October 2009 Filers

[Laura J. 0]

Now that I think about it I think that my timeline said that I'd get it sometime between the 4th and the 24th and I got it the 22nd.

What does everyone elses say?

We're up by Feb 2, but that keeps changing based on the feedback and timeline updates of others. Back in December it said I could expect an answer by December 30th.

I had a 40 minute conversation with someone in power my Congressman's Office today, which left me feeling even more discouraged than before.

Did he offer to help me? No.

Did he give me any insight as to why some cases are pushed ahead of others? Yes.

Apparently if you are young with no history and no baggage such as previous marriages and no one else in the world has a name similar to yours...it's possible for your file to whoosh through the system of "checks" and then be put into a "milk crate" of case files going to an adjudicator.

Alternately, if you are like us, midlife with previous marriages, children, and other such baggage, with an oh-so-common name, your history maybe checked by one or more of the agencies contracted to investigate such matters. So your file sits in queue until all of the agencies have submitted their reports. Ah, that sounds like months of waiting.

Then...the milk crate (one or more; I'm unclear as to how many they take at once) is signed out by an adjudicator.

If you are lucky enough to get an adjudicator who works a lot of hours and processes quickly, you end up going ahead.

If you get an adjudicator who only works 2 days a week, your case is going to stay in their crate until he or she gets to you.

There are just too many variables that skew any hope of an orderly process that makes sense or seems fair to those of us whose lives are put on hold, who cannot spend the waiting time with the person for whom we are waiting.

Bottom line from my elected official's office: Call me back if you haven't heard anything in 4 or 5 weeks.

Oh I know, he's only doing his job, trying to justify the system, probably fielding hundreds of phone calls.

But I also think that as a taxpayer and voter in his district, part of his job is to make me feel that he is fighting for my rights, listening and responding accordingly. Definitely did not "feel the love" from this man.

I would love to post some sarcastic remarks here but I'm not sure they would further the cause of this forum.

However, I will be exercising my right to vote for or against this particular Congressman in the next election.

Glad you are all here to share.

[Laura J. 0]

Please help me out here, friends.

I have read other forums on this but I still don't get it.

How do you find out if your case has been "touched" ?

According to my previously referred to govt official, there is no way to find out anything about your case other than "major events", such as going from initial review (waiting for background check) to RFE or testing/interview (in the milk crate).

In other forums, being "touched" is reported to mean absolutely nothing.

I know I'm divulging my age when I say that I feel like VCR's just came out and I'm learning how to program!!!

Thanks.

[Martyshk 137]

Please help me out here, friends.

I have read other forums on this but I still don't get it.

How do you find out if your case has been "touched" ?

According to my previously referred to govt official, there is no way to find out anything about your case other than "major events", such as going from initial review (waiting for background check) to RFE or testing/interview (in the milk crate).

In other forums, being "touched" is reported to mean absolutely nothing.

I know I'm divulging my age when I say that I feel like VCR's just came out and I'm learning how to program!!!

Thanks.

Go to https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/login.jsp

Register

Add your case number to your portfolio

Look at "last updated". If that changes, it means "touched". At least that's the way I understand it.

For example my NOA-1 is Dec 7th, but it says "last updated" Dec 10th

[kabhatti 2]

We're up by Feb 2, but that keeps changing based on the feedback and timeline updates of others. Back in December it said I could expect an answer by December 30th.

I had a 40 minute conversation with someone in power my Congressman's Office today, which left me feeling even more discouraged than before.

Did he offer to help me? No.

Did he give me any insight as to why some cases are pushed ahead of others? Yes.

Apparently if you are young with no history and no baggage such as previous marriages and no one else in the world has a name similar to yours...it's possible for your file to whoosh through the system of "checks" and then be put into a "milk crate" of case files going to an adjudicator.

Alternately, if you are like us, midlife with previous marriages, children, and other such baggage, with an oh-so-common name, your history maybe checked by one or more of the agencies contracted to investigate such matters. So your file sits in queue until all of the agencies have submitted their reports. Ah, that sounds like months of waiting.

Then...the milk crate (one or more; I'm unclear as to how many they take at once) is signed out by an adjudicator.

If you are lucky enough to get an adjudicator who works a lot of hours and processes quickly, you end up going ahead.

If you get an adjudicator who only works 2 days a week, your case is going to stay in their crate until he or she gets to you.

There are just too many variables that skew any hope of an orderly process that makes sense or seems fair to those of us whose lives are put on hold, who cannot spend the waiting time with the person for whom we are waiting.

Bottom line from my elected official's office: Call me back if you haven't heard anything in 4 or 5 weeks.

Oh I know, he's only doing his job, trying to justify the system, probably fielding hundreds of phone calls.

But I also think that as a taxpayer and voter in his district, part of his job is to make me feel that he is fighting for my rights, listening and responding accordingly. Definitely did not "feel the love" from this man.

