August 2013 K-1 Filers

[meuy99 4]

Have you thought about contacting your congress person/senator for help?

Hi all..... Yes still waiting for our NOA2, we approached 5 months on January 7, Called USCIS to request service, they said that regular processing time is not 5 months, its usually 6-7. And to wait untill atleast 6 months period is over, then to call back and request servise on my case, which will take another 2-4 weeks. Its unbelievable it got me all pissed off..... !!! Congratulations to all who's going to see their fiance very soon.....!!!

[Trisha89 36]

Yes Trisha I spoke to level 2 officer.... thats what he told me... he also said that it looks like the case have no problems but it usually takes 6 or 7 months. And that they are processing July 13 cases at the moment. That is crazy!!!! Unbelievably crazy, I can't go visit my fiance at this moment, but he is having a hard time being separated for so long. I feel helpless, I don't know how to help this move faster, sad..... very sad

On the official website from the government we found a link with the volume of petitions that TSC (!) has to work on!

They showed us their workload for october 2013!! There are still over 4.000 petitions pending and have been OVER 3,000 petitions already(!) approved for OCTOBER 2013!! Why are they saying to you they work on july 13th petitions when these petitions already got approved? I know there is more as one person working on these petitions LOL but still crazy what they try to tell you on the phone....

[ddym 2]

For those are still waiting for their application to go through, I wish you best of luck! Like what my future mother in law said: Your relationship is being tested, and once you go through this process your bond will be stronger. On the other hand, we do have technologies available to us now-a-days people didnt have before that allow us to do facetime/skype video chat, rather than phone calls and waiting weeks for physically mailed pictures and letters.

When I was working on K-1 application in late July, my lawyer told me a minimum of 9-12month of wait, with heavy emphasis on 12 month. I felt bad for weeks after that. I used the visual tools available on VisaJourney, and pinned my timeframe to 7-9 month(by looking at 2012 stats on CA center during the same timeframe). That will be roughly March-April 2014. After I applied in August, I booked 3 trips to see and to travel with my baby in China in early Sept, Thanksgiving(Late Nov), and Christmas(late Dec). Thinking about booking a 4th trip targeting around Feb to April.

We were extremely lucky, our application was processed by the CA center, and they were much faster than this time (Aug-Oct) last year. Before Sept trip, I received an RFE, that told me my application is being worked on. Then was approved right after that trip. App approval (NOA2) left alot of questions, because I had no way of knowing which stage of the process I was in(is it stuck in US, is it being mailed to embassy, etc etc). Plus my lawyer told me his job is done. I used many previous forum posts from this website to guide me through this period. I was very nervous, mostly because of the native Chinese characters address I had to put on the application may not be correctly interpreted by the embassy. For those that live in Asia, you know address can be very tricky, unlike the very uniformed address system in USA. Because of the much much earlier approval than anticipated timeframe, I was able to plan my trips differently.

Before Nov trip, my baby got the physical packet 3, that was a huge relief(address was correct). During the Nov trip, she got an email Packet 4. That allowed her to schedule her interview in Dec.

My Dec trip involved picking up her passport with her (did that at a bank in China), and that was the second best day I had during the whole process, first being approved during in person interview at embassy.

I came back from my 3rd trip on Jan 6. As I am writing this (Jan 10, 2014, 7am PST) My baby is on a flight arriving at SFO very shortly. (Extremely happy)

Now we will be starting our much longer AOS process.

I wish everyone the best!

y

Edited January 10, 2014 by ddym

[meuy99 4]

Congratulations! You had very realistic expectations and I think that's really important. A lot of people see the speed at which other applications are being processed and they get depressed when their application isn't processed in the time frame. It is most certainly frustrating and I wish things would speed up, but as someone's soon to be mother in law said, this is a testament to each couple's love and strength. It is icing on the cake that you are all finished with the process earlier than your expected time. Good luck the rest of the process and Congrats again!!!

For those are still waiting for their application to go through, I wish you best of luck! Like what my future mother in law said: Your relationship is being tested, and once you go through this process your bond will be stronger. On the other hand, we do have technologies available to us now-a-days people didnt have before that allow us to do facetime/skype video chat, rather than phone calls and waiting weeks for physically mailed pictures and letters.

When I was working on K-1 application in late July, my lawyer told me a minimum of 9-12month of wait, with heavy emphasis on 12 month. I felt bad for weeks after that. I used the visual tools available on VisaJourney, and pinned my timeframe to 7-9 month(by looking at 2012 stats on CA center during the same timeframe). That will be roughly March-April 2014. After I applied in August, I booked 3 trips to see and to travel with my baby in China in early Sept, Thanksgiving(Late Nov), and Christmas(late Dec). Thinking about booking a 4th trip targeting around Feb to April.

We were extremely lucky, our application was processed by the CA center, and they were much faster than this time (Aug-Oct) last year. Before Sept trip, I received an RFE, that told me my application is being worked on. Then was approved right after that trip. App approval (NOA2) left alot of questions, because I had no way of knowing which stage of the process I was in(is it stuck in US, is it being mailed to embassy, etc etc). Plus my lawyer told me his job is done. I used many previous forum posts from this website to guide me through this period. I was very nervous, mostly because of the native Chinese characters address I had to put on the application may not be correctly interpreted by the embassy. For those that live in Asia, you know address can be very tricky, unlike the very uniformed address system in USA. Because of the much much earlier approval than anticipated timeframe, I was able to plan my trips differently.

Before Nov trip, my baby got the physical packet 3, that was a huge relief(address was correct). During the Nov trip, she got an email Packet 4. That allowed her to schedule her interview in Dec.

