Green card woes - what to do?

[Anonymous]

This is a bit of a desperate post but I am writing here on the off chance there is somebody out in the DCUM community who may be able to offer useful advice. Maybe a lawyer with some experience in immigration or somebody who has dealt with the USCIS.

In March 2021, we applied for a green card for my 14yo DS who has lived here since he was 2yo. I felt we needed to give him the option of staying in the US when he is older as this is his home. We forked out $1600 in fees to the USCIS and $3000 to a lawyer so it was an expensive decision. It means he now needs a travel permit to travel outside the US while the green card is being processed; if he leaves the country without a permit, his application will be cancelled.

When we submitted the application in March, the published indicative processing time was 3-5 months so we expected to receive it between June and August and went ahead and booked flights to see our families in the UK for Christmas. It has been hard not seeing them for so long and you really don't know how much time elderly parents will be around. We heard nothing and the published processing times kept increasing due to the horrendous backlog caused by the pandemic. In the end, we had to cancel our December flights.

The published processing time for travel permits is now 10-13 months and keeps increasing. It is impossible to phone the USCIS. Their system deliberately stops you from doing this except in an emergency. Our lawyer is not able to contact them and has not offered any useful advice except to contact our congressman's office. I reached out to Jamie Raskin's office but they have not heard back in the usual 30 days and are following up. I don't expect they can do anything. I absolutely understand the pandemic has made a mess of things for many people but all we need is the travel permit which actually seems like a pointless rubber stamping exercise which just slows the real work down. It confounds me why they have the permit system in the first place.

I just booked flights to the UK again in July and have decided we would abandon the green card application if a travel permit is not issued. My DS would be very sad and offered to pay the fees to reapply but he doesn't have that kind of money (not that I would let him).

If anybody has been through this or has any advice, I am all ears!

[Anonymous]

To be clear, you are waiting for the travel permit, not the green card, correct?

[Anonymous]

Can you pay to have your family from the UK fly here instead?

[Anonymous]

I think you just need to be patient and wait. Yes, it absolutely sucks. But so does getting Covid and it's possible the office processing these permits or green cards has had a third to half of the staff out with Covid, in ADDITION to people quitting for all kinds of various reasons. Respect the backlog. Your desire for a vacation is not more important than other people's lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you just need to be patient and wait. Yes, it absolutely sucks. But so does getting Covid and it's possible the office processing these permits or green cards has had a third to half of the staff out with Covid, in ADDITION to people quitting for all kinds of various reasons. Respect the backlog. Your desire for a vacation is not more important than other people's lives.

huh? Where have that many people been out with covid at once?

[Anonymous]

I would push harder at Raskins' office and email the senators as well. Call, email, etc. Can't hurt.

[Anonymous]

Do you have green cards or are you on visas? What status did your son have before you applied for his green card?

[Anonymous]

In my case the senators offices were useless. I just got form replies from both. Van Hollen was the congressman at the time and his staff were phenomenal at getting my situation resolved. I had my green card within 2 weeks. But this was before the pandemic. Raskin’s office may not be able to do much since the processing times are slow for everyone, so keep your expectations realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have green cards or are you on visas? What status did your son have before you applied for his green card?

this? As someone who was a green card holder now a dual citizen ( UK/US) I’m confused about this too.

[Anonymous]

I would absolutely prioritize your child's legal status over vacation. The situation sucks and the system is broken.

[Anonymous]

I'd fly your family here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be clear, you are waiting for the travel permit, not the green card, correct?

Just waiting for the travel permit. Absolutely understand the green card could take a longer as it is much more complex to process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you pay to have your family from the UK fly here instead?

Parents are very elderly and have health issues so flying, particularly during covid, is out of the question. There are also many other close family members - sisters, nieces, nephews, etc - who we would like to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would absolutely prioritize your child's legal status over vacation. The situation sucks and the system is broken.

It’s not vacation it’s travel to see elderly family

Sorry OP fingers crossed for you

[Anonymous]

There are thousands of people in the same boat as you, OP. This is not some unique situation. The entire green card/consular service situation is a clusterf*** right now.