Long wait for I-130 Approval?

[MJS_29 0]

My wife and I submitted our I-130 Petition through DCF on 2 May, 2011 and haven't heard anything yet. It has been 3 months now and we haven't heard anything. We even went to the Embassy in Manila last month and asked if they could check the status to see if maybe it had been approved and we just didn't receive the notice. The guy at the counter asked when we submitted our petition then told us without checking anything that it would be 3-6 months. I mentioned that I had heard of others doing the same process at the same embassy and getting theirs approved within less than a month and he just repeated that it would be 3-6 months before approval.

Is there anything I can do to get someone to really look into the system? Does anyone know what window I should check with at the Manila Embassy?

My wife is now 14 weeks pregnant (with our second) and we want to make sure we can travel to the states before she gets much further along.

Any information will be helpful.

Thanks!

[NY_BX 397]

My wife and I submitted our I-130 Petition through DCF on 2 May, 2011 and haven't heard anything yet. It has been 3 months now and we haven't heard anything. We even went to the Embassy in Manila last month and asked if they could check the status to see if maybe it had been approved and we just didn't receive the notice. The guy at the counter asked when we submitted our petition then told us without checking anything that it would be 3-6 months. I mentioned that I had heard of others doing the same process at the same embassy and getting theirs approved within less than a month and he just repeated that it would be 3-6 months before approval.

Is there anything I can do to get someone to really look into the system? Does anyone know what window I should check with at the Manila Embassy?

My wife is now 14 weeks pregnant (with our second) and we want to make sure we can travel to the states before she gets much further along.

Any information will be helpful.

Thanks!

He is correct it takes 3-6 months for approval.

Good luck.

[MJS_29 0]

He is correct it takes 3-6 months for approval.

Good luck.

If that is true then why do most of the DCFers have their petition approved before they reach 3 months of waiting?

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Could it be they missunderstood, as they didn't look at the papers, and thought you came to enquire about a normal, non-DCF case? It should take 3-6 months max for the whole thing, not just the I-130 approval. Did you mail it in or present the I-130 in person?

Edited August 3, 2011 by Penguin_ie

[MJS_29 0]

Could it be they missunderstood, as they didn't look at the papers, and thought you came to enquire about a normal, non-DCF case? It should take 3-6 months max for the whole thing, not just the I-130 approval. Did you mail it in or present the I-130 in person?

Perhaps they did misunderstand. I submitted in person. Its alright now, however, another VJer sent me an e-mail address that I could use to follow up and they responded earlier today that the petition was approved on July 19th.

Finally we can move to the next step.

Thanks!

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Oh that is good! VJ to the rescue again

Still strange you haven't heard anything for 2 weeks until you enquired though.

[LBeachey 45]

Oh that is good! VJ to the rescue again

Still strange you haven't heard anything for 2 weeks until you enquired though.

It is common in China DCF cases you never get "NOA2" due to the unreliability of China Post. Unless you inquire, your first notification of approval is the P3 packet (which is sent Chinese Express Mail).

It is quite possible the Phillipines Mail is similarly unreliable.

[Steve&Fe 13]

It is quite possible the Phillipines Mail is similarly unreliable.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!!!! WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

[DutchAmericanLove 0]

I filed April 20 in Amsterdam and also still haven't received anything. They keep telling me it will be 90 days...well I am several weeks over that.

[MJS_29 0]

I filed April 20 in Amsterdam and also still haven't received anything. They keep telling me it will be 90 days...well I am several weeks over that.

There might be a similar e-mail address to the one that I used to inquire. I sent an inquiry to mphinquiry.cis@dhs.gov which I'm sure is for the Manila Philippines Embassy. There may be some other VJers that have used a similar email for the Amsterdam Embassy. It will definitely help speed up the process if you can find out right away.

Good luck, I know waiting is no fun.

[DutchAmericanLove 0]

I will try that, thank you!

[MJS_29 0]

I will try that, thank you!

You're welcome!