One Month Waiting Club

[scandal 951]

I just count the days. I really do. Sort of like the prisoner in the jail cell who carves out the days, one by one, on the cell block wall.

It doesn't make the time go faster. It doesn't make you feel any better. But you do it anyway. At least, I do. The 'end-date' I currently have circled on my calendar is June 15. Why? Because I think (I hope!) it's realistic. June 15 is exactly 63 days from today. Tomorrow it will be only 62 days away, then 61..... I have had to reset my 'end-date' several times already. Originally (way back last fall) I was sure that we would be done by March. Oh well.

Sometimes I reach for perspective. Like ... before we had even filed, before my divorce came through, I had no idea how long we'd have to wait before we could even start the filing process. One month? Two? Six months? A year? Two years? More? Then, I could hardly blame USCIS or NVC or the embassy for the delays. At that time, a multi-year wait was something I had to brace for. We have now been in our long distance relationship for more than 2 years. Thank goodness for Skype + webcam.

Now of course, the delays are all courtesy of our friendly neighborhood federal government in all its executive branches and glory - DHS and DOS. And now, every day is long. Every week is longer yet. And it's hard to think in terms of months, but we have no choice.

We are waiting longer than average, but certainly not longer than many others whose cases really make you weep.

At each stage, we see others lap us by.

Sept 2008 filers - like us - who got their NOA2 before we did.

Jan 2009 NOA2 recipients -- like us -- who moved immediately through NVC while we got stuck there for AP.

A wonderful VJ couple who was released from AP @ NVC on the same day we were (March 13) and have already had their interview and received their visa.

Meanwhile we are still waiting to get our interview scheduled.

This process doesn't teach me to be bitter or resentful of those who have moved forwards and gotten their cases moving faster than ours. I feel truly happy for them. I wish everyone with a pending case gets their approval TOMORROW MORNING. Maybe even TONIGHT, if that's possible! This isn't a competition. We all want the same thing. To have our loved ones here with us, once and for all.

I wish everyone a speedy approval whether you filed yesterday, last week, last month or last year. Or even if you have not yet filed and are just at the gathering information phase. Good luck to all.

[AmyStan 0]

Excellent post uscandual. It's easy for me to get caught up in my own situation and believe it's unique. It is unique, of course, but so is every situation and there are more similarities than differences. Everyone on here wants to be with his/her partner as soon as possible. The site is so very aptly named, because this is indeed a journey. I pray that each journey will end with the same happiness and love that led to taking that first step.

[Danu 19]

I think the things that affected me most are the stories of those who lost their fiance(e)'s before the end of their journeys. Some of them had been apart for months or years, and then in a blink their loved one was gone forever. It makes me very sad and very worried that it could happen to us. You never know when your loved ones could be in an accident and the thought of not being there...it hurts a lot. It just makes me want to be there now even more. Each day that I have with him is a blessing and every day apart is one more that I may never see him again.

I completely understand how you guys feel.

[Michael and Joyce 0]

Today is one month since NOA1. It seem like a year waiting...

who knows how long it will take....

Make your self busy while waiting for the approval notice and add more prayers. Good luck!

[biggestchallenge 0]

day 46 since noa1, i got a feeling ill have a noa 2 by late june

[Cham 3]

1 month 2 months 3 months is nothing..lol OH how I remember waiting! it SUCKED but it was WORth the journey.

It will be for you all to. THIS is the longest part!!! Some from july are STILL waiting on NOA2s:( sad but true...I pray they get theirs:(

best wishes on everyones journey...stay focused stay busy and patiences will help

[Jinhouzi 0]

After it is all said and done, it will feel like just yesterday. I am on day 55 of getting my NOA1. This May 1st Yan and I will have known each other for 1 year and it really doesn't seam that long ago. The time will fly by, just don't think of it day to day.

[Jinhouzi 0]

Oh, and you want to know the funnest part of it is that I sent the list that Igor made to her. She can't understand why some people are getting their approval in just 2 or 3 days. It took me half an hour to explain that it is just the date from when they are sent to the NOA1 and not from NOA1 to NOA2.

[R&AINC 1]

I came out with a trick.

I decided to pay myself $1 a day for every day of wait. and then get a gift for the loved one once all is over.

The more I wait, the better the gift

[kiwiana 2]

The waiting for this part of the journey does seem like an eternity at times! I tried to stay busy as much as possible and studied up on the next part (after you receive noa2 and for the interview etc)

At times it felt like the moment would never arrive. I would check for touches almost every day!

The next stage though generally goes by pretty fast!! so hang in there and before long you will be with your loved ones again!

good luck!!

[NatPatBen 3]

...

At times it felt like the moment would never arrive. I would check for touches almost every day!

...

lol. Try almost every HOUR!

[Jinhouzi 0]

Like someone said, do something that you haven't done before. I am going to join a golf league and make some new friends. Maybe even play Sim City. I use to play that for hours on end.

[MARM 7]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents...

We got our NOA2 after 170 days...(10 days less than 6 months). I even had congressional letters prepared to send in case we missed the 180 day mark....and before I got the NOA2, I got an RFE, and instead of getting approval within days of the RFE, I got the approval more than a month afterward. And then we thought the hardest part was over....NOT!!!

