What happens when you mail unsolicited information after NOA1?

[Oli&Marie 2]

Hi all.

We submitted our I-129f in february 2015 and got our NOA1 on Feb 18. we have not heard a word from TCS since.

The reason for my question: A couple of months ago, I realized that we had accidentally left out a few important pieces of information in our petition (we did not received an RFE). We mailed this information in a letter to TCS (they told us what address to send it to over the phone), and we made sure, that they had to sign for it upon delivery.

Since it's now been over 6 months from our NOA1 date, I'm starting to get extra-super impatient, and I'm imagining all kinds of things that could have possibly gone wrong in this process (I know a 6 month wait is pretty standart at TSC but still).

Do you think there is a chance that when they physically added our letter to our original petition (if they ever did that), our entire case could have been put in a different pile/box, or however they organizie it, and this way pushed us back in the line? What do you think they do with these pieces of information?

In the letter, we asked them to confirm that they had received our letter, but we never heard anything.

Does anyone have experience mailing unsolicited information (to TCS), and what is your experience?

Thanks a lot.

[dwheels76 5,468]

Hi all.

We submitted our I-129f in february 2015 and got our NOA1 on Feb 18. we have not heard a word from TCS since.

The reason for my question: A couple of months ago, I realized that we had accidentally left out a few important pieces of information in our petition (we did not received an RFE). We mailed this information in a letter to TCS (they told us what address to send it to over the phone), and we made sure, that they had to sign for it upon delivery.

Since it's now been over 6 months from our NOA1 date, I'm starting to get extra-super impatient, and I'm imagining all kinds of things that could have possibly gone wrong in this process (I know a 6 month wait is pretty standart at TSC but still).

Do you think there is a chance that when they physically added our letter to our original petition (if they ever did that), our entire case could have been put in a different pile/box, or however they organizie it, and this way pushed us back in the line? What do you think they do with these pieces of information?

In the letter, we asked them to confirm that they had received our letter, but we never heard anything.

Does anyone have experience mailing unsolicited information (to TCS), and what is your experience?

Thanks a lot.

Have you checked your status on the uscis.gov site? Every time they touch or update your case it would be noted there. That's how you can tell. Besides calling and asking. But check your status. That's if you registered.

[Oli&Marie 2]

Have you checked your status on the uscis.gov site? Every time they touch or update your case it would be noted there. That's how you can tell. Besides calling and asking. But check your status. That's if you registered.

Thanks for your reply.

we've registered on uscis.gov website twice using two different email adresses, but it always says "access denied". we just gave up using that function. we've called and asked multiple times, but the say that they can't give us any information about our specific case, it's very frustrating...

[Oli&Marie 2]

wait, it actually says "account locked".

[Oli&Marie 2]

Have you checked your status on the uscis.gov site? Every time they touch or update your case it would be noted there. That's how you can tell. Besides calling and asking. But check your status. That's if you registered.

So now I've created a new account using a different eamil address. finally, I have access, but it doesn't appear that there has been made any changes in our case at all. should i be worried?

[Camillasofie 5]

So now I've created a new account using a different eamil address. finally, I have access, but it doesn't appear that there has been made any changes in our case at all. should i be worried?

That's normal. They don't update your case until you either get an RFE or approval..

And the reason why your account gets locked is because every 3 months they reset the password. So you have to make a new password.

Edited August 21, 2015 by Camillasofie

[Pennycat 880]

Hi all.

We submitted our I-129f in february 2015 and got our NOA1 on Feb 18. we have not heard a word from TCS since.

The reason for my question: A couple of months ago, I realized that we had accidentally left out a few important pieces of information in our petition (we did not received an RFE). We mailed this information in a letter to TCS (they told us what address to send it to over the phone), and we made sure, that they had to sign for it upon delivery.

Since it's now been over 6 months from our NOA1 date, I'm starting to get extra-super impatient, and I'm imagining all kinds of things that could have possibly gone wrong in this process (I know a 6 month wait is pretty standart at TSC but still).

Do you think there is a chance that when they physically added our letter to our original petition (if they ever did that), our entire case could have been put in a different pile/box, or however they organizie it, and this way pushed us back in the line? What do you think they do with these pieces of information?

In the letter, we asked them to confirm that they had received our letter, but we never heard anything.

Does anyone have experience mailing unsolicited information (to TCS), and what is your experience?

Thanks a lot.

I don't know what they do with mail once they receive it (or if they actually try to link it up with files). I also applied in February and got my NOA1 on Feb 17 (Feb 19 is the date *on* the NOA1). I too realized I skipped something and mailed it in. But I didn't do that until about a month ago, and I was approved maybe 2 or 3 weeks later. I didn't make them sign for it so I have no idea if they actually received it or not. But I didn't get an RFE and I got approved on 8/11.

For you--I doubt your file is lost or anything because of this. Worst case scenario, they didn't link up your mail with your original file and you'll get an RFE. I think it's mostly likely that they just haven't gotten to your file yet. There's still just under half of February filers waiting for either approval or RFE (proof that the file has been read), and there seems to be little rhyme or reason for the order they're doing the files in. Based on my ongoing and close monitoring of TSC's February processing, I am pretty sure that you'll hear something in the next 2 weeks. Now, depending on the evidence you left out, and if they liked up your mail with the file that "hearing something" may be an RFE, but those are easy to handle and they're quick to process.

