iG.STUDiO: Ilya I. Gerasimenko

It's been raining for the last two days, and the glorious city of New Your smells like sewage and dog pee. And it's hot. The Internet connection in the office is very flickery, which really screws up my writing flow, but it feels like the events of these few days somehow should be documented or at least reflected upon. So... My desk is sterile with the exception of a few things I still plan on using today: headphones, Palm, half-pack of chewing gum and an antique* Maxwell House coffee mug. My ailing Windows box is cleaned up of all the stuff I kept in it during almost two years I had it. My coworkers are conspiring to take me out to lunch (I, of course, already bought one in the morning, because initially the gathering was supposed to be a short run for a beer after work). Darn. Will have to take it home along with the antique mug. The office of congressman just called. Apparently, my case is not showing up anymore anywhere in both organizations, so I have to re-file. I don...

The saga continues: (this time, however, I do have complaints about my congressman's office involvement; although they were faster this time around, all they did was to re-state my previous letter back to me, and advised me to start over) ____ Dear Mr. Meeks (Ms. Barnes): In your letter you advise me to file a duplicate I-130 application once again, and “contact the NVC and U.S. Embassy, requesting a letter that states there is no record of your file in their offices”. You don’t even say what I am to do with those letters. My case was either lost, misplaced, or otherwise thrown away two times now. With all due respect I sincerely doubt that “third time is the charm” technique will work in this particular situation. I am a tax paying citizen of this country, and all I want is for my mother to live with us legally, as she is allowed by law. If everybody at CIS and NVC would be doing their jobs as they are supposed to, she’d be here already. In a meanwhile, she was refused even a tour...

The continuation of the saga: (once again, I have no complaints about my congressman's office. They could be faster, but, hey, they might have stuff to take care about, and, hey, they help) ____ I very much appreciate your help with my case with Citizenship and Immigration Services three months ago (being a naturalized US citizen, I applied for an immigrant visa for my mother; the petition was approved in August, 2006, but the case never made it to National Visa Center, and nothing was happening; you made them restart the application process, and they did so on 28th of February, 2007). But I am afraid, that now it is happening all over again. There was no activity on the case for over 90 days (again), I called National Visa Center to inquire about the status of the case (again), the automated information line said that they have no record of the case with this number, and I can’t even get through to a live operator (although I am pretty sure, that the answer will be the same), beca...

This is from an actual letter I have sent to my congressman. Posted here to keep track of my struggle with CIS, formerly known as INS, and, to the extend of my knowledge, the worst organization I ever dealt with in this country. ____ I would very much appreciate your help with my case with Immigration and Nationalization Service. I am a naturalized US citizen since 1999. Recently I invited my mother to come live with us, and applied for an immigrant visa for her. The petition was approved. Enclosed is a copy of the approval notice, I have received from INS in August, concerning the immigrant petition for my mother. Since there was no activity on the case for several months, I called the Customer Service number, listed on the bottom of the notice. I was advised to call National Visa Center directly to inquire about the status of the case, so I did. They told me to send them a copy of the approval notice, claiming that they never received the original. I did. They returned the copy I sen...