CSC - Five-Month Hold???

[LoriT 16]

Agreed. Reading that was like taking a bullet.

pretty much like someone saying... ha ha, i win... you lose

[VeraVimes 5]

Based on the recent posts and timelines info, YES there seems to be some kind of hold. Some have waited beyond the five months.I find the hold unfair, because this is not a lottery, it's rather expensive for just a visa. If they have too much to handle, then they should get help by hiring more people to do the work. Overwhelming case loads from us means overwhelming amount of $$$$$$$ for the department, it means growth, opportunity, it means jobs, Gov't jobs for those who are actually unemployed. I dont understand, what the problem is, I'm begining to feel that maybe we are a nuissance to them, but we're not, we are $$$$$$ to boost the economy and more. There are those entering the U.S as we speak illegally without the wait and cost the gov't lots of $$$$$$ guess what? they get treated better than us for free. It's unprofessional I expect better service, 5- 8 months is not acceptable, not by me anyway!!

+1. My thoughts exactly. I'm sure people filing at the end of this year are happy that the fee is going down, but I truly don't understand their logic. USCIS are not functioning as they should under the current circumstances. The fact that unemployment is so high adds insult to injury. Why not aspire to get a name as most efficient immigration service in the world? Hire more people, get a consulting agency in to instruct you on how to run things more efficiently, put some ambition and enthusiasm into your work, for God's sake.

I think that concentrating on making this process easier and less stressful would do a lot of good for illegal immigrant issues. Reward those who try, instead of putting everything into punishing those who don't.

Alright, end of rant.

[gap1 21]

I also have never been to a fortune teller, nor do I ever plan to go.... my fiance and I are semi-religious, we go to church once in a while and say grace and count our blessing and all the rest. We are not fanatics or anything, but we enjoy our faith.

I think your attitude is really good, because I doubt it would take more than 3 months from NOA2 to interview. If it helps, you are probably more prepared than most when they get Packet 3, and won't have any delays sending it back. And, 3 months on peoples' timelines includes the time it takes to get to NVC, then embassy, and get P3 to the beneficiary... it's not like it's 3 months from sending back Packet 3.

In case you didn't know, here's a semi-short cut (I figured it out too late). Wait until you get the letter from NVC with the new London case number.. then wait a day or two, and call DOS. They will tell you if Packet 3 has been sent yet. If it has, you can send the information back to the embassy, because (at least for Montreal), there is NOTHING in Packet 3 you actually need to send back. You actually have to download all the forms online. I didn't realize that, and we wasted 11 days. It was sent on the 1st, and I only got it on Tuesday and sent it back yesterday. I know it's not a HUGE time saver, but 12 days is still 12 days.

Don't let other people bring you down. A positive attitude carries you far in life and will definitely continue to help with immigration!!

For what it's worth, I think an April wedding is still 100% feasible.

This is fantastic advice! 12 days is a long time and precious. I've been researching the London embassy on here and it looks like the same story with packet 3, can any UK filers confirm this?

[En&Em 1]

Based on the recent posts and timelines info, YES there seems to be some kind of hold. Some have waited beyond the five months.I find the hold unfair, because this is not a lottery, it's rather expensive for just a visa. If they have too much to handle, then they should get help by hiring more people to do the work. Overwhelming case loads from us means overwhelming amount of $$$$$$$ for the department, it means growth, opportunity, it means jobs, Gov't jobs for those who are actually unemployed. I dont understand, what the problem is, I'm begining to feel that maybe we are a nuissance to them, but we're not, we are $$$$$$ to boost the economy and more. There are those entering the U.S as we speak illegally without the wait and cost the gov't lots of $$$$$$ guess what? they get treated better than us for free. It's unprofessional I expect better service, 5- 8 months is not acceptable, not by me anyway!!

I don't think the backlog is from an increase of the fiance(e) or marriage visas, which have the higher application fees. So I am not sure that there is really a big increase in CSC's/USCIS's budget.

There have been a couple interesting theories regarding the slowdown/backlog at CSC.

First, it seemed that CSC was focusing on getting the marriage applications caught up, without doing much with the fiance(s) applications. The marriage applications now seem as current--or even a little ahead--of the fiance(e) applications. Moreover, a good chunk of CSC's marriage applications with NOA1s mainly from July and August 2010 have now been transferred to the Texas Service Center to speed up processing.

