Wachovia Bank

[Jeikun]

I hate Wachovia. I cancelled my account with them back in June. Yet they still found a way to screw me over.

 

I mailed them the request for a bank letter for both my dad and myself (along with $50) and specifically requested the total 12 months deposits be shown, and if they couldn't get it for my account, being closed, just to return the money order. Well, they took my money... and sent me 2 bank letters... minus the 12 month deposits!!!

 

I'll be calling them tomorrow. Problem is, I need to have the I-134 stuff mailed to Jun by Friday. It's tighter than I feel comfortable with, even using global express. Since GZ told me about 10 days ago they recommend I file a whole new affadavit of support, even though they have my original one. And I can gaurantee those morons will either tell me they can't get that info (which is BS because they did it 8 months ago for me), or that I have to pay again, or both.

 

Interestingly enough, their balance conformation service is located in Roanoke only about 1.5 miles from my house... I might be knocking on (down) someone's door tomorrow if I'm not given an answer I like.

 

Sorry Just had to vent.

[Jeikun]

I called them. They said "We have contacted the USCIS, and they will not require a 12 month total. We have never had one turned down. We won't provide the 12 month total." When I asked him to put that in writing, he said "Sir, we don't do that. We have never had a problem. If you have any problem, definately call us and we will straighten it out, but it will be fine."

 

I generally like to avoid kicking people's asses, but I just might. Has anyone else had a similar problem??

[animatormark]

I would definitely go there in person and have it out with the management. Those guys don't have a clue about how anal the VO's can be. Get whatever you need from them, and don't take no for an answer.

[frank1538]

Jason, refresh my memory. Are you using a co-sponsor for the I-134? If so, wouldn't his/her financial data be more appropriate?

 

The issue of bank deposits has come up before, and I seem to recall that providing 12 months' worth is not required if you are relying on income as the basis for the I-134. The I-134 instructions are a bit misleading, but you are only required to provide documentation as appropriate. Income is documented through the employment letter or income tax returns. Bank deposits are generally used when you are relying on assets to meet the 125% of poverty reqirements.

 

I am not suggesting that you give up on Wachovia (give 'em hell), but maybe bank statements are more insurance rather than a requirement. I relied on income rather than assets to meet the requirements, and I did not provide bank deposits with the I-134.

[C4Racer]

Jason,

 

Sorry to hear the difficulty you are having. My bank, when I asked, told me they would be more than happy to provide this information, but they just did not know how to gather this information out of their computer database.

 

Luckily, I had my 12 months original statements with me. I also had all of the data I needed them to supply extracted from these statements. The bank officer looked at my statements, verified they were accurate and from the same account, then placed this data on bank letterhead. They were able to supply me with two computer printouts. One for current balance and the other showing account open date. If you have your bank statements for the last year this might be one way to handle the situation.

 

 

Good luck,

Michael

[Jeikun]

Well, my plan was to provide financial information for both my cosponsor and me, and also to provide all of the attachments just as a CYA thing.

 

I called Wachovia again, spent 15 minutes trying to make some poor girl cry. I must say she deserved it though. I must have heard "we can't", "I don't know", and "not our standard procedure" 100 times.

 

Basically if I want the 12 month totals, they want me to send them an additional $5 PER MONTH, PER ACCOUNT and it could take 2 weeks. Strangely in April when I did this, they provided this info with no extra charge, and in 3 days.

 

I asked why they did it for me before, "I don't know". I asked why they took my money and sent me an incomplete letter when I asked them to return my money orders in the prepaid envelope if they couldn't give me EVERYTHING I asked for "I don't know, but it's not our policy to contact the customer" I told her to get someone who would know, and she came back and told me she could refund HALF of my payment, but I would still need to send them $120 if I wanted the 12 month totals.

 

I told them I couldn't wait that long, but if they would put in writing that it is their policy not to provide them, and that they were told by USCIS as they claim, that it was sufficient I would accept that. "We can't, it's not our standard letter."

 

I said, You can't type a few words on a sheet of paper and sign it?? It's physically impossible? "I don't know." I said, get someone who does. And she said she would ask when she took the money order to be returned to me. I told her to do that, and I WILL be calling back shortly.

 

I am NOT an asshole. I have worked in call centers, collections, retail, fast food... all the positions where you have to deal with pissed off customers all day, and I know how hard it is. I always try to be reasonable. But NOT ABOUT THIS.

 

gaaah!

