And now the moment we've been waiting for....

Finally, after over a year and a half of since the day we met and over 3000 pages of written correspondence between us. We waited 6 months and 2 days from the day our petition was received by the USCIS for any information from them. The letter I sent to my senator and congressman seemed to work and our voices were finally heard.
Today, as I spent my lunch hour talking with Anna, my Senator's office called me and told me they had good news regarding our petition. They informed me they received an email from the USCIS informing them that our petition was approved yesterday.
It is interesting that my Senator's office called me with the good news long before I heard the good news from the USCIS. Today after I returned home from work I waited for nearly 2 hours, At precisely 6:30 P.M. I finally received the official notification from the USCIS in an email message.
I cannot begin to describe how happy both Anna and I were to hear the news. Finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we can begin to plan our lives together.
Perhaps it takes an act of Congress and a fax from a Senator to finally get action from this organization or perhaps we were just getting impatient and if we waited they would have approved it anyway. I don't know which is true. I have my theory, but you can be the judge.
This is the email I received today:

***************************************
*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: ************

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity

On April 24, 2013, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State.  For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov under Check Processing Times.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
*******************************************

While Anna and I are pleased to hear the good news, we feel sorry for the many other couples continue to wait for any information pertaining to the case. In fact there are people still waiting after filing their petition in July of last year.
I hope the investigation continues into this organization because I think it needs to become more organized and make some improvements. Today I read a message on a forum by someone saying that they never thought they would ever find a government organization that was even worse than the DMV. I tend to agree.
Immigration reform is long overdue.

A letter to my congressman and senator.

Both Anna and I have been very frustrated with this process that seems to go on indefinitely for us while many other people who filed after us are getting approved. I tried calling the USCIS and was unable to get anywhere with them. So tonight, I decided to write letters to one of my state congressman and my state senator.
Here is the letter I sent to them.

Dear ______________,

I am writing you today because I am among thousands of other frustrated U.S. Citizens who are customers of The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Among the many other U.S. Citizens, I submitted a petition I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiancé) along with the $340.00 fee they charge for this "service".  My petition was received by the USCIS on October 22, 2012 and was subsequently transferred to the California Service Center (CSC).  At that time the USCIS advertised a 5 month average decision on petitions of this nature.

After waiting for a period of 5 months, I decided to call the USCIS to determine the status of our petition. They were unable or unwilling to give me any information on the status of our specific case and I was informed that the expected processing time had increased to 7.5 months.  Meanwhile  the CSC has advertised on its website for over four months that it has been processing petitions that it received on July 18, 2012(It is still the date they advertise today).

At the same time the Vermont Service Center (VSC) is processing these applications within 5 months. In fact many people are indicating that their petition that was filed after ours has already been approved. This is frustrating to say the least. We had no choice as to which center processed our petition.

My fiancé and I have spent many hours on the internet researching this issue and have discovered many forums that may indicate that the CSC has ceased processing I-129F petitions to focus on the "Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process(DACA)" which was implemented due to an executive order given by President Barrack Obama. You can read more information here regarding this issue http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/421247-i-129f-delay-at-the-csc-a-comprehensive-analysis-of-the-data/.

Today I checked the average processing time for the I-821D (DACA) petition and it appears to be 6 months for CSC to reach a decision on this petition. Keep in mind this petition has existed for less than a year.

This could explain why the California Service Center has slowed down, if not ceased processing the I-129F petitions. While I have no problems with the DACA program in particular, I do have a problem with it taking precedence over other petitions. It appears that the CSC has been overwhelmed with these new applications for the I-821D petition (Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and has been unable to process the I-129F petitions.

While that may be a problem, it appears the agency has another problem. Today my Fiancé showed me a forum entry that was posted yesterday by someone that claimed their I-129F petition that was submitted in December was approved yesterday by the CSC after only 4 months and 1 day. Here is a link to the forum topic she showed me http://www.zaokeanom.com/forum/topic7887-180.html. The forum is written in Russian, but the message was translated as  “We received our NOA2 yesterday! I cannot believe we ended up waiting for only 4 months and 1 day!” “Be patient everyone and GOOD LUCK!! California worked well last week”

Today, I decided to contact the USCIS to ask them why someone who filed in December was approved before someone who filed in October. They could not answer the question and told me the average time has increased to 9 months for the CSC. So, it seems the CSC of the USCIS is not only favoring the I-821D petition. It may also be favoring people that may have deeper pockets than me or I need to find someone out there that can expedite the process, which I believe is a crime. Honestly, I don't know what is causing this delay but I am afraid I will call in 30 days and learn the average time has increased to 12 months.

