I-130 at National Benefits Center

[PhillyJon 2]

Got my NOA1 today, woohoo! I was routed to (through) the National Benefits Center. I spent some time on VJ to find more info on what that means. I'll summarize it for anyone else in this situation. But I still have two questions I'll put at the end.

From my NOA1: "Your case has been accepted and routed to the USCIS National Benefits Center for processing."

The bottom line is that since August 15, USCIS has been routing I-130 applications through NBC but they are not processed there. Instead of going to one of the four regional service centers, they will go to the local field office servicing my area. The NOA1 does not tell the petitioner which field office is processing the I-130.

The downside appears to be that those of us sent through the NBC cannot find processing dates for individual field offices.

From USCIS via VJ: "USCIS wants to notify customers and stakeholders that some work that USCIS performs at the four USCIS service centers (Vermont, Nebraska, Texas and California) will be transferred to a Field Office or the National Benefits Center (NBC) in order to balance the overall workload with processing capacity...

"Stand-Alone Immediate Relative I-130s will be transferred from the Service Center to the National Benefits Center (NBC), and then routed to the appropriate Field Office. Customers will receive a notice indicating the case was transferred to the NBC, but that notice will not indicate the final local Field Office location."

My two questions: Does anyone know whether this will slow or speed up my I-130? And second, I updated my timeline to show NBC routing and got an estimate for NOA2. Does that estimate use NBC info in the calculation?

[Ms Hogan 295]

My case went to MSC (National Benefits Center) and was processed there. It never left. It did not go to a local field office. HOWEVER, my case has not been the rule but more of the exception.

MOST of the files have indeed been sent out to local field offices for the petitions to be processed. With that said, the estimate that VJ will come up with for the NOA2 date will be HIGHLY INACCURATE. There is nothing that can be done about this because if your case is indeed sent out to a local field office (which is most likely) the dates can only be guessed based on that filed office's processing times. VJ doesn't have that information readily available.

[speedwell 224]

My case went from the lockbox to the NBC, from the NBC to the field office, and from the field office back to the NBC before being approved. You can find your local field office on the USCIS website, based on the petitioner's address.

Edited February 14, 2013 by speedwell

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

Could speed it up or could slow it down, it is a crapshoot.

That VJ estimate is absolutely NOT accurate for NBC filers.

[hikergirl 277]

It all depends on your local office which isn’t in your profile as of yet. San Francisco can take 2 months, Atlanta has decided to just hold the petitions in boxes and not even work on them. If you tell us where your Field Office is we might be able to give you an idea.

My case went Vermont, NBC, local Field Office (Charleston - where we encountered issues), to NBC to issue our approval.

[kmg617 26]

It all depends on your local office which isn’t in your profile as of yet. San Francisco can take 2 months, Atlanta has decided to just hold the petitions in boxes and not even work on them. If you tell us where your Field Office is we might be able to give you an idea.

My case went Vermont, NBC, local Field Office (Charleston - where we encountered issues), to NBC to issue our approval.

I'm listening in on this discussion too....

So, what I am understanding here is there is no way to know if and when your case is transferred to a field office.

Any knowledge/opinions on the Washington, DC field office? If mine gets routed, that's where it's going...

[Darnell 8,479]

Jon - maybe yes, maybe no.

You could study MSC stats, but that's only on what happened prior to today.

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?form=2&visa=3&scenter=4&option=3&sortby=2

[loversunited 2]

I'm listening in on this discussion too....

So, what I am understanding here is there is no way to know if and when your case is transferred to a field office.

Any knowledge/opinions on the Washington, DC field office? If mine gets routed, that's where it's going...

I'll be at Washington DC field office too (Fairfax). Kinda worried that they're going to be slow because DC/VA has heavy population of immigrants (hence more cases). Would love someone who has experience with their I-130 approval there.

[loversunited 2]

Here's a trend chart for Washington Field Office. You can view for the other offices as well. Compared with other offices, we are swamped. About 4000 total applications in Dec 12 contrasted with 250 applications at the Wichita office.

This blows. I hope I dont get transferred to Wasthington.

Also, there are lot of disgruntled Atlanta field office filers here in the forums. If you check Atlanta office trends, its similar to Washington's. I donot mean to discourage, but lets brace ourselves for a wait.

[Clemjam 8]

Thanks! I've been able to have a look at our local office (which would be Salt Lake City) which has pretty grim stats: 1200 apps and only 150 approvals in November!

I am planning on contacting the USCIS to find out whether it is transferred. How long do you think we should wait for that?

[The Mean Lady 604]

Thanks! I've been able to have a look at our local office (which would be Salt Lake City) which has pretty grim stats: 1200 apps and only 150 approvals in November!

I am planning on contacting the USCIS to find out whether it is transferred. How long do you think we should wait for that?

Petitions are not immediately transferred.

My petition was transferred on 1/3 whilst my filing date is mid november.

Calling now would most likely be a fruitless waste of time, unfortunately.

Edited February 15, 2013 by KDH

[kmg617 26]

Here's a trend chart for Washington Field Office. You can view for the other offices as well. Compared with other offices, we are swamped. About 4000 total applications in Dec 12 contrasted with 250 applications at the Wichita office.

This blows. I hope I dont get transferred to Wasthington.

Also, there are lot of disgruntled Atlanta field office filers here in the forums. If you check Atlanta office trends, its similar to Washington's. I donot mean to discourage, but lets brace ourselves for a wait.

Thanks! Ugh that is not so good news. I thought going to the NBC would be a breeze since people have been reporting approved cases in 3 months. I'll pray for us both that ours stay st NBC! By the way, I''m also in Fairfax (Alexandria). Keep me updated If you hear anything about your case because mine will be likely to follow a few days later...we have similar NOA1 dates!

[PhillyJon 2]

Darnell,

I did a search filtered for China applications sent to NBC. There were not many, but the ones that had NOA2s got them in 3 to 4 months. So good news, maybe. I'm in the Philadelphia field office if anyone has any insight to the Philly office. Jon

[Darnell 8,479]

Jon - where the casefile is headed (which embassy it will go to) , whilst at MSC, doesn't matter for timeliness of adjudication.

[ToddT 1]

Can someone tell me how Dallas looks? I can't load that page due to plug-ins and using my office computer.