January I-130 Filers

[Zayd 0]

There are a couple of very fast approvals. One was about 30 days and another 11days. Is this real? Whats going on?

Check out these links:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=120872

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=116990

Yes, these are mind blowingly fast to most of us, but I guess they just put through for their .... Humanitarian 'We're in the middle of a war' Expedite .... I guess these sort of expedites to go through so fast, they don't even touch the ground.

If these were that type of expedite, they will also throw the timelines out of wack a little.

If they were not expedited, then there is something very seriously wrong with the system

I dont believe those time lines, someone better hide my stockings, Im getting ready to use them.

Paris Heart

If the Maoists lose the election in Nepal tomorrow and raise bloody hell I wonder if I can try to get USCIS' sympathy????

DEFINITION OF SYMPATHY= AGAINST USCIS WORK POLICY!!!!

Paris Heart

Well, I presume from reading this link, the 11 day approval wasn't due to a specially applied for expedite

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=120453

And to think that we actually applied for an expedite a couple of weeks back based on a sudden close family bereavement and another close family member having terminal cancer with a max of 3 months to live ..... they turned us down!

Sorry, was just having a moment there ... this system has been getting on my nerves lately.

Maybe I should've put some hot pics of me in a bikini in the file, and I could've been getting touched by some random stranger at VSC .... it would certainly have made me feel a little better .... but then, if I'd have put those pics in, and not got touches, I could've felt worse ..... the ponderings of a frustrated VSC filer

KipandSarahJayne, you might want to try contacting your congressman and senators about seeing how they can help you. Given the circumstances of your situation, they may be willing to apply additional pressure on USCIS to actually expedite your request. When expedite requests come from ordinary citizens, they are easy to dismiss. Congressional inquiries are looked at a lot more seriously by USCIS and from my understanding, laws explicitly dictate the maximum amount of time USCIS has to respond to a congressional inquiry. It is at least worth a shot. Nothing to lose really.

I wanted to followup on the comment I made earlier. I got a fax today from "Officer Harris" (see the email below) at USCIS that my expedite request was approved. However, what I did differently was before I sent my expedite request to USCIS, I sent it to my congressman a few days before. As such, when I contacted USCIS, I included in my letter to USCIS the fact that I had already contacted by Congressman and attached the letter I sent to my representative. This way, I think it will be more difficult for them to reject it since they already know the congressman will be contacting them, and their actions will be more visible. Also, the congressman's offices are slow to get moving so they often need a few days headstart before they actually start working on your case; sending it to them a few days ahead builds in this buffer time. I hope this word of advice helps. I have also included the information USCIS gave me on how to directly fax expedite requests. It is below.

Another thing I did was keep sending "Officer Harris" who handles expedite requests the fax over and over until I heard back. The fax was 18 pages long and sent it twice the first day and then again the next day. I would have kept sending it until I heard back. Maybe not the best idea so you can choose whether or not to employ this approach. With so many pages flooding them, I thought they would choose not to delay processing the request so they could delay the torrent of paper.

Hope this works. I don't know a ton about this stuff but you can try asking me any questions you have if you want to file an expedite. I can't guarantee I can help but I will try. I am still waiting on my case approval.

********************************************************************************

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

California Service Center

P.O. Box 30111

Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-0111

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Monday, April 14, 2008

Emailed to XXXXXX@gmail.com

Dear XXX:

On 04/14/2008 you, or the designated representative shown below, contacted us about your case. Some of the key information given to us at that time was the following:

Caller indicated they are:

-- Applicant or Petitioner

Attorney Name:

-- Information not available

Case type:

-- I130

Filing date:

-- XX/XX/2007

Receipt #:

-- WAC-XX-XXX-XXXXX

Beneficiary (if you filed for someone else):

-- Information not available

Your USCIS Account Number (A-number):

-- 000000000

Type of service requested:

-- Expedite

The status of this service request is:

USCIS has received your Expedite request. Your Expedite request was submitted without a detailed explanation of your reason for requesting accelerated processing.

