I-130 August 2014 filers

[ChristinaG 91]

Thank you Devonian!

Eden4 - have you called the USCIS to inquire? Did you yell & curse, or speak politely? ((That will make a huge difference in the responses you get)) Have you logged on to the USCIS website and checked what the status is there?

The couples that get through the USCIS the quickest are typically those from the Philippines or couples who live together already outside the US but n a country that does not offer DCF (I don't totally agree with their auto-expedite, but I don't make the rules....)

There are MANY reasons one case is more delayed than another - is the non-US spouse from a high-fraud country; is their name rather common or is it similar to a name on some watch list somewhere; is your paperwork and evidence convincing...? Or worst case scenario - is it lost in some mail room?

If you read and research even just through this forum, you will find hundreds of people with "horror story" situations (read the tale of a particular Canadian woman whose case got transferred and misplaced many times and spent about 10 months in USCIS hell). You will also find hundreds of people who breezed through the system who hailed from all countries around the world!

Looking at Igor's list, there are 7 couples who have signed up here on the VJ forum who do not have NOA2's from Texas. Granted some of those may have just not come back and updated their timelines. Those 7 are just a very small sample size of the thousands of cases still out there!

So please - chill!

This entire process is a very large test of patience! The best tools you have are the ability to read & research and know what is going on. Coming on a message board and throwing around inflammatory & discriminatory remarks helps no one!

[Eden4 0]

ChristinaG and Devonian! Thank you for the replies. Feeling awful....

Yes, you are both absolutely spot on correct about my remarks. And No, I didn't yell or curse when I telephoned NCSC to inquire ...I was polite and really didn't say much beside politely answer the questions they asked. No attitude from me whatsoever! And yes, reading and researching is absolutely the best tools we are privileged with right now. Although, I have to admit having first resorted to hearsay than reading and researching.

Anyway, also no, the applicant/beneficiary is not from a high fraud or high other negative trait country, no suspicious names or name similar to watch list. In fact, the NCSC agent did indicate that there was nothing negative with our case, no likely RFEs, and that the delay is really within their office. So, there you have it! That one agent was surprisingly helpful.

Wishing you all the best with this, and a cheerful day!

On a positive note, I have signed the petition aimed at improving service at TSC for filers , present and future. There's 239 signatures missing to reach the 1,000 mark when I last checked. Great move in a positive direction.

Thank you Devonian!

Eden4 - have you called the USCIS to inquire? Did you yell & curse, or speak politely? ((That will make a huge difference in the responses you get)) Have you logged on to the USCIS website and checked what the status is there.....

[Eden4 0]

Hey Devonian. I was wrong. I am sorry! And you're absolutely right!

I'm sorry but if that were the case I'd be sitting in Florida right now clutching a green card in my sweaty hands but it's not. If you care to research the timelines you'd see that is just not true (Cases are faster though when the USC lives abroad with the applicant and files from the applicant's country but that applies globally not to just the three countries you've picked out).

This thread is supposed to be for the support of ALL August filers, regardless of our nationalities, but reading your comments makes me feel uncomfortable. Any chance we could stick to bashing USCIS and NVC for their processing times without singling out specific nationalities

One thing we can all agree on, regardless of whether we happen to be expedited or not, is that the whole process takes far too long for each of us.

[Eden4 0]

Hey Devonian. Yes, I was wrong. I am sorry! Kicking myself right now. All the best.

I'm sorry but if that were the case I'd be sitting in Florida right now clutching a green card in my sweaty hands but it's not. If you care to research the timelines you'd see that is just not true (Cases are faster though when the USC lives abroad with the applicant and files from the applicant's country but that applies globally not to just the three countries you've picked out).

This thread is supposed to be for the support of ALL August filers, regardless of our nationalities, but reading your comments makes me feel uncomfortable. Any chance we could stick to bashing USCIS and NVC for their processing times without singling out specific nationalities

One thing we can all agree on, regardless of whether we happen to be expedited or not, is that the whole process takes far too long for each of us.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Eden4

[Devonian 20]

Hey Devonian. I was wrong. I am sorry! And you're absolutely right!

No worries, as a group of people prospective immigrants are probably some of the most stressed out you'll find.

...And you were right in one of your earlier posts about USCIS posted processing times. It is frustrating and misleading to say that cases are being filed within 5 months and yet when you email them after 5 months they send an auto reply saying that you are not yet outside the filing times - if that's the case why not just post it as 6 months or 7 months, at least then it's a bonus when it takes 5 1/2 months instead of 6 and not frustrating because you've gone two weeks over their posted times. (Using my timeline as an example, sorry for anyone still waiting).

Why not post you timeline Eden4, the more that are maintained in the data the better idea future applicants have of expected times - Igor's predictions for my USCIS I-130 approval were absolutely spot-on.