My Dec trip involved picking up her passport with her (did that at a bank in China), and that was the second best day I had during the whole process, first being approved during in person interview at embassy.

I came back from my 3rd trip on Jan 6. As I am writing this (Jan 10, 2014, 7am PST) My baby is on a flight arriving at SFO very shortly. (Extremely happy)

Now we will be starting our much longer AOS process.

I wish everyone the best!

y

[ivanalex1980 34]

Hi every one

happy holidays

does any one know after i apply for AOS and get my green card can i travel outside united states even if i dont apply for Application for Travel Document (I-131 form)?

thanks much for your inputs and good luck every one

[Trisha89 36]

I think here are a lot of people that know from the beginning that it takes 5 months or more!!!

But in "my" opinion its much easier when you already have the NOA2 and then wait for whatever the next things might be that make your case delayed! I wouldn't be stressed for example if it would take NVC 8 weeks or longer to get our case, as long as I know that we are "approved"!

I think it's easy to say all this when you are already approved and blessed with a NOA2, IDK but I think I wouldn't talk like this when I would be already approved, especially that early, and talk to other people this way with staying calm and be patient! They sure know to be patient and that they have to...

I wouldn't bother other people with all this that are waiting longer for NOA2 If I would be already approved! They have enough to take already.....

Good luck everybody!

[hakobrena 11]

I completely agree with Trisha, its easier to say that when you already have your NOA2 and the rest of your process is moving along, you already know the case is moving ahead, but when you just sit and wait and have no idea why the other cases grt approved much much faster especially the ones that got approved in just 6 weeks, thats when it gets harder, cause every time someone gets approved There comes hope for us. I know it is a test for two people that love each other and wanna be together but not every one is strong enough to handle the separation. People are different, they live in different countries different worlds where even to use skype on a computer the have to go to an internet cafe or ask their neighbors, or other situations. Every situation is different. When I get my NOA2 I will definitely feel the pain of someone's long wait.

[meuy99 4]

You both are absolutely right. I have no idea what it's like to wait months on end with no updates regarding my case. I would probably be just sd anxious and frustrated. Yes, everyone's situation is different and we are all here to support one another and we are all happy when someone else gets an approval, but I am just saying there are some people who may have unrealstic expectations because of the many fast approvals they are seeing. I thanked my lucky stars when our application was approved months before I expected it too, but I got lucky and I know that it's not the usual processing time. You are right that I don't know your frustration of waiting that long, but we are all going through the process. My point really was that people need to stay positive through this long ordeal. Yes, it's trying and yes it's demoralizing sometimes, but you gotta just be patient and be positive.

I completely agree with Trisha, its easier to say that when you already have your NOA2 and the rest of your process is moving along, you already know the case is moving ahead, but when you just sit and wait and have no idea why the other cases grt approved much much faster especially the ones that got approved in just 6 weeks, thats when it gets harder, cause every time someone gets approved There comes hope for us. I know it is a test for two people that love each other and wanna be together but not every one is strong enough to handle the separation. People are different, they live in different countries different worlds where even to use skype on a computer the have to go to an internet cafe or ask their neighbors, or other situations. Every situation is different. When I get my NOA2 I will definitely feel the pain of someone's long wait.

[hakobrena 11]

Thank you so much for your support it is really needed. Good luck on the rest of your journey with your loved one. Btw My senator haven't respond to any of my calls or emails...... I just spoke to USCIS they said that TSC is running 22 days behind and working on july 15 cases.... They said to wait another 22 days and if approval doesn't come by then, I can request a service on a case which will take from 15 to 30 days to respond. Unbelievable!!!

[Trisha89 36]

Thank you so much for your support it is really needed. Good luck on the rest of your journey with your loved one. Btw My senator haven't respond to any of my calls or emails...... I just spoke to USCIS they said that TSC is running 22 days behind and working on july 15 cases.... They said to wait another 22 days and if approval doesn't come by then, I can request a service on a case which will take from 15 to 30 days to respond. Unbelievable!!!

Hey Hakobrena, my fiance just called because we reached yesterday the 5 month of processing time! And they told him exactly the same things like you said here! Actually they work on july 16th (my birthday) lol petitions...... He talked to a tier2 officer too! We can keep calling and always get to know the date they work on..... So if you call and get any new dates they work on pls let me know here I will do the same thing here.... A little bit less then a month they have to work on, then they reach august 12 *.* hopefully everything will be ok.....

[Trisha89 36]

For me is just still the question: How can they tell us they work on July now when we see HERE so many people getting approved from November and october already??? (Just meaning ppl from TSC by the way)!

It is weird.... I hope they don't lie to us....

[bob72601 13]

I think they just tell you something to get you off the phone. Sounds like total garbage to me.

[Trisha89 36]

It would make sense because of all the holidays they had now...... And they even told us to keep calling and we would get the new date they work on.....

The tier 2 officer told us that we are NOT over normal processing time yet as long as they haven't reached august 12th yet! Actually they work on july 16, :-/

[ivanalex1980 34]

Hi guys i understand you so well, actually their response on your calls that they are still working on July is not really the truth,

i am an august filer, got my NOA1 in August 21, got NOA2 in October 31, i had my interview in December 26 and i arrived in the US to be with my love in December 31.

i wish you best of the luck, you will get approved really really soon,

[trillian thompson 0]

can some please tell when to submit the DS-160 form for the fiance visa. my package was sent off on december 31 to the embassy but i haven't receive the package as yet but i got the letter saying it was been shipped off, should i submit the form before i get the package. help on this please please.