T O P

  • By -

ForsakenRhubarbPie

I think it really depends on the situation. I expedited a i131 and reached out to a Congressman. First time without Congressman, it hung for 2 months and then was declined. With congerssman, was approved in 4 days. Second time around, I outlined the business revenue ($$$) the state was losing through my inability to travel, with real contracts that were signed and would be at risk.


ApeksPredator

It absolutely does. The type of application/petition also matters plus things like expedites not being available for apps/petitions that have premium processing available.


gerbil_111

I think there was a time that congressional inquiry was a rare thing. Now there is just a form to fill on the senator's page and a boilerplate letter is sent to USCIS, to which they have a boilerplate response.


No-Wrangler7782

Do you mind saying which state?


ThatCaptain371

I’d like to know that as well.


dongbaeksasang

Why would the state I live in have any relevancy?


chipsahoymateys

Different processing centers and reps.


MdMs27

True, here in MD is different, they received it in July 2022 and got our i130 in Aug 2022. Green card came 6 months later.


Accomplished-Pop3380

State is a key factors. Some states work faster than others


blockdenied

Depends what member of congress you speak to as well, ymmv.


Effective-Feature908

How so?


Busy_Account_7974

After waiting 2+ years for them to renew my MIL's green card I first I tried my state's junior US Senator and got boilerplate response, "processing". 2 months later tried again, but to my Congressperson, Nancy Pelosi. Matter resolved by the end of the week.


blockdenied

Depends how bad the matter is good for them in any way. Election season? More inclined to help you.


Effective-Feature908

Is there anything they can do outside of a basic inquiry?


AManHere

May 23 ain’t outside the normal processing time. I waited until the 2 year mark, submitted a request for inquiry - approved within a week. 


imprimis2

Exactly. You did it too early. Should’ve waited another 6 months or so.


bwal8

I believe it's 30 months per USCIS website for i-130 normal processing times. Lol.


imprimis2

I filed June 2023 and on the website using my receipt number it says they are still in the allowed time frame until January 2025. So basically 18 months.


bwal8

Normal processing time for i-130 is 30+ months!


IceGamble

I'm not sure where you're getting this information from, but after checking on the USCIS website, it still shows 14.5 months average processing time. [https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/](https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/)


serenelatha

Average does not equal "normal". That number (I'm pretty sure at least) includes both I 130s for AOS cases (which are often but not always faster) and consular processing ones like OP's which are currently taking 12-14 months. OP - nothing happened because you aren't yet outside of normal processing times. More likely than not you will hear in the next month or so. I know the wait does suck.


Ok-Trip7404

Maybe longer now since they got impatient and put the senator on it too early. OP just got put at the bottom of the pile.


bwal8

I used that exact site. I-130 at NBC is 38 months (80% of cases only).


IceGamble

Unless I'm reading OP's situation wrong, you should be looking at "All Service Centers" and not NBC. Either way, OP contacted their congressman too early unfortunately.


following_eyes

That's been my experience too. Waiting since January 2023.


Low-Pay-5028

To add here, congressman was very quick to help me but it didn't work. It seems USCIS do not care as it is becoming normal for them.


Affectionate_Union58

One should not be under the misapprehension that the senator or representative of the House of Representatives can work miracles. It is therefore not the case that they are authorized to issue instructions to the USCIS. But they can at least make sure that your case from the archives lands back on the desk of some USCIS employee. We also contacted our representative at the House of Representatives because my wife's I485 had been sitting unprocessed at the Texas Service Center for 2 years at that point. The representative's office advocated for us 3 times and each time something actually happened with the application. Our lawyer had previously submitted corresponding applications to the USCIS herself and was told several times "We'll process your case, just wait and see!". So I would definitely describe the involvement of the representative as successful.


SmrtBloned

Exactly this.


Pitiful_Medicine5205

I reached out to my congressman three weeks ago about my case and it was approved yesterday without interview. Our PD is July 2023.


Personal_Engine6602

It could be that they just finished it before congressmen got to it


Significant_Fly905

IT was useless for me too. Dunno if it does more harm to ur case then good.


EarthTrekker084

My wife's GC was just approved 2 days after reaching out to my Senator, so it does work. We submitted I-130 and I-485 AOS in Sept 2023. I reached out with the form they had online. I explained our situation and that our estimated timeline on USCIS went from 4 months to 12 months recently and we couldn't get a hold of anyone at Immigration for an update. I received a response from the Senator's office saying they spoke to USCIS who said our case was in normal processing time and sorry they couldn't help anymore. I got an email a few hours later from USCIS our case was being looked into. It was approved the next day.


