For those stressed out by waiting, read on...

[Cathi 5,795]

You have the patience of a saint, truly.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

...and likely feel a heck of a lot better about it all.

So, some brief background. My fiance and I met near on 8 years ago now. We met up a few times over the years, more and more often as time went by, until we both came to the conclusion that we wanted to be together for more than a scant few weeks here and there. We wanted to be together forever. We wanted to be married.

So, in the spring of 2010, we filed for the K1 visa. And from there, things went sideways.

About a week after we filed, we found out that she was going to lose her teaching job at the end of the school year, due to cutbacks. We were both upset, but we knew it'd be easier to put our plans aside for a bit, at least until she found a new job. So, sadly, we had to cancel our visa application. We both hoped that she could find another job again soon. In the end, it took over 18 months. She finally got a new job in the winter of 2011.

After a few months of work rebuilding at least a little of her savings, we decided to restart the visa process. This was in the early spring of 2012. For a couple of months, we didn't hear anything. Our money had been cashed, but we had no NoA, no letter, no e-mail, nothing. We started making phonecalls, trying to find out what was going on. We kept getting the run-around, passed from person to person, with no progress, no details, no news at all. And eventually, every person we were in contact with stopped responding.

We tried supervisors, we tried lawyers, we tried her congressman, nothing was working. This takes us up to around September of this year, where we got put in contact with another supervisor. At this point we were pretty cynical, expecting more of the same. By this point we were both horribly stressed out, depressed and both fraying a little at the edges. But finally, at long last, we found someone willing to take the time and effort to help us. After a couple of months of work by him, we finally recieved our first NoA1 notification last week.

So to those of you stressing out, worried about RFE's and delays, I hope you can take some sort of Schadenfreude from our situation, and know that there are definitely some helpful people working there, even if you occasionally have to dig. And, on the slim off-chance that he reads this, my deepest thanks to the supervisor who helped our case. You've given us both a reason to smile again. Thankyou.

Good luck and God Bless you both

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

How certain are you that the package was mailed?

Edited November 20, 2013 by Gowon

[Protocol417 161]

NOA1 is little more than an acknowledgement that your check had the right amount on it. A year and a half for that? I would be FURIOUS!

[Virtuous45 31]

I agree with everyone here.

I would be hopping mad, even if it means taking out my frustration on the person (not personally) who decides to hear me out. He works there so that means he is a part of the system. But the fact that you now have someone inside there that is actually listening, I think its time to spew fire..lest your case gets dumped again in File 13. Take the advice of the experts here and EXPEDITE ASAP. I haven't filed yet, but I would go crazy if I had to wait so long to be reunited with my husband, especially for NOA1, when the funds have been withdrawn from my account 18 months over. If you had the same amount set aside for each month you heard nothing, you would probable be rich today.

EXPEDITE!!

[Thran 0]

First off, thanks to all of your kind words. It has been a heck of a trial getting to even this point, and it's had a strain on us both, but we have persisted, and hopefully we'll be stronger together as a result.

Secondly, to those of you calling on us to expedite, we have both talked it over, but at this point, we will probably just let it work through the system normally. I know this may seem odd to a lot of you, but at this point, we have had so much stress and aggrivation as a result of this application, we're both terrified of anything else going wrong if we try and push the issue. Now, maybe this isn't rational, and the chances of something else going wrong are pretty slim (touch wood), but after 18 months of back and forth with no progress, we're both just a tad paranoid. I know you guys mean well, and I thank you for your input, but we just can't do it. If it means a few more months, then so be it. We know now that we'll be together soon, rather than some nebulous time 'in the future'. That's good enough for us. We've waited this long, we can stick it out a little while longer.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

You do know that getting the petition approved Is only part way there. You will have the "few more months" you choose to wait out, then a few more months for the London part. Hopefully they will work on your case immediately because of the date.