I am not the only one who is frustrated with this situation. It appears that someone has even submitted a petition to the white house to intervene in this apparent rogue government organization.  You can view the petition at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/expedite-processing-i129f-petitions-meet-current-government-processing-goals-5-months/rp6yP4Jw

I know you are very busy but I hope you will find some time in your schedule to research this problem.

If necessary, I can provide you with my case number.

Thank you so much for your consideration.

Respectfully,
Bryan

Immigration reform is here. U.S. citizens to the back of the line and Illegal Aliens to the Front!

According to various sources it seems that USCIS has intentionally placed all I-129F petitions for K-1 Fiancé Visas on hold in the California Service Center("CSC") to comply with an executive order that was given by King-President Obama. This order resulted in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) and was implemented by the Secretary of the Department Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
You can read more information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_Action_for_Childhood_Arrivals. Essentially the DACA was created as a method for children of Illegal Aliens to apply for visas and give them a pathway to citizenship.
This resulted in the CSC’s acceptance of a new type of application called the I-821D Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (herein after “DACA” applications).
After the California Service Center(CSC) was given the responsibility to process these new petitions, they chose to cease all processing of the I-129F petitions for not only the K-1 Visas which are Fiance visas. They also had to cease processing of the I-129F Petitions for the K-2 Visa which is for a spouse living abroad to devote all their resources to I-821D petitions.
In turn thousands of couples, including married couples have been put to the back of the line since July 18 applications which the USCIS has proudly advertised on their website for 4 months as the current processing date for K-1 and K-2 petitions. But while we are still waiting for them to process applications from July 19th of 2012, the CSC is processing August and Septembers applications for DACA.
It seems petitions requested by a U.S. Citizen are of lower priority than those requested by non-citizens of the U.S.. You can read more on this subject at http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/421247-i-129f-delay-at-the-csc-a-comprehensive-analysis-of-the-data/.
It is of my understanding that according to U.S. Law, all petitions for Visas are supposed to be processed in the order they are received but unfortunately this is not the reality. While Anna and I, among thousands of other couples wait for an indefinite period of time, the USCIS processes thousands of visas that were received after ours was received.
Fortunately there are others that are getting very frustrated with this process and they have started to petition the White House on this matter.
While I am not against children who were brought here illegally to have an opportunity to apply for citizenship, I cannot understand why our government gives them priority over United States Citizens who have been patiently waiting in line.
You can find the petition here https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/expedite-processing-i129f-petitions-meet-current-government-processing-goals-5-months/rp6yP4Jw.
Please sign the petition and help get the process moving again.

How long can this process continue? Forever?!

It seems like this process will last forever with the California Processing center that we were unfortunately forced to go with.
When I first heard that our petition was being processed by the USCIS California Service Center, I was rather excited because it was supposedly the quickest in processing I-129F petitions. It was advertised that they completed the process within less than 6 months.
Our petition was received on October 22, 2012.
Unfortunately, now it does not seems that the California is the fastest. After almost six months of waiting, the Vermont Service Center is advertising that they are currently working on October 2012 Petitions. I checked nearly two months ago that the California Center was still processing petitions that were submitted on July 18 2012. I checked last month and they had updated the information and they were processing July 18th applications. In fact this is the same day they told me they were processing when I called them two weeks ago.
Today, I checked again and they updated their website again yesterday for the 2nd month, indicating that they are still processing pettions that were submitted on July 18th.
How can it take 30 days to process petitions submitted on July 18th of last year while Vermont is processing October Petitions?  At this rate, Anna and I can look forward to our application being approved by this time next year. You do the math. If it takes them 30 days to process petitions filed on any given day, we can expect they will process 1 day of received petitions every 30 days. So in the next month we can "hopefully" expect them to process the July 19th date.
As the vermont Center processes October petitions currently, the California Center will process ours in (92 days until October 22nd) * (30 days it takes to process a single date of received petitions) days? I think that may be another year give or take a few days.
Oh, and to make matters worse, Anna sent me a link to a forum that indicated the California Service Center may have lost or severely destroyed 48,000 petition requests due to a "plumbing problem". Click here to read it for yourself.
I used to be optimistic, but I am guessing ours is one of those that were lost or damaged. I think Anna's original estimate of 120 years is closer to my estimate.
Needless to say, we are both extremely disappointed and frustrated (among many other couples waiting). But neither one of us will give up. In fact we have considered having me apply for a visa to Russia again and we could get married while I was there and then we both would live in Russia together. Both of us agree, it does not matter where we live. The only thing that matters is that we are together in the end.