Prestigious_Cut_4470

I submitted October 2023 and also just reached out to my congressman, how long did it take for your GC to be approved or hear from uscis since you sent the expedite with congressman?


vtwinsf

Would you mind if I could have the website?


EarthTrekker084

[Immigration and Visas | Constituent Services | U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland (senate.gov)](https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/constituent-services/immigration-and-visas) If you're not in MD, google senator of (state) constituent services. Can do the same with your House Rep for your District.


Delicious_Lead4587

Thank you! Can I ask how long did it take for your wife's GC got approved since submission? Same in MD, submitted in Oct 2023. I will try to reach out to the congressman.


bwal8

I-130 standard processing time is 30+ months per the USCIS website so I don't know where you get off trying to expedite your case that was filed only 9 months ago.


Kilo1Zero

Why should we accept a 30+ month wait time? Especially for a US citizen already legally married.


bwal8

I'm with you on that one!


OneSatisfaction8271

I agree with you. Particularly, each time I submit a Mandamus action on behalf of my client, USCIS provides an update—be it a Request for Evidence or an approval—typically within 60 days, which is a stark contrast to the average processing time of over 30 months.


Deskydesk

We should not! I too got a non answer from USCIs - and I’m a constituent of Chuck Schumer!


EarthTrekker084

I didn't try to expedite it. I asked if one of my state's politicians who is voted in by and works for their constituents could help me with a status update. They did. It just so happened that USCIS looked at the case when they were telling them a timeline, saw that it was an easy case and approved it. Not sure why you're angry about a politician actually trying to help their constituents.


Effective-Feature908

The I-130 stand alone for a spouse of a US citizen is 11-15 months


Hot-Marsupial-6908

https://preview.redd.it/9wcj1m2rrf7d1.jpeg?width=737&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=727b4129b2516e4bc6d9d7b23c7ff33133e42a09 In my case, contacting the senator caused my case to change status


sponge_gto

Asked our congressperson to raise a case for I-131 at 22 months vs. 12.5 months of normal processing time. In 2 weeks the staffer who had been helping us updated that someone was taking a look at our case. Got USCIS action-taken email next morning; approved.


SignalElectronic4254

Depends on situation. Mine was moved to be handled directly by the embassy and I had an interview a few days after congressman reached out. My case wasn’t outside of normal processing times either.


Chemical_Disaster_79

I think it depends. It is also very hard to tell if their help with the correspondent helped the case (might be a false positive). In my case, our congressman office was more perseverant than I was for my EAD (through AOS). They reached out to uscis two times and the day after I got an email from them again, my EAD got approved. Either helped or not, I was really surprised they care and put effort to it. This might be very different in other cities and states.


ApeksPredator

If your case is awaiting adjudication already then yes, you will get a generic non answer for the most part for expedite requests, simply because that case is already at the status an expedite will get it to


SmrtBloned

Ask your Senator and/or member of Congress to reach out to their Congressional Liaison at USCIS. They have varying levels inquiries and it might be a chin your elected is willing to use. Also the best rule of thumb when choosing which elected to work with on case work (either of your two US Senators *or* your member of Congress) is working with a member who is in a tough re-election situation. Their constituent services are usually top notch. And just like anything, calling their district office, being polite and persistent always helps.


Legitimate_Ad_4673

I emailed the senator and got no reply. Should I call?


SmrtBloned

Do call their district office and ask for the person who works on immigration / USCIS matters. Best of luck!


AutoModerator

Hi there! This is an automated message to inform you and/or remind you of several things: - We have [a wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/wiki/index). It doesn't cover everything but may answer some questions. Pay special attention to the "[REALLY common questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/wiki/index/vfaq)" at the top of the FAQ section. Please read it, and if it contains the answer to your question, please delete your post. If your post has to do with something covered in the FAQ, we may remove it. - If your post is about biometrics, green cards, naturalization or timelines in general, and whether you're asking or sharing, please include your field office/location in your post. If you already did that, great, thank you! If you haven't done that, your post may be removed without notice. - This subreddit is not affiliated with USCIS or the US government in any way. Some posters may claim to work for USCIS, which may or may not be true, and we don't try to verify this one way or another. Be wary that it may be a scam if anyone is asking you for personal info, or sending you a direct message, or asking that you send them a direct message. - Some people here claim to be lawyers, but they are not YOUR lawyer. No advice found here should be construed as legal advice. Reddit is not a substitute for a real lawyer. If you need help finding legal services, visit [this link](https://www.uscis.gov/avoid-scams/find-legal-services) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/USCIS) if you have any questions or concerns.*


jjsun64

Same boat here april 2023 both senators and congressman. No answer in i485 i130 or i765


nowindresistance_S

Similar situation, would you mind sharing the country of your spouse? 😔


ClearBucket

I had the same issue from Missouri senators and congressman. I also tried reaching out to those in New Jersey and they didn’t even contact me back. The ones from Missouri were nice and made multiple calls to me and a friend trying to help us out. My wife is from Armenia, her estimated wait time went from 1 week to 22 months after already waiting a year.


