December 2015 I-130 Filers

[LookyWhatIFound 38]

Hey you know I think TSC is going backward. A month ago VJ's prediction was telling me I should get my NOA2 by the middle of May and now, a month later it says by the middle of June. . Strange, I guess the holiday and snow day effects are starting to show up as USCIS delays?

WActually, never mind, that VJ estimate thing has to be pretty unreliable for I-130s. There aren't enough VJ I-130 members to get very good stats on when your petition might be adjudicated.

[JlovesA 109]

Well, you have an excuse for having to plan a year ahead of time. 'The government made me do it!'

Hey you know I think TSC is going backward. A month ago VJ's prediction was telling me I should get my NOA2 by the middle of May and now, a month later it says by the middle of June. . Strange, I guess the holiday and snow day effects are starting to show up as USCIS delays?

Omg...wow right now it says June-July!! Hard to say what the delay is, if there is one. Visajourney only has data from people that enter it and in my experience from doing this before, it's only a guideline. I think the long-term stats are more accurate.

[LookyWhatIFound 38]

Omg...wow right now it says June-July!! Hard to say what the delay is, if there is one. Visajourney only has data from people that enter it and in my experience from doing this before, it's only a guideline. I think the long-term stats are more accurate.

Yes its only a guideline but it still helps during most of our wishful thinking phases. Like today the range has swung back and now it says: April 14th to June 16th!

[Reggie182 0]

Hi guys! I know I'm a little tardy to the party, but I filed our paperwork for my wife's I-130 on December 9th, and got my NOA1 via email that it was received on December 21. We're being processed at the California Service Center, so hopefully ours gets approved soon. I'm living in the US right now (I'm the USC), and my wife is in Ireland.

Our full story is a little sad but mostly because we were so foolish. Long story short, we got married in the US and then left the country on our honeymoon. (So much regret!) My wife couldn't get back in, and she has been stuck in Ireland ever since. This isn't how we hoped our marriage would start. Ideally this process will take as little time as possible, but we've accepted that it will be a long and rough journey.

According to VJ's projected dates for our timeline, we might get our NOA2 some time in the next week! Here's to hoping, but I'm not completely sold on the idea that it will be this fast. Anyway, just wanted to share our story since I got to read all of yours. Good luck to everyone. I sincerely hope that everyone gets approved as quickly and with as few obstacles as possible. The pain of being away from your home or your loved ones is really hard. Good luck to you all!

I'll try to be decently active on this thread, so see you around!

-Reg

[blanche 2]

Oh man that's a bummer, Reg. We have a sad story, too, but we're stuck here in Israel together at least, thought many times I've wanted to jump on a plane with my son and wait things out in the comfort of my parents home in New York. Sigh .... it's not an easy journey for anyone. Good luck. I was born in Kilkenny, by the way.

[LookyWhatIFound 38]

Hi guys! I know I'm a little tardy to the party, but I filed our paperwork for my wife's I-130 on December 9th, and got my NOA1 via email that it was received on December 21. We're being processed at the California Service Center, so hopefully ours gets approved soon. I'm living in the US right now (I'm the USC), and my wife is in Ireland.

OMG that's terrible. It must have been one of those spur of the moment decisions. Its like when you would have one a million dollars for being the millionth customer except you let the guy in back of you skip to the front!

I guess nobody knew to warn you. Well there's nothing you can do now, but wait it out. Hopefully CSC will cut the wait time in half. We seem to be a lucky group, I already lost count of how many people got their NOA2s already.

Looky

[blanche 2]

A friend of a friend married a guy from Ireland about 20 years ago and they lived there ever since. She visited the US alone once and went to an immigration office. I don't know if they told her incorrect info or if she misunderstood it, but she and her husband sold all their stuff, sold their apartment, quit their jobs, the whole bit ... and bought tickets to America - under the misinformation that they could work on his green card while in the US.

So they got on their flight and landed in NYC. They were separated at immigration and she was let in (American citizen) while he was sent back to Ireland! She was allowed to say goodbye and that was that. Can you imagine that situation? Just horrible. So they started the actual process then and the consulate allowed them to do an expedited case due to their circumstances but it still took 8 months til they actually got back to the US together (she went back to be with him after a week or two in NY). Crazy, eh?! The poor couple. I couldn't believe it.

[RJS7 5]

A friend of a friend married a guy from Ireland about 20 years ago and they lived there ever since. She visited the US alone once and went to an immigration office. I don't know if they told her incorrect info or if she misunderstood it, but she and her husband sold all their stuff, sold their apartment, quit their jobs, the whole bit ... and bought tickets to America - under the misinformation that they could work on his green card while in the US.

So they got on their flight and landed in NYC. They were separated at immigration and she was let in (American citizen) while he was sent back to Ireland! She was allowed to say goodbye and that was that. Can you imagine that situation? Just horrible. So they started the actual process then and the consulate allowed them to do an expedited case due to their circumstances but it still took 8 months til they actually got back to the US together (she went back to be with him after a week or two in NY). Crazy, eh?! The poor couple. I couldn't believe it.

Harsh yes but you just can't assume things in immigration matters. If the situation was reversed and they were trying to immigrate to Ireland for example, it can take up to a year to get a spousal permission to remain here (the immigration mechanics are a little different in Ireland). There is no right to remain past the normal 90 day visa waiver and no right to work while the application is in process. Edited February 5, 2016 by RJS7

[LookyWhatIFound 38]

Just updating on the my latest quirky finds of what VJ guides say about USCIS processing times.