A radio conversation on Immigration with Nate Shelman

Yesterday, on my way home from work, I tuned into AM 670 KBOI as I often do to listen to one of my favorite commentators, Nate Shelman. His topic of conversation was Immigration Reform which seems to be a very popular topic these days.
He was asking for people to call in to voice their opinion and as most of you know this is a very frustrating issue with me and Anna after almost six months of waiting for an approval of our I-129F petition for an Alien Fiance.
I must say I rather enjoyed the conversation even though he was rather skeptical and very pessimistic about my relationship with Anna. Unfortunately there is a stereotype that exists regarding foreign brides that come to marry someone here in the United States. This stereotype comes with good reason. Many foreigners in the past have come to America only to disappear shortly after the wedding. They were only motivated by the opportunity to come here to the United States. Nate addressed this point very well.
After a year and a half and nearly 3000 pages of correspondence through Skype, I know Anna quite well and I will never question her motivation. She trusts me and I trust her.
I think by the end of my conversation with Nate, he realized Anna and I may not fit into this category. In fact in closing to our conversation "Let me know when the wedding is. I might DJ it. If she sticks around long enough."
I am sure we will have an excellent DJ for our wedding! Thanks Nate!
I was able to download a copy of his podcast at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nate-shelman/id602386970. Feel free to listen to his commentaries. As I said before he  is one of my favorite commentators.
I was also able to create an edited copy of the 5 minute conversation we had. You can download it and listen to it here https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BySiYH4DyME6ZkRvbUZZbnBSU1E/edit?usp=sharing
I can't say I like the sound of my voice on the radio but I enjoyed the conversation.

How slow can it go?...

Over five months have passed since Anna and I filed our petition and I am finally able to call the USCIS to check on the status. I must admit I was rather excited to be able to talk with a real person during the phone call, but I have to say it was disappointing to say the least.
Our expectation was always a five month average that we had been hoping would be the length of time we would have to wait. Unfortunately, my phone call revealed that the average time was not as accurate as advertised. :( I was told that the USCIS was working on applications submitted in July of 2012. Our application was submitted in October of 2012.
Needless to say, it will be at least another 3 months before our application is reviewed.
I can't even begin to say how disappointed we are and how much Anna and I wish things could happen more quickly. But, unfortunately government doesn't seem to be very efficient. Especially when it comes to legal immigration.
It seems Anna and I will continue to reside on separate sides of the planet until who knows when. There seems to be no end to our torment.

Hopefully one day soon the U.S. Government will approve our petition and we can finally begin our lives together. Until then, How slow can it go?...

Legal immigration vs. Illegal Immigration

There is so much talk in politics right now regarding immigration reform. It seems that everyone wants to make it easier for people to immigrate to the United States. Unfortunately, these talks only refer to the people that came here illegally and are already here in America. There is nothing said about how difficult and time consuming it is to come here legally.
It is sad that Anna could not have crossed our border illegally from Mexico because I think everything would be much easier and cheaper. The U.S. government requires so much money and so much time to come here legally, it seems easier to have Anna go to Mexico and come across illegally. In fact, it may be faster and cheaper to go that route than it is to go through the legal method. But unfortunately Mexico protects its borders and Anna is unable to go to Mexico.
I have to say it is beyond frustrating to try to bring her over legally. It cost me $340.00 just to file a request for her to come here as my fiance. We have heard nothing from the US government for 5 months. If they approve our petition (And that is a big IF), I will have to pay an additional $2500.00 after we are married just to get her and the children green cards so that she can get a job if she wants and her children can attend our schools.
It is unfortunate that she cannot cross the southern border illegally because I would not have to worry about all these things. It seems that illegal aliens (people who don't file for visa's and cross the border illegally) have it easy and these are the people our politicians cater to. It seems they can attend our schools for free and get jobs without having to wait 5 months and pay $340.00 for a chance at a visa. Most don't even pay taxes.
Is it immigration reform or is it amnesty? You be the judge. If it was immigration reform, they would make it easier to immigrate legally. But unfortunately all the talk is about making everyone that came here illegally, legal citizens. It doesn't make immigration easier, it only rewards people who did not follow the rules.
Anna and I are doing it the legal way and it is nearly impossible.
That is my rant. We are still waiting for forever!

