my wife went through a tough process with her green card 12 years back. We ended up having to hire an attorney and suing the INS/BCIS. And, since I actually filed the green card application on behalf of my wife, I have papers somewhere in my home that say "NewJeffCT vs Colin Powell, Alberto Gonzalez, Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff and one or two others."

Before we contacted the attorney, we also contacted our reps in Congress - Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman and John Larson. Larson's office was great - I faxed the complaint to them on a Friday and a woman called me from his office on Monday. Dodd's office responded a week or two later, but I never got a response from Lieberman's office, not even a form letter. However, nobody was able to help.

The attorney said that once in a while, a case falls into a "black hole" and just sits there until something like a lawsuit happens - and, that is what happened to my wife. The lawsuit basically embarrasses the INS, as they don't want to go before a judge to explain why this case has been sitting on somebody's desk for 3 years for no apparent reason. When they see the lawsuit, they basically expedite the case, which is what happened.

Great Government (in) action.

My friend came here from Poland when he was 13. His mother married an American. Her two kids did not get citizenship but he was able to get resident alien status. After graduating high school, he moved here for work. He was involved with an American girl and had a daughter. His mom is a citizen and so is his daughter but he has to hire an attorney to get his.