For TSC it says they are currently process NOA1 dates of July 31, thats about 2 weeks later than it used to be.

For CSC it says they are currently process NOA1 dates of Oct 19.

The weird thing is that the guides are now saying I may be approved from March 9th to April 19th??? How can that be, initially it was saying around May 10th to June or July.​

I've been looking at timelines, and I noticed that a lot of approved I-130 timelines have the wrong approval dates on them, with the NOA2 date the same as the NOA1 date. I imagine that's what screwing the estimates up, people getting approved probably not updating their NOA2 dates, which probably default to the NOA2 dates being the same as the NOA1 dates.

[Fatigo 0]

@LookyWhatIFound i agree with you. I've been looking at processing times too. My timelines says 5. Jan - 18. Jan but we haven't heard anything yet. Btw i kinda have a sad story too well in August 2014 my husband left to start I130 but we were just married. So we couldn't stand being apart and he came back after only 2,5 months. But this time we've been married for 1,5 years. So thank God it's a little bit easier this time :\

[LookyWhatIFound 38]

@LookyWhatIFound i agree with you. I've been looking at processing times too. My timelines says 5. Jan - 18. Jan but we haven't heard anything yet. Btw i kinda have a sad story too well in August 2014 my husband left to start I130 but we were just married. So we couldn't stand being apart and he came back after only 2,5 months. But this time we've been married for 1,5 years. So thank God it's a little bit easier this time :\

Hi Fatigo, wow you got married at almost nearly the same time as I got married, the end of July 2014! I know its a long time to be apart but I think it will be better for you in the long run, for two reasons.

First of all, I think Turkey falls under the list of higher fraud countries so they will scrutinize your case further than many other countries. So since you have been married for that long I think it shows that your marriage is a real one, and not for immigration purposes.

Second, if you time it right and enter the US after being married for 2 years you will automatically have a 10 year green card and have unconditional full privilege,

Hopefully very soon you will get your NOA2, that's another frustration about the processing times. The lucky ones get it during that range but their are lots of cases that are delayed a month or so.

Just hold on a little longer, sometimes cases can be a little stubborn! Good luck!

Looky

Edited February 7, 2016 by LookyWhatIFound

[Reggie182 0]

Hang in there Fatigo! I know it seems really long, but it'll come soon, I'm sure. I think you're right about the timelines Looky, I've checked a few timelines and they seem to have their NOA2 dates either missing or the same as the NOA1 date, which probably means that the database doesn't get a lot of accurate results to go off of. Unfortunately for us, that means that the estimating algorithm is probably going to output some very inaccurate dates. Still, it all comes back to "expect 5 months, and if it's sooner, great." Can't rely on luck and hope to get you through, we just need to be patient.

I'm honestly a little surprised at how empathetically I feel towards everyone in the same boat as my wife and I. This immigration stuff is rough. I genuinely want everyone to get approved already so you can all move on and stop this torturous waiting game. Good luck to everyone, I hope all of our cases get approved soon.

-Reg

[LookyWhatIFound 38]

Hang in there Fatigo! I know it seems really long, but it'll come soon, I'm sure. I think you're right about the timelines Looky, I've checked a few timelines and they seem to have their NOA2 dates either missing or the same as the NOA1 date, which probably means that the database doesn't get a lot of accurate results to go off of. Unfortunately for us, that means that the estimating algorithm is probably going to output some very inaccurate dates. Still, it all comes back to "expect 5 months, and if it's sooner, great." Can't rely on luck and hope to get you through, we just need to be patient.

I'm honestly a little surprised at how empathetically I feel towards everyone in the same boat as my wife and I. This immigration stuff is rough. I genuinely want everyone to get approved already so you can all move on and stop this torturous waiting game. Good luck to everyone, I hope all of our cases get approved soon.

-Reg

You're exactly right there Reg, expect 5 months at least, anything better we'll take it!

Yeah it is a tough bumpy road with shark infested waters to get by throughout the journey, but you know, nothing really good in life ever comes easy!

[Mkatel0317 1]

Hey guys, can you tell me about this lines... I can't understand this line, plz.

Follow to join benefits allow the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents of the United States to get green cards at a later time than their spouses or parents did. This benefit is available to the eligible dependents of those who got their green cards based on family sponsorship, employment or through the diversity visa lottery program. Dependents of immigrants who received green cards in the United States based on an immediate relative petition are not eligible for follow to join benefits.

[LookyWhatIFound 38]

Hey guys, can you tell me about this lines... I can't understand this line, plz.

Follow to join benefits allow the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents of the United States to get green cards at a later time than their spouses or parents did. This benefit is available to the eligible dependents of those who got their green cards based on family sponsorship, employment or through the diversity visa lottery program. Dependents of immigrants who received green cards in the United States based on an immediate relative petition are not eligible for follow to join benefits.

My translation, somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

If you got your LPR by another LPR filing for you, then you cannot file an I-130 to get one of your immediate relatives until you become a USC.

But I don't understand the difference between Family Sponsorship and immediate relative petition.

Edited February 7, 2016 by LookyWhatIFound