What's the record time to NOA 1 ?

[Captain Oates 911]

Decided to apply for I-130 at XMAS

applied January 9th and the application did the full circuit of Nebraska > California > Our house in the UK > London USCIS > Nebraska and still waiting for NOA1

Without an NOA 1 ref number is there any way to find out where it is at and what is happening ? We can't even get our first step on the ladder it seems..

alan

[riblet 0]

If your check is cashed, and you can obtain a copy of it, your case number should be on the back and you can use that to sign up on the USCIS website for tracking. Hope you hear something soon

[Captain Oates 911]

If your check is cashed, and you can obtain a copy of it, your case number should be on the back and you can use that to sign up on the USCIS website for tracking. Hope you hear something soon

Thank you that's a really valuable idea- Carolyn can call her bank in the US and check that out...

If it isn't cashed then I guess we are left with calling Nebraska as London will just say they sent it there...

However Nebraska will say they sent it to California - and California will say that without a reference number they cannot check it out

oh dear I am getting pessimistic... let's see what her banks says first....many thanks again

Alan

[Captain Oates 911]

24th feb and the check isn't cashed yet - 6 weeks into this and sinking fast as we can't get to NOA1 stage

London have me on their 'don't talk to them' list and have ignored 2 emails..

at what stage do we assume the whole application is lost between London> Nebraska>California ?

I know they lose files as I have seen VJers have to start again after many many months

Without a ref number how can we follow up to see if it is lost or not ?

I really dont want to start going for US passport photos again and recreating the whole file but the USCIS seem to have us on a carousel and dont want to deal with this application...

has anyone any experience of NOA1 taking weeks and weeks ?

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

24th feb and the check isn't cashed yet - 6 weeks into this and sinking fast as we can't get to NOA1 stage

London have me on their 'don't talk to them' list and have ignored 2 emails..

at what stage do we assume the whole application is lost between London> Nebraska>California ?

I know they lose files as I have seen VJers have to start again after many many months

Without a ref number how can we follow up to see if it is lost or not ?

I really dont want to start going for US passport photos again and recreating the whole file but the USCIS seem to have us on a carousel and dont want to deal with this application...

has anyone any experience of NOA1 taking weeks and weeks ?

Hi there --

I filed the I-130 at the London Consulate on 15 January, and although they were happy to take our money (as my husband's Visa statement showed!) no sign of an NOA1 as of 10 February. (Long story, but our post was being stolen for a while, and for some reason I think the thief might have thought an NOA1 was valuable to someone besides us, the muppet!) Paranoia set in, so I called the extortionate Visa Advice line for some sort of guidance. £6 later, they recommended I email the consulate to find out my status. I sent off my loooong list of frantic questions, and got a reply in 3 working days. Turns out the NOA1 had indeed been sent weeks before, so at least I know I'm on track.

You say you're on the 'don't talk yo them' list -- just a question, but are you making sure to put the weekly code in the subject line? Unless you do, you're not going to get a reply, simple as that. I found this out when my initial email to londonconsulate@state.gov went unanswered for a week. Call the £1.20/minute advice line and get this code before you send the email (assuming you're not doing it already). My reply also asked me not to contact them again unless it was really urgent or I might get rebuffed/ignored in the future. Is this what happened to you?

Best of luck!!!

[Captain Oates 911]

I must admit I have never heard of a 'weekly code' - I thought that was sonmething to do with natural birth control - however we have now had a reply which says it was only sent London - Nebraska 6th Feb so we should not expect a reply by this stage--...

We have rented a house and are settling on for perhaps a year at least before the visa happens....Carolyn has her UK residency (which took 20 minutes in chicago), so at least we wont be parted...

thanks for the tip though - thats useful

alan