[Mrs. Neris 81]

Nebraska its a disaster, they aprove My cases on feb 27 and Now they Just textme and email me that My cases was Send to nvc march 10 (today) am very mad, this is Going to be a long stupid journey for me. I left My year old baby in dominican republic in feb 13 because My husband and i can not Make overtime at work, with Baby there se can save some money for this process, working extra hours. I Just think that i will pick Up My Baby in about May, but with this i dont think that My dream come true. The first time separate from My Child and its dificult for me that i can be next to him early cause this people are so slow to Make their job

[TheGreat 1]

Hmmm. I'd have to concur with Eden4. Something's eerily suspect about the way things are proceeding (based in nationality) at TSC.

[TheGreat 1]

You'd be amazed that there is only a handful (or less) reasons for delays on someone's case. And, btw, its not thousands of cases out there in limbo - Just a small few scores, and very few of which are security-related. Delaying an individual case because the beneficiary is from a "high fraud" or any "aggravating" country (which there is no such thing because the US alone has the highest level of fraud in the world) as opposed to taking the individual's case on merit is in and of itself "discriminatory".

Thank you Devonian!

Eden4 - have you called the USCIS to inquire? Did you yell & curse, or speak politely? ((That will make a huge difference in the responses you get)) Have you logged on to the USCIS website and checked what the status is there?

The couples that get through the USCIS the quickest are typically those from the Philippines or couples who live together already outside the US but n a country that does not offer DCF (I don't totally agree with their auto-expedite, but I don't make the rules....)

There are MANY reasons one case is more delayed than another - is the non-US spouse from a high-fraud country; is their name rather common or is it similar to a name on some watch list somewhere; is your paperwork and evidence convincing...? Or worst case scenario - is it lost in some mail room?

If you read and research even just through this forum, you will find hundreds of people with "horror story" situations (read the tale of a particular Canadian woman whose case got transferred and misplaced many times and spent about 10 months in USCIS hell). You will also find hundreds of people who breezed through the system who hailed from all countries around the world!

Looking at Igor's list, there are 7 couples who have signed up here on the VJ forum who do not have NOA2's from Texas. Granted some of those may have just not come back and updated their timelines. Those 7 are just a very small sample size of the thousands of cases still out there!

So please - chill!

This entire process is a very large test of patience! The best tools you have are the ability to read & research and know what is going on. Coming on a message board and throwing around inflammatory & discriminatory remarks helps no one!

Edited March 12, 2015 by TheGreat

[ChristinaG 91]

You'd be amazed that there is only a handful (or less) reasons for delays on someone's case. And, btw, its not thousands of cases out there in limbo - Just a small few scores, and very few of which are security-related. Delaying an individual case because the beneficiary is from a "high fraud" or any "aggravating" country (which there is no such thing because the US alone has the highest level of fraud in the world) as opposed to taking the individual's case on merit is in and of itself "discriminatory".

***sigh***

Please do some more research and reading.... and no, Fox News is not a credible source....

High-Fraud countries are those where there has historically been a large percentage of applicants that marry or try to come over just for the green card (i.e. the Russian Mail Order Bride - they really do still exist). That is why we must send strong convincing evidence that we are truly a couple, not one of convenience....

And please look at the math involved...... the various USCIS centers get many-thousands of cases each and every day! Of those, many breeze right through, some get the magical auto-expedite and they get their NOA2 in mere days!! Others take more time to go through because the cases are more complicated or the paperwork or evidence is not completely convincing. And sometimes, major screw ups like misplaced paperwork, lost files, shipped to the wrong office and such does happen....

Looking for a conspiracy helps no one.

I am not calm & cool about this because I am Canadian, or because my paperwork was processed within the standard time frame. I am calm & cool about this because I have done my homework. I have read multiple 'horror stories', and I have fully expected and prepared for my case (because I have three of them going through at the same time) to be one of the screw-ups ((because that is usually my luck)). I have researched their processing procedures and statistics and could identify the different stages that could cause problems. And I've fully prepared for that possibility....

In all of my research there has been NO common trend between processing errors and nationality!! It all boils down to how good was your paperwork & evidence (not how good you think it is, but the person processing it!) and how much 'extra' work has to happen....

Best wishes!

I truly want to see all of my fellow August filers to get done with the entire process and be with their loved ones!!

[UnaMexicana 153]

.: still waiting on background checks to clear :.

[TheGreat 1]

Neither Fox News nor conspiracy theory (latter is personally abhorrent), rather it’s a *reliable* source backed by substantial research – no need to say more. Regarding mail order brides, that’s one of the reasons the systems has changed from IR app to IR/CR (findings from research…confirmed by source).