The standards for approval of accelerated handling are set by USCIS and are available for review by visiting www.uscis.gov.

In order to process, we need documentation of the hardship (with translation if appropriate), and an explanation from the petitioner of why expediting this case would help. Please Fax to 949-389-3441, Attn: Officer Harris.

If you have any further questions, please call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.

Please remember: By law, every person who is not a U.S. citizen and who is over the age of 14 must also notify the Department of Homeland Security within 10 days from when they move (persons in "A" or "G" nonimmigrant status are exempt from this requirement). If you have moved, please complete a Form AR-11 and mail it to the address shown on that form. If you do not have this form, you can download it from our website or you can call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 and we can order one for you. If you move, please call us with your new address information as soon as your move is complete. If you have already called us and given us this information, you do not need to call again.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[Army_Wife 2]

DEFINITION OF SYMPATHY= AGAINST USCIS WORK POLICY!!!!

Paris Heart

Well, I presume from reading this link, the 11 day approval wasn't due to a specially applied for expedite

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=120453

And to think that we actually applied for an expedite a couple of weeks back based on a sudden close family bereavement and another close family member having terminal cancer with a max of 3 months to live ..... they turned us down!

Sorry, was just having a moment there ... this system has been getting on my nerves lately.

Maybe I should've put some hot pics of me in a bikini in the file, and I could've been getting touched by some random stranger at VSC .... it would certainly have made me feel a little better .... but then, if I'd have put those pics in, and not got touches, I could've felt worse ..... the ponderings of a frustrated VSC filer

KipandSarahJayne, you might want to try contacting your congressman and senators about seeing how they can help you. Given the circumstances of your situation, they may be willing to apply additional pressure on USCIS to actually expedite your request. When expedite requests come from ordinary citizens, they are easy to dismiss. Congressional inquiries are looked at a lot more seriously by USCIS and from my understanding, laws explicitly dictate the maximum amount of time USCIS has to respond to a congressional inquiry. It is at least worth a shot. Nothing to lose really.

Thankyou Zayd, yes, I think they have 72 hours to respond. My Husband has already spoken with his Congressman and they are awaiting our letter ..... I will post when I send it in and the clock starts ticking.

[Zayd 0]

DEFINITION OF SYMPATHY= AGAINST USCIS WORK POLICY!!!!

Paris Heart

Well, I presume from reading this link, the 11 day approval wasn't due to a specially applied for expedite

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=120453

And to think that we actually applied for an expedite a couple of weeks back based on a sudden close family bereavement and another close family member having terminal cancer with a max of 3 months to live ..... they turned us down!

Sorry, was just having a moment there ... this system has been getting on my nerves lately.

Maybe I should've put some hot pics of me in a bikini in the file, and I could've been getting touched by some random stranger at VSC .... it would certainly have made me feel a little better .... but then, if I'd have put those pics in, and not got touches, I could've felt worse ..... the ponderings of a frustrated VSC filer

KipandSarahJayne, you might want to try contacting your congressman and senators about seeing how they can help you. Given the circumstances of your situation, they may be willing to apply additional pressure on USCIS to actually expedite your request. When expedite requests come from ordinary citizens, they are easy to dismiss. Congressional inquiries are looked at a lot more seriously by USCIS and from my understanding, laws explicitly dictate the maximum amount of time USCIS has to respond to a congressional inquiry. It is at least worth a shot. Nothing to lose really.

Thankyou Zayd, yes, I think they have 72 hours to respond. My Husband has already spoken with his Congressman and they are awaiting our letter ..... I will post when I send it in and the clock starts ticking.

You are probably better off faxing the letter if you have a fax machine. I know with me I had to fax them the letter and then call them so that it could be attached to the case in any reasonable amount of time. If you don't have a fax machine, you can probably go to Kinkos and fax it there. It costs money but it is probably still cheaper than sending it certified mail. Also, that way, they can't play the game of it is in the mail room or got lost. My advice is call them and say you are going to fax it right now. Fax it and then confirm receipt. Many of these congressional offices are so unorganized so this is the safest way.

