December 2011 IR-1/CR-1 USCIS Filers

[TedM 9]

That's not the case as we have seen, some are dealt with before others, you can see that in the dates of people's approvals on igor's list - its not strictly first come first served.

Cover letter

Pregnancy will not impact the approval or speed of your petition. My wife is pregnant and we've basically decided to wait until after the baby is born for her to come here. It would be 50-50 she gets her visa before the third trimester anyway, at which point she can't fly. So while I anxiously still await my NOA2 approval, we're in no rush.

And yes there is some variability in processing times, by and large they are processed in order.

[MBA 0]

USCIS must be doing some type of sorting and placing files in different queues when issuing NOA1. Some queues may have less applications and some may have more so we see approvals ranging almost in 45 days (I see mostly between November 1st to December 12th now). This is my assumption only.

Surely the cover letter is a crucial part, it sets out the case. I just don't know whether they will consider it grounds to prioritize ( the pregnancy that is) as I am not sure how they prioritize cases. It may be just That they carry out more in depth checks on certain people? Who knows..

I doubt cover letter makes a difference but who knows what USCIS/CSC is looking at in our file

[Shoot Em Straight 385]

Guys... I just got my NOA2... !! Just been Aproved... !!!!

Congrats and thanks for sharing....slowly we are approaching the dec marks...sloooooowly

[MBA 0]

Pregnancy will not impact the approval or speed of your petition. My wife is pregnant and we've basically decided to wait until after the baby is born for her to come here. It would be 50-50 she gets her visa before the third trimester anyway, at which point she can't fly. So while I anxiously still await my NOA2 approval, we're in no rush.

And yes there is some variability in processing times, by and large they are processed in order.

Have Uscis confirmed to you that they won't give priority or is that your assumption? I know they won't expedite , but I am wondering if they may Give it some priorty - as we have seen people married for longer periods get noa2 faster, but they are also not eligible to be expedited . It seems there are certain factors that , whilst not qualifying for expedition , do influence the speed of approval. I am speculating as to what that might be, and whether pregnancy would fall in that category of maybe discretionary priorty if there is such a thing , which it would appear there is.

Edited May 3, 2012 by MBA

[TedM 9]

Have Uscis confirmed to you that they won't give priority or is that your assumption? I know they won't expedite , but I am wondering if they may Give it some priorty - as we have seen people married for longer periods get noa2 faster, but they are also not eligible to be expedited . It seems there are certain factors that , whilst not qualifying for expedition , do influence the speed of approval. I am speculating as to what that might be, and whether pregnancy would fall in that category of maybe discretionary priorty if there is such a thing , which it would appear there is.

You can call USCIS and ask, they will tell you the same. But let's even say for the sake of arguments that they did consider pregnancy a priority consideration. Just putting it in the cover letter won't affect anything. They would need supporting evidence (note from doctor, copies of medical exams, etc) to consider it. They are certainly not going to take someone's word for it. All they consider are the forms and supporting documents provided. The cover letter can certainly frame the supporting evidence provided (ie, "My wife and I have spent several vacations together and I have spent quite a bit of time with her family, as evidenced by the photos I have included in my application), but simply telling about your situation or relationship together won't affect their processing procedures or approvals.

[sunshine_84 11]

Have Uscis confirmed to you that they won't give priority or is that your assumption? I know they won't expedite , but I am wondering if they may Give it some priorty - as we have seen people married for longer periods get noa2 faster, but they are also not eligible to be expedited . It seems there are certain factors that , whilst not qualifying for expedition , do influence the speed of approval. I am speculating as to what that might be, and whether pregnancy would fall in that category of maybe discretionary priorty if there is such a thing , which it would appear there is.

what documents other than cover letter you have added which can prove that your wife is pregnant?

other applicants who get their NOA2 quicker because they are married for a longer period and that confirms from their marriage certificate.

I believe your wife is pregnant will not expedite the processing of your case unless you explicitly make an expedite request. In any case, hopefully we should all see our NOA2 in coming weeks

You can call USCIS and ask, they will tell you the same. But let's even say for the sake of arguments that they did consider pregnancy a priority consideration. Just putting it in the cover letter won't affect anything. They would need supporting evidence (note from doctor, copies of medical exams, etc) to consider it. They are certainly not going to take someone's word for it. All they consider are the forms and supporting documents provided. The cover letter can certainly frame the supporting evidence provided (ie, "My wife and I have spent several vacations together and I have spent quite a bit of time with her family, as evidenced by the photos I have included in my application), but simply telling about your situation or relationship together won't affect their processing procedures or approvals.

Totally agree. Cover letter is not sufficient to prove any point unless you have added evidence in your package.