Second, in another thread, someone pointed out that there had been a huge volume of I-821s filed (Applications for Temporary Protected Status):

I-821 thread

But if you review CSC's charts, they seem to have mostly resolved their load of I-821s, at least through August 2010:

CSC data about I-821s

So I remain hopeful that the backlog is already well on its way to being cleared up. And, so far, no one else has actually posted that anyone at USCIS or the NCSC has talked about a "hold."

The holidays are probably not going to help the speed of the processing, but I hope for all of us that CSC is able to speed things up. Best wishes!

[CBM 14]

This is fantastic advice! 12 days is a long time and precious. I've been researching the London embassy on here and it looks like the same story with packet 3, can any UK filers confirm this?

You could post in the regional forum, or off the top of my head, Dodi, Melissa/Julian, Gemmie.. they've all gotten packet 3 from the UK within the last several months so you could PM them to ask! I'm not sure anyone who reads this thread will have gotten packet 3 from the UK lately, haha... just a thought

but yeah, seriously, 12 days is 12 days! I wish I had of figured that out. I still don't actually have the hard copy of P3 in my hands, bc it went to my parents' house first, and they mailed it to me. My fiance scanned his copy and emailed it to me.

Your case should clear NVC pretty quickly. our NOA2 is dated Oct 20th, and Packet 3 was mailed out on Nov 1st. So that gives you a rough idea of when to start calling DOS to see if it's been mailed!

[ScottThuy 140]

Trying to figure out why something is delayed will drive one crazy. AP can happen at any consulate/Embassy, but some more than others.. treehugger went through London and she ended up in AP for no obvious reason.. counting the days to the interview can be a great letdown if there is a delay beyond the interview... we wanted to get married in Mar... but when we got blue slipped and then put in AP for 8 months that threw a wrench in any plans.. Just look at the whole process as just that.. a process that can take longer than one may think... if the norm is 5 months to get NOA2.. expect longer.. if it happens sooner.. great... when it comes to the visa process we have an egg when we get NOA2's.. it isnt a chicken and wont be counted as a chicken until it hatches.. or when the I94 is stapled into the passport...

[Jun&Scheillo 6]

I don't think the backlog is from an increase of the fiance(e) or marriage visas, which have the higher application fees. So I am not sure that there is really a big increase in CSC's/USCIS's budget.

There have been a couple interesting theories regarding the slowdown/backlog at CSC.

First, it seemed that CSC was focusing on getting the marriage applications caught up, without doing much with the fiance(s) applications. The marriage applications now seem as current--or even a little ahead--of the fiance(e) applications. Moreover, a good chunk of CSC's marriage applications with NOA1s mainly from July and August 2010 have now been transferred to the Texas Service Center to speed up processing.

Second, in another thread, someone pointed out that there had been a huge volume of I-821s filed (Applications for Temporary Protected Status):

I-821 thread

But if you review CSC's charts, they seem to have mostly resolved their load of I-821s, at least through August 2010:

CSC data about I-821s

So I remain hopeful that the backlog is already well on its way to being cleared up. And, so far, no one else has actually posted that anyone at USCIS or the NCSC has talked about a "hold."

The holidays are probably not going to help the speed of the processing, but I hope for all of us that CSC is able to speed things up. Best wishes!

I predict We are going to get the worst part of the deal at the end. Here is how: We have overpaid for the petition in addition to extensive delays.Meanwhile, the new filers will be paying less $$$ and the NVC will possibly catch up before they have to wait as long. In other words it may take about 7 months before we get our visas, while they may only wait half the time and still have an extra hundred in their pockets..

[thelastpetitioner 218]

I predict We are going to get the worst part of the deal at the end. Here is how: We have overpaid for the petition in addition to extensive delays.Meanwhile, the new filers will be paying less $$$ and the NVC will possibly catch up before they have to wait as long. In other words it may take about 7 months before we get our visas, while they may only wait half the time and still have an extra hundred in their pockets..

its not about NVC,its about the service centers,a LOT of petitioners are waiting for the costs to go down.in the end of the day the service they will be offering when the prices go down wont even be worth that 300 something that the reduced rate will be.

[CBM 14]

its not about NVC,its about the service centers,a LOT of petitioners are waiting for the costs to go down.in the end of the day the service they will be offering when the prices go down wont even be worth that 300 something that the reduced rate will be.

