USC petitioner living abroad

[chilegringa 0]

Hi chilegringa, I am thinking the same thing. Man, I wish I would have filed the petition 2 months earlier. We weren't married then, though, so I guess it wouldn't really have worked lol. Hopefully we can at least get NOA2 within the normal 5 month timeframe though. I can live with that but I'm really hoping it's not LONGER for some reason!! we have a big wedding "celebration" planned in the US for september 21, 2013, which I thought would be WELL within a feasible timeframe, but now who knows anymore!

at least, life in chile is pretty good.

Sucks huh?? I just keep thinking why didn't I do it earlier!! But then again, I couldn't either - we didn't want to petition it before we traveled to the US, just in case it looks suspicious or something, and then couldn't do it until my husband left the US - I will be back in Chile in a month, and while I was looking forward to being back in the US together after summer, at least I can easily be in Chile with my husband, so it's not THAT bad.. I just don't want to wait! I am just thankful that we can wait it out together at least

[PuppyLove 24]

Hi chilegringa, I am thinking the same thing. Man, I wish I would have filed the petition 2 months earlier. We weren't married then, though, so I guess it wouldn't really have worked lol. Hopefully we can at least get NOA2 within the normal 5 month timeframe though. I can live with that but I'm really hoping it's not LONGER for some reason!! we have a big wedding "celebration" planned in the US for september 21, 2013, which I thought would be WELL within a feasible timeframe, but now who knows anymore!

at least, life in chile is pretty good.

If they don't normally do any AP for Chileans then I think its completely reasonable to expect you will arrive in the US before your celebration in September.

[Aqid 1]

Damn, that is bad news! Now I'm really kicking myself because I could have filed earlier. Well let's hope that the they've done this transfer of workload to speed up the normal process, so it might be slightly faster than those who didn't get expedited before.

[Aqid 1]

Does anybody know anything about the processing times of the NBC / Local Field Offices? Because I can only look it up from the normal Service Centers but I guess that doesn't apply anymore.

[ebe 6]

If they don't normally do any AP for Chileans then I think its completely reasonable to expect you will arrive in the US before your celebration in September.

I sure hope so! I mean, I think that would be the case. But this whole thing of USCIS maybe taking more than 5 months now, plus worrying about this or that other delay, is stressful. It should be fine (thanks for the reassurance!) but the whole thing that's stressful about this process is the uncertainty.

Chile seems to generally be pretty quick once you get to the consulate stage so hopefully everything's smooth sailing once we all get past this transfer nonsense.

[SamF 0]

Hello!

My wife (the USC) and I are planning on sending our I-130 soon from Belgium.

We were hoping to get our file expedited, but we missed the timeframe. No regret, as we got married later in August anyway.

Belgium depends on the Frankfurt USCIS field office. Do you think we should send our I-130 to Frankfurt directly? Or send it to the Chicago lockbox anyway, and wait for them to transfer it to NBC, and then to the appropriate field office?

I'm going to call Frankfurt soon anyway, so I'll post their answer here. If anyone has done that before, let us know!

And thank you all for your comments and posts, it's been extremely helpful so far! :-)

[chaine1 116]

Belgium depends on the Frankfurt USCIS field office. Do you think we should send our I-130 to Frankfurt directly? Or send it to the Chicago lockbox anyway, and wait for them to transfer it to NBC, and then to the appropriate field office?

Unless you meet any of the exceptions (which are very difficult to do - check your embassy), you cannot send your I-130 to Frankfurt. Your petition will have to be sent to the Chicago Lockbox. I too, investigated this route, when I called the USCIS helpline to inquire how I would file. The customer service rep told me (very wrongly) to file my petition with the Athens embassy (I was living in Kuwait). Once I started digging further, BOTH embassies told me the only way to file was to send the petition to the Chicago Lockbox.

[SamF 0]

Unless you meet any of the exceptions (which are very difficult to do - check your embassy), you cannot send your I-130 to Frankfurt. Your petition will have to be sent to the Chicago Lockbox. I too, investigated this route, when I called the USCIS helpline to inquire how I would file. The customer service rep told me (very wrongly) to file my petition with the Athens embassy (I was living in Kuwait). Once I started digging further, BOTH embassies told me the only way to file was to send the petition to the Chicago Lockbox.

Thanks for your answer. That is indeed what I understood earlier, and what I was about to do (seemed pretty nice since most people filing from abroad got expedited and have between 7 and 20 days from NOA1 to NOA2), but that was before August 15th 2012, when USCIS changed a few things.

