NOA2 to NVC: Have you been waiting more than a month?

[thatangela 134]

Do you feel like it's taking forever for your case file to reach the National Visa Center? Then this thread is for you!

It is not for you if:

• You have been waiting less than three to four weeks, or 25 business days, or 30 days or 42 days for your case file to reach NVC (these are the random timelines the NVC reps tell you when you call to check for your case number)
• You have received your case number and want to tell everyone how happy you are about it
• You have been waiting however long for your NOA-2 from TSC or your CR-1 approval or whatever; this is for K-1 visa applicants who are waiting a very long time for their NVC case number

Several VJers currently are in the 70- to 80-day range, waiting for California Service Center to send their I-129f case files to New Hampshire. We are approaching the expiration dates on the I-797 (the NOA-2). We are helping each other with the process and I figure more of you are out there but lost in the process.

We have been commiserating in this thread; however, this new thread can serve as a central repository for advice, assistance and complaining.

It's OK to complain, by the way. Many people will tell you to have patience or to chill out. Patience and frustration DO NOT HAVE TO BE EXCLUSIVE OF EACH OTHER. The process is frustrating, especially when you hear a different story every time you call USCIS.

Thus far, we have been told our case files were redirected to our local offices (for me, Spokane, WA); they have been misdirected to the National Research Center (where immigration files go to die); NVC is backlogged and CSC is alleviating that workload by holding back files; and, most bizarrely, a courier is on standby waiting for the right size of packet to be sent to NVC.

We watch as others receive their case numbers in nine days, 10 days, and 20 days. If you have been waiting long past a month for your case number, here are the steps you need to take (many thanks to USMSBOW for his legwork):

1. Scan a copy of your NOA-2 and send it as an email attachment to NVCResearch@state.gov. Here is an example of the email you should send:

Hello,

I was instructed this morning to send you a copy of my I-797 notice from USCIS, which I've attached. USCIS approved my K1 petition on (month day, year), but my case has yet to arrive at NVC.

My receipt #: ABC##########

Petitioner: Name and date of birth

Beneficiary: Name and DOB

You can contact me at this e-mail address (frustrateddude@visajourney.com) or at 1-123-123-4567. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any more information.

Thank you,

(Give me my damn case number)

2. Call USCIS at 1-800-375-5283 and request to speak to Tier 2 Immigration Officer. A Tier 1 agent is no assistance at this point. You must speak to an IO. If your Tier 1 agent refuses, hang up and keep calling until you find a T-1 who will connect you to a T-2. Do not fall for their 90-day baloney. Your I-797 is approaching its expiration date. This is crazy.

You will receive vague, uninformative information from your service request via snail mail. Do not settle for this. Call for another Tier 2 and request further assistance.

You can open a service request on your own on the USCIS website, after you create an account and login to your case file. I don't know if this works. We have not tried this. We preferred to speak verbally with an IO.

3. Contact your representatives in Congress and/or the Senate. Others have seen their cases sped up by doing this. While our Congresswoman is one of the most powerful women in the G.O.P., we have yet to see resolution in this arena but it's only been two weeks since we contacted her office. Once you contact your representative, you will have to fill out a privacy disclosure form. Only then can your rep take action. Get this done as quickly as you can.

Please note: your government representative cannot intervene for an approval or for expedition. He or she can only assist with locating your file.

You can find your representatives on these websites:

Congress

Senate

4. If you are at your wit's end and nothing thus far has given you satisfaction, file a Case Assistance request with the USCIS Ombudsman. You can email this department at cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov.

I did this just yesterday and today received a form letter directing me to an online form. I attempted this link from the Ombudsman's web page but was given an Access Denied error page. I am at least able to open the form from within the email.

PLEASE NOTE: None of these steps has resolved our situation at this date. I - and hopefully the others - will continue to provide updates to our cases and let you know where and how we achieved success.

ALSO NOTE: I apologize for the lengthy post. I'm a professional writer with a full bottle of wine that's almost empty. That always spells trouble.

ALSO ALSO NOTE: Said wine is the culprit behind any syntax or grammatical errors you may find. I at least ran everything through spellcheck.

ALSO ALSO ALSO NOTE: Drinking is a good idea through this process. If you haven't started yet, I highly recommend red blends from Washington's Columbia Valley, vodka or craft beer.

Good luck. Please let us know if you have attained any resolution in retrieving your NVC case number after a lengthy wait.

[thatangela 134]

Erg ... I can't edit the original post. However, this is the thread where the discussion originated. I forgot to link it in the above text:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/516361-post-noa2-nvc-stage/

[Lopezma269 1]

My NOA2 date is october 14.

Emailed nvcresearch november 21

Service request opened november 21

Congresswoman contacted november 24

-no updates-

By the way.. Does your noa2 instruct you to contact your embassy/consulate?

