spoke with USCIS officer in person today

[jundibasam 0]

So I went to Charleston to meet with USCIS in person because I haven't been able to get any straight answers over phone phone or even here on VJ. My biggest concern was why my I-129F was trasnsferred from CSC to another USCIS office (probably local from what I gather), and they wouldn't tell me anything over phone phone, and not too many people on VJ have seen or had that happen, so they really couldn't give me an honest answer either. Well, all in all it went alright. The guy was being a jerk at first, but then became a great help and gave me some good information and details. He still didn't tell me if or why they transferred my I-129F, but he insisted that it is still in California CS for processing. He also told me "off the record" that they have been backed up for several reasons. The two biggest was obviously the fee increase in late July caused such a massive amount of filings, they stopped processing petitions so they could complete filing and data entry on the new ones. But the second is news to me. Evidently, USCIS stopped processing petitions for a few weeks back in May/June time when the immigration debate was hot and there was pending legislation to overahaul USCIS and I guess they wanted to see where that was going to go before they went any further. Apparently, they didn't want to waste any unneccesary time or resources working on petitions if they were going to have to go back and start over because Congress changed the rules midstream. He also gave me some great encouragement, said that everything looks good on my petition and he expects the ball to start rolling in the next few weeks or month. He also anticipates that the I-129F well before the I-130 but I don't know why he thinks that and he didn't elaborate. All in all, it went as I expected. Nothing happened to my case and I got some questions answered, so i'm glad I went because it did give me peace of mind now that all is ok and they are just stubbornly slow right now.

[Sand 5]

Good Luck!

[payxibka 10,045]

Encouraging...

How did the person you spoke with know that all "looks good" on your petition(s)? What can they really see?

[jundibasam 0]

Encouraging...

How did the person you spoke with know that all "looks good" on your petition(s)? What can they really see?

Well, i'm not really sure. I forgot my receipt numbers, so he looked up my information in the system with my name, and asked me to confirm some verifying information. This was the part where he was a jerk, so then he pulled up my case and read off my wife's name and country and gave me the receipt numbers. I brought more "evidence" for them too like pictures, copies of her previous US visas, phone records, and bank and credit card statements and he got nice after this and said that all this extra stuff isn't neccessary. He told me from the computer about my affidavits, marriage license, and other evidence I submitted with the petition "looked good enough" for adjudication. He said with this information, he wouldn't expect an RFE from me and he expects them to approve the I-129F first.

[My Honey 0]

So I went to Charleston to meet with USCIS in person because I haven't been able to get any straight answers over phone phone or even here on VJ. My biggest concern was why my I-129F was trasnsferred from CSC to another USCIS office (probably local from what I gather), and they wouldn't tell me anything over phone phone, and not too many people on VJ have seen or had that happen, so they really couldn't give me an honest answer either. Well, all in all it went alright. The guy was being a jerk at first, but then became a great help and gave me some good information and details. He still didn't tell me if or why they transferred my I-129F, but he insisted that it is still in California CS for processing. He also told me "off the record" that they have been backed up for several reasons. The two biggest was obviously the fee increase in late July caused such a massive amount of filings, they stopped processing petitions so they could complete filing and data entry on the new ones. But the second is news to me. Evidently, USCIS stopped processing petitions for a few weeks back in May/June time when the immigration debate was hot and there was pending legislation to overahaul USCIS and I guess they wanted to see where that was going to go before they went any further. Apparently, they didn't want to waste any unneccesary time or resources working on petitions if they were going to have to go back and start over because Congress changed the rules midstream. He also gave me some great encouragement, said that everything looks good on my petition and he expects the ball to start rolling in the next few weeks or month. He also anticipates that the I-129F well before the I-130 but I don't know why he thinks that and he didn't elaborate. All in all, it went as I expected. Nothing happened to my case and I got some questions answered, so i'm glad I went because it did give me peace of mind now that all is ok and they are just stubbornly slow right now.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope your approvals come alot faster for you and your family. No person should have to be seperated this long from their families. Good luck!!!

[amiquechu 0]

That is dedication! Driving two hours to get your questions answered? You will definitely get approved as USCIS can't even think about questioning the validity of your relationship! Plus, I'm sure there are many VJer's who have read your post who really appreciate your effort and your information. Thanks jundibasam!