You don't consider paying $300 or $400 or $9,000 worth it to be with your fiance? Personally, I've hated the wait every bit as much as the next person, but I would never be ungrateful that this is a relatively easy process. Yes, the wait is absolutely brutal, and the gathering of a million pieces of paper is mundane.... but for the most part, if you have no sketchy past, or someone with your name has no sketchy past, you will be awarded the LUXURY and PRIVILEGE to be with the person you love.

I'm not saying it's completely fair, and that people of high fraud consulates are not denied and are not put in AP for no real reason... but considering how high fraud some consulates are, the process is still relatively easy, since the US government could just deny every single case from high fraud counties, or any country. Just imagine if someone said, "No foreign fiance(e)s. You may ONLY marry within your nationality.".

It's like when my kids want their science test, social studies test, spelling activities, and novel studies back the VERY NEXT DAY. I just keep saying, I'm one person, you are 30. Give me some time. CSC/VSC are however many people... and they get tens of thousands of applications. I'm not saying there was not a hiatus on K1s earlier this fall, there most certainly was, and it was frustrating, but they still employ way less people than they get petitions.

Just my two cents. I'm sure I'm in the minority with my opinion here, so comment away if you like. I just choose to be grateful that I will be with my fiance in hopefully less than a year, assuming Montreal gets it together with interviews. It's better than never.

[thelastpetitioner 218]

You don't consider paying $300 or $400 or $9,000 worth it to be with your fiance? Personally, I've hated the wait every bit as much as the next person, but I would never be ungrateful that this is a relatively easy process. Yes, the wait is absolutely brutal, and the gathering of a million pieces of paper is mundane.... but for the most part, if you have no sketchy past, or someone with your name has no sketchy past, you will be awarded the LUXURY and PRIVILEGE to be with the person you love.

I'm not saying it's completely fair, and that people of high fraud consulates are not denied and are not put in AP for no real reason... but considering how high fraud some consulates are, the process is still relatively easy, since the US government could just deny every single case from high fraud counties, or any country. Just imagine if someone said, "No foreign fiance(e)s. You may ONLY marry within your nationality.".

being with your fiance is one thing,receiving service is another.i would personally be more than happy to pay more than the 445 or something that we pay now,if i knew that they would be trying to catch up with the backlog or whatever it is that is causing them to start going through petitions as soon as they get close to the five months mark.

another thing you need to keep in mind is that this whole " process " does not end with USCIS,i have already contacted my embassy and as far responding being responsible goes they are not comparable to USCIS,im sure even NVC is better than them,the point being,its wrong to jump to conclusion based on a small portion of the facts.we are all unhappy with USCIS and the way things work,and if i recall it correctly,a couple of weeks ago you were too.

as far as United states having the right to deny visas because of the nationality,states is dealing with what they are dealing with based on the high standards they laid upon themselves.we are the ones who are willing to leave our country and families behind just because our loved ones are USCs,but there are A LOT of people who immigrate based on the image that the states has been advertising in different countries.i am thankful for going through the same process over all as a filipino,dutch or aussie,however,i dont think the difference there is among USCIS service centers is correct or fair.

Edited November 14, 2010 by ygr

[JlovesA 109]

being with your fiance is one thing,receiving service is another.i would personally be more than happy to pay more than the 445 or something that we pay now,if i knew that they would be trying to catch up with the backlog or whatever it is that is causing them to start going through petitions as soon as they get close to the five months mark.

another thing you need to keep in mind is that this whole " process " does not end with USCIS,i have already contacted my embassy and as far responding being responsible goes they are not comparable to USCIS,im sure even NVC is better than them,the point being,its wrong to jump to conclusion based on a small portion of the facts.we are all unhappy with USCIS and the way things work,and if i recall it correctly,a couple of weeks ago you were too.

as far as United states having the right to deny visas because of the nationality,states is dealing with what they are dealing with based on the high standards they laid upon themselves.we are the ones who are willing to leave our country and families behind just because our loved ones are USCs,but there are A LOT of people who immigrate based on the image that the states has been advertising in different countries.i am thankful for going through the same process over all as a filipino,dutch or aussie,however,i dont think the difference there is among USCIS service centers is correct or fair.

