imcaffeine
Registered Users (C)
Many people sent me private messages with questions. I decided to post everything here so that everybody can benefit from it. If you have questions, please also post here and I’ll try my best to answer.
I applied for family-based permanent resident status in November 2005 after married a US citizen. EAD card and Advance Parole were approved in about three months.
We had an interview in city A in March 06 and it went well. But we were informed that my application was stuck at the name check process.
We moved to city B in June 2006 and I informed USCIS with my new address. I called the 1800 number and visited the field office in city B for a few times but got no update whatsoever.
I started my actions in November 2006:
1. I sent a letter to City A’s field office requesting the transfer of my file per city B’s advice during my infopass inquiry.
2. I faxed letters to the FBI (Privacy Act Request), local congressman, senator, and the First Lady (my husband's family is Republican and I mentioned in my letter).
My original letter didn’t indicate that I was female so one person called me from the congressman’s office to figure that out. The first lady’s office also called and they told me that they were going to look into the issue. The senator’s office never contacted me.
(I faxed the letters and attachments to each office. The letters are in the next post. Feel free to use the templates.)
I called the congressman’s office in late December. Somebody there told me that it was going to take 2 months approximately for them to process the request. I needed to be patient. I figured that they were helping me anyways, so I was very polite and nice over the phone. The officer on the other end then wrote down my name and promised me that he would look into it. I believe that good attitude always helps in this kind of situation.
At the same time, I started looking into the WOM process. It looked like WOM no longer worked when I was half way through my research.
I received a letter from the FBI a month after I sent the letter. My background was clean. (Big news!?...lol…)
I went to the field office A after Christmas in 2006 and I was told that my files just got transferred to city B but my name check was still not cleared.
We got another interview in city B in early Jan. 2007. The officer told me that my name check was just cleared, but she needed more files from city A and I needed to wait for another 3-6 months. I was happy at first, then I felt anxious. I had an Infopass within the same week. I was told that my name check was NOT cleared based on their record and the officer probably got confused. It frustrated me in a great deal.
What could I do besides waiting?
Things turned to a promising direction in late February 2007. My local congressman sent me a letter indicating that the office sent a case inquiry to FBI in early Jan. 2007.
In early March this year, the congressman’s office forwarded FBI’s responses that my name check was cleared in late January. It was two weeks after our second interview, so my officer probably was confused afterall. I’m not sure if the first lady’s office or the congressman’s office helped, or maybe both.
A week or two later, in late March, the congressman’s office followed up with another letter that my A files were transferred from the USCIS central office to city B’s field office. Furthermore, the congressman sent a letter to the field office to follow up. I really appreciated what they did for me. (I'm going to write a thank you note later tonight.)
I have been very anxious as you could imagine. So I booked an infopass again for this week, but I received an email from USCIS this morning that my case was approved. It’s been a year and five months since I applied. It took me lots of energy and time, but eventually I got it. This website helped me a lot and I thank everybody for your answers and bless. There are many things we can’t control, but we need to do as much as we can to help. Be proactive. Be nice. And never lose your faith that you deserve it. Good luck!
I applied for family-based permanent resident status in November 2005 after married a US citizen. EAD card and Advance Parole were approved in about three months.
We had an interview in city A in March 06 and it went well. But we were informed that my application was stuck at the name check process.
We moved to city B in June 2006 and I informed USCIS with my new address. I called the 1800 number and visited the field office in city B for a few times but got no update whatsoever.
I started my actions in November 2006:
1. I sent a letter to City A’s field office requesting the transfer of my file per city B’s advice during my infopass inquiry.
2. I faxed letters to the FBI (Privacy Act Request), local congressman, senator, and the First Lady (my husband's family is Republican and I mentioned in my letter).
My original letter didn’t indicate that I was female so one person called me from the congressman’s office to figure that out. The first lady’s office also called and they told me that they were going to look into the issue. The senator’s office never contacted me.
(I faxed the letters and attachments to each office. The letters are in the next post. Feel free to use the templates.)
I called the congressman’s office in late December. Somebody there told me that it was going to take 2 months approximately for them to process the request. I needed to be patient. I figured that they were helping me anyways, so I was very polite and nice over the phone. The officer on the other end then wrote down my name and promised me that he would look into it. I believe that good attitude always helps in this kind of situation.
At the same time, I started looking into the WOM process. It looked like WOM no longer worked when I was half way through my research.
I received a letter from the FBI a month after I sent the letter. My background was clean. (Big news!?...lol…)
I went to the field office A after Christmas in 2006 and I was told that my files just got transferred to city B but my name check was still not cleared.
We got another interview in city B in early Jan. 2007. The officer told me that my name check was just cleared, but she needed more files from city A and I needed to wait for another 3-6 months. I was happy at first, then I felt anxious. I had an Infopass within the same week. I was told that my name check was NOT cleared based on their record and the officer probably got confused. It frustrated me in a great deal.
What could I do besides waiting?
Things turned to a promising direction in late February 2007. My local congressman sent me a letter indicating that the office sent a case inquiry to FBI in early Jan. 2007.
In early March this year, the congressman’s office forwarded FBI’s responses that my name check was cleared in late January. It was two weeks after our second interview, so my officer probably was confused afterall. I’m not sure if the first lady’s office or the congressman’s office helped, or maybe both.
A week or two later, in late March, the congressman’s office followed up with another letter that my A files were transferred from the USCIS central office to city B’s field office. Furthermore, the congressman sent a letter to the field office to follow up. I really appreciated what they did for me. (I'm going to write a thank you note later tonight.)
I have been very anxious as you could imagine. So I booked an infopass again for this week, but I received an email from USCIS this morning that my case was approved. It’s been a year and five months since I applied. It took me lots of energy and time, but eventually I got it. This website helped me a lot and I thank everybody for your answers and bless. There are many things we can’t control, but we need to do as much as we can to help. Be proactive. Be nice. And never lose your faith that you deserve it. Good luck!
