter and someday we'll have two voters.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 14:13:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVSC
One might get the impression that Vermont is clearing out all (easy) 130s first regardless of the type of application in order to say they are addressing the backlog while not admitting that they are once again, not operating in the spirit of the recommendations.

That thing about who gets paid for what and when really disturbs me.

The process is major effed up, folks.

Given the above, it would seem that a moment after 6 months of waiting should be sufficient to get people concerned. And if USCIS doesn't like it, they can take the other recommendation of the Ombudsman and make the process and information more transparent.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 10:24:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVSC
In the document I linked to :

2. Adjudications of Backlogged Cases

From numerous visits to USCIS facilities, the Ombudsman has observed that adjudicators prefer to work on the cases that are easiest to complete. Adjudicators pick the “low hanging fruit” first because supervisors base performance evaluations on the number of cases completed. Consequently, adjudicators put aside the most difficult and time-intensive cases. These cases remain pending, perhaps for years, while backlog reduction appears generally to be succeeding.

The Ombudsman fully supports USCIS efforts to quickly and efficiently complete the cases. However, the current drive to complete large numbers of cases presents problems. For

Page 14 www.dhs.gov/cisombudsman email: cisombudsman@dhs.gov June 2007
Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Annual Report to Congress June 2007

example, USCIS provides field offices resources based on what is needed to complete a typical case. It is the Ombudsman’s understanding that if field offices have a workload of 1,000 cases and USCIS determines each case usually takes one hour to complete, USCIS will provide financial support for 1,000 hours. Cases that take longer than an hour to complete are not provided additional resources in the office’s budget. Offices with more than the average numbers of difficult cases or offices that try to work the difficult cases thoroughly will not be adequately funded because the number of completions will be low. Meanwhile, offices that push to complete the easy cases will see their budgets grow. One field office visited by the Ombudsman has a large number of long-pending cases which require substantial adjudicator hours. However, officers at that office indicate that they cannot address the older, difficult cases without negatively affecting their productivity report to USCIS headquarters.

RECOMMENDATION AR 2007 -- 02

The Ombudsman has observed that newer cases are processed more quickly while cases more than six months old are increasingly backlogged. The Ombudsman supports the USCIS drive to maximize case completions, but attention needs to be directed at clearing older cases.

The Ombudsman recommends that USCIS provide a clearer picture of the current backlog by providing information on the number of pending cases by form type with receipts that are: (1) less than 90 days; (2) less than 180 days; (3) less than one year; (4) less than two years; (5) less than three years; (6) less than four years; and (7) greater than four years.

3. Backlogged Form I-130 Petitions for Foreign National Relatives

In its Response to the Ombudsman’s 2006 Annual Report (at pp. 8-9) and the recommendation (AR 2006 – 03) regarding the timely processing of I-130s, USCIS stated that it is not practical to process them as soon as they are received:

Where the person will not be able to immigrate within a year due to the overall limits on legal immigration, USCIS’ goal . . . is to process the case twelve months ahead of visa availability to ensure that DOS has sufficient time to complete their part of the processing. This process ensures that an eligible person’s eventual immigration to the United States will not be delayed by USCIS processing . . ..

USCIS believes having different service levels for different kinds of applications, which reflect relative time sensitivity and risk, while using those with less time sensitivity as a buffer, results in a system that is more cost effective for both USCIS and its customers.

Further, while processing a relative petition immediately, even if the person will thereafter have to wait to immigrate, may appear

June 2007 www.dhs.gov/cisombudsman email: cisombudsman@dhs.gov Page 15
Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Annual Report to Congress June 2007

ideal [. . . ,] the evaluation is best performed closer to the time the person would actually receive the benefit. In addition, USCIS is currently evaluating the impact of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, Pub. L. 109-249, which adds additional public safety screening requirements before a petition is approved to protect the relative being sponsored. It may be appropriate that those checks should similarly be done closer to the time at which the person would actually be able to immigrate.

Despite making several valid points, USCIS is merely delaying the inevitable and, in effect, increasing the cost to the agency to process these cases. The cost to complete the current backlog of over 800,000 I-130 petitions is more than $225 million today, based on USCIS’ cost estimates explained in its proposed fee rule.

