Is this true?

[Tashy123]

I asked my senator to look into my husband's I-601 to see if he can expedite it and I was told that they can only expedite cases that involve serious illnesses such as cancer, high risk pregnancies or if I was in the military and was deployed to Iraq. Is this true or was I dealt a load of crap?

[kitkat1]

What consulate? Most consulates have very clear and strict rules regarding expedites -- only in the case of the USC's military deployment or an "extreme" medical condition. Your senator gave you valid, correct information.

[Tashy123]

The consulate is Montreal but the I-601 is at Vermont.

[kenaly]

I went thru Montreal and was expedited with the help of my senator.

[Ginger]

I think that it is all depends on the senator’s office. Our clearly stated that they can send an enquiry about our case, can help to find out on what stage of the process case is but they CAN NOT expedite the handling of the case nor can they “help” to make a decision more favorable.

We went through 2 congressmen and 1 senator’s office until we found one that was at least not lying to us.
This is what we found out: consulates MUST reply to the official request in 3 business days. So, since we went through the Frankfurt and they are the one who does not give you any info where and in what stage your case is, our senator’s office found that indeed our case is in Frankfurt, they also were the one who told us that our case was approved 24 hours since that happened ( we had a notice in the mail 3 weeks after that).

[Tashy123]

Thanks for the helpful information. I hope our luck follows your Ginger and we get an approval soon.

[Ginger]

You just have to hope...... Good luck.

[kitkat1]

Even though consulates have a "requirement" to respond to congressional inquiries, that apparently does NOT extend to DHS. (My senator made inquiries directly to the consulate and always received responses, but when it came to requests made directly to DHS in CDJ, they completely ignored them). It's worth a try, I just wouldn't put too much hope in it.

[Ginger]

Kitkat, this is just a theory, but what if senator’s office is not telling the truth? Please do not be offended; I am kind of speaking from the experience.
We did contacted 2 congressman’s and 1 senator’s office before we found the one who really was willing to help up with the info.
In one of the congressman’s offices they have told us that they contacted Frankfurt and have been waiting for the response ( for 1 month). When we went to the other senator’s office, we got a response from the Frankfurt in 3 days.

Again, I do not know how truth is it but we were told by the senator’s representative that because there request considered government official’s request, it have to be replied in 3 business days. The same as some consulates have a policy that they have to reply to the US citizen in 10 business days and this rule does not apply if you are not a US citizen ( US Embassy in Poland for example).

Have you thought about trying other senator or congressman office? Would certify mail to the US embassy work or they totally ignoring everything?

[kitkat1]

I was copied on all the information provided by my Senator to both the consulate and DHS. The consulate was able to tell me each and every instance that either I or my Senator had contacted them regarding my case and provide me with exact information regarding their response (i.e. "on July 17 consulate received email from Senator; on July 18 consulate responded xxx") They could also see the inquiries made directly to DHS - which were never responded to. I also sent the same requests my Senator sent on my own - directly to DHS via the consulate. The consulate responded to me by letter as I had requested indicating they had forwarded the information to the DHS office. I believe DHS put it directly in the garbage can. Each DHS office is different so I'm sure it depends on whether you are dealing with one who has the staff or the courtesy to respond.

[kenaly]

Montreal/VSC is pretty good about responding, IF your senators office is persistent. I was not satisfied with the standard inquiry responses, so I pushed and pushed,quoted laws to my senators immigration liaison,and finally got the response from my senator that I was looking for. Persistence is the key with Montreal and VSC IMO.