[MBA 0]

You can call USCIS and ask, they will tell you the same. But let's even say for the sake of arguments that they did consider pregnancy a priority consideration. Just putting it in the cover letter won't affect anything. They would need supporting evidence (note from doctor, copies of medical exams, etc) to consider it. They are certainly not going to take someone's word for it. All they consider are the forms and supporting documents provided. The cover letter can certainly frame the supporting evidence provided (ie, "My wife and I have spent several vacations together and I have spent quite a bit of time with her family, as evidenced by the photos I have included in my application), but simply telling about your situation or relationship together won't affect their processing procedures or approvals.

We have supplied supporting evidence , doctors note.

I think the cover letter is important, and I understand your point that it needs corroborating. Sorry, I perhaps should've mentioned the fact I send medical evidence.. The forms alone wouldn't paint enough a picture.

Congrats on your baby btw. I take it you guys are in the same country? I hope so, we're not and it is miserable missing out on the pregnancy,

[MBA 0]

You can not expedite for pregnancy unless the mother is in danger. This is because it would encourage people to get pregnant to speed things up , that makes sense .

My query is not whether it can be expedited , I know I can not. It is whether the process by which they speed up a few applications would apply here.

Yes , sent full medical records, and note from doc.

Edited May 3, 2012 by MBA

[TedM 9]

what documents other than cover letter you have added which can prove that your wife is pregnant?

other applicants who get their NOA2 quicker because they are married for a longer period and that confirms from their marriage certificate.

I believe your wife is pregnant will not expedite the processing of your case unless you explicitly make an expedite request. In any case, hopefully we should all see our NOA2 in coming weeks

You can not expedite for pregnancy unless the mother is in danger. This is because it would encourage people to get pregnant to speed things up , that makes sense .

My query is not whether it can be expedited , I know I can not. It is whether the process by which they speed up a few applications would apply here.

Yes , sent full medical records, and note from doc.

In that case, let us know what happens!

[MBA 0]

We have supplied supporting evidence , doctors note.

I think the cover letter is important, and I understand your point that it needs corroborating. Sorry, I perhaps should've mentioned the fact I send medical evidence.. The forms alone wouldn't paint enough a picture.

Congrats on your baby btw. I take it you guys are in the same country? I hope so, we're not and it is miserable missing out on the pregnancy,

Sorry to be clear, have you spoken to Uscis about this or are you making an assumption?

[TedM 9]

We have supplied supporting evidence , doctors note.

I think the cover letter is important, and I understand your point that it needs corroborating. Sorry, I perhaps should've mentioned the fact I send medical evidence.. The forms alone wouldn't paint enough a picture.

Congrats on your baby btw. I take it you guys are in the same country? I hope so, we're not and it is miserable missing out on the pregnancy,

No, we are not. She's in the Philippines. The last 2 week visit sped up our plans on a baby. But, it is what it is.

How far along is your wife? Have you thought about when the third trimester would factor into getting the visa? I guess from UK though she could take a boat.

And congrats to both of you too!

Sorry to be clear, have you spoken to Uscis about this or are you making an assumption?

Yes, asked USCIS directly. The customer service reps have told me it doesn't affect processing times.

[MBA 0]

She's in America now, I'm back and forth.

Due date is 7 July 2012. I was slightly optimistic that we might see the visa before then, when the process started in November last year , but now I don't think it's possible. Needed a speedy noa2 which still haven't seen.

Likelihood is august so will have to jus go on visa waiver for the birth , taking the bar exam in July also... Going to be some month ..

[TedM 9]

She's in America now, I'm back and forth.

Due date is 7 July 2012. I was slightly optimistic that we might see the visa before then, when the process started in November last year , but now I don't think it's possible. Needed a speedy noa2 which still haven't seen.

Likelihood is august so will have to jus go on visa waiver for the birth , taking the bar exam in July also... Going to be some month ..

Ah, we're not due until December, so unless we get NOA2 really soon and NVC is really fast, we'll probably just wait until January. I would probably use Family Medical Leave to go over for 2 months for the birth though.

[MBA 0]

I will just quit my job , as I need to to move overseas anyway. Slightly different for you , as you'll be staying in your job and my wife doesn't need to fly at all....

Is that pessimistic of you to think the visa won't be ready by third trimester ? Maybe that's the best approach though !

[TedM 9]

I will just quit my job , as I need to to move overseas anyway. Slightly different for you , as you'll be staying in your job and my wife doesn't need to fly at all....

Is that pessimistic of you to think the visa won't be ready by third trimester ? Maybe that's the best approach though !

No, I think it's realistic. I think the absolute earliest we could get the visa interview is mid-August. That would give us a few week window before she hit the third trimester. We'll see though; I told her I'll plan for all contingencies. I don't want her worrying about anything right now, except staying healthy and not stressing.