A hearty "Fuck You" to the BCIS Info Line

The BBQ Pit
1

I’ve had great experiences with dealing with the workers of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly known as the INS), while I’m in their offices. However, their ‘information’ line is staffed by uninformed morons.

About a month ago, I filled out a whack of forms and happily sent them off to the Vermont Service Centre along with a big cheque. They, in turn, sent me the form that I requested. With this form, and assorted other pieces of paper, I can apply for Advance Parole. Advance Parole allows me (and my son) to leave the US and return. Until this time, I have not been able to go home to visit, and it has SUCKED.

Anyway, to cover all bases that needed to be covered, I called a couple of different times to confirm information. Each time, I asked if I had to take my son with me to the BCIS office to get the advance parole document.

“Oh no, Ma’am, you can act as his agent as he is under the age of fourteen”.

Great! Matthew can go to school, and enjoy their Spring Fair. I took off for the BCIS office this morning at around 6:30. I got to their offices around 7:45, got my number, and waited.

At 9:00 my number was called, and I got my application for AP processed. Another cheque was written. I asked if I had to write a separate cheque for my son’s application, or if I could combine the two onto one cheque.

“Your son? Where is he?”

“He’s not here, he’s at school.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you then. He must be present for the application so we are certain he is in the country.”

At this point, I kept very calm. After all, Dave had to be in the city for an 11:00 appointment, and he could bring the Bug into the city.

I left the office and went to kill some time. I came back with Matthew and got his document application processed. We then went to wait in the other waiting room, with only two or three other people instead of 80.

After waiting for an hour and a half, I was awarded with our Advance Parole travel documents. However, the expiry date on them reads December 5, 2003.

Well, gentle reader, that’s less than six months from today’s date. I had been informed that the AP documents would be good for two years. I asked the man who gave them to me why, and he couldn’t answer. He went off to get a supervisor.

A woman came out, who said “I don’t know, let me get the supervisor” after she said “Why didn’t you ask before we had applied the seal”? Excuse me, lady, nobody showed it to me before.

A supervisor came out and basically told me that if my case is not settled within the six-month period that my AP is valid, that I will have to re-apply for AP for myself and Matthew. And PAY AGAIN.

I have fucking had it. And, I let him know that. Every god-damned time I have called the INS information line, I have been told that the document has a two-year validity, and the people in the office tell me another thing entirely. According to the locals, I will have to go into the office three weeks before Christmas and shell out another $220 if I wish to go visit my family for the holidays.

I don’t guess I would be so upset about this if it were the first time that they’ve given me false information. Last time I called and asked a question, they lied yet again, and Dave and I had to turn around and drive back home (60 minutes), get Matthew from school, drive to BWI (another hour) and then wait for two hours to get him properly landed into the country. We had been told that all we had to do was take his passport to the local office and they would stamp it.

I understand that the BCIS is underfunded. I also know that their people are probably overworked. I don’t give a flying fuck. They are here to help people who want to come to this country for a better life than they have wherever they are, and this is what happens? Thank God I speak English. Who knows the rigamarole you would have to go through if you spoke Icelandic or Flemish or some obscure dialect of Russian? These people are here to help, they are a “Service”, and more and more I hear and experience that they have no clue what they are doing. It’s a common complaint, and over and over again today I heard from others waiting that they had been told wrong information on the phone line.

So what do we do? Do we call the local office directly? Hell no! It’s not possible! You have one choice for contact, other than walking into the office yourself. For some that’s not possible, and they get incorrect information, and it screws them up.

Case in point - friend moves from Canada to US on a K-1 Visa. Friend was not inspected at the border and given the proper (I-94) document to attach into her passport. Friend gets to new home, calls INS to find out what to do in this instance. Is advised to marry, then worry about it. Friend marries, then is told that she is in the country illegally and she must pay a whopping amount of money and file completely separate forms or risk expulsion from the country, AFTER DOING WHAT SHE WAS TOLD.

It’s just not right, and I’m fucking tired of it.

2

Dear god, I HATE these people.

If there is a hell, I hope they burn an eon in sulphuric acid for every knowing lie they told. I hope every trainer who incompetantly guided these people into creating the please-sign-your-name here OOPS SORRY YOU SIGNED IT WRONG! HELL that we immgrants have to live with have to do HEADSTANDS in it.

3

I feel your pain.

I used to work in a non-profit dealing with immigration issues.

Jesus Christ, what a bunch of power-hungry, incompenent fools. If their idiocy didn’t so often have dire consequences for so many people just trying to follow the rules, it might be funny.

I have many examples of shocking incompetence if you’d like to hear them.

To be honest, I would NEVER advise an immigrant of any status to try to deal with the INS…er… BCIS alone. You should always have an immigration attorney or advocate process your paperwork on your behalf. (If you don’t have the dough for an immigration attorney, check to see if there are non-profits you might qualify to use. Is there a Appleseed Project in the Not So North? I can also help you find one, if you need.) They know the correct answers, thank god. And they have some pull if they have a relationship with an agent.

And don’t you just love how if BCIS loses your file, they still take your money? And then make you re-file and give them MORE money??? :mad:

4

I am in Maryland. I don’t know what they have around here. The INS directed me to Catholic Social Services, and the nearest one was in Philadelphia.

If you can find something out for me, my email is in my profile. And, thank you.

5

I’m sorry to hear about your troubles, GingerOfTheNorth.

My wife and I have had to deal with the INS (BCIS - I wonder when they changed their name). I am originally from the UK and Brynda, my wife, is from the US. I moved over here on a K-1 visa and we were married almost a year ago. We have had to deal with them messing us about and not being at all clear about what they needed us to do.