[bluesun 1]

Hows that bottle of wine? I sorry to bother but I cant seem to find a way to start a mew discussion......Can you help me .....I guess Im missing something...Thanks

[thatangela 134]

My NOA2 date is october 14.

Emailed nvcresearch november 21

Service request opened november 21

Congresswoman contacted november 24

-no updates-

By the way.. Does your noa2 instruct you to contact your embassy/consulate?

Ugh. And might I add, . . Goddamn. Welcome to the club.

My NOA2 says "all further inquiries should be directed to the NVC." And that's a crock of . The email to NVCResearch is rarely helpful. My only suggestion to you is to call and call and call about your service request.

Did you at least receive initial response from your Congress person?

Hows that bottle of wine? I sorry to bother but I cant seem to find a way to start a mew discussion......Can you help me .....I guess Im missing something...Thanks

It was delishush.

Should be a blue button in the upper right corner that says Start New Topic.

[Lopezma269 1]

Angela,

No response from anyone. Why does my 797 form say "your petition has been approved to the listed consulate, please contact the consulate" it does not mention the NVC at all.. It probably doesn't matter.

So just to clarify...

Nvcresearch responds about 1 month after your inquiry

Uscis takes how long from when you submit a service request?

[itstakingtoolong 0]

83 days and counting...

By the grace of the Weather Gods I have the morning off, and will use it to make a decent breakfast, call the NVC, and I will make another attempt to get something from USCIS. I've already enlisted the help from my Congresswoman, but another email to the Ombudsman might be in order (still no reply on the first attempt). Let's see what the morning holds...

[itstakingtoolong 0]

Angela,

No response from anyone. Why does my 797 form say "your petition has been approved to the listed consulate, please contact the consulate" it does not mention the NVC at all.. It probably doesn't matter.

So just to clarify...

Nvcresearch responds about 1 month after your inquiry

Uscis takes how long from when you submit a service request?

My 797 notice had the same language

[TS2014 7]

7 weeks today--NOA2 October 22nd.

NVC, NVC research and uscis were contacted at around the 5 week mark. No news.

I have not contacted my congressional people yet. I will be doing that this week.

I'm sorry all of us are going through this #######. You can't even believe what the tier 2 tells you after reading what other people have faced.

[wiss7 7]

add me to this boat. Today is our 8th week NOA2 anniversary.

NVC research was contacted --> No response yet

USCIS service request was raised by a tier 2 --> No response yet

Congresswoman was contacted and a privacy disclosure form was filled --> No news yet

Note: Thank you Angela for this thread! its very informative..

[thatangela 134]

Angela,

No response from anyone. Why does my 797 form say "your petition has been approved to the listed consulate, please contact the consulate" it does not mention the NVC at all.. It probably doesn't matter.

So just to clarify...

Nvcresearch responds about 1 month after your inquiry

Uscis takes how long from when you submit a service request?

Yes, about a month.

Usually inside of two weeks.

I forgot to mention in the first post (several of you know already but it should still be said):

USCIS will not divulge information to the beneficiary, only to the petitioner. That means, if you're like me - the doer in the relationship but also the foreigner - you have to get your American to initiate and handle contact with CIS.

(Mine is smart but I still needed to coach him a bit on the process, based on things I learned here.)

[connerjason 0]

Howdy, I believe we're in the same boat. I've just done an e-request {https://egov.uscis.gov/e-Request/Intro.do}

I'll be giving them a call in a few minutes as well. I'll be following this thread for sure! Thanks for posting!!!

*** I-797 Notice date: October 24th. (mis)Handled by CSC ****

Edited December 10, 2014 by connerjason

[dalilahussam 5]

Howdy, I believe we're in the same boat. I've just done an e-request {https://egov.uscis.gov/e-Request/Intro.do}

I'll be giving them a call in a few minutes as well. I'll be following this thread for sure! Thanks for posting!!!

*** I-797 Notice date: October 24th. (mis)Handled by CSC ****

Hi,

I just tried to do an e-request and it didn't allow me saying that my case was still within the frame of expected processing time. Mine was approved on October 22nd. What date did you put when you filed?

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Here's a question. Is everyone experiencing this issue from CSC?

Edit: & for what it's worth, I think it's horrible that anyone's having to wait this long after NOA2 with absolutely no updates as to what's going on with their petition to NVC!

Edited December 10, 2014 by Marco&Bettina

[thatangela 134]

Here's a question. Is everyone experiencing this issue from CSC?

Edit: & for what it's worth, I think it's horrible that anyone's having to wait this long after NOA2 with absolutely no updates as to what's going on with their petition to NVC!

Based on VJ.com research, this seems to be a CSC-specific issue and occurs periodically.