[Army_Wife 2]

DEFINITION OF SYMPATHY= AGAINST USCIS WORK POLICY!!!!

Paris Heart

Well, I presume from reading this link, the 11 day approval wasn't due to a specially applied for expedite

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=120453

And to think that we actually applied for an expedite a couple of weeks back based on a sudden close family bereavement and another close family member having terminal cancer with a max of 3 months to live ..... they turned us down!

Sorry, was just having a moment there ... this system has been getting on my nerves lately.

Maybe I should've put some hot pics of me in a bikini in the file, and I could've been getting touched by some random stranger at VSC .... it would certainly have made me feel a little better .... but then, if I'd have put those pics in, and not got touches, I could've felt worse ..... the ponderings of a frustrated VSC filer

KipandSarahJayne, you might want to try contacting your congressman and senators about seeing how they can help you. Given the circumstances of your situation, they may be willing to apply additional pressure on USCIS to actually expedite your request. When expedite requests come from ordinary citizens, they are easy to dismiss. Congressional inquiries are looked at a lot more seriously by USCIS and from my understanding, laws explicitly dictate the maximum amount of time USCIS has to respond to a congressional inquiry. It is at least worth a shot. Nothing to lose really.

Thankyou Zayd, yes, I think they have 72 hours to respond. My Husband has already spoken with his Congressman and they are awaiting our letter ..... I will post when I send it in and the clock starts ticking.

You are probably better off faxing the letter if you have a fax machine. I know with me I had to fax them the letter and then call them so that it could be attached to the case in any reasonable amount of time. If you don't have a fax machine, you can probably go to Kinkos and fax it there. It costs money but it is probably still cheaper than sending it certified mail. Also, that way, they can't play the game of it is in the mail room or got lost. My advice is call them and say you are going to fax it right now. Fax it and then confirm receipt. Many of these congressional offices are so unorganized so this is the safest way.

You're a star Zayd, thankyou ..... I will certainly be following your advice. Infact a guy called Mohgli did something similar with his faxing and ended up faxing the White House, Vice President and everyone ..... I think he was approved a couple of days later ..... you could be right with them not wanting their fax machine tied up

Goodluck with yours ..... let us know how you get on. I hope and pray you get it as none of us tend to attempt expedite without good reason

[RickieAndEva 0]

Check out this thread guys. Looks like delays at USCIS. I hope its not true.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=122961

[Army_Wife 2]

Check out this thread guys. Looks like delays at USCIS. I hope its not true.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=122961

I wouldn't worry too much about it RickieAndEva as there are a ton of other people who were approved after these guys who don't seem to be delayed.

It appears to be very few who seem to experience this situation.

[ReoSoft 0]

I have been out of the country and have not updated my timeline lately. I received my I-129F NOA1 sometime in March 2008. It is dated March 14, 2008.

Reo

[Zayd 0]

Hi All,

I wanted to say that I called USCIS today using the RFE hotline, and I was told my I-130 was approved on April 22. Never got a status update online or through email so there may be some of you who are also going to be receiving some surprise approvals. They said they had mailed the approval, but I have not gotten it. If someone could update the timeline, I would appreciate it. I pray that all of you are able to be reunited with your husbands and wives soon.

Zayd

[Beth/ Paris Heart 2]

Hi All,

I wanted to say that I called USCIS today using the RFE hotline, and I was told my I-130 was approved on April 22. Never got a status update online or through email so there may be some of you who are also going to be receiving some surprise approvals. They said they had mailed the approval, but I have not gotten it. If someone could update the timeline, I would appreciate it. I pray that all of you are able to be reunited with your husbands and wives soon.

Zayd

I wonder if Vermont forgot to email approvals also???? Be nice to find one in the mailbox this evening.

Congratulations Zayd!!!! Bet this approval makes breathing easier. Im happy for you.

