USC petitioner living abroad

[aka9 7]

I recently applied for i-130 from Japan, both of us have been living here for years, it would be great the case could get expedited for processing as it seems normal processing these days takes much longer. I put the below data to track down the progress.

1. Country USC resides in: Japan
2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: Sep 13
4. How long had you been living abroad: 6yr
5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes
6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/ Work - Work
7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Not directly, but address is shown on some support documents
10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Not explicitly
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Not sure yet, NOA1 sent on 16 Sep 13, and waiting for decision

[aka9 7]

After more research on the forum, it seems no one's really got decision made since this May when I-130 application's started to be piled up at Overland Park, National Benefits Center?

I would like to optimistic to believe they would start approving it at very fast pace, as I believe this new office just started to be operating since end Sep? anyone has any insight?

[Grimm 0]

1. Country USC resides in: Australia
2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: April - 5- 2013 - NOA1 April - 11- 2013
4. How long had you been living abroad: 4 years
5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes
6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/ work and living with husband
7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes
10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? I don't think they auto-expedite for this reason anymore... it's been over 6 months and still waiting for NOA2

12. Service center you were routed to? National Benefits Center

[aka9 7]

It's really just a guessing game and I don't like it, however after reading many posts I became to think that 'auto-expedite' might not be a right word for the fast processing trend we've been observing for many overseas filers.

I guess, overseas petitions are categorized together as we don't have US local residence and hence won't be sent to local field office that's usually near the petitioners' local residence in US.

Looking at historical trend, right after the new policy implemented in late 2011, there was absolutely no backlog for this overseas track, and I-130 could be approved in a few days.

And then there's been more inflows that started to make some backlog even for overseas filers and approval speed started to slow down to a few months, same trend we've seen for all local filers in US.

Maybe still there's only a few filers from overseas compared to total number of local filers, and that's why overseas filers are getting I-130 approval relatively quickly and this trend builds an impression it's auto-expedited?

[savagechair 38]

That's a decent theory, aka9. I wondered the same. Do ALL filed from abroad petitions get adjudicated at the same service center?

I plan to add my entry here when there's something to add, but no NOA1 for me yet. Delivery confirmation at Lockbox Oct. 22.

[Ellinora 72]

1. Country USC resides in: Finland
2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: NOA1 dated May 15th 2013
4. How long had you been living abroad: 3 years
5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes
6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/ Spousal visa, work and live here
7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes, received NOA1 to our address abroad
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Sent it to a family member in the U.S, who sent if forward
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes
10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? Definitely not, still waiting for NOA2

12. Service center you were routed to? National Benefits Center, Overland Park

[semidevil 12]

bumping this. no updates from any one?

[savagechair 38]

I keep hoping for an update, too!

My case was immediately sent to NSC for processing (noted in my NOA1). I think that's an interesting change in procedure to note.

[maksimov 15]

My I-130, which was received by NBC on June 21, has been transferred to CSC in order to speed up procesing (well, according to them anyway).

What a clusterf*&^.

[savagechair 38]

Does anyone here know of a way to sort the timelines tool to show us only filed from abroad? I can't see a way to (as a filtering mechanism) but was curious if there's any metric that shows a different trend or pattern for "filed from abroad" than the regular i-130 apps. I realize there isn't the prior auto expedited that used to exist a couple years ago, but it would be helpful (planning wise and sanity wise, LOL) to see if the general trend is still a bit less processing time for us.

Any ideas?

[maksimov 15]

savagechair,

You could try restricting yourself to National Benefits Center (NBC) I-130s.

[kev&ange 0]

1. Country USC resides in: Australia

2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No

3. When did you file the I-130: April - 5- 2013 - NOA1 April - 11- 2013

4. How long had you been living abroad: 4 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes

6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/ work and living with husband

7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes

8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? Yes

10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? Yes

11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? I don't think they auto-expedite for this reason anymore... it's been over 6 months and still waiting for NOA2

12. Service center you were routed to? National Benefits Center

I agree. I don't think they're expediting anymore (if they were in the first place?). We're almost exactly the same, living in Australia and filed in May.....still waiting.

[Wingnutfish 18]

They were definitely processing petitions filed from abroad within 1-3 months, much quicker than regular applications, up until earlier this year. You can see that if you look back in this thread. "Auto-expedited" was just our casual way of saying that without knowing the actual reason.

But it doesn't seem to be happening anymore. I think that's why no one's been posting - everyone is still waiting to hear back. My NOA1 date is June 17, but nothing yet.

[savagechair 38]

Hmm here's an interesting fast approval filed from abroad:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/452116-september-2013-i-130-filers/?p=6638181

[TeaCup 65]

1. Country USC resides in: IRELAND
2. Is there a USCIS field office in this country / Is DCF still possible? No
3. When did you file the I-130: November 2013
4. How long had you been living abroad: 1.5 YEARS
5. Do you reside in the country legally? Yes
6. What is the reason for your residence: work permit/student/tourist/other - WIFE
7. Did you list your foreign address on all forms in I-130 package? Yes
8. Did you send I-130 package from abroad? Yes
9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in the I-130 package? YES
10. Did you mention the fact you reside abroad in the cover letter or write a letter describing your current situation and the evolution of your relationship with your spouse (mentioning your residence abroad)? NO
11. Has your case been "auto-expedited"? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? N/A