Beyond 120 days - No Oath letter - contacting Senator/Congressman - North VA area

L

linuxrox

Registered Users (C)
BobSmyth/Moderators/Good Samaritans

what is the best way to contact 'Senators/Congressmen' if the interview was done more than 120 days with 'recommended for approval' but still no Oath letter ?
Emails/Contact numbers/Fax numbers/Addresses - Where do we get all this info for the North Virginia's Senator/Congressmen ?
And is Contacting and writing to them - the only available recourse ?
Are there any other things that we could initiate ?

All help really appreciated - for a very vexed up guy!
 
linuxrox said:
BobSmyth/Moderators/Good Samaritans

what is the best way to contact 'Senators/Congressmen' if the interview was done more than 120 days with 'recommended for approval' but still no Oath letter ?
Emails/Contact numbers/Fax numbers/Addresses - Where do we get all this info for the North Virginia's Senator/Congressmen ?
And is Contacting and writing to them - the only available recourse ?
Are there any other things that we could initiate ?

All help really appreciated - for a very vexed up guy!
Click to expand...

Here's a website that'll help you find your elected officials and their contact info: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

You can also contact the USCIS ombudsman's office, which is nothing more than an exercise in futility. The main recourse now available to you is filing a lawsuit under 1447(b), which will result in a speedy approval of your application/issuance of oath letter.
 
Thanks Vorpal - how does one fule lawsuit under 1447(b) ? do i need to hire an attorney for that $$$$$ ?
 
linuxrox said:
BobSmyth/Moderators/Good Samaritans

what is the best way to contact 'Senators/Congressmen' if the interview was done more than 120 days with 'recommended for approval' but still no Oath letter ?
Emails/Contact numbers/Fax numbers/Addresses - Where do we get all this info for the North Virginia's Senator/Congressmen ?
And is Contacting and writing to them - the only available recourse ?
Are there any other things that we could initiate ?

All help really appreciated - for a very vexed up guy!
Click to expand...

In addition to what Vorpal said: the main point in contacting a member of the U.S. Congress is to get an accurate information about what exactly is the reason for delay in adjudication of your case.
If the delay is caused by a still pending FBI Name Check, a congress member inquiry will not speed it up but at least you will know what the problem is. (Filing a lawsuit usually does result in a speed-up of the Name Check).
If the problem is caused by some internal USCIS processing issues, a congress member inquiry may in fact help in getting the case moving again.
So I would suggest that you contact the two U.S. Senators for Virginia and the member of the House of Representatives for your area first, and see what they tell you and if their intervention produces any results. If not (e.g. if they tell you that you are stuck in the FBI Name Check), it would be a good idea to file a lawsuit then.
 
Thanks Baikal.
The delay is in the Alexandria Court process - When i opened a 'service request' after 90 days with USCIS - they sent me a letter which read - "your case has been approved and we are awaiting a slot at Oath in the court".
Would filing a 1447(b) still help in the above case ?
Essentially Alexandria court is in a 'cyclical' delay - looks like their Feb Court oath ceremony got cancelled owing to Snow - and from then on it is in a delay cycle. Also, from what was gathered on this forum, the Oath at the court happens only one day a month - 3rd thursday it looks like.

Any pointers are appreciated.
 
linuxrox said:
Thanks Baikal.
The delay is in the Alexandria Court process - When i opened a 'service request' after 90 days with USCIS - they sent me a letter which read - "your case has been approved and we are awaiting a slot at Oath in the court".
Would filing a 1447(b) still help in the above case ?
Essentially Alexandria court is in a 'cyclical' delay - looks like their Feb Court oath ceremony got cancelled owing to Snow - and from then on it is in a delay cycle. Also, from what was gathered on this forum, the Oath at the court happens only one day a month - 3rd thursday it looks like.

Any pointers are appreciated.
Click to expand...

If that is indeed the reason for the delay then a 1447(b) lawsuit would probably not help. I assume the federal court in your area has claimed exclusive jurisdiction over administering naturalization oaths and that administrative oaths (given by USCIS) are not available. If that is the case, the matter is basically out of USCIS' hands.
I would still suggest that you write to the congressional representatives and to the CIS Ombudsman (http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0482.shtm), to confirm the reason for the delay. It also may be that a congressmember inquiry does help to shedule you for an earlier oath.

