CSC - Five-Month Hold???

[thelastpetitioner 218]

That means that petitions filed in September won't be processed until February which will be 5 months from filing. They have to process the rest of June, July and August filers first so until they process those, September ones are of course on hold.

+1

if you think about it that is their way tho,they usually approve the petitions a couple of days before the five months mark

[gap1 21]

+1

if you think about it that is their way tho,they usually approve the petitions a couple of days before the five months mark

Exactly. I really don't think this information is new or anything to be alarmed about. I think it was just the wording. Of course they're going to tell callers 5 months, it's how long we've all been waiting for approvals anyway.

[missicy 87]

I know the waiting sucks but stressing won't help. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Most petitions have been approved close to 5 month mark lately so prepare to wait that long. If it comes sooner then that's great! I remember stressing hard about it when I was at 2-3 months and it didn't make NOA2 come any faster. I waited 4 1/2 months, like most members here. It will come, just hang in there!

[gap1 21]

I know the waiting sucks but stressing won't help. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Most petitions have been approved close to 5 month mark lately so prepare to wait that long. If it comes sooner then that's great! I remember stressing hard about it when I was at 2-3 months and it didn't make NOA2 come any faster. I waited 4 1/2 months, like most members here. It will come, just hang in there!

An NOA2, eh? What's that like? Can I touch it?

[Angeli 5]

Exactly. I really don't think this information is new or anything to be alarmed about. I think it was just the wording. Of course they're going to tell callers 5 months, it's how long we've all been waiting for approvals anyway.

Except for expedited cases

[JlovesA 109]

An NOA2, eh? What's that like? Can I touch it?

After 4+ months now, I'm surprised we still remember what the heck we're even doing.

[gap1 21]

After 4+ months now, I'm surprised we still remember what the heck we're even doing.

I feel like when I actually get it I'll be so overjoyed that I'll forget we still have 600+ steps in this damn process to go before resting easy. It's maddening that we have to go through what, 5-10 more of these anxious waits before the green card is received? There's the State Department case number, then the embassy stage, then the packets, then the interview, then the visa, then the PoE, then the SSN, then the work authorization, then the AoS, then the green card. Ugh. Most of this without regular sex as well.

Edited November 9, 2010 by gap1

[JlovesA 109]

I feel like when I actually get it I'll be so overjoyed that I'll forget we still have 600+ steps in this damn process to go before resting easy. It's maddening that we have to go through what, 5-10 more of these anxious waits before the green card is received? There's the State Department case number, then the embassy stage, then the packets, then the interview, then the visa, then the PoE, then the SSN, then the work authorization, then the AoS, then the green card. Ugh. Most of this without regular sex as well.

That's true but most people agree seem to agree that waiting for the NOA2 is the worst part.

CBM and I are currently trying to wrap our heads around the new processes at Montreal. They changed everything and nobody on VJ seems to be able to answer questions about the new process.

[Daryl&Jeep 0]

Well what a nice Christmas persent......be advised you will not get your approval untill you reach the 5 month goal !!

Sorry just had to vent.....

[BringMyBabyHome 14]

Today I called the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) for a question about my i-129F application, unrelated to timelines.

Before I could ask my question, the staff member said, your application is on a "five-month hold." Although this could change, she said currently, CSC is not scheduled to start processing the application until February 2011.

She added other applications with receipts (NOA1s) from September 2010 are also on hold until February 2011. She said that the hold was necessary because of a significant backlog.

I continued to ask some questions:

- Was this unique to my application or to those of us with receipts (NOA1s) from September 2010?

- More specifically, was the hold applicable to applications from July, August, October, and November?

- How does the hold affect CSC's official goal of five months for these applications?

She said the five-month hold applied to all I-129Fs (and perhaps some others, but I did not absorb what she said about other types of applications). She explained that July 2010 applications were on hold until December 2010; August 2010 were on hold until January 2011; etc. She again stressed that this was the current information, and it could change.

With regard to the official goal of five months, she really did not say much, other than repeating that the September applications would be processed in February 2011.

I am somewhat hopeful that her information is out-of-date, for example, the transfer of marriage applications to Texas might be an indication that this supposed backlog is already well on the way to being cleared. While I am trying to remain optimistic, I was disappointed with this potential news.

Has anybody received similar information about a supposed "five-month hold" at CSC? Does anybody have some perspective about this?

How did you get through. I can't seem to get through to anyone?

[TashaK 1]

Okay, so I'm still confused. Is it they won't even LOOK at the applications for 5 months, so it could, in theory, take 10 months for a #*!$#!ing K1 visa?!? Or am I just freaking out and the person just worded it really poorly?

[Used to be broken 147]

Okay, so I'm still confused. Is it they won't even LOOK at the applications for 5 months, so it could, in theory, take 10 months for a #*!$#!ing K1 visa?!? Or am I just freaking out and the person just worded it really poorly?

I think the best analogy for USCIS is a clown juggling multiple balls, each different ball represents a different application type of which there are many. The "goals" on processing time exist for all application types, so when there are massive amounts of balls in the air.. some fall on the floor and get picked up later ..

September was the end of the fiscal year the new one starting in October, at the end of September they counted all the unfinished cases of all types and found a handful of other application/benefit types were not being processed anywhere close to their "goal" processing times and in fact some applications that had a goal of 6 months processing were in fact 12-15 months out in some foreign USCIS posts, in addition there was a wave of TPS applications this past year to deal with. So there was a reallocation of workload between offices... trying to balance the workload.

I think they would do themselves a huge favor if they added 3 months to the "goal" published on any application type because they obviously cannot meet the goals for all application types consistently .

[lmslovesdjr 2]

Okay, so I'm still confused. Is it they won't even LOOK at the applications for 5 months, so it could, in theory, take 10 months for a #*!$#!ing K1 visa?!? Or am I just freaking out and the person just worded it really poorly?

Yes, I'd like some clarification on that too.. cause that was the impression I was under and, if we're confused, please let us know, cause that whole 10+ month scenario is an outrage.

[JlovesA 109]

I wouldn't get too wound up about the "hold." According to this, they would start approving June filers in November. That can't be correct because they started approving June filers in mid-October. Unless November goes by without ANY July filers being approved, I wouldn't worry about this. I actually think it was a round-about and incorrect way the operator described the 5 month processing time frame.

[En&Em 1]

How did you get through. I can't seem to get through to anyone?

I called, and then I just waited. I did not hit any numbers at all--not even to indicate English versus Spanish (like you would have to do with an old rotary phone). After about 20 minutes of holding, someone answered.