gongfuman

I found out a week ago (from Congressman's office) that my wife was finally cleared. I'm in Shanghai right now visiting my wife, and we were so surprised today to find her EMS waiting in the mail! We can't believe this ordeal is finally coming to a close. I have one question about my wife's EMS. Her EMS says, "You may return in person with this original and the envelope any Monday through Thursday between the hours of 9:00 and 10:00 am to continue processing your immigrant visa application. In addition, please bring the following documents: passport and new police certificate" I'm assuming that this means we'll either get the visa on the afternoon of the same day, or sometime on the following day. Has anyone else received the same EMS, and if so what was their experience?

Yea, the FBI may contract out this work. However, they do know who does it.

The FBI does the name checks. If they say you aren't in their system then you are probably talking to the fingerprint department, not the name check department.

From my conversations with AS I was told that us on holders will not be resubmitted because in his words "it won't do any good." He says we would just get put on hold again.

I've always used Zierer Visa Service and never had any problems. It takes about two to three weeks for the entire process, but you can pay extra to expedite it. The fee is around $50 plus the cost of the visa.

We're still on hold.

Yea, the INS is the immigration and naturalization service. However, it is my understanding that the INS is no longer an entity and has been replaced. I just called the general number for the FBI posted on their website. After being transfered five times I finally talked to a woman who deals with the fingerprint checks. She said that the FBI does not handle the name checks. But, like I said, I'm not sure if I was told the truth.

I called the FBI this morning to try and get some information from them. I was told that the FBI does not do the name checks (only fingerprint checks), and they wouldn't tell me who actually does the name checks. I'm not sure if I was being told the whole truth, because I was asked if I was in law enforcement (not sure if that means I would have been told something different or just talked to a different person). Anyway, they said I need to talk to the INS, which shows you how much they really know!

We're still waiting and can't get any information from dos, ca, etc ....

If your case is on hold it doesn't do any good to have anyone at 1225 give you case info to someone upstream. I can't tell you how many times I have been told that they are submitting my wife's case to their supervisor for review (including three or four times by Rose), and in eight months nothing has happened. In all fairness though, I do think it may help if your case hasn't had a hold placed on it.

Same as you. Name check: August, 2002 Interview: November, 2002

Don't get your hopes up. Literally every week I am told the same thing and they haven't done a damn thing.

Don't know that there is much we can do except what we've been doing. Just keep hounding dos, ca, and our senators and congressmen.

Just received this reply from Harty's office: Dear Mr. ******: Assistant Secretary Maura Harty has asked us to respond to your e-mail of April 8 that requested a meeting to discuss the immigrant visa application of ******* and to the separate e-mails of April 4 from you and Ms. *****. We last corresponded with you about this matter on March 20. We understand and share your frustration with the delays that have occurred during the interagency clearance process. A variety of problems have arisen with that process, and, in cooperation with the other involved agencies, we have taken several actions to resolve existing cases and to minimize delays for future applicants. We have worked hard and continue to work hard to fix the system. What we are not able to do under any circumstances, however, is to reach into that system to expedite individual cases. We can and have repeatedly urged the other agencies to resolve all outstanding cases. We do not have the authority to instruct them to do so or to take action on any individual clearance. We have even less influence over cases involving "holds." A "hold" means that a government agency has informed us that it needs more time to reach a decision on an individual case. We have no ability to overcome or shorten a "hold." Information on the reasons for the "holds" is not shared with us, and we cannot predict when the "holds" will be lifted. We join you in hoping that your waiting period ends soon. We are doing everything that we can to conclude this case, but we ask you to understand that parts of the process are entirely outside our control. For that reason, a meeting with us would not resolve the problems that are delaying this visa application. Sincerely, Kathryn Cabral Chief Public Inquiries Division Visa Services

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