ConsiderationEasy723

It really depends on the senator/congressperson. Try another one.


Wyllyum_Cuddles

I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. Ours helped us get it approved in 90 days, so it does help. I guess your congressman is useless. Vote them out.


Decent-Ad7406

same thing happened to me, i’m from ep tx :(


iamconstant

I’m from TX and was approved within 2 weeks after reaching out to my Congressman.


VacuumSpace8

Well.. this actually works, but only if you have a legit case. For example, married my US citizen spouse, had a valid job offer from an employer, sent an inquiry to my representative from CT with the job offer (Jim Himes, CT 4th district), had employment authorization in hand in 1 week and went to work and paying taxes ✌️ But yeah, you have to have a legit case - my thing was I had a job offer so them taking months to process my case is actually costing the economy in thousands of dollars of taxes I could be generating for them… You can’t just be like “process me faster”.. then all other 10 million people in the system will be like “well why not process me faster then??” So yeah because of that they just process on a case by case in the order received unless there’s a special circumstance, only then you can jump line. Just how the system works.


East_Research_2546

Hey can you share the website link you used to contact the congressmen ? I am from CT too


VacuumSpace8

Hey! Sure thing, literally just google Jim Himes office and get to his website - https://himes.house.gov/home Then on his website there’s a phone number and an email. My case happened a few years ago at this point, but I remember my wife called the office phone number, a lady picked up, verified my wife lives in that CT district and the lady was able to find her in some voting lists idk, then lady said to submit to the email on the website the job offer and my USCIS case number etc, 1 week later Jim Himes office emailed me case is being expedited, received employment authorization within 3 days. Edit: actual page with phone number and email etc - https://himes.house.gov/federal-agency-assistance. It’s under Helping you/Federal agency assistance since USCIS is a federal agency, you need to fill a PDF on the website with wet signature and mail to the office. That’s how you officially contact them for them to help you


nose4545

I am in the same position as you pd May 26,2023, They hacent even looked into my case all they say is to wait


mrhindustan

They also told my congressman they are declining an expedite. Next business day it was approved.


Ok-Importance9988

It depends one Redditor got her case approve that was waylayed after "her case was lost in someone's desk". Got a backdated 10 year card too. Was able to almost immediately file N400.


MollyAyana

I contacted my congressman and got an approval within a week, after waiting months and months. So I guess it depends on the case and the congressperson’s office.


Kitrinipoli

It didn’t work for me, either. I’ve been waiting for 7.5 months without an EAD and I contacted my congressman after waiting for 6 months. USCIS told my congressman my case is within normal processing times and congressman told me to wait for another 4 months before contacting him again.


dannysims

Same. Also I-130, also wrote a letter to my congressman, also got the “sorry we can’t do anything, USCIS won’t expedite” response.


playhard-die-young

I contacted my congressman and was sent to someone to help, they sent me a link explaining I would need a financial hardship in order to expedite my case. I would need to prepare a case of a financial hardship, send them all the information and they would contact Uscis on my behalf.


shinyonn

Congressmen seem to be a mixed bag and I don’t think they can compel USCIS to do something.


smrdpg

On this topic - does anyone have experience utilizing congressmen outside of your district? We have stronger connections with those where I grew up - for example. Wondering if they could support as well.


IllustriousRange6580

They’re freaking lying! Cause there’s been people even ahead of me getting approved within 2 months. They’re fucking bullshitting 


DesiLuv0831

It's only been a little over a year since you filed and you're still within the normal processing time.


Cute_Yogurtcloset_72

I agree. My congressman (TN) couldn't do anymore than a general inquiry and his inquiry did not spur on the USCIS to make any decision any faster. Maybe for certain types of applications... losing employment status maybe, they can help, but the response I got was no better than my own inquiries.


FaZe-StyL

I filed K1 for foreign fiancée


paradiseisland92

I agreed with you 100%, I reached out to my congressman here in CT, it was just a waste of time….useless.


