Inform your Rep!!!

[dmaddox74]

Every once in awhile I hear tell ya to inform your Rep, but does it really help

Does anyone have any success stories?

[keelec]

David,

 

Contacting your representatives may have a positive, a negative, or a neutral spin on your application.

 

If you sent your app to California, Texas, or Nebraska, sending a note to the rep before 6 months is over is unlikely to do anything for your applicaton, positive, negative, or otherwise.

 

If, on the otherhand, you have your rep contact GZ too early, it is possible that the consulate could slow down the processing of your case rather than speeding it up.

 

In my case, I was nieve about procedures..... I thought "approved" at BCIS actually meant something so I scheduled a trip to see my honey over Labor Day last year, hoping that everything would be finished at that time. Well, as the app got stuck at NVC for over a month and my trip was rapidly approaching, I talked to a congressman for the first time. A few days later my case moved from NVC to Moscow (perhaps because of the congressman, perhaps it was just time).

 

However, as soon as it arrived in Moscow, it became STUCK for the last 8.5 Months. Yesterday, it finally budged a few hairs forward.

 

I have contacted 2 congressmen and 2 senators. (ok, their aides). Most of them specialized in immigration issues, but seemed to have little knowledge about "the system", and were unable to do anything for my case other than inquire about the current status (which I could easily do).

 

One senator's aide told me that my fiancee's case appeared "odd". She was young. Never married, only had gone to Moscow since meeting me.... The only thing remarkable about the case was being stuck for an endless amount of time. Despite that, she had no real interest in helping.

 

One senator sent a letter to someone high up in DOS where my application was actually stuck. I don't know the effects of that letter.

 

Why did my case get the FBI approval?

- It was "time"??? That would be one heck of a coincidence.

- The FBI approval wasn't the issue, and the case had already been approved by the FBI.

- I made enough inquiries that someone noticed the case was "odd"

- My fax to the FBI added stimulis for it to budge.

- Somehow there was a transcription error of my finacee's name and it was recorded as Joseph Stalin.... Finally cleared up by my fax to the FBI.

- The letter from ONE senator to the secretary of something at DOS actually made a difference.

 

Anyway, if you are "at the end of your rope"... Contact your senators and congressmen. If you are within 10% of the "normal" timeline, it is best not to bother them.

 

The one thing that the senators and congressmen seem unwilling to approach is to FIX THE PROBLEM THAT CAUSED US TO WRITE OR VISIT.

 

Oh, and I have a nice history calendar that one congressman sent me, along with a form letter addressed to "Greetings", explaining how important my issues were without naming the issues. Other people on the Candle on the candle pointed out how fitting of a gift a calendar was for a person stuck in an endless wait.

 

----- Clifford -----

[dmaddox74]

Thanks Cliff,

 

I really appreciate your candor.

[keelec]

Dave,

 

One other thing to think about.

 

You can approach making contacts in a couple of ways.

 

1) Make sure as many people as possible know that the "system" is inappropriate.

 

2) Follow your case, but save "resources" for when you really need them.

 

Apparently the FBI used to be relatively quick with their responses. I had to wait over 2 weeks for a case status update because of the heavy call volume. Perhaps many of the calls are routine status updates from people going through the NVC.... Yet, some are from those that are stuck.

 

Unfortunately, we can't wait forever either.... What did I do as soon as I got a reply from the FBI?.... I called DOS and sent an e-mail to Moscow.

 

Think about things in this prospective.

 

If there are 30,000 K1 and K3 visa applications / year. If each person calls DOS an average of 5 times, that is over 150,000 phone calls for status updates. Think about the load difference if they are 1 minute calls versus 5 minute calls.

 

I noticed last fall when GZ was taking 3-4 months to process the P3 packets, whenever there were any hints about possible changes, suddenly everyone waiting would call GZ for a status update the next day.

 

Of course, a well designed electronic system with e-mail and WWW updates would significantly reduce the call traffic.

 

Anyway, my point is to be conscientious about your use of resources as you may be the one who really needs someone to help you out.

 

----- Clifford ------

[se_lang]

If there are 30,000 K1 and K3 visa applications / year.  If each person calls DOS an average of 5 times, that is over 150,000 phone calls for status updates.  Think about the load difference if they are 1 minute calls versus 5 minute calls.

 

First time I called it was 1 minute conversation after 46 minutes on hold. Trust me you do not want to call during peak hours which is almost all day.

[LiuXia's Husband]

I finally did get a reply from one of my senators. Of course my sent message was cordial and inquisitive, not specific to my case. She claims to be waiting on reply from Tom Ridge, homeland security admin about why K3s are so slow and why Vermont is faster than others for K1s. But hey, at least I got a reply! I'm sure it helps that she is up for re-election this year.

[frank1538]

I think it depends on where you are in the process and the type of problem that may exist. Despite all their blustering to the contrary, our congressional representatives are virtually powerless to do anything to speed up the process.

 

Problems like Cliffords are difficult to address by congressional reps since there is this cloud of security/secrecy that the FBI keeps throwing up.

 

But, if a petition gets lost in transit from the service center to the NVC, or there is a unique problem at the local office, then a congressional representative might prove helpful.

[keelec]

Problems like Cliffords are difficult to address by congressional reps since there is this cloud of security/secrecy that the FBI keeps throwing up.

I am not sure it is the FBI that shrouds everything with secrecy, although I am sure they don't help either.

 

Individual cases are essentially CLASSIFIED as they relate to "Homeland Security".

 

Somewhere I found a link that described the needs to protect the sources of information. I will try to track that down sometime soon.

 

Because of this Homeland Security stuff, the process takes on a life of its own.

 

----- Clifford ------