We found a lot of helpful information on this site, British Expats, which covers people moving from all over the place to lots of different places, not just the British moving overseas.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you and I hope that you manage to get this all sorted out.

6

GoTN:

I contacted the org I used to work for. They are faxing me a sheet of Maryland organizations.

If I don’t get it before I leave work, I’ll email you the info on Monday.

7

Oy! Me and Astrogirl hear you!

Luckily for her, I am the one who has to deal with INS (I don’t care if they changed their name! INS is easier to say…), as she has the excuse that her English is not really up to the BS they spew… which is true enough.

One tip, Ginger: it’s spelled “center” and “check” here in the US… don’t trust the fools at the INS to be able to figure out what you mean in any written communication! :wink: They’ll take ANY excuse, seemingly, to kick back an application.

Good luck!

8

**Ginger, ** I feel your pain. There is frequently no rhyme or reason to the advice they give; they frequently don’t follow their own rules. If you ever want to double-check an immigration-related issue, just post a GQ and I’ll take a crack at it. (Probably not today, though; I’m home sick.)

If we ever have to send a client in to the BCIS, we frequently find it helpful to print out a copy of the appropriate regulation. Sucks, but when you’re dealing with the GS-5 moron at the front desk, sometimes it helps. There are some helpful people at our local office, but they are all too few and far between. And BTW, I’d bitch about your advance parole until they give you the 2 years you are entitled to. If they give you too much flak, a little-known fact is that most congresspeople’s offices have at least one immigration liaison who deals with constituents’ issues. Call up yours and sic 'em!

Eva Luna, Immigration Paralegal

9

I feel your pain, honey. I so feel your pain.

Just be glad you’re dealing with Vermont for your AOS…

I still don’t understand how they think your AOS will be resolved in 6 months. I’ve also been told that AP is valid for up to 2 years - in some offices apparently you have to SPECIFICALLY REQUEST IT. 6 months is surprising, though. I’d contact your congressperson and talk to their immigration attaché and have them look into it for you. That’s what they’re there for…

:frowning: Bastards. All of 'em.

10

Oh! BTW, they released a memo this week to the AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) saying that they did not want to be referred to as “the former INS” but as “legacy INS”

I nearly died laughing.

11

I’m just waiting for them to create a strange logo, remove any trace of a name, and force the public to refer to them as “the agency formerly known as INS”.

12

I gesture. It has to be a gesture. To hell with the symbol.

Yes.

A gesture.

Then they make us immigrants dance even more! :::evil cackle::: Dance! DAAAANCE! Muhahahahaha…

13

I called the congressman’s office this afternoon after I messily and haphazardly posted the OP. She was (of course) gone for the day, but I’ll call until I get someone.

14

<groan>

I feel for you - in order for a number of the folks here from work to attend conferences in the US they have to apply for particular “visitors visas”.

Good lord. I’m sure they could make it more difficult and un-user friendly, but I can’t imagine how.

You have to PAY TO USED THE WEBSITE if you even want to get any information.

Frankly, I was appalled. I also have to process information for people moving and working in Canada - it’s a hulluva lot easier and more user friendly. Heck - they even have a fun quiz you can do to see if you qualify.

Good luck.

15

You’re killing me! :smiley: This one definitely gets forwarded around the office first thing Monday morning.

(Yeah, that AILA memo cracked me up, too. It would be funnier, though, if it weren’t so symptomatic of their outlook.)

16

GoTN:

I just emailed you the list of orgs in Maryland.

17

Well, I am relieved to report that Mrs. Bricker and I just had our interview for her adjustment of status, and since we brought Bricker Jr., along with a raft of pictures, joint account documentation, marriage documentation, and tax and wage documentation, everything turned out just fine.

Our experience with INS/BCIS was not so much incompetence as simply inefficiency. We married in November 2000 in Santo Domingo. She entered the US on her pre-existing tourist visa and a couple of months later, having decided the US was the place to stay, we applied for an adjustment of status for her. That was, I think, March 2001. We didn’t even get a “We recieved your petition, and here’s an A-number” letter until August – after her six-month tourist stay was theoretically expired. We had to file for (and pay $110 for) THREE separate Advance Parole documents to allow us to do Christmas and summer visits while we waited for action. Originally, she hadn’t intended on working at all while Bricker Jr. was little, so we didn’t file a Employment Authorization request… until I tried to get her added to by bank account and health insurance and was told they couldn’t handle someone without a Social Security number.

So in order to get the Social Security number, we have to provide a valid reason to the Social Security Administration - and “joint bank accounts” isn’t a valid reason. So we applied for the EAD, and that gave us the right to apply for an SSN. It actually worked out well; several months later, Mrs. Bricker landed a job translating for a magazine that publishes both English and Spanish editions - she works at home and can set her own hours, and makes a very nice salary.

Throughout the whole process, the key word has been SLOW. We had our interview in June 2003, over two years after applying. We had to provide additional financial info – everything was current when I sent the app in; but now was two years out of date. The final kicker was that the pictures they had been sent were apparently lost out of the file, so we had to scurry downstairs and pay $20 a pop to get new pictures taken… We had to pay, as I said, for Advance Parole, for EAD re-authorization, and whopping fees for all these forms - for no other reason than because they are SLOW.

Mrs. Bricker has vowed to apply for naturalization as soon as possible – because, she vows, that $20 headshot looks so terrible that she’ll take any excuse to get rid of the green card it’s on.

  • Rick
18

I haven’t received it. The address is gingerofthenorth at hot mail dot com. And, thank you.