Any February 2012 filers?

[R&RM 11]

I'd suggest what I did - I started finding people who were also filing for a Visa at the same embassy that my fiancee will have to go to (Moldova). I found one guy and he forwarded the email that he received from the Moldovan embassy after the packet 3 was received there for his fiancee. The email told him everything his fiancee needed and when/how to set up the visa interview. It is extremely helpful to have this info in hand - now when I get the email, we will already have everything done!!!

I would strongly suggest you get a hold of someone that's processing at the same embassy as your significant other is going to have to be processed at. You'll find some of the same info across all embassies across the world, but since every embassy is 1000's miles away from each other some seem to have their own ways of doing things....For example I've heard Moldova is a pretty easy embassy to get through, while Mexico and the Phillipines are pretty tough. I would definitely suggest looking at your specific embassy you're going to be dealing with to see how they work.

Yeah, that's a good idea. After NOA2, it largely becomes more important what your particular embassy requires because they all have their little quirks that we each have to uniquely prepare for. I have joined the Nairobi thread so that I can hopefully keep track of people's experiences with the embassy. I have personally also made a list of the questions that other prior K1 filers have seen been asked by my specific embassy so that I can prepare to answer these since there is a real chance those questions will be asked at my interview as well. I have also paid attention to what is tripping up other people at the embassy...though sometimes what is tripping up people is just the CO and there is nothing much to be done about that. So yes, it is very important that we understand we are in this journey together up to an extent but thereafter, the next step is going to split us up into our unique embassies until we meet again when we are all dealing with USCIS for AOS.

[R&RM 11]

I read an article recently that I thought was interesting.

Question and Answer Session with a former USCIS Adjudicator

I didn't read every little bit of the whole post but what I found interesting was what he said about the huge impact calling a congressman can make. Now, no doubt, things have changed a bit because he worked there in about 2003 looks like (the post was made in 2007 and he worked for the Nebraska Service Center there 4 years earlier), but it at least tells me that there is some basis to believe that certain aspects of their workings might not have changed significantly since procedures in offices where such huge volumes are handled are not changed arbitrarily. To paraphrase what he said, he said if they received a call from a congressman asking about a case, they had 48 hours to respond. They had someone specifically appointed to handle requests from congressmen(and women at that) and the instruction that would come in would be something to the effect, take care of this right now and the file would be pulled out from wherever it is and attended to. Now, in the event that the case had no complications, this person would get immediate approval. I found that very interesting. He recommended that if your case is outside of processing time, do involve your congressman, this is the fastest way to get action. So personally, this is my planned course of action, if by misfortune, my case hits 6 months, instead of making a service request, I will have my fiance involve his congressman for immediate action. Hope that helps someone down the road..but I hope even more that none of us will need to do this at all.

Edited April 6, 2012 by R&RM

[StarGirl 13]

Hi StarGirl,

"Maybe you can check your case number to see if the above is true. Not really a big deal I guess but helps to have everyone filling in right information and even good for you to be sure which center is handling your case. Hope you're well!

Thanks for pointing it out. I was under impression that filing location will be Texas to everyone with K-1, and then cases are going to Vermont or Cali.. mine is at Vermont, the case number starts with EAC. But I changed "Place benefits filed at" to Vermont

[R&RM 11]

I read an article recently that I thought was interesting.

Question and Answer Session with a former USCIS Adjudicator

I didn't read every little bit of the whole post but what I found interesting was what he said about the huge impact calling a congressman can make. Now, no doubt, things have changed a bit because he worked there in about 2003 looks like (the post was made in 2007 and he worked for the Nebraska Service Center there 4 years earlier), but it at least tells me that there is some basis to believe that certain aspects of their workings might not have changed significantly since procedures in offices where such huge volumes are handled are not changed arbitrarily. To paraphrase what he said, he said if they received a call from a congressman asking about a case, they had 48 hours to respond. They had someone specifically appointed to handle requests from congressmen(and women at that) and the instruction that would come in would be something to the effect, take care of this right now and the file would be pulled out from wherever it is and attended to. Now, in the event that the case had no complications, this person would get immediate approval. I found that very interesting. He recommended that if your case is outside of processing time, do involve your congressman, this is the fastest way to get action. So personally, this is my planned course of action, if by misfortune, my case hits 6 months, instead of making a service request, I will have my fiance involve his congressman for immediate action. Hope that helps someone down the road..but I hope even more that none of us will need to do this at all.

Sorry, for some reason..it wouldn't let me edit further and wanted to added this...

