My wife and I hired Ms. Butler's services in September, 2001, to assist us with the fastest way of handling INS procedures for her immigration to the USA. Ms. Butler assured us that with her vast experience, she knew the best, most proficient and rapid method of processing INS forms and their procedures. We paid Ms. Butler $500.00 cash to file the I-130 Form, with the expressed understanding that this was the best, fastest, and most proficient method to begin our case with the INS.
In the ensuing months, we learned from many sources, including Information Officers of the INS at the National and local levels, that we had filed our case in the most time-consuming manner. The INS website also confirms that all three of these forms should be filed concurrently. We've been informed by telephone and personally by INS Information Officers that we should have filed the I-130, I-485, and I-765 all at the same time.
By filing the I-130 independently from the other forms, the INS has explained that we had to await approval of that form, before we could file the other forms. We have attempted to resolve our complaint directly with Ms. Butler, but she claims to have done nothing wrong, was verbally abusive in the e-mails that she sent to us, and refused our request to refund the $500.00 that we'd paid to her.
We filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, seeking a resolution to our complaint. When Ms. Butler replied to that complaint, she not only ignored what I wrote in that complaint, but she also wrote quite derogatory and untrue remarks aimed at my wife. Needless to say, we were less than impressed with her response, and we notified the BBB that we were certainly not satisfied.
Further, my wife and her mother have several friends who have also begun immigration procedures. All of them continuously ask, why is your case taking so long? You see, theyd gone to the local INS office and filed the I-130, I-485, and I-765 all at the same time, and they received work permits while they were still awaiting the approval of the I-130 Form.
We finally received an Approval Notice for the I-130 Form in April. Had our forms been filed together, rather than independently as instructed by Ms. Butler, my wife would have received a temporary work permit in approximately December of last year (90-days after we would have filed the I-765). But, because we had to wait for the I-130 to be approved before we could apply for the I-765 (work permit), we have had about five to six months of lost income, due to my wife not being able to work. The emotional turmoil suffered by my wife over this ordeal is quite severe.
