There is no question that immigration matters are more challenging today that in recent memory. USCIS' new culture of "no" necessitates more research, work and persistence for many filings.

Just as an FYI, below is an email I received from a colleague this week. It is not overly surprising, but it does represent some of the challenges with navigating cases these days: 

“I was at USCIS yesterday for an Interview. After the interview the IO on the way out told me in confidence that a Task Force is being set up of retired IO officers whose job it will be to audit each approval of a request for benefits case/application by the active officers and to set a quota. Any active IO that is perceived to approve "too many cases" will be investigated and sanctioned. So instead of looking at the merits of each individual case that appears before them they will be judged on species quotas and numbers. The officer said to me, "these are Gestapo tactics." 

I think an apt analogy is comparing immigration cases to a flight to a desired destination. I know we will get there, but the flight encounters much more turbulence today than in year’s past. Everyone feels relieved when you finally land, but that turbulence on the way, or sometimes anticipated turbulence, certainly takes a toll. There is no denying that how you get there matters, and some of the current turbulence is creating a lot of anxiety.