26 Because applicants paid for these petitions when they were submitted in previous years, their payments do not cover today’s costs or future USCIS costs to process them. Each year that processing is delayed the cost to USCIS will increase if for no other reason than to account for inflation. Thus, the fact that USCIS can process each of these petitions to conclusion now and chooses by policy not to do so is fiscally unwise.

In addition, the impact on beneficiaries is significant. By statute, certain approved petitions terminated by the petitioner’s death are reinstated for humanitarian reasons for the petitioner’s beneficiaries.

27 By USCIS not approving I-130 petitions in a timely manner, beneficiaries cannot benefit from this important humanitarian exception.


----------

Now I know that there are some initiatives in play to reduce the backlog, but does anyone have any info on what they are?
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 10:18:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVSC
Read this folks :

http://www.dhs.gov/x...Report_2007.pdf
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 09:55:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVSC
I'm extremely lucky in that respect, Pattu. I'm driving to see him tonight and he'll be down for about 2 weeks starting the middle of next week. So seeing one another isn't really a problem. But being married and living separately and seeing one another as we can just doesn't cut it. Part of the point in marriage is to build a life... what's that word? I'm not sure I remember what it is... Um... Oh yeah, TOGETHER!!!!! What we've got right now is just an advanced form of dating.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 09:18:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVSC
I'm OK I guess. Thanks for asking.

I was glad to learn that the time to interview in Montreal seems to have come down considerably. So that was positive. And it is Friday. Fridays are good.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 08:59:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresVSC
The only answer is to reduce your expectations to zero because anticipating anything is going to lead to continued disappointment.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 07:56:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresURGENT...Can I get a job with USCIS with pending I-130?
Oh, and by the way, my EAC number is.... jest.gif
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-03 11:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresURGENT...Can I get a job with USCIS with pending I-130?
If you want the job, I can't see how your status would have any impact if you are qualified. And some of the salaries are pretty good! Good luck!
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-03 08:43:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresNeed your advise please
Then it would seem he can definitely do this without a lawyer. That's very positive.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 08:55:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresNeed your advise please
I don't know, honestly. Maybe check out the IMBRA portion of the site? If nothing else, there are people there who have more experience with multiple filings even if it doesn't quite match your situation.

As for a lawyer... Do some research here on some scenarios and then ask a lawyer if they've any similar experience and if so, what they did and see if it matches up with what you know happened in the particular cases. See if they know the right applications to file for one thing.

But my first suggestion is for you to read as much as you can. You may be able to get through this yourself. I just don't know.

So she came as a visitor and got a job offer and tried to adjust status that way? I take it she is not a highly skilled worker.

My guess is that there's some sort of waver that _you_ need to file (check IMBRA group) and then everything else would be the same - you'd file for a K-3/AOS based on the marriage. I do know she shouldn't leave the country or else they probably won't let her come back in. Your child of course is safe as a USC.
MsZFemaleCanada2008-05-09 07:23:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures-october 2007 filer VERMONT
Congratulations hyd617!! good.gif
desiluNot TellingUnited Kingdom2008-04-21 17:37:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresHow long for me to recieve NOA-1
It took a month and a half for us to get NOA1, some who filed before us took even longer. It can be a lengthy, testing process. I believe NOA1 are getting faster now tho smile.gif

Edited by desilu, 09 May 2008 - 06:06 PM.

desiluNot TellingUnited Kingdom2008-05-09 18:06:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresNew Fastest NVC process
LOTO this is soooooo amazing, THANK YOU!!!!!!!! good.gif star_smile.gif star_smile.gif star_smile.gif star_smile.gif star_smile.gif

One qu: passport photos, is the size 2X2 inches or can it be local size (eg here in the UK its 45mm by 35mm)?

hope you can help biggrin.gif

thanks again good.gif
desiluNot TellingUnited Kingdom2008-05-07 17:55:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & ProceduresMessage from Shpat to all the buddies
Hey guys, this is what shpat wanted to pass along :

"First of all I'd like to thank VJ forum members for all the help and strong hopes that got us through this process. My wife passed the interview today on January 20th, will go pick up her visa on thursday.
just a small msg.."

Ilya R.MaleRussia2009-01-20 09:57:00