It did make me wonder though, if that is what some people with other connections to their congressmen are doing to get ahead in line. Just hasn't made sense to me how some people seem to jump the queue. Just had a February filer approved for NOA2 at the CSC. As cool as that is and what we all wish for...you do kinda go, how does that happen without an expedite request? From what the adjudicator wrote, it sounds like these cases move in the order in which they are received and while I can understand that one adjudicator can be slower than another, it doesn't make sense why a file would suddenly be pulled from a whole other month way ahead of the pack. But can't say I know anything for sure because none of us really knows what goes on at that mysterious USCIS. Just a thought that crossed my mind, the adjudicator was clear though, he felt that a congressman should only be contacted if it is past your processing time, at least so that it's fair to everyone waiting in line.

And one last thing...I saw some thread once about speculation about if USCIS hacks into email accounts and looks at facebook and all these other paranoid thoughts and what this guy was asked was if he ever looked at VJ in relation to a case and he said actually, in their time, they were not allowed to use the internet. A decision needs to be made on the evidence in front of you, if the evidence doesn't suffice then send an RFE. So didn't sound like big brother is always watching lol.

Thanks for pointing it out. I was under impression that filing location will be Texas to everyone with K-1, and then cases are going to Vermont or Cali.. mine is at Vermont, the case number starts with EAC. But I changed "Place benefits filed at" to Vermont

Great! Thanks for doing that

Edited April 6, 2012 by R&RM

[MrsDNuma2013 0]

1333690990[/url]' post='5276191']

Sorry, for some reason..it wouldn't let me edit further and wanted to added this...

It did make me wonder though, if that is what some people with other connections to their congressmen are doing to get ahead in line. Just hasn't made sense to me how some people seem to jump the queue. Just had a February filer approved for NOA2 at the CSC. As cool as that is and what we all wish for...you do kinda go, how does that happen without an expedite request? From what the adjudicator wrote, it sounds like these cases move in the order in which they are received and while I can understand that one adjudicator can be slower than another, it doesn't make sense why a file would suddenly be pulled from a whole other month way ahead of the pack. But can't say I know anything for sure because none of us really knows what goes on at that mysterious USCIS. Just a thought that crossed my mind, the adjudicator was clear though, he felt that a congressman should only be contacted if it is past your processing time, at least so that it's fair to everyone waiting in line.

And one last thing...I saw some thread once about speculation about if USCIS hacks into email accounts and looks at facebook and all these other paranoid thoughts and what this guy was asked was if he ever looked at VJ in relation to a case and he said actually, in their time, they were not allowed to use the internet. A decision needs to be made on the evidence in front of you, if the evidence doesn't suffice then send an RFE. So didn't sound like big brother is always watching lol.

Great! Thanks for doing that

Wow, great info, thanks! I haven't seen a lot of folks on this site who went through/are going through the Tanzanian embassy in Dar, but I will check around again. Also, my fiancé is Ugandan (he is working & residing in Arusha, TZ), and beneficiaries from Uganda have to go through the Nairobi embassy, so perhaps I will track down info for both. Joy, do you happen to have the info Scott76 mentioned for the Nairobi embassy?

Quite interesting info regarding folks that contact their congressperson...it makes since though. I work for the Federal govt, and any time we get a call or inquiry from a congressperson, we drop everything and tend to that issue immediately. Guess I will inact this same process for myself if need be...

[afoyoswa 178]

Thanks for pointing it out. I was under impression that filing location will be Texas to everyone with K-1, and then cases are going to Vermont or Cali.. mine is at Vermont, the case number starts with EAC. But I changed "Place benefits filed at" to Vermont

Great! It looks like your timeline is still showing as Texas, so it would be good to change that, too, when you get a chance.

About calling congressmen, I really don't think that's what's going on with those couple of freakishly fast approvals. I've seen a few of those here before that February CSC one, and the petitioners seem just as surprised as anyone else. I just think it's part of the normal distribution (sorry, I work with statistics people) of approval times: if hypothetically the average is around 5 months, there are going to be a bunch right at 5 months, fewer at 4/6 months, a couple more at 3/7 months, and a tiny number that are even quicker/slower, and all of them are unfortunately still ordinary cases.

And I agree that finding out the embassy-specific requirements for your case helps a lot at this stage, although certain ones are universal (police certificate, financial paperwork, etc.). I'm trying not to start worrying about all of those things TOO early: maybe around 3 months? If I happen to get surprised by a quick approval when I have nothing ready, that's a *good* problem, right? (Besides, what about Murphy's Law?)

[MrsDNuma2013 0]

1333711680[/url]' post='5276435']

Great! It looks like your timeline is still showing as Texas, so it would be good to change that, too, when you get a chance.

About calling congressmen, I really don't think that's what's going on with those couple of freakishly fast approvals. I've seen a few of those here before that February CSC one, and the petitioners seem just as surprised as anyone else. I just think it's part of the normal distribution (sorry, I work with statistics people) of approval times: if hypothetically the average is around 5 months, there are going to be a bunch right at 5 months, fewer at 4/6 months, a couple more at 3/7 months, and a tiny number that are even quicker/slower, and all of them are unfortunately still ordinary cases.