There are as many (and possibly more) genuine Russian cases, for example, as there are of the feign ones. As indicated earlier, it’s discriminatory to take a case based of nationality (“history of feign/fraudulent apps” from that country) rather than on its own merit. Suffice to say, there’s no justice in this for the US citizen or his non-US family.

Yes there are horror stories, most horrible of which are those with no “complicated” files, are realistically / reasonably convincing, have no shipment errors, are single petitions, no negative immigration history, and so on. Simply straight forward cases in limbo. Ludicrous? Yes! True? You betcha! Distortion of one’s rights and privileges, and of justice? Looks like it.

Everyone will come to a resolution whether or not in the long term or short term. If this current system keeps up as is, then this would make it a perversion of one's (USCs' / residents') privilege/right to genuinely marry and have a family as one pleases.

Edited March 12, 2015 by TheGreat

[Halai&Tim 5]

Nebraska its a disaster, they aprove My cases on feb 27 and Now they Just textme and email me that My cases was Send to nvc march 10 (today) am very mad, this is Going to be a long stupid journey for me. I left My year old baby in dominican republic in feb 13 because My husband and i can not Make overtime at work, with Baby there se can save some money for this process, working extra hours. I Just think that i will pick Up My Baby in about May, but with this i dont think that My dream come true. The first time separate from My Child and its dificult for me that i can be next to him early cause this people are so slow to Make their job

Hi Jenifferrecio426, i know its hard, but try and stay optimistic & positive, everything will work out as it should!

Our petition got approved on Feb 12th. Thru reading somer other VJ discussions, people suggested calling the NVC and checking that the case was received, when it was received, when the packet was mailed out, and if the invoice number and case number had been generated. I decided to take a chance and call them yesterday (even thought it wasnt even a month since our petition got approved by USCIS). I called all afternoon and finally got thru to them by 5pm (Hawaii Time), after being on hold for about 35 minutes. the woman i spoke to told me that they received our case on March 6th and that our packet was mailed out on the 9th. She was also able to give me our case number and invoice number so that I could go ahead and fill out the DS-261 online. from there they say wait a few days and then go ahead and pay the fee (which can be paid via a bank account or by mailing a check). Once that is paid, and the NVC packet received thru the mail, you can go ahead and turn in your AOS packet and pay the IV fee (there should be a checklist with the packet from NVC as well). From all the timelines i've been looking at it seems that the average time between the AOS submitted and the interview appointment is 4-6 months. You are soooo close!!!

Try calling (or have your husband call) the NVC about 3-4 weeks after your petition approval date and hopefully they'll have your case number and invoice number ready to give to you! (the fee is $120 US). The number for NVC is 1-603-334-0700. Follow the prompts, and if its busy or says call back later, keep trying!

Wishing you the best for yourself and your family!

[Mrs. Neris 81]

Hi Jenifferrecio426, i know its hard, but try and stay optimistic & positive, everything will work out as it should!

Our petition got approved on Feb 12th. Thru reading somer other VJ discussions, people suggested calling the NVC and checking that the case was received, when it was received, when the packet was mailed out, and if the invoice number and case number had been generated. I decided to take a chance and call them yesterday (even thought it wasnt even a month since our petition got approved by USCIS). I called all afternoon and finally got thru to them by 5pm (Hawaii Time), after being on hold for about 35 minutes. the woman i spoke to told me that they received our case on March 6th and that our packet was mailed out on the 9th. She was also able to give me our case number and invoice number so that I could go ahead and fill out the DS-261 online. from there they say wait a few days and then go ahead and pay the fee (which can be paid via a bank account or by mailing a check). Once that is paid, and the NVC packet received thru the mail, you can go ahead and turn in your AOS packet and pay the IV fee (there should be a checklist with the packet from NVC as well). From all the timelines i've been looking at it seems that the average time between the AOS submitted and the interview appointment is 4-6 months. You are soooo close!!!

Try calling (or have your husband call) the NVC about 3-4 weeks after your petition approval date and hopefully they'll have your case number and invoice number ready to give to you! (the fee is $120 US). The number for NVC is 1-603-334-0700. Follow the prompts, and if its busy or says call back later, keep trying!

Wishing you the best for yourself and your family!

Ok Thank You for your coments. I will try to keep calm

[Magazine 4]

Spoke with NVC this morning, confirmed 3/9 is my scan date, now another round of wait begins.

[Devonian 20]

Spoke with NVC this morning, confirmed 3/9 is my scan date, now another round of wait begins.

Is the 'scan date' the date NVC give you when they confirm they've got all the correct paperwork and are then going to sit on it for 60 days? Or when they confirm that they've had some paperwork, not yet checked it but will sit on it for 60 days before checking to see if they've got everything? Or something else?

Congratulations on getting as far as you have so quickly (I use that term in a loose sense of the word 'quickly'!!!)