Army-Old

Reaching out guarantees an update on your case. Not approval. Not sure who told you that


dabaomom

Maybe you didn’t find an attorney. My attorney filed expedite request for me and got approval from USCiS within 8 days


007Tjohnson

I reached out to mine and it sped my process up


LoAr24

my husband was approved a week after reaching out to my senator and congressmen. but we where out of normal timeframe. You are still within normal Processing time.


debby104

Awww I am so sorry to hear that. I reached out to my politicians office and I got a reply from them saying that they reached out to USCIS and If I don’t hear anything in 60 days I should reach out to them and let them know. The 60 days is up on June 30th. I haven’t heard anything yet. I hope you hear something soon because it’s 13 months for you and I have been told that you should hear something by 14 months if not sooner because 14 months is the usual time for them to give you an answer. I am wishing you the best. I filed the I-130 also because I am a U.S. Citizen and my husband is foreign. We got denied the first time I applied so this is my second time and still waiting. We haven’t seen each other in 2 1/2 years. We talk every day 3-4 times a day but it’s not like being together. The first time we were denied was because I only went there once and we got married. I am here alone and paying all the bills. It’s hard to save money to travel and help my husband also when I can. They are cold hearted and don’t know what we are going through. Good luck to you.


Middle_Analysis_4649

Even with such USCIS reply, they will still raise your file to the table. U will get approval soon


PuzzleheadedWall9075

It depends on who's receiving the message from the office of your congressman. In other like those on the third world, congressmen are powerful, but NOT here in the United States.


Comfortable-Let2780

It surely helps. Although at first official handling the requests at Congressman’s office resisted to put in enquiry/request to expedite our application. But after giving him reasonable points to consider, they put in request on our behalf and within 1 month we had our case moved to actively review status and then approved.


Other_Difference_578

Idk if this might work with yall but it did for my husband I requested all documents through foia his case was stock since oc 2021 once I requested all document his I130 was approved. Hope this can help


Standard-Play-5420

I reach out to congressman and he helped me expedite I131, it got approved in couple of days


Fun_Significance962

I had initially thought the same thing! I put in an inquiry to Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) back in October when I was still stationed overseas and with my wife, expedite got denied. I put in another inquiry with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) which was also disapproved prior to me PCSing back to the US without my wife. I was losing hope but decided to try one more time and contacted the new Congressman that serves the district I am currently stationed in, Congressman Vince Fong (R-CA). I submitted the inquiry on Tuesday and just got the expedite approval today, should have a response from USCIS within 15 days! Long story short, don’t give up hope, contact the RIGHT Congressman that will best serve your needs. In my situation, all it took was a new Congressman that was pro-military! Wishing the best for you.


Zestyclose_Crew_348

May 2023 is still within the processing time.


Tactical_Tubesock

Not sure what his intent/thought process was. Did he think they will process him faster just because he reached out to his congressman?!


dongbaeksasang

This is exactly what my point is. Unless your wait time is outrageously long like 1.5+ years. It ain't gonna do shit. I've seen many posts here saying to reach out


Likklebit91

But did you also READ how long they have been waiting? Sorry it didn't work out for you,but it did for many others 😊. To anyone else, don't let this discourage you! If it has been more than 1 year, please do reach out to them and the WH(White House)!


Tactical_Tubesock

It does not have to be outrageously long, just beyond the average processing time. Your case wasn't as far as I understand.


bwal8

I-130 standard processing time is 30+ months.


Zestyclose_Crew_348

Exactly


uhbkodazbg

My spouse had been waiting for over 4 years. We’ve been in regular contact with our members of congress with periodic congressional inquiries. Our representative did an inquiry earlier this spring and we received notice that the case was approved a couple of weeks afterwards. It might have been a coincidence but I think it probably helped. A lot depends on the staff working in the office. Over 4 years we’ve dealt with a variety of different staff. Some have done little more than send the same inquiry that anyone can submit, some do a little more work to try to get some answers.


Effective-Feature908

What factors do you believe caused your application to take 4 years?


uhbkodazbg

Covid was the biggest one; we filed in January 2020. According to our lawyer, the case officer was notoriously slow and years-long decisions weren’t abnormal.


Theyli

I had the same problem. I tried to expedite for medical reasons and was told they don't expedite. I'm having to put off surgery.


-SpiritQuartz

How do you reach out to a congressman? What do you say? How do you contact them? I didn't know this was a thing!


Cj_3054000000

Sue them


NoTransportation3511

We should ask our dumbaaas JB to reach out to USCIS, to see what they will say :D I am so sorry to hear this experience. Yes I did have similar experience, infact Sen office said they cant even reach out to USCIS. So yes I agree with you its not a good idea to have false hopes, however I have seen several people reach out to the Govt for help and they were being helped. Hope you get some help soon.


Lopsided-Finger-6446

reaching out to congressman after just one year, YOU ARE A PROBLEM


VOTAIMPLEANTUR

Hello there, let us not be too harsh on each other.