Waiting Times

[ronpete 0]

I apologize in advance if this question has been asked a lot before. I honestly searched the forum.

We filed in May 21st of this year and have only seen the case touched once on 8/27/2009. The 6 month CA processing times would bring us up to November 21st. There have been no requests for evidence - or any communication whatsoever.

First question - Is this normal?

Second question - Assuming we get an interview date between now and Nov. 21st, (and everything goes without a hitch) what is the "average" time between that date and getting the Visa approved?

At the beginning of this process i was foolish enough to believe that the 6 month CA processing time would be the amount of time it would take to get my fiancée here. DOH!

Thank you!

Ron

[Justine+David 218]

The processing time frame is 5 months, not 6 months, so definitely call USCIS and ask what the deal is. Do a search on people's experiences doing this (I've been fortunate to not have this happen to me so I don't know). You can also make a Congress inquiry; find out who your Representative is in Congress along with your two Senators, and contact them about your case file and they can usually speed things up.

You seem a little confused about the process after NOA2; once you get the interview, you *are* approved and get the visa about a week later (in most countries) unless you get stuck in AP which is rare unless you are from the MENA area. Definitely review the guides, but a short overview:

Petition approved by USCIS, (your NOA2), forwarded to National Visa Center (usually less than a week), sent to the local embassy in the beneficiary's country, medical exam, packet 3 documents sent, and then interview. The quickest I've seen is about a month, but it varies highly depending on which embassy you're at. For example, the London USE is about 2 months from NVC to interview. The Montreal consulate can take a few months just to get the interview itself.

[ronpete 0]

Yes, i could be confused. When i submitted the application to the CA service center the processing time was 6 months.

I've been tracking the status on the website and it's in the 2nd status (initial review). The first status was "acceptance". I've called about it once a month ago and the lady said everything was on target and i needed to wait.

on the website, the last activity was 8/27/09 - the lady i talked to said that my case was assigned a "person" at that time.

Does this help? I'm very nervous that it's not moving as it should.