The situation is somewhat similar for central Illinois. The federal courts here claimed exclusive jurisdiction over naturalization oath. In my area the court has the oath cerremonies once every three months, so sometimes people have to wait quite a long time after the interview for an oath to be scheduled.
By contrast, people from the Chicago area usually age given an oath letter at the conclusion of the interview, because in Chicago administrative oaths are available and take place several times per week.
 
Dispatched letters to CIS Ombudsman, congressman and Senator.
At this point, I guess everything that can be humanly done from my side is complete.
 
Goodluck Linuxrozx. I think you need tons of goodluck.
I hope you get your oath pretty soon.

Your interview was on 2nd Dec, Court approved your name change on 28th Jan.

Here is what I think would have happened in your case:
Due to snow storm, court must have been behind schedule on lot of top prioritiy cases. They post-poned Feb/March Oath to later months. So, whoever was supposed to be schduled in Feb/March, will be pushed by 2 months. So, they are probably scheduled to take oath in April/May. Since we are almost close to 3rd Thursday in April and you haven't received your oath letter yet, I strongly believe that you will get your oath letter in next 15 days and will be scheduled to take oath in May (3rd Thursday which is 20th).

Now that you have done everything you could do, So hang on and don't take get too stressed out. I know Its easy for me to say.
You will hear about your oath date in next 2 weeks.

Good luck.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
IPL-fan said:
Goodluck Linuxrozx. I think you need tons of goodluck.
I hope you get your oath pretty soon.

Your interview was on 2nd Nov, Court approved your name change on 28th Jan.

You will hear about your oath date in next 2 weeks.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Correction - Interview was on December 2.
Thanks IPL fan (am disappointed with today's chargers though)
 
Looks like if you involve Senator's office, your case might get a little traction :)
Today got a call from Senator's office - they said you should hear from USCIS soon.
 
Cool, do you remember when you filed a service request? If so how long did it take for you to get a reply back from them? I filed one 13 days ago and still nothing.
 
z28 - can you post more of your details ?
whats your interview date ?
Did they recommend you for approval ?
 
linuxrox said:
z28 - can you post more of your details ?
whats your interview date ?
Did they recommend you for approval ?
Click to expand...

My interview was on 1/11/2010 and I was told a decision cant be made at this time. So on 4/11/2010 I filed a service request. I was just wondering how long it took you to get a response from USCIS once you filed your service request.
 
I filed the service request on March 2 - 90 day line, and received response in 21 days - a letter indicating they approved my case.
 
Thanks everyone here - got the Oath letter. Looks like Senator's involvement does go a long way. Its on 20th may.
 
Oath Completed on May 20th - thursday.
Letter asked me to report by 8.00 am - with the traffic being a B, me and wife reached there at 9.10 AM.
Parking is a couple of blocks from the 401 Courthouse address.
They DO NOT allow cell phones and cameras into the building. Lucky that wife came along - gave everything to her asking her to go back to the car, dump them and come back.
Inside it was smooth - they took my GC and the oath letter. They asked if there were any traffic tickets since the interview and before the Oath - I said NO. she gave my numbering and asked me to go sit in the chair. Behind me was a "Desi Girl" - from what she said she interviewed like before October 2009. She got a traffic ticket and DID not bring the proof - they refused to entertain - she went out, and maybe called some one to get the proof of payment and returned back at 9.45 and they took her in. So if you have a traffic ticket after interview, GET the proof of payment to the Court.

At 10.00 the District Attorney gave description of whats going to happen. At about 10.15 the Judge and his entourage came in - with their hammers, Oye Oye and the works.
The DA read thru all the names, we stand up and state the name of the country.
Judge approved the motions of name change officially.
After that was complete for the 70 odd users, there was a 40 minute discourse by the Judge on why US is great. Then reps from Daughters of American Rev addressed us and sang some poems i think (you can gauge my state by then).
Then some other justice dept folks gave another small discourse - and then the Judge came down and met all the participants who changed their names.
Then they called us one by one to hand over the Nat Cert, and 2 certified copies of name change sealed by court.
DAR folks gave us flag and stuff.
I rushed to eat, then to SSA office and DMV office. By EOD i finished both - and on friday I submitted by passport application.

So guys - that marks the end of my immigration journey!!!
 
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