Paris Heart

[adam75 0]

Hi All,

I wanted to say that I called USCIS today using the RFE hotline, and I was told my I-130 was approved on April 22. Never got a status update online or through email so there may be some of you who are also going to be receiving some surprise approvals. They said they had mailed the approval, but I have not gotten it. If someone could update the timeline, I would appreciate it. I pray that all of you are able to be reunited with your husbands and wives soon.

Zayd

congrats to you ...thank you for the prayer.

[SerenityNOW 11]

The same thing happened to me!! I was approved with no e-mail notification, even though I have received other e-mails from them. I just received a letter in the mail. Same date as yours, 4/22.

I was one of the first people in this group filing in January, so I am the evidence that January approvals are beginning (even though there are tons of people who applied before us still waiting) for regular applications with no expedite request. I had no contact with USCIS beyond a change of address in March.

I started out thinking I would be filing for K-3. Then in January there was all that speculation about them being canceled, delayed, etc. so I decided to avoid the confusion and stick to the CR-1 (but I was worried that I had written in on my I-130 application that we would be filing for K-3).

Good luck to you all, and see you in the NVC forum,

/bb

Hi All,

I wanted to say that I called USCIS today using the RFE hotline, and I was told my I-130 was approved on April 22. Never got a status update online or through email so there may be some of you who are also going to be receiving some surprise approvals. They said they had mailed the approval, but I have not gotten it. If someone could update the timeline, I would appreciate it. I pray that all of you are able to be reunited with your husbands and wives soon.

Zayd

[Imua 0]

Wow congrats, that is awesome!!! Hopefully we will start seeing more VSC approvals soon.

[anonymous08 0]