Waiting for forever...

It has been seven months since I visited Anna in Russia and almost five months since we submitted our I-129F petition for alien fiance with the USCIS. When we filed the petition, they stated on their website that it was an average 5 months for approval.
Today I checked and the average has risen to 5 1/2 months. It seems that the longer we wait, the longer they prolong it. How long can this go on? If the service was free, I might understand this, but this service did not come free and I had to pay $340.00 to submit this request. Anna tells me it will take 120 years for the process to end, but I have remained optimistic but now I think she may be right so it seems.
Both Anna and I are getting extremely frustrated while we still wait for any response on our petition.
Unlike most couples who can talk on the phone at their leisure, Anna and I are limited to the moments we can speak on Skype. During weekends we can speak for nearly 2 hours as we communicate over Skype.
Weekdays are limited to an hour, now cut short to 45 minutes due to some complications that have arisen.
Every day seems to be an eternity as we wait for our brief moment we can talk to each other. The sad part of this arrangement is the fact that Anna is tired and ready for bed when I can talk to her during the week.
In fact, Anna was so tired the past 3 days, I could not even talk to her because she was so exhausted from work and the constant demands of the children. Now it seems our conversation is limited only to 4 hours during a weekend. I can't say this is the best situation, but even though we are frustrated, it will not stop us. We hope that within the next month we will have our petition approved and that will enable her to apply for the visa to come here to America and finally be with me.
Obviously she cannot immediately come here after our petition is approved but at least I can say she will be able to apply for the Visa. We will have to wait for another 2 months before she can even get her interview. If all goes well during her interview at the U.S. Consulate in Russia, she will be allowed the Visa to come here as my Fiance.
The time seems to crawl as we wait and now each day feels like a year while we wait to see each other for a brief 45 minutes.  I hope soon our suffering will be over, because I must admit, this situation is nothing short of torture for us and it feels like we are waiting for forever...

A happy Valentines Day?

While most couples celebrate Valentine's day together, Anna and I celebrate our 17 month Anniversary on separate sides of the world. It was seventeen months ago, on the 14th day of September 2011 that I sent Anna the first message, "Privet Anna".
Unfortunately today also marks the second time we have to celebrate Valentine's Day separately.
I can't say that it was the best Valentine's Day for us, but at least we are one day closer to the day our petition is approved and hopefully we won't have to spend another Valentine's Day apart.
I will look forward to the day that I can bring home Anna's favorite flowers (Chrysanthemums) and a delicious box of chocolates on Valentine's Day. Perhaps, I can even convince her to go out for dinner to a nice restaurant.
Regardless of our unfortunate situation today, we both want to wish all of the lovers out there a Happy Valentines Day (С Днем Святого Валентина).

Stay Tuned and Don't Log Off!

Today after I spoke with Anna, I was immediately contacted by Alan Dein with BBC Radio for another interview for his latest episode of "Don't Log Off" in London. It has been nearly 9 months since I spoke with him. He interviewed me in May of last year just prior to the time I visited Anna in Russia.
He has been following our story and will continue to follow our story as it unfolds.
Today he called me on Skype at 4:00 P.M. Mountain time. Unfortunately we had some difficulties hearing each other in the beginning, but in the end we were able to talk.
For those of you who have not heard the episode you can find an archived copy on his website http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/dlo. Our story is told on the "Hopes and Dreams" episode that is archived in the Podcasts on his website.
Hopefully our interview will be broadcast in London within the next 2 months. So, stay tuned and "Don't log off.". You will be able to hear my interview on his website soon after it aires to thousands of listeners in London.
I hope the next interview will be when Anna is on her way here.