Married in Bulgaria, I-130 sent sept.2008, still no answer... is it normal?

[Kalina D 0]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and i have a question. As the title says i married my husband (US citizen by birth) in Bulgaria in June 2008. He went back to the States, filed I-130 and sent it to Chicago in sept. 2008. So far we have received no information from the cervices there. Is this normal? How long does it take before they open the envelope with the documents? My husband said he's going to check if they've cashed the check on Tuesday and if it turns out they haven't does that mean that the envelope is still waiting to be opened somewhere? I'm so confused and so scared Does anybody know how long does it take for these documents to process?

[redglasses 1]

Haven't you got even NOA1?

[raymaga 25]

You should certainly have received the NOA1 by now, along with the check being cashed.

Your husband should schedule an InfoPass appointment on the USCIS website to go talk to them about what's going on with your case.

Good luck.

[Kalina D 0]

Haven't you got even NOA1?

is that notification they've opened the envelope? we haven't

[raymaga 25]

Did your husband receive ANYTHING at all (in the mail or an email) from USCIS after he sent in the package?

[scandal 951]

The check should be cashed immediately (within days) of their receiving the file.

If you sent the file a year ago, and the check was never cashed, something is clearly wrong. Perhaps it got lost in the mail? Did you send it with a receipt confirmation?

You could file an InfoPass but since it looks like they never even opened a case file or cashed the check, I think the easiest option would be to simply

send in all the paperwork again. Sorry you lost a year. Good luck.

[Kalina D 0]

Did your husband receive ANYTHING at all (in the mail or an email) from USCIS after he sent in the package?

he did not he called a few times and all they told him is that the envelope is probably still sitting somewhere waiting to be opened :(so far we thought it is normal to wait for so long. now i understand that it isn't and i am one step far from crying. perhaps i should wait till tuesday to find out if the check has been cashed and then start to worry :(

[Kalina D 0]

so can somebody tell me if i've understood right...

when we send the I-130 we get NOA1 in like 5-10 days and then it takes about 6-8 months for it to get approved or denied?

[kaus&Sanu 0]

so can somebody tell me if i've understood right...

when we send the I-130 we get NOA1 in like 5-10 days and then it takes about 6-8 months for it to get approved or denied?

Yes, when you send the I130 package that you sent in will give you a NOA1 within 10 days. Has the check been cashed???? Do you have a reciept for when you sent it, can you check the receipt and make sure that it was delivered? I would get an infopass, take everything with you.

After you get a noa1 you should get a noa 2 which will notify you of approval or denied. i would move on this ASAP.

Sorry to hear that you havent heard anything

[Chris Me lil D 17]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and i have a question. As the title says i married my husband (US citizen by birth) in Bulgaria in June 2008. He went back to the States, filed I-130 and sent it to Chicago in sept. 2008. So far we have received no information from the cervices there. Is this normal? How long does it take before they open the envelope with the documents? My husband said he's going to check if they've cashed the check on Tuesday and if it turns out they haven't does that mean that the envelope is still waiting to be opened somewhere? I'm so confused and so scared Does anybody know how long does it take for these documents to process?

Dear Bulgarian fellow, are you kidding? we got married in Bulgaria in Jan'09 and I arrived in US on Sept 1st'09. To help future members and youself, here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=73469. Contact me if you have any questions... Good luck

[Sheyla 0]

Something similar happened to us, but we had been tracking our progress and since we didnt get any response we called the USCIS and they said they didnt get anything . Then called the delivery company and we found out that a worker there was keeping the envelope lost ( or hidden) because they already opened it trying to get the money but since the check was to USCIS they couldnt cash it. So they just left it hidden. We talk to many people from the delivery company so the envelope could be delivered.

WE finally got or NOA1 in August 08. After we got our NOA1 Chicago office lost some our papers so we had to send them back . We made several calls, called everybody we could and USCIS sent an apologize letter for all the problems and promise to make it faster. We got and RFE last August 09, we already sent the docs requested and also we talk to our senator to make sure everything goes well. Now a year after we are still waiting but getting closer.

So you definitelly have to keep tracking , keep calling anyone that can help and bother anyone you can to make this happen.

VJ site is a really good source of what and when you should expect to get any news about your file.

Good Luck