I would love to post some sarcastic remarks here but I'm not sure they would further the cause of this forum.

However, I will be exercising my right to vote for or against this particular Congressman in the next election.

Glad you are all here to share.

Hang in there Laura and Christine, you'll have your NOA2 within the week.... It's coming and on a side note, by election time, all will be forgotten He will likely win another term with or without your vote.

[doghandler 2]

We're up by Feb 2, but that keeps changing based on the feedback and timeline updates of others. Back in December it said I could expect an answer by December 30th.

I had a 40 minute conversation with someone in power my Congressman's Office today, which left me feeling even more discouraged than before.

Did he offer to help me? No.

Did he give me any insight as to why some cases are pushed ahead of others? Yes.

Apparently if you are young with no history and no baggage such as previous marriages and no one else in the world has a name similar to yours...it's possible for your file to whoosh through the system of "checks" and then be put into a "milk crate" of case files going to an adjudicator.

Alternately, if you are like us, midlife with previous marriages, children, and other such baggage, with an oh-so-common name, your history maybe checked by one or more of the agencies contracted to investigate such matters. So your file sits in queue until all of the agencies have submitted their reports. Ah, that sounds like months of waiting.

Then...the milk crate (one or more; I'm unclear as to how many they take at once) is signed out by an adjudicator.

If you are lucky enough to get an adjudicator who works a lot of hours and processes quickly, you end up going ahead.

If you get an adjudicator who only works 2 days a week, your case is going to stay in their crate until he or she gets to you.

There are just too many variables that skew any hope of an orderly process that makes sense or seems fair to those of us whose lives are put on hold, who cannot spend the waiting time with the person for whom we are waiting.

Bottom line from my elected official's office: Call me back if you haven't heard anything in 4 or 5 weeks.

Oh I know, he's only doing his job, trying to justify the system, probably fielding hundreds of phone calls.

But I also think that as a taxpayer and voter in his district, part of his job is to make me feel that he is fighting for my rights, listening and responding accordingly. Definitely did not "feel the love" from this man.

I would love to post some sarcastic remarks here but I'm not sure they would further the cause of this forum.

However, I will be exercising my right to vote for or against this particular Congressman in the next election.

Glad you are all here to share.

Laura

That information is absolutely priceless for the insight it gives to the previous mysterious process. It will help so many people at least understand how it works at least. We now all know a bit more. Thank you so much for taking the time to post it (and it's given Mr Doghandler more fuel for the wider issues he wants to raise with his Congressman).

I am right there with you, Laura, in our positions of midlife wisdom.

[doghandler 2]

Now that I think about it I think that my timeline said that I'd get it sometime between the 4th and the 24th and I got it the 22nd.

What does everyone elses say?

mine says between 12th and 28th, which is tomorrow, but I would not put any money on it coming tomorrow.

[kabhatti 2]

mine says between 12th and 28th, which is tomorrow, but I would not put any money on it coming tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure you'll hear some good news!

[that_girl 9]

Well, I don't know if this will ease or further trouble your minds, but I'll spill it anyway and hope for the former:

I should be the case study for the situation you described, Laura J., that makes someone whiz through processing. I'm in my mid-twenties, and this is my first marriage. I have a very unusual (and yet, hard to misspell) last name. I've never met someone who I wasn't related to with the same one (and [here's me dating myself] there's no one else on the facebook with the same name). I've never been been convicted of a crime (except one speeding ticket when I was 16). I don't have any kids. My fiance is the same age as I am, he's never been married, doesn't have any kids and comes from a low-fraud country. And I'm still here, even with all these "advantages," waiting in line with everyone else. I certainly didn't get my NOA2 in 37 days (but happy days for those that did!)...

I'm still thinking the problem lies in the "box" system. Or maybe it's not even a procedural problem on their end. Maybe some lackey just got a couple of boxes mixed up in the storeroom, and no one checked the mistake. One thing I'm sure of is that people working on paperwork in Vermont probably don't stop too often to think about the fact that seeing December approvals when we're all waiting is like them stabbing their sharpened pencil into the heart. Heck, if they don't know about VJ, they probably don't even think we know about the December approvals... Still, this screwy process demands some investigation and transparency.

But power on! Let's finish up October by the end of the week and start plowing through the November files with the new month!

Edited January 27, 2010 by megger

[Bacon 0]

Well, I don't know if this will ease or further trouble your minds, but I'll spill it anyway and hope for the former:

I should be the case study for the situation you described, Laura J., that makes someone whiz through processing. I'm in my mid-twenties, and this is my first marriage. I have a very unusual (and yet, hard to misspell) last name. I've never met someone who I wasn't related to with the same one (and [here's me dating myself] there's no one else on the facebook with the same name). I've never been been convicted of a crime (except one speeding ticket when I was 16). I don't have any kids. My fiance is the same age as I am, he's never been married, doesn't have any kids and comes from a low-fraud country. And I'm still here, even with all these "advantages," waiting in line with everyone else. I certainly didn't get my NOA2 in 37 days (but happy days for those that did!)...