As explained on the USCIS website (I can't post links, sorry), and according to forum members experience who filed after August 15th, when you send your file to Chicago, USCIS transfer it to NBC (National Benefits Center, formerly Missouri Service Center), which then transfers it to the appropriate USCIS Field Office (and as they say, they will notice you they transferred the file, but wouldn't tell you to which Field Office). So, as Belgium supposedly depends on Frankfurt, my guess is it'd be transferred there, so should I send it there directly? Anyway, I'm going to call them on Monday to try clarifying this giant mess.

If anyone else is in that case, is lost, or has answer, please post here! (or should I start another thread maybe? Since the whole expedited thing does not work anymore)

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

So is there no one who filed September and later who has gotten the NOA2 then?

[chaine1 116]

So, as Belgium supposedly depends on Frankfurt, my guess is it'd be transferred there, so should I send it there directly?

I think you are over-complicating the matter. Follow the instructions on your embassy website.

From what I understand, those who used their address abroad sent their petitions to the Chicago Lockbox. They were then routed to the NBC. Why would your petition be any different (genuine question, forgive me if it sounds rude)?

[SamF 0]

I think you are over-complicating the matter. Follow the instructions on your embassy website.

From what I understand, those who used their address abroad sent their petitions to the Chicago Lockbox. They were then routed to the NBC. Why would your petition be any different (genuine question, forgive me if it sounds rude)?

You don't sound rude. Before August 2012, petitions sent from abroad had to be sent to Chicago (and were then treated at CSC, and most if not all I-130s were approved within just a few days). From what I understand, people who sent their petitions after August 15th 2012 were not aware of the changes that took place that day. And since USCIS is now immediately transferring the petition to NBC whose job seems to be only to reroute the I-130s to the proper Field Office, I'm merely wondering if it wouldn't be easier (and time saving) to send it directly to the right Field Office.

When they change things, it's always a huge mess at first. That's what happened last year when they ended the DCF and had all petitions sent to the Chicago lockbox, resulting in the "expedited" approval of I-130s, since they couldn't handle the amount of work (that's my guess regarding why they changed it again).

I'm not sure if I'm very clear, I hope I am. :-)

Another thing is, those changes took effect on August 15th 2012, while the Belgium embassy page and the Frankfurt USCIS Field Office pages seem to have not been updated since June 1st.

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

You don't sound rude. Before August 2012, petitions sent from abroad had to be sent to Chicago (and were then treated at CSC, and most if not all I-130s were approved within just a few days). From what I understand, people who sent their petitions after August 15th 2012 were not aware of the changes that took place that day. And since USCIS is now immediately transferring the petition to NBC whose job seems to be only to reroute the I-130s to the proper Field Office, I'm merely wondering if it wouldn't be easier (and time saving) to send it directly to the right Field Office.

When they change things, it's always a huge mess at first. That's what happened last year when they ended the DCF and had all petitions sent to the Chicago lockbox, resulting in the "expedited" approval of I-130s, since they couldn't handle the amount of work (that's my guess regarding why they changed it again).

I'm not sure if I'm very clear, I hope I am. :-)

Another thing is, those changes took effect on August 15th 2012, while the Belgium embassy page and the Frankfurt USCIS Field Office pages seem to have not been updated since June 1st.

The USCIS website and I-130 instructions still state to send to Chicago.

"Filing Routine Form I-130 Petitions -

If you reside in a country without a USCIS public office, petitioners must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, by mail to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox at one of the addresses below.

Regular mail:

USCIS

P.O. Box 804625

Chicago, IL 60680-4107

Express mail or courier delivery:

USCIS

Attn: I-130

131 South Dearborn - 3rd Floor

Chicago, IL 60603-5517"

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/immigrants_5254.html

I wouldn't deviate from that.

[teddy12 2]

Have there been any cases of being expedited after being routed to NBC?? Anyone out there??

I was really hoping to be expedited - put down our foreign addresses, but now am a little worried and haven't seen any examples of anyone getting routed to NBC and expedited..

Got NOA1 yesterday so I am crossing my fingers for a speedy NOA2!

Does anybody know anything about the processing times of the NBC / Local Field Offices? Because I can only look it up from the normal Service Centers but I guess that doesn't apply anymore.

So is there no one who filed September and later who has gotten the NOA2 then?

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/398174-case-status-since-transfered-to-uscis-nbc-po-box-648005-lees-summit-mo-64064/

[WaitingforOregon 10]

I am a USC petitioner living in Canada - my petition date was June 4th - 5 months ago and haven't heard a word.

[lucybelle 453]

Well if it starts to be a trend that USCs abroad don't get expedited then I'll just put down my mom's USA address instead of my foreign one. I was so nervous about that because all my mail is always lost on the way down!

So this might actually make me feel better.