And I agree that finding out the embassy-specific requirements for your case helps a lot at this stage, although certain ones are universal (police certificate, financial paperwork, etc.). I'm trying not to start worrying about all of those things TOO early: maybe around 3 months? If I happen to get surprised by a quick approval when I have nothing ready, that's a *good* problem, right? (Besides, what about Murphy's Law?)

I guess that's a good way to look at it. Plus, the K-1 visa guides are pretty specific. My fiancé has already started the process of getting his birth cert and police cert, so things are moving along nicely, although slowly...

Happy Easter everyone!

[afoyoswa 178]

I guess that's a good way to look at it. Plus, the K-1 visa guides are pretty specific. My fiancé has already started the process of getting his birth cert and police cert, so things are moving along nicely, although slowly...

Happy Easter everyone!

I keep forgetting we're timeline twins! I used the actual notice date printed on the paper I-797C form as my NOA1 date, so that's why I seem to be 1 day ahead of you.

[MrsDNuma2013 0]

1333715405[/url]' post='5276506']

I keep forgetting we're timeline twins! I used the actual notice date printed on the paper I-797C form as my NOA1 date, so that's why I seem to be 1 day ahead of you.

Yep, we're timeline twins! And both of our fiances are from Uganda as well.

Fingers crossed for speedy approvals & problem-free interviews!

[afoyoswa 178]

Yep, we're timeline twins! And both of our fiances are from Uganda as well.

Fingers crossed for speedy approvals & problem-free interviews!

<bump>

Yes, fingers crossed for all of us! Where in Uganda is your fiance from?

In other news: my signature tickers are now proliferating wildly, but I saw the sushi one on someone else's signature and had to have it.

[scott76 22]

I talked regularly with one of the CSC'ers that had his application approved last month (his gf was in Moldova too so I was already talking with him about the embassy, planning, Moldova in general, etc.)

They were SHOCKED when they got their NOA2. Completely unexpected. And he was just like all of us. They are actually scrambling now to get the paperwork because they figured it would be June like the rest of us. It was just pure luck of the lottery - there is no other reason to explain it.

[Ge and Mayyong 1]

Is it just me or does Igor's List for CSC seem to vary a bit? Seems they approving random people for the last few varying from Dec to even Feb? Hopefully this last half 2/3 of the way goes by quick for us Feb filers.

[MissK 5]

if you are getting the dress for your wedding, chances are that you will want to take few pictures. Might it work for you that you contact a photographer and discuss your situation (unknown dates and stuff) with him/her? And then show the correspondence to the officer? They are human beings after all.. they've got to understand that not everyone's dreaming about a grandeur event. Also, if you are thinking about getting wedding bands, receipt can also serve as a proof of your intentions... Also, I think that presentation of ideas is the key here. Why wouldn't they accept "court house registration" answer if that's delivered with confidence?

Thanks for the input. The thing is I plan to purchase the dress when I get to the states because it's a whole lot cheaper there than here and it will be a really simple dress for our real simple wedding.

I guess we will have some time from NOA2 to the interview where we can do more planning, when we know s possible date:)

[MissK 5]

Great! It looks like your timeline is still showing as Texas, so it would be good to change that, too, when you get a chance.

About calling congressmen, I really don't think that's what's going on with those couple of freakishly fast approvals. I've seen a few of those here before that February CSC one, and the petitioners seem just as surprised as anyone else. I just think it's part of the normal distribution (sorry, I work with statistics people) of approval times: if hypothetically the average is around 5 months, there are going to be a bunch right at 5 months, fewer at 4/6 months, a couple more at 3/7 months, and a tiny number that are even quicker/slower, and all of them are unfortunately still ordinary cases.

And I agree that finding out the embassy-specific requirements for your case helps a lot at this stage, although certain ones are universal (police certificate, financial paperwork, etc.). I'm trying not to start worrying about all of those things TOO early: maybe around 3 months? If I happen to get surprised by a quick approval when I have nothing ready, that's a *good* problem, right? (Besides, what about Murphy's Law?)

I have been thinking too not to stress about the documents to early. And I really don't mind a surprise early approval!! (like the rest of the folks here).

Other than that I have a hard time figuring out the spesific papers the embassy in Stockholm require. It looks like it's more like the basic papers.

Almost two months of waiting now, hopefully we are almost halfway there!

Edited April 9, 2012 by MissK

[Nana & Dodo 1]

Hello all,

I am a February Filer. I am just asking If you know any Januray filers at VSC who got NO2 recently?

Thank you