[jundibasam 0]

That is dedication! Driving two hours to get your questions answered? You will definitely get approved as USCIS can't even think about questioning the validity of your relationship! Plus, I'm sure there are many VJer's who have read your post who really appreciate your effort and your information. Thanks jundibasam!

lol, anytime man. My wife made me do it seriously, I left there feeling pretty confident and optimistic, so I hope that by sharing this information I can help other VJers feel the same. He wasn't some customer service representative or some other lackey, which is the main reason I scheduled an appointment to meet with USCIS face to face. I was tired of the same b-s answers and misinformation I would get from the phone.

[amiquechu 0]

That is dedication! Driving two hours to get your questions answered? You will definitely get approved as USCIS can't even think about questioning the validity of your relationship! Plus, I'm sure there are many VJer's who have read your post who really appreciate your effort and your information. Thanks jundibasam!

lol, anytime man. My wife made me do it seriously, I left there feeling pretty confident and optimistic, so I hope that by sharing this information I can help other VJers feel the same. He wasn't some customer service representative or some other lackey, which is the main reason I scheduled an appointment to meet with USCIS face to face. I was tired of the same b-s answers and misinformation I would get from the phone.

Ha ha! I understand the pressure the Peruanas can put on you. They're sweet, passionate, and will go out of their way to show their love for you. And you better be willing to reciprocate or you'll have problems!

About two months ago, I was where you're at right now with the process...very frustrated. Patience can be very valuable during this process. Now, my paperwork is on its way to Lima and I should be headed down there for the interview within about a month. Your NOA2 will come. I guarantee it. Once you get it, you'll take a big sigh of relief and the rest of the wait will fly by.

[jundibasam 0]

That is dedication! Driving two hours to get your questions answered? You will definitely get approved as USCIS can't even think about questioning the validity of your relationship! Plus, I'm sure there are many VJer's who have read your post who really appreciate your effort and your information. Thanks jundibasam!

lol, anytime man. My wife made me do it seriously, I left there feeling pretty confident and optimistic, so I hope that by sharing this information I can help other VJers feel the same. He wasn't some customer service representative or some other lackey, which is the main reason I scheduled an appointment to meet with USCIS face to face. I was tired of the same b-s answers and misinformation I would get from the phone.

Ha ha! I understand the pressure the Peruanas can put on you. They're sweet, passionate, and will go out of their way to show their love for you. And you better be willing to reciprocate or you'll have problems!

About two months ago, I was where you're at right now with the process...very frustrated. Patience can be very valuable during this process. Now, my paperwork is on its way to Lima and I should be headed down there for the interview within about a month. Your NOA2 will come. I guarantee it. Once you get it, you'll take a big sigh of relief and the rest of the wait will fly by.

thanks 'erika's husband' its funny that you say that about the 'peruanas' because it seems to be so true for all of them! I love my wife to death, but she can sometimes be too passionate and she'll bother me relentlessly about something, god bless her. I just got back from Peru about 2 months ago where I was at a buddy of mine's wedding. He met his girl through the internet, and she is from cusco (my wife is from lima) but I swear they way the girl acted was so identical, we both were laughing and making fun of them, and they didn't understand what was so funny. I can't wait until i'm in your position. I know the process is far from over after USCIS, but I hear that Lima, Peru has one of the more laid back and friendly embassies, and since my wife used to work at the embassy as a government liaison, she still knows a lot of people who still work there, and I have a few friends in the military stationed there. They obviously can't do anything about the actual petition process, but since we have mutual friends that work there and who know us both, they would definitely be available to help vouch for us if needed.

[nksj 0]

Thanks for posting your experience, jundibasam. Any insight is very much appreciated by me sitting here in the dark through this process.

[C and J 1]

The two biggest was obviously the fee increase in late July caused such a massive amount of filings, they stopped processing petitions so they could complete filing and data entry on the new ones.

But the second is news to me. Evidently, USCIS stopped processing petitions for a few weeks back in May/June time when the immigration debate was hot and there was pending legislation to overahaul USCIS and I guess they wanted to see where that was going to go before they went any further. Apparently, they didn't want to waste any unneccesary time or resources working on petitions if they were going to have to go back and start over because Congress changed the rules midstream.

Thanks for the information It explains why we are seeing so few approvals coming through from April (and still haven't completed all the March ones). I do find it very unfair that they have stopped processing older petitions so that they can add new ones into the system though I'm beginning to wonder if my February estimate will even hold up at this rate