Yes, your congressman can potentially help you with immigration matters. However, congressional assistance doesn't guarantee a specific outcome. It's often beneficial to work with an experienced immigration attorney.
Hi, I'm Jim Hacking, an immigration lawyer practicing law throughout the United States out of our office here in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the questions that we are asked from time to time is, "Jim, our case is taking so long. Should we go ahead and contact our U.S. senator, our congressman, or our congresswoman?"
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Yes, USCIS does indeed listen to and work with U.S. senators and congressmen/women. This relationship is an important part of the immigration process.
However, while USCIS does listen to and work with elected officials, this doesn't guarantee a specific outcome for individual cases. The members of Congress cannot force an agency to not follow immigration laws and regulations or deviate from legal immigration processing.
Here's my response to that, "You can do that, but don't get your hopes up. Not much is going to happen." The fact is that at these offices, most U.S. senators, congressmen, and congresswomen have offices in Washington, D.C., and then they might have offices in some of the bigger cities in the home state.
In that scenario, there are usually people working as interns. Some are paid, and most are unpaid. If an intern moves up the ranks in the office, they can be an immigration liaison. They are the ones dealing with calls regarding pending Green Card, citizenship, or visa cases.
So, if you call the senator's office or the congresswoman's office, the immigration liaison may help you. You’ll be asked to fill out a privacy form. You will also need to provide information about your case.
Then, they try to liaise with the federal agency. They reach out to USCIS. But in my experience, the same lame responses that you're getting to your emails or your phone calls are the same lame excuses that USCIS gets and provides to the U.S. senator.
Remember, there are three branches of government.
1. The Federal Court
2. The Congress
3. The Executive Branch
The Executive Branch can do whatever it wants. It doesn't have to listen to a member of Congress. They might talk respectfully, but in my experience, very little happens when a U.S. senator or congressperson's low-level intern reaches out to USCIS.
Really, the only answer, if you want to get your case moving, is to sue them. They're just not that impressed or worried about a U.S. senator. Of course, we have people running the federal agencies that are completely unlawful and have no business being there. That should educate you a little bit on whether or not getting a member of Congress to help with immigration cases is going to do the trick.
If your case is stuck and you have questions regarding citizenship and immigration services, give us a call at 314-961-8200. We can provide more information on why contacting a congressional representative is unhelpful or when to make an expedite request with USCIS. You can also email us at [email protected]. Be sure to join us on our Facebook group, which is called Immigrant Home. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, so that you get updates whenever we make videos.
Thanks a lot. Have a good day.
