Hi All,
Now that I have the attention of the majority of people, I would like to vent. I have been visiting these forums for a long time but have never felt the need to contribute, mainly because I didn’t know enough to offer any insight into the workings of the USCIS (formerly known as the INS). I would like to thank all the people who have contributed and continue to contribute to this forum from time to time with their valuable advice. I would also like to thank Rajiv for extending a great service to the immigrant community by providing this forum. I have met him a number of times and found him not only to be a very sharp and competent lawyer but also a kind human being with a very good sense of humor and a thorough gentleman. I have learnt a lot from the regulars and not so regular people here. However I have a couple of observations to make. Please take them in the same spirit as they are being rendered, which I must add is sincere. If you feel otherwise, that's your progrative.
When I first came to this country my boss (another expat) gave me two pieces of advice. He said,
a) "Now that you are here, don't try to beat the system".
b) "Second advice is that you 'go with the flow', don't try to make waves, or try to go against the current. You will only tire yourself".
I have found his pearls of wisdom to hold true so many times and in all walks of life in the past 8 years that I have been here. This is a documented society unlike back home, where we are brought up observing people take shortcuts all the time and getting ahead (not that it bears fruit back home in the longer run anyway), but here if you take shortcuts the system will catch up with you sooner or later. I have seen people talk about the "POJ" method, the "Letter to FL", letters to congressmen and/or senators, automated querying the USCIS receipt number db to get status of cases approved in any given week or month. These are not the normal channels of communications that have been provided by the system. It might have borne fruit for the first few but generally now the USCIS has wizened up and they have closed these channels as well. Just read up elsewhere on the forums and you will find that they are now screening caller ID's and refusing to divulge any information to repeat callers using the so called "POJ" method. "Letter to FL" method has also dried up. Also, now they block repetitive queries from one IP address.
The moral of the story is that these few people have now spoiled it for the rest of us. By engaging the IO's with un-necessary methods you are not only aggravating the IO's but also delaying the process for the rest of us. I have for the past 6 years called the USCIS at most 8 times only. Out of those 8 times I have talked to an actual IO (as opposed to the contractors at the private call center) only three times. Two times I talked to a couple of very nice ladies and they were as helpful as they possibly could. One time I got an obnoxious gentleman who left a bad taste in my mouth. But two out of three is not bad, and I am sure he was either having a bad day or was sick and tired of the incessant calls with people reaching him using the same shortcuts.
I would go mad too if I were to get 50 calls a day from people with heavy accents who have to repeat everything twice to be understood, asking the same questions over and over and over again, day in day out. Don't forget, they are humans too, and work for a living. Yes, we do pay taxes, which in turn go towards their salaries, but remember, we pay the taxes on the same money that we earn by working here in this country, we do not pay taxes on monies that we have either earned or brought with us from the outside. I know, when I came here, I had one five hundred dollars to my name, rest all I earned here. And I used my hard earned money towards the fees for the immigration process. Also remember, immigration benefits are a privilege, not a right. Yes, we are not begging, but we should also not be trying to beat the system and ruin it for the people behind us in line. I know the system is not without it's many flaws and there is not much accountability or oversight towards the workings of the USCIS. Just a few days ago the Assistant Secretary of State Maura Harty, made a public apology to the American people for the passport fiasco in early summer. Why do we not see a senior DHS person apologizing for the inept way the USCIS is being run? The difference is simple. We are immigrants, and are asking for a benefit which is offered as a privilege and not a right.
However, there are plenty of options provided by the system to all immigrants. Calling the Service Centers is one method, when that fails, you can try the InfoPass, if that does not satisfy you, there is the USCIS Ombudsman, if all else fails, provided that you can afford it, you can hire a lawyer and get a judge to issue a "habeas corpus" or any of the other legal means and force the hand of the USCIS to provide results. Yes, it is a lengthy process but still there are avenues and checks and balances provided by the system which can and should be utilized to the fullest extent that the law guarantees. But make use of common sense.
Calling every day/week/month, for months asking the same questions, not only doesn't make sense but also is kind of useless. Believe me, calling USCIS to get your address changed every other week will not "trigger" an approval. A lengthy Letter to the congressman will trigger a one page form letter with a signature stamped by the administrative staff of the congressman and/or senator to the FBI will not put your case on the fast track. The congressmen/senators will not do much beyond that being the politicians they are as you cannot vote, well, not for at least another 5 years. And 5 years in politics is an eternity. What it will do however, is that it will engage some resources of the USCIS towards these distractions and keep them from doing their regular work, and tax the already overloaded and inefficient USCIS, which has finite number of resources to work with in on our cases to begin with. I have been patient all these years, and yes, maybe too reticent, but please be conscious of others as well.