CBM wasn't talking about the nitty-gritty stuff you're talking about here. She was saying that although waiting is no walk in the park, at least it isn't difficult and at least we're allowed to do it at all. I think you're driving yourself crazy over the little things...me, I wake up in the morning and I'm GLAD I get to be with my fiance soon. CBM was referring to the bottom line. I don't really see the point of spazzing about USCIS' "service" all the time. What is it really going to matter to you in 10 years? Whining about things doesn't change anything. I'd rather spend my life looking on the positive side than focusing on how unfair life is and getting caught up in things that don't matter at the end of the day. When I'm on my death bed, I want to know I spent my life focused on the good rather than the bad. Just my 2 cents but I'm really getting tired of how there's always someone here on VJ blithering about how bad all of this is. Puh-lease. We're all getting married to the loves of our lives...let's see some positivity for once.

Edited November 14, 2010 by JlovesA

[thelastpetitioner 218]

CBM wasn't talking about the nitty-gritty stuff you're talking about here. She was saying that although waiting is no walk in the park, at least it isn't difficult and at least we're allowed to do it at all. I think you're driving yourself crazy over the little things...me, I wake up in the morning and I'm GLAD I get to be with my fiance soon. CBM was referring to the bottom line. I don't really see the point of spazzing about USCIS' "service" all the time. What is it really going to matter to you in 10 years? Whining about things doesn't change anything. I'd rather spend my life looking on the positive side than focusing on how unfair life is and getting caught up in things that don't matter at the end of the day. When I'm on my death bed, I want to know I spent my life focused on the good rather than the bad. Just my 2 cents but I'm really getting tired of how there's always someone here on VJ blithering about how bad all of this is. Puh-lease. We're all getting married to the loves of our lives...let's see some positivity for once.

good for you,considering you get to see your finace more often than not.

people dont realize the amount of pressure on people who pretty much scheduled their life based on CSC's " promises "

naive from my part,i know,but what can you do?

Edited November 14, 2010 by ygr

[JlovesA 109]

good for you,considering you get to see your finace more often than not

I'm sorry, you can't dismiss me because I see my fiance often. I had to give up my ENTIRE LIFE to see him more often, I used to live a $2000 plane ride away from here. Just because I get to see him doesn't make my opinion any less valid. This isn't a battle of whose life is worse. Nobody here is in their ideal situation. None of us WANT to be going through this hassle but we do it because it's probably the only way to be with our fiance and for that I can't be unhappy.

If I didn't see him for this entire process my opinion would be the same. Be happy you met your fiance and that you have a good relationship and be happy that some day in the relatively near future, you will be able to start your life together. That is the bottom line and I don't care if you think I'm a waste of your time because I see my fiance. You think I enjoy this process, too? Do you think I like waiting all this time for a piece of paper? Grow up.

[thelastpetitioner 218]

I'm sorry, you can't dismiss me because I see my fiance often. I had to give up my ENTIRE LIFE to see him more often, I used to live a $2000 plane ride away from here. Just because I get to see him doesn't make my opinion any less valid. This isn't a battle of whose life is worse. Nobody here is in their ideal situation. None of us WANT to be going through this hassle but we do it because it's probably the only way to be with our fiance and for that I can't be unhappy.

If I didn't see him for this entire process my opinion would be the same. Be happy you met your fiance and that you have a good relationship and be happy that some day in the relatively near future, you will be able to start your life together. That is the bottom line and I don't care if you think I'm a waste of your time because I see my fiance. You think I enjoy this process, too? Do you think I like waiting all this time for a piece of paper? Grow up.

how did i diss you,how old are you five?my life is amazing therefor i dont even try to get close to " boohoo poor pathetic me" votes of sympathy,HAVING SAID THAT,I dont understand why people compare themselves to one another,youre happy with the way things are?youre enjoying your time,whatever it is you do,is working for you,dont compare yoruself to me.im not in your shoes and youre not in mine.

our cases ,from a CO's point of view are not even close to comparable.self centered much?

Edited November 14, 2010 by ygr

[JlovesA 109]

how did i diss you,how old are you five?my life is amazing therefor i dont even try to get close to " boohoo poor pathetic me" votes of sympathy,HAVING SAID THAT,I dont understand why people compare themselves to one another,youre happy with the way things are?youre enjoying your time,whatever it is you do,is working for you,dont compare yoruself to me.im not in your shoes and youre not in mine.

our cases ,from a CO's point of view are not even close to comparable.self centered much?

Way to miss the point again. I wasn't comparing myself to you, I specifically said this isn't a contest of whose life is worse.

You're going on my ignore list now so I don't have to see your posts ever again. And thank god, I won't see your reply to this either.