I'm still thinking the problem lies in the "box" system. Or maybe it's not even a procedural problem on their end. Maybe some lackey just got a couple of boxes mixed up in the storeroom, and no one checked the mistake. One thing I'm sure of is that people working on paperwork in Vermont probably don't stop too often to think about the fact that seeing December approvals when we're all waiting is like them stabbing their sharpened pencil into the heart. Heck, if they don't know about VJ, they probably don't even think we know about the December approvals... Still, this screwy process demands some investigation and transparency.

But power on! Let's finish up October by the end of the week and start plowing through the November files with the new month!

I think a lot of them do know about VJ especially since one of the guys has been speaking with the Director at Vermont and we've even had a few people who used to work there post on here. So I'm sure they know. But I wonder if it's that they're so focused on getting their cases finished for their stats that they don't even take the time to notice that other reps are lagging so bad.

For me I'm thinking that the NOA1's from the 22nd were assigned to someone on vacation cause suddenly we're all getting our approvals for that date.

[Laura J. 0]

Overall, I think the amount of paperwork and files in the 5 buildings at VSC is probably more than we can fathom. It is also my understanding that some or all of the adjudicators are actually employed by contractors and thus not actually government employees. We think the process should be orderly, but who really knows (except those on the "inside") how the big picture looks. In the grand scheme of things, we are all just one more case file. The immigration assembly line!

Said representative did refer to websites like VJ as not being 100% accurate and did cite the small percentages of participants as compared to the true amount of petitioners. So I think they are well aware of everything that is out there. I don't think they monitor them but again, who knows.

I'd say the ones who whoosh through are just fortunate; there is no rhyme or reason. If I were approved in 37 days, I'd probably hop on a plane to Vegas while luck was still on my side!

Good Luck to us All!!

[doghandler 2]

Well, I don't know if this will ease or further trouble your minds, but I'll spill it anyway and hope for the former:

I should be the case study for the situation you described, Laura J., that makes someone whiz through processing. I'm in my mid-twenties, and this is my first marriage. I have a very unusual (and yet, hard to misspell) last name. I've never met someone who I wasn't related to with the same one (and [here's me dating myself] there's no one else on the facebook with the same name). I've never been been convicted of a crime (except one speeding ticket when I was 16). I don't have any kids. My fiance is the same age as I am, he's never been married, doesn't have any kids and comes from a low-fraud country. And I'm still here, even with all these "advantages," waiting in line with everyone else. I certainly didn't get my NOA2 in 37 days (but happy days for those that did!)...

I'm still thinking the problem lies in the "box" system. Or maybe it's not even a procedural problem on their end. Maybe some lackey just got a couple of boxes mixed up in the storeroom, and no one checked the mistake. One thing I'm sure of is that people working on paperwork in Vermont probably don't stop too often to think about the fact that seeing December approvals when we're all waiting is like them stabbing their sharpened pencil into the heart. Heck, if they don't know about VJ, they probably don't even think we know about the December approvals... Still, this screwy process demands some investigation and transparency.

But power on! Let's finish up October by the end of the week and start plowing through the November files with the new month!

Megger, I think you are spot on. I am convinced our box system theory is a fact. I've seen people on here who are well passed their 20's with more than one divorce and even K1 application on their bedpost, and with kids, getting quick approvals.

How funny, after a few of us called the other day, they are suddenly right back to the exact point in October where they left off....before they started on the Decembers. Whatever the reason, at least for VJ people, they are back in the right box. Don't mess with our box, or I'll let the dogs out again x

[kabhatti 2]

2 more approvals right around your date doghandler! Give it to the end of the week, then release the hounds.

Edited January 28, 2010 by kabhatti

[chrisNmanda 0]

we got our NOA1 on Oct 26th and still haven't heard anything either ... we are still patiently waiting lol

[doghandler 2]

2 more approvals right around your date doghandler! Give it to the end of the week, then release the hounds.

ha ha ha! they are already straining at the leash and foaming at the mouth (and that's including Mr Doghandler!)

Did you all know that all the UK people who had their interviews scheduled for yesterday at the London Embassy had their interviews cancelled (and rescheduled for February), with less than a week's notice, because Hillary Clinton was in town? I wonder if the DOS will be compensating them for their non-refundable flight/train tickets/hotel reservations. I am feeling their pain.

[doghandler 2]

we got our NOA1 on Oct 26th and still haven't heard anything either ... we are still patiently waiting lol

...and you have a child, and that makes your wait more stressful! but according to what we've read here, that "complicates" things and therefore the young and "unbaggaged" (i.e. no kids) can get whizzed through cos they have no such complications. For the sake of the wellbeing of children, separated from a parent, you would think it would be the other way around. I guess that's too logical and compassionate!