Just out of curiosity, has your fiance been to the US before? I'm starting to wonder if that makes a difference in the processing times or not...

[Oli&Marie 2]

I don't know what they do with mail once they receive it (or if they actually try to link it up with files). I also applied in February and got my NOA1 on Feb 17 (Feb 19 is the date *on* the NOA1). I too realized I skipped something and mailed it in. But I didn't do that until about a month ago, and I was approved maybe 2 or 3 weeks later. I didn't make them sign for it so I have no idea if they actually received it or not. But I didn't get an RFE and I got approved on 8/11.

For you--I doubt your file is lost or anything because of this. Worst case scenario, they didn't link up your mail with your original file and you'll get an RFE. I think it's mostly likely that they just haven't gotten to your file yet. There's still just under half of February filers waiting for either approval or RFE (proof that the file has been read), and there seems to be little rhyme or reason for the order they're doing the files in. Based on my ongoing and close monitoring of TSC's February processing, I am pretty sure that you'll hear something in the next 2 weeks. Now, depending on the evidence you left out, and if they liked up your mail with the file that "hearing something" may be an RFE, but those are easy to handle and they're quick to process.

Just out of curiosity, has your fiance been to the US before? I'm starting to wonder if that makes a difference in the processing times or not...

Thanks for you message. It makes me feel a bit more reassured that everything is ok. Actually, I'm the benificiary. I've been to the states many times now. Why would you think it might make a difference and how?

[Oli&Marie 2]

That's normal. They don't update your case until you either get an RFE or approval..

And the reason why your account gets locked is because every 3 months they reset the password. So you have to make a new password.

Thanks for clarifying, Camilla. I actually thought they had informed you about updates while you were waiting :-)

Unfortuantely, changing the password never solved the problem for me. so I just created a new account using a different password.

[Pennycat 880]

Thanks for you message. It makes me feel a bit more reassured that everything is ok. Actually, I'm the benificiary. I've been to the states many times now. Why would you think it might make a difference and how?

Nothing bad or you have to worry about and seriously this is really only a theory and I could just be looking for patterns in the clouds, you know? But anecdotally, some of the people I've corresponded with the most over the past 8+ months here....for the most part the ones where the beneficiary has traveled to the US before, they seem to be the ones who come in "over average" for their month at their service center, and the ones where they haven't come in a bit under (and I really mean the difference of a week or two here. Nothing dramatic like the differences between service centers).

Quick recap on how people are pretty sure this all happens: you send files to the Lockbox, the Lockbox routes to your service center. That means that they probably bundle them up in boxes before shipping, and so people with the same filing date will be in the same box, but also split between boxes. Then imagine the service centers like any other office. (I'm quoting myself from a different post)...

" I think, is this: each worker picks up a pile of petitions to work on that day/week/month/whatever. So Sally grabbed January 1-7, Tom took January 8- through half of January 11, Joe has the other half of 11 through 25. So they all start working at the same time, so Sally will get Jan 1 done on the same day that Tom gets Jan 8 done, and Joe gets part of Jan 11 done.

Now imagine that some days have more petitions than others, each worker will be a little faster or slower than the next, and some petitions are more complicated/have more attachments/have worse handwriting than the others. Tom might have a dentist appointment on Wednesday, keeping him out of the office in the afternoon, Joe might have to stay home two days because his kid has pinkeye and isn't allowed in daycare, Sally might be on an "alternate work schedule" in which she works 9 hour days for two weeks and then gets ever/other Friday off (making her faster than the others for 9 work days and then nothing from her for the 10th day in a two week cycle)."

So you can see how easy it is for there to be a descent degree of differences in timeframes even within a service center (comparing yourself to other filers in other service centers means nothing and will only get you upset). My recent thought on why it would be different if the beneficiary has been to the US is that now imagine that one adjudicator has opened a box that has petitions filed all right around the same date. Half will have have answered "yes" to question 15 ("has your fiance been to the US before"), half don't. For the half who have been here....maybe then they have to get in contact with the Customs and Border Control to check on the beneficiary's comings and goings. And my hunch is that that does not happen overnight. Or it gets assigned to a junior person to make the request, or, or, or...lots of possibilities. If it's "no", then that's a step that they can skip.

So even if you file on the same date, are routed to the same service center, the dates will immediately get jumbled a bit (see my first quote ) and even if you get the same adjudicator on the same date as someone else, maybe your case needs more/less checks than others. Not a referendum on you or your relationship or how likely it is you're going to get the visa. Just an extra step for them to take. Maybe. Again, there's always exceptions and I could have made this up out of thin air in a desperate attempt to explain the unexplainable. But it is something that occurred to me recently.

Bottom line: you being at 6 months is normal for TSC, and it does seem like they've picked up a bit and I really don't think you'll be waiting to hear something much longer.