CR-1/IR-1

Name---------------Country---------I-130 Sent----NOA1----SC-----NOA2

2ondjourney--------(not stated)----01-07-08----02-11-08—-CSC—-

BulgarianBride-----Bulgaria--------01-07-08----02-12-08—-CSC—-04-22-08

Uncle_Wally--------Japan-----------01-07-08----02-12-08—-VSC--

Lucy Keeling-------China-----------01-08-08----02-08-08—-CSC—-04-23-08

AishaandMusa-------Senegal---------01-09-08----02-08-08--VSC—-03-31-08

suga'sino----------Morocco---------01-09-08----02-12-08--CSC--

Pattu Rani---------Nepal-----------01-10-08----02-08-08—-VSC--

Manishnyati--------India-----------01-14-08----02-19-08--

Tamara-------------Jordan----------01-14-08----02-12-08—-VSC--

KipandSarahJayne---England---------01-16-08----02-12-08—-VSC--

Zayd---------------Pakistan--------01-17-08----02-12-08—-CSC—-04-22-08

Brian&Mel----------Malaysia--------01-18-08----02-12-08—-CSC--

Looduck------------Macedonia-------01-21-08----02-13-08—-CSC--

Delicia------------Canada----------01-24-08----02-13-08--CSC--

RickieAndEva-------Philippines-----01-26-08----02-14-08—-CSC--

Chintal Parikh-----India-----------01-29-08----02-14-08—-CSC--

Lawrencejeramie----Philippines-----01-29-08----02-14-08--CSC--

Rmusic-------------India-----------01-29-08----02-15-08—-VSC--

Krista-------------Canada----------01-30-08----02-15-08—-CSC--

K3

Name---------------Country---------I-130 Sent----NOA1----SC-----NOA2

CheCraig-----------Philippines-----01-01-08----02-10-08—-CSC—-

Iceprincess--------Canada----------01-07-08----02-06-08—-VSC—-

Whippy-------------South Africa----01-07-08----02-11-08—-VSC—-

A_&_O--------------Nigeria---------01-12-08----02-16-08—-VSC--

Math Man-----------Mexico----------01-12-08----02-11-08—-VSC—-

ReoSoft------------Philippines-----01-14-08----02-16-08—-VSC--

cieloazul----------Philippines-----01-15-08----02-12-08--

CrazyGujju---------India-----------01-15-08----02-12-08—-VSC--

cying--------------Philippines-----01-15-08----02-12-08—-CSC--

rajee--------------India-----------01-15-08----02-22-08—-VSC--

Yoda1165-----------Ghana-----------01-16-08----02-14-08—-VSC--

Jeca---------------Yugoslavia------01-16-08----02-11-08—-VSC--

Adam75-------------Indonesia-------01-20-08----02-20-08—-VSC—

Paris Heart--------France----------01-24-08----02-20-08—-VSC--

hambooso-----------Egypt-----------01-21-08----02-13-08—-CSC--

MamaMdoe-----------Tanzania--------01-24-08----02-14-08—-CSC--

immillpind---------India-----------01-31-08----02-15-08—-CSC--

I-129F

Name---------------Country---------I-129F Sent----NOA1----SC-----NOA2

Wanderbeing--------Peru------------12-17-07-----02-14-08—-CSC--

Math man-----------Mexico----------01-12-08-----01-16-08—-VSC--

Rajee--------------India-----------01-15-08-----02-22-08—-VSC--

Yoda1165-----------Ghana-----------01-22-08-----02-28-08—-VSC--

Cying--------------Philippines-----02-19-08-----02-21-08—-CSC--

MamaMdoe-----------Tanzania--------02-20-08-----02-22-08—-CSC—-

Whippy-------------South Africa----02-20-08-----03-01-08—-VSC--

Hambooso-----------Egypt-----------02-23-08-----03-13-08—-CSC—

Paris Heart--------France----------02-25-08-----02-26-08--VSC--

Adam75-------------Indonesia-------02-26-08-----03-17-08—-VSC—-

A_&_O--------------Nigeria---------02-26-08-----03-07-08—-VSC--

cieloazul----------Philippines-----02-29-08-----03-03-08—-VSC—-

ReoSoft------------Philippines-----03-01-08-----03-14-08—-VSC--

Iceprincess--------Canada----------03-04-08-----03-06-08—-VSC—

Immillpind---------India-----------03-24-08-----xx-xx-xx—-CSC--

COngratulations to those who got their approvals...

Hope and pray that the rest of the January filers will get theirs soon......

God Bless..

[Zayd 0]

The same thing happened to me!! I was approved with no e-mail notification, even though I have received other e-mails from them. I just received a letter in the mail. Same date as yours, 4/22.

I was one of the first people in this group filing in January, so I am the evidence that January approvals are beginning (even though there are tons of people who applied before us still waiting) for regular applications with no expedite request. I had no contact with USCIS beyond a change of address in March.

I started out thinking I would be filing for K-3. Then in January there was all that speculation about them being canceled, delayed, etc. so I decided to avoid the confusion and stick to the CR-1 (but I was worried that I had written in on my I-130 application that we would be filing for K-3).

Good luck to you all, and see you in the NVC forum,

/bb

Hi All,

I wanted to say that I called USCIS today using the RFE hotline, and I was told my I-130 was approved on April 22. Never got a status update online or through email so there may be some of you who are also going to be receiving some surprise approvals. They said they had mailed the approval, but I have not gotten it. If someone could update the timeline, I would appreciate it. I pray that all of you are able to be reunited with your husbands and wives soon.

Zayd

Hi BB,

Congratulations on the approval. That is very good news. I thought when I saw the touch in your signature on the same day as mine that you may also have been approved but good to hear it confirmed. You want to check if your case number as been assigned by NVC yet. I called the automated hotline on Saturday and saw mine was already available. It helped me getting things ready for James' Shortcuts. Now probably is the best time to collect all these documents so it does not slow our overall case. Here is the wiki on James' shortcuts for those that don't have it: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Jame%27s_Shortcut . We will be using it for our petition and I think others should consider it as well. Would save a lot of time. For those who are not approved yet, you could also start the long collection process.

Zayd

[MamaAsiya 8]

Does anyone know why James' shortcuts don't apply to K-3ers? Is there a modified version?