Help With an Immigration Agency
My office is able to help constituents who are experiencing issues with federal agencies. While I cannot force an agency to act in someone's favor, I can help facilitate a fair hearing for a case. For questions or further information, please call my district office at 612-333-1272.
Types of assistance my office can provide:
- Checking the status of a pending application or petition
- Understanding or receiving clarification of a response from a federal agency
- Providing information from the constituent to the agency
- Submitting a constituent's request for an expedited review of a case
- Explaining to constituents the processes and procedures for their case or seek clarification
- Investigating unusual circumstances in the processing of an application or petition
- Requesting due consideration for a case under the Immigration and Nationality Act
- Members of Congress and their staff cannotapprove, deny, or change decisions of cases. We cannot ask agencies for special consideration or advise what type of petition to file or course of action to take.
Steps for obtaining assistance from my office:
- Please confirm the petitioner/applicant of the case resides in my district. Cities in Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District are Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights, Crystal, Fridley, Fort Snelling, Golden Valley, Hilltop, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Richfield, Robbinsdale, Spring Lake Park, St. Anthony, and St. Louis Park. Edina has portions in my district and portions in Congressman Dean Phillips' district.
- If the petitioner/applicant lives outside of my district, they may contact Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Tina Smith, or their own representative in the U.S. House. You can find your representative at www.house.gov.
- In order for my office to provide assistance, there must be a pending case with a federal agency. Please make sure there is an active petition or application with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Department of State (DOS), or any other federal agency.
- Please have the petitioner/applicant complete and sign the privacy release form at the bottom of this page. This form must be signed by the person submitting the application – for immigrant visas, this is usually the person living in the US who is sponsoring a family member of spouse. For non-immigrant visas, this is usually the person living abroad who is attempting to visit the US. If the pending case is an I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, both the petitioner/applicant and the beneficiary (family member abroad) need to complete and sign separate privacy release forms.
- Return this form to my office with copies of documents from the relevant agency or agencies for this case. For example, if the case is filed with USCIS, please send me a copy of the most recent I-797, Notice of Action, from USCIS. If a case is with DOS, please make copies of correspondence from the National Visa Center or embassy/consulate involved.
- If documentation from an agency is not available, please make sure the correct case or receipt number is on the privacy release form. This information is necessary for my office to contact agencies.
Do not hesitate to reach out to my office if you have any questions. I am always thrilled to hear from and help out my constituents.