Confused about my wife's I-130 status

[micah83 0]

I am confused what is happening with my wife's I-130. It was approved back in mid-June, but NVC never received it. NVC made me wait 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, I sent them a copy of the approved I-130 I received in the mail and they told me they would contact USCIS to see what's going on. So it's been a very long wait. I even called USCIS and they told me the Seattle office was supposed to contact them with an update, but had not yet done so (not surprised).

So today, I get an e-mail from NVC (NVCResearch to be precise) stating the following:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

Please be advised that the National Visa Center (NVC) contacted U.S.
Citizenship Immigration Service (USCIS) in regards to your approved
petition. USCIS has informed us that they (NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER -
NBC) have requested this file; they will review this petition and advise
NVC with status. Please allow ample time for USCIS to process your
petition."

I don't understand. Why did National Benefits Center request it? Why would USCIS need to review a petition and make a decision on a petition which they already reviewed and made a decision upon?! It was already approved! I looked up the case number on the USCIS website, but it still has the same post-decision status it did back in mid-June.

I am very confused what is going on. What is even more strange is that I also filed an I-129f, since the price was the same and when the time gets closer, it would enable me to have both options to choose from depending on the timing of my living situation: the K3 Spouse visa or the I-130. My I-129f also had problems initially, and was somehow sent to the National Records Center, for reasons I have no idea why. However, they were able to dig that out and get it to NVC about 6 weeks ago. So the Embassy has my I-129f, but that's useless without the I-130. Also i've decided to go the I-130 route anyway, so the I-129f wont even be necessary. So now it seems I am in limbo. It makes little sense to me why they would hold onto my I-130, but they have no problem sending the i-129f to NVC for processing at the Embassy.

I got a senator in my state to intervene, and he actually succeeded in getting my petition expedited for review by USCIS back in the summer, which I was happy about. But now I seem to have hit a dead end. I don't think the senator's office can do much right now, even though they have tried.

[Sad.wasi 32]

well bro ..actully they lost ur i 130 ...but just wait and see whats their next answer for u

[Darnell 8,479]

hit the senator's office again, tell them of the new problem.

Each entity at USCIS has a congressional liason staffer who's main job is to take the inquiries from congress-folk and hunt down the casefile. Since it's at a new entity, a new 'stop', it needs a new inquiry from yer Senator to get it moving again.

[MRSFULLER 0]

Hi

The same thing happened to us, our petition was approved in may and it didnt make it to the nvc until september. I contacted my local congress person to look into things for me. Im not sure if they are taking request now with the shut down going on, but its worth a try.

Good Luck!

Hi

The same thing happened to us, our petition was approved in may and it didnt make it to the nvc until september. I contacted my local congress person to look into things for me. Im not sure if they are taking request now with the shut down going on, but its worth a try.

Good Luck!

[TBoneTX 45,992]

*** Thread moved from CR-1 Process forum to the CR-1 Case Progress subforum. ***

[micah83 0]

I am still not clear on what's going on with my wife's I-130 that was already approved. I have already had a Congressman working on my case since Summer. Nothing more I can do there.

So what is going on? Did they lose it? Will they be able to find it? In what amount of time? Or are they doing some weird "administrative" work on my file in secret? I called USCIS and they were no help either. They just keep telling me to wait.

[dwheels76 5,469]

I am still not clear on what's going on with my wife's I-130 that was already approved. I have already had a Congressman working on my case since Summer. Nothing more I can do there.

So what is going on? Did they lose it? Will they be able to find it? In what amount of time? Or are they doing some weird "administrative" work on my file in secret? I called USCIS and they were no help either. They just keep telling me to wait.

Have you also contacted the Ombudsman office so they can find out whats up? I personally think the active I-129F has mucked up everything. Why not just go with that since its already at embassy you are just a click and about a 8 month wait for interview away.

Also as Darnell said you need to call up your senator yet again they were helpful to get your case expedited they need to find out what is going on.

I have seen approved petitions on way to NVC requested back to USCIS when a active I-129F is on the books this may be the case but you need to find out don't stop until you get resuts.

[LoveMyTico 999]

if the K-3 is already approved and at the embassy, then why not just go with that? you don't need the I-130 to go the K3 route.

by the time they sort out the lost file, you could already be together.... Check into it... I'd insist on the K3 if I were in your situation.

[The Beekeeper 1]

it is very complicated to understand the process how uscis works.

maybe you can find a reason for this at your i-129f and i-130 sent to uscis.

because if your i-129f was approved, then sent to NVC and then what happened to your i-130??? did it get approved???

[Darnell 8,479]

micah - you got an approval notice, formletter I-797 (or perhaps I-797C)

I had a small freak-out when I received mine, it mentioned she was eligible to adjust status in the USA, and it never mentioned anything about NVC.

If this is the same for you, then the casefile is either STILL at the office that approved it,

or

it was sent on to the National Records Center (NRC) for storage.

Another inquiry from your Senator's office can get some action, but,

you must ask the right questions to the Immigration Liason Staffer human at the Senator's office.

I pitched a fit when I learned about this, this wording in the approval notice. Read my profile for the timeticks and what's what.

[micah83 0]

Hmmm, tell me if I am wrong, but I seem to remember an I-130 necessary to Accompany the I-129f if it is to be used for a Spouse Visa, and not a K1 Fiance visa.

Also, to make things more complicated, somehow the Embassy overseas filed my petition as a Fiance K1 visa, even though I have been married to my wife for almost 3 years now. It got filed as a K1 visa and I am not sure how this happened. It has been a few months since I filled out all the forms, but I remember reading the K1 and K3 visa use the same i-129f form, even though the form uses the term "Fiance" regardless. When I look at the form I used, it never asks whether we are engaged or married. I just would have assumed they would have known better. I have noticed the newer I-129f form that came out a few months ago asks the petitioner to specify whether we are filing as a Spouse or Fiance, but not the one I used. The older one doesn't require such specifics. Again, I just would have assumed they would know we are married since I also filed for I-130 and I assume that I probably specified our married status on other documents, though it's so far back I can't remember the different papers and documents.

So now I am in a muck of trouble. The i-129f is currently registered at the Embassy as a K1 instead of a K3, so that's not even possible to use. The Embassy here told me to just wait for the I-130 so we can proceed forward.

Also, I would prefer to do the I-130, because I am stuck overseas until next summer anyway due to my work contract. I would hate to wait all these months, finally arrive in USA, then have to wait more months for my wife to be eligible to work and go to University. I want to do I-130 so that when we finally arrive in USA by next summer, she can immediately look for work and attend school and not waste anymore time. K3 doesn't provide that convenience.

Edited October 20, 2013 by micah83

[micah83 0]

Darnell, I received the I-797 approval for I-130. It says "We have sent the original petition to the Department of State National Visa Center" in the first sentence. So there shouldn't be any issue there. However, a few months back the I-129f got sent to the National Records Center and that was a headache. We did manage to retrieve it, but as you can read from my previous post right above this, the I-129f is pretty useless for my circumstances at this point in time. So far I have not received any cues that the I-130 also got sent to National Records Center, and I have no idea what's going on with it or who has it. It's driving me nuts

[Darnell 8,479]

OK - 'drive' it all via the ILS Human on Monday. Make the phone call to him/her.

Express a concern that the casefile is either LOST or it never left USCIS and you're worried it's sitting in a dark room somewhere with no internal tracking.