 

I'll submit the letters they sent me, the ones they sent in April, and my co sponsor's 12 month statements (if he has them - I don't have mine), and my bank letter from BofA which I switched to in June (and they provided the letter for a $30 fee, with a smile and a have a nice day sir), as well as a letter from them if I can get it without an act of congress.

 

Customer service is as dead in this country as chivelry.

[maiyademama]

I had the same thing happen and the banker said they never had trouble with people getting a visa without 12 month totals. I explained that it was for Immigrant VISA not a credit card. She said "oh...Ok, I will do it then, sorry for the misunderstanding." Geez

 

I thought you were kidding about the name of your bank

 

Wachovia--- Watch over Ya! Walk over ya!

 

Sorry, I am from California

[Jeikun]

I had the same thing happen and the banker said they never had trouble with people getting a visa without 12 month totals. I explained that it was for Immigrant VISA not a credit card. She said "oh...Ok, I will do it then, sorry for the misunderstanding." Geez

 

I thought you were kidding about the name of your bank

 

Wachovia--- Watch over Ya! Walk over ya!

 

Sorry, I am from California

I always jokingly called it "Watch ova' ya" too I always hated them... then they bought my bank out (First Union) and suddenly I was a client.

 

So, I switched to Bank of America. You californians should be familiar with that one.

[oregonknl]

Hey JP,

 

I doubt you are in much trouble about this for Jun's inteview... Because of the nature of my work, my I-134 was heavily dependent on my assets, and I had no problem... I doubt that even the most stickler of a VO (and yes, Fei pulled one, and yes he did examine my I-134 closely) is going to care much about deposits .... they just look at the bottom line for very specific numbers that indicate you meet the law about support..

 

For instance, in my case, I bank at Washington Mutual, and Ing Direct --- both institutions are happy to prepare the letter for free, and I sat down with the branch manager at WM --- he asked me if I wanted a full printout of deposits and charges, and I told him just give me the last six months total deposits, (one figure) and total charges (one figure) --- and current ballence..... The VO was fine with that breakdown..

 

I do agree with Frank, this isn't something you need to get worked up about since you have your Father's support ---- this is one area, I think that if you simply satisfy the asset requirements of the law, then the VO is going to be ok with it... (maybe one of the few areas were the sand isn't shifting under us all the time... )

[oregonknl]

Yeah JP, B O' A has to be better than that Wasatch Mt. bank you're dealin' with...

 

I think banking must be much more competitive oout here in the west --- I can't imagine any western bank giving you the BS run around you got...

[Jim - Portland, USA]

And here I always thought that Wells Fargo sucked the most. I think Wachovia has set a new standard to fall to! I hate Wells Fargo. But I have free checking for life with all the goodies so I *tolerate* them from month to month. Anyway ...

 

To clarify, you DO need to get a statement from your bank which states the amount deposited into your account(s) within the last 12 months. The instructions on the I-134 clearly say this. As to whether or not the VO will look at the statement is anyones' guess to make.

 

The people at Wells Fargo also told me they can't give me that info (amount of deposits for last 12 months). They said something about that info not being available out of their crappy-ass computer system. So I did the same thing as Michael. Luckily, I had all my *paper* bank statements from the last 12 months, so I highlighted all the deposits, added them up, then took that info to a Notary Public at Wells Fargo, and he then looked at my numbers and wrote out the statement as I needed him to do. It was fairly easy (after I did their work for them). They even waived the $5 notary fee so it didn't cost anything at all.

[foebia]

Well I am confused now...

 

Do you need to "show" the last 12 months deposits like a spread sheet, or just the final amount as one figure? (total deposits for last 12 months is $00,00.00)

 

TIA

[cosmiclobster]

I have Washington Mutual (which I will dump right after I get back from China for other BS reasons, like charging me $3 a month for a savings account!). Anyway, I went into a branch and told the lady I needed a record of my deposits for the last year to show to the USCIS. She punched away at her PC for a minute and handed me a printout from her printer. It's not an "official letter" but it does have my name and account number and all of the dated deposits I made in the last year and it is totaled at the bottom. No charge.

[pkfops]

CitiBank will take care of you for free.

[warpedbored]

I have US bank and they were more than helpful. I didn't have my old bank statemens so they gave me a computer printout of all my accounts transactions for the last year then said they normally charge 50 dollars but since I was a long time customer in good standing they didn't charge me a cent. Before that I hated them but they won me back over. They were very helpful to me for all my notarizations (free) and everything I needed from them for the visa.