EB3
I485 RD June, 2003 (VSC)
I-140 AD Nov, 2005 (VSC)
I485 Tr'ffrd to TSC April, 2007
NameCheck Pending since Dec, 2004 (as per Infopass, May 2007)
Wrote to USCIS Ombudsman June, 2007
5th EAD July, 2007
Now that I have the attention of the majority of people, I would like to vent. I have been visiting these forums for a long time but have never felt the need to contribute, mainly because I didn’t know enough to offer any insight into the workings of the USCIS (formerly known as the INS). I would like to thank all the people who have contributed and continue to contribute to this forum from time to time with their valuable advice. I would also like to thank Rajiv for extending a great service to the immigrant community by providing this forum. I have met him a number of times and found him not only to be a very sharp and competent lawyer but also a kind human being with a very good sense of humor and a thorough gentleman. I have learnt a lot from the regulars and not so regular people here. However I have a couple of observations to make. Please take them in the same spirit as they are being rendered, which I must add is sincere. If you feel otherwise, that's your progrative.
When I first came to this country my boss (another expat) gave me two pieces of advice. He said,
a) "Now that you are here, don't try to beat the system".
b) "Second advice is that you 'go with the flow', don't try to make waves, or try to go against the current. You will only tire yourself".
I have found his pearls of wisdom to hold true so many times and in all walks of life in the past 8 years that I have been here. This is a documented society unlike back home, where we are brought up observing people take shortcuts all the time and getting ahead (not that it bears fruit back home in the longer run anyway), but here if you take shortcuts the system will catch up with you sooner or later. I have seen people talk about the "POJ" method, the "Letter to FL", letters to congressmen and/or senators, automated querying the USCIS receipt number db to get status of cases approved in any given week or month. These are not the normal channels of communications that have been provided by the system. It might have borne fruit for the first few but generally now the USCIS has wizened up and they have closed these channels as well. Just read up elsewhere on the forums and you will find that they are now screening caller ID's and refusing to divulge any information to repeat callers using the so called "POJ" method. "Letter to FL" method has also dried up. Also, now they block repetitive queries from one IP address.
The moral of the story is that these few people have now spoiled it for the rest of us. By engaging the IO's with un-necessary methods you are not only aggravating the IO's but also delaying the process for the rest of us. I have for the past 6 years called the USCIS at most 8 times only. Out of those 8 times I have talked to an actual IO (as opposed to the contractors at the private call center) only three times. Two times I talked to a couple of very nice ladies and they were as helpful as they possibly could. One time I got an obnoxious gentleman who left a bad taste in my mouth. But two out of three is not bad, and I am sure he was either having a bad day or was sick and tired of the incessant calls with people reaching him using the same shortcuts.
I would go mad too if I were to get 50 calls a day from people with heavy accents who have to repeat everything twice to be understood, asking the same questions over and over and over again, day in day out. Don't forget, they are humans too, and work for a living. Yes, we do pay taxes, which in turn go towards their salaries, but remember, we pay the taxes on the same money that we earn by working here in this country, we do not pay taxes on monies that we have either earned or brought with us from the outside. I know, when I came here, I had one five hundred dollars to my name, rest all I earned here. And I used my hard earned money towards the fees for the immigration process. Also remember, immigration benefits are a privilege, not a right. Yes, we are not begging, but we should also not be trying to beat the system and ruin it for the people behind us in line. I know the system is not without it's many flaws and there is not much accountability or oversight towards the workings of the USCIS. Just a few days ago the Assistant Secretary of State Maura Harty, made a public apology to the American people for the passport fiasco in early summer. Why do we not see a senior DHS person apologizing for the inept way the USCIS is being run? The difference is simple. We are immigrants, and are asking for a benefit which is offered as a privilege and not a right.
However, there are plenty of options provided by the system to all immigrants. Calling the Service Centers is one method, when that fails, you can try the InfoPass, if that does not satisfy you, there is the USCIS Ombudsman, if all else fails, provided that you can afford it, you can hire a lawyer and get a judge to issue a "habeas corpus" or any of the other legal means and force the hand of the USCIS to provide results. Yes, it is a lengthy process but still there are avenues and checks and balances provided by the system which can and should be utilized to the fullest extent that the law guarantees. But make use of common sense.
Calling every day/week/month, for months asking the same questions, not only doesn't make sense but also is kind of useless. Believe me, calling USCIS to get your address changed every other week will not "trigger" an approval. A lengthy Letter to the congressman will trigger a one page form letter with a signature stamped by the administrative staff of the congressman and/or senator to the FBI will not put your case on the fast track. The congressmen/senators will not do much beyond that being the politicians they are as you cannot vote, well, not for at least another 5 years. And 5 years in politics is an eternity. What it will do however, is that it will engage some resources of the USCIS towards these distractions and keep them from doing their regular work, and tax the already overloaded and inefficient USCIS, which has finite number of resources to work with in on our cases to begin with. I have been patient all these years, and yes, maybe too reticent, but please be conscious of others as well.
EB3
I485 RD June, 2003 (VSC)
I-140 AD Nov, 2005 (VSC)
I485 Tr'ffrd to TSC April, 2007
NameCheck Pending since Dec, 2004 (as per Infopass, May 2007)
Wrote to USCIS Ombudsman June, 2007
5th EAD July, 2007
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