Thankfully, we were only at NVC for barely 1 day (a lot of people get stuck at NVC under AP, so it was a HUGE RELIEF that we did not even stay there for a single full day). And then it was on to the US Embassy in London (one of the supposedly "easiest" consulates to go through). We got packet 3 within days of the embassy receiving our packet, and we sent back the response to packet 3 2/3 days after receiving it...so it was a matter of about 2-3 weeks after NOA2 that we became eligible for an interview in London...BUT it is not so easy as we are figuring out...another road block:

We were assigned an interview date within 2 weeks of sending in the packet 3 response...for 12 days after we found out we got an interview date. In regular circumstances, we would have been ECSTATIC! But we could not be, because my fiance's passport had not yet arrived back from the UK Border Agency, who is processing his student visa extension in the UK. (FYI: My fiance is in the UK on student visa, so therefore his status in the UK is legal based upon his student visa being valid...and while we awaited our NOA2, it had become time for my fiance to apply for an extension for his student visa in the UK). So we had to reschedule his K-1 interview...we rescheduled it for April 28 (in just a few days...)

But get this...

The UKBA has recently added MAJOR CHANGES to their student visa processing and added new rules and guidelines, that require biometrics processing for student visas and a lot of other ####### that is involved in processing, so its not like before, where it took 4-6 weeks to get a student visa extension, now it is taking an average of 5/6 MONTHS...and my fiance's biometrics was canceled TWICE by the UKBA because of IT failures they were experiencing...introducing a new system on their part is causing SIGNIFICANT delays...so anyway, he gave his biometrics...going ALL THE WAY to a different part of England (2 hours away) because he got an early appointment at a different center, and for the sake of completing his biometrics early, he took the 2 hour trip for the 10 minute biometrics appointment--hoping that this could speed up his UK student visa extension so that he can have his passport well in time for the medical and the April 28 interview...BUT NO....

We delayed the medical in hopes of getting the passport, but we cannot delay it any longer if he is going to be interviewed on April 28. So he scheduled his medical first with his private doctor (GP) so he could get immunizations done there and not have to worry about them for AOS...BUT here is ANOTHER DELAY...

The GP did not have the one vaccination my fiance needed, so he had to place an order at the pharmacy that my fiance has to pick up himself and take to the GP (and pay for it of course)...so he wasted an appointment with the GP and rescheduled ANOTHER appointment with the GP...this time hoping that he doesn't have any problems. (His appointment with the GP is tomorrow btw). Hopefully everything goes well, but at this point, we are expecting the worst since we have had delays almost every step of the way....

And...he scheduled his K-1 medical today also...hoping that he gets his passport in time for the April 28 interview (he found out a few days ago that he can have his medical with another ID because he does not have his passport). And he could not get an appointment in time for the results to be there at the embassy for his K-1 interview...but anyway he is sticking to the appointment.

Now we are hanging on edge waiting for his passport to come back from the UKBA in time for his K-1 interview....and we need to decide a few days before the interview if we need to reschedule to avoid him being counted absent for the interview as the embassy required 3/4 days to reschedule the interview by email. And we have undertaken all efforts to expedite the student visa process in order for him to get his passport, all we can do now is wait and pray for it to be here for the interview.

Oh and...did I forget to mention...

We are "looking forward" to Admin Processing/AR for my fiance after his interview because he is a Pakistani citizen in the UK on student visa...a typical AP case as VJ members have experienced themselves. So even if miraculously his passport is received before we have to email the embassy for another extension for his interview date, and if miraculously he gets interviewed on the assigned April 28 date...we still have to wait for his AP/AR....

In a sense, we are dealing with two visa issues....

And this is the nightmarish journey of our K-1 visa journey so far...

The point of posting this here in this topic is only this:

If you let it, the waiting WILL drive you crazy, you need to keep yourself busy to avoid insanity. And I know one month seems like forever...every day every hour seems like forever...but remember that you may well be luckier than many others who are suffering delays in this process. And we thought the waiting was over after 170 days to NOA2, but we are consistently experiencing delays. Just wanted to wish you all the best of luck, may you all get your NOA2s very very soon! And keep yourselves busy and remember that you are not alone in waiting...

And one month or more of waiting will NOT hurt your spirits, look around you here on VJ for proof

People like estadia (Sara), Chris&Mara, and many others...are prime examples of pillars of strength and endurance!

(Just realized I wrote "just wanted to add my 2 cents"...but I guess it has turned out way more than that!)

MARM

Edited April 15, 2009 by MARM

[Ju&Ja 1]

I came out with a trick.

I decided to pay myself $1 a day for every day of wait. and then get a gift for the loved one once all is over.

The more I wait, the better the gift

I think that your idea is awesome, damn why I didn't think about that ! But for a gift for me

I would have a little more than 120 euros at the end

[Cuchita 1]

Dang! you might end up buying her a car!

I came out with a trick.

I decided to pay myself $1 a day for every day of wait. and then get a gift for the loved one once all is over.

The more I wait, the better the gift