Approximately how long will it take for the initial review for I 130 application?

[allyinchicago 8]

15 months next week!!!

[RedPepper 9]

Hi. My name is Aakash. I have filed I 130, petition for alien relative for my spouse. I filed on August 24th. I can check my application status on USCIS website with the case number they have provided me both through email and postal mail. The status is initial review. I would like to know that approximately how long will it take for initial review? Also, after the initial review has been done, what are the preceding steps I need to take? Any documents that I should keep ready at this point?

Kindly guide. I appreciate your assistance. Thank you.

Mine was about 6 months. It would have been shorter if we didn't get an RFE (Request for Evidence.)

We were asked to send out to them my passport size pictures.

Just keep checking the USCIS website for updates.

Also, while you are on the wait, it would be better for you guys to already prepare for everything from now.

Read the shortcuts on Saylin's link everybody else on this post gave you a link of.

The Ling Che Shortcut on http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/457530-nvc-filers-october-2013/

And all the other tips there. VERY VERY VERY USEFUL!

It would have shortened my visa processing time had my husband and I known the Visajourney forums existed.

We learned only about it when I was googling for answers--but that was until my papers were all in--we would have saved a lot of time if we did the shortcuts. But despite that VisaJourney and its members have been very helpful! We wouldn't know what to do without them.

You could still save time with yours!

...and 6 months more or less is a long wait, but if you follow the Tips everybody else gave you,

your petition will be completed in half the time you might be beating everybody else's record! So cheer up!

:-( Hold on and enjoy the ride! Good Luck and All the Best!

Hi. My name is Aakash. I have filed I 130, petition for alien relative for my spouse. I filed on August 24th. I can check my application status on USCIS website with the case number they have provided me both through email and postal mail. The status is initial review. I would like to know that approximately how long will it take for initial review? Also, after the initial review has been done, what are the preceding steps I need to take? Any documents that I should keep ready at this point?

Kindly guide. I appreciate your assistance. Thank you.

Mine was about 6 months. It would have been shorter if we didn't get an RFE (Request for Evidence.)

We were asked to send out to them my passport size pictures.

Just keep checking the USCIS website for updates.

Also, while you are on the wait, it would be better for you guys to already prepare for everything from now.

Read the shortcuts on Saylin's link everybody else on this post gave you a link of.

The Ling Che Shortcut on http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/457530-nvc-filers-october-2013/

And all the other tips there. VERY VERY VERY USEFUL!

It would have shortened my visa processing time had my husband and I known the Visajourney forums existed.

We learned only about it when I was googling for answers--but that was until my papers were all in--we would have saved a lot of time if we did the shortcuts. But despite that VisaJourney and its members have been very helpful! We wouldn't know what to do without them.

You could still save time with yours!

...and 6 months more or less is a long wait, but if you follow the Tips everybody else gave you,

your petition will be completed in half the time you might be beating everybody else's record! So cheer up!

:-( Hold on and enjoy the ride! Good Luck and All the Best!

[RedPepper 9]

USCIS received my I-130 application on February 22, 2013. Up to now, it's still on "Initial Review." Could it be because I also filed I-129 thereafter? Both are still on "Initial Review."

I remember I was once in a call with them, they told me that every time they receive documents on my case my timeline adjusts to the timeline of the last document they have received on the case. An RFE with them will mean two weeks to two months or more of delay and more of the waiting.

So, to your question, YES. It could be. But it also can be any other reason.

Best be on your toes all the time--just in case it gets approved, you should already be ready.

Take advantage of the long wait. From this on, you are not in control--but when it gets to NVC--Wow!

Read on this link http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/457530-nvc-filers-october-2013/ especially on the Le CHing Shortcut. There will be so much for you there! Good luck!

[edscrispin 0]

My wife went back to Dubai to clear some things she left behind when she had to leave Dubai last year and go back to the Philippines because she found out that she was pregnant but we were still not married that time. In Dubai, it is illegal to be pregnant and not be married, so she had to go back home. December of 2012, we officially got married. March of this year, she went back to Dubai to settle all of the things she left behind and also to get a clearance because it is one of the requirements. She also decided to stay there and look for a job to help her family back home in the Philippines. Now, she is still in Dubai.

Question, can she process her papers there in Dubai or does she need to go back to the Philippines and process it from there?

I just called the USCIS hotline and checked the website and it said, "The I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E) was transferred and is now being processed at a USCIS office." "The I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN was transferred and is now being processed at a USCIS office."

After 8 months of waiting, I finally saw some movement in my application. The thing though is, I haven't received any notices or letters from USCIS telling me that they have transferred my application. That is weird. I did not sign up for electronic notification either.