Interpreting Processing Times

[MauBicara 0]

Hello,

I'm trying to understand the processing time data that I see on this site, listed here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/ir1cr1historical

I am going to be sending our I-130 petition in about one month. I will be sending it from Canada, to the Chicago lockbox. Which processing time would most closely approximate our case? I see CSC, VSC, TSC, NSC, and NBC, but since we are filing from abroad, we don't go through a service centre as I understand it?

If I understand this right, after I-130, we receive NOA1, informing us of receipt.

USCIS continues to process the I-130. Once it is finished, we get NOA2.

Case is forwarded to the NVC, which works its magic, and then to the appropriate consulate/embassy to finish processing?

I am just beginning to get all the details of this process in order, and it's still rather opaque for me... I appreciate any feedback and am thankful for this wonderful community

[morgan.croft 210]

Hello,

I'm trying to understand the processing time data that I see on this site, listed here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/ir1cr1historical

I am going to be sending our I-130 petition in about one month. I will be sending it from Canada, to the Chicago lockbox. Which processing time would most closely approximate our case? I see CSC, VSC, TSC, NSC, and NBC, but since we are filing from abroad, we don't go through a service centre as I understand it?

If I understand this right, after I-130, we receive NOA1, informing us of receipt.

USCIS continues to process the I-130. Once it is finished, we get NOA2.

Case is forwarded to the NVC, which works its magic, and then to the appropriate consulate/embassy to finish processing?

I am just beginning to get all the details of this process in order, and it's still rather opaque for me... I appreciate any feedback and am thankful for this wonderful community

Once you send to the Chicago lockbox, it will get sent to a service center from there. Hopefully you will get CSC. They process the fastest currently.

Plan for 6 months until your I130 is approved. If it's earlier, then it's a bonus.

From there it will go to the NVC, you'll pay some fees (AOS, and IV). Send in a bunch more forms. Since you're Canadian, you can do Electronic Processing, and it has seemed to be getting processed faster than snail mail. Once your case is completed at the NVC, it will be send to the consulate, and you will have your interview in Montreal. (I'm assuming your Canadian since you're filing from Canada).

You can see my timeline in my signature. We kept very involved in our case, calling the NVC every day to find out when they received, when our Case number was generated, etc.

[MauBicara 0]

Once you send to the Chicago lockbox, it will get sent to a service center from there. Hopefully you will get CSC. They process the fastest currently.

Plan for 6 months until your I130 is approved. If it's earlier, then it's a bonus.

From there it will go to the NVC, you'll pay some fees (AOS, and IV). Send in a bunch more forms. Since you're Canadian, you can do Electronic Processing, and it has seemed to be getting processed faster than snail mail. Once your case is completed at the NVC, it will be send to the consulate, and you will have your interview in Montreal. (I'm assuming your Canadian since you're filing from Canada).

You can see my timeline in my signature. We kept very involved in our case, calling the NVC every day to find out when they received, when our Case number was generated, etc.

Thanks for the response! What (if anything) determines the service centre processing the application?

I am a US Citizen, born in California, living in Canada with my Canadian citizen wife for the past three years. I am moving back to California in September, and hoping my wife can join me as soon as possible.

Does the I-130 get sent electronically, or is that merely at the NVC stage?

[morgan.croft 210]

Thanks for the response! What (if anything) determines the service centre processing the application?

I am a US Citizen, born in California, living in Canada with my Canadian citizen wife for the past three years. I am moving back to California in September, and hoping my wife can join me as soon as possible.

Does the I-130 get sent electronically, or is that merely at the NVC stage?

I believe where you are filing from plays a part. I've seen where if you're filing outside of the US, it gets routed to CSC. Not sure if that is completely accurate though.

I-130 is snail mail unfortunately. Electronic Processing is only for the NVC stage.

[JFH 12,189]

Not everyone filing from overseas gets sent to CSC. We have someone in February I-130 filers who lives in Europe with her husband and children and they got Potomac.

So you might be lucky, OP. I don't think you will be through with this by September unless you get a fast I-130 approval (California is currently the fastest). Your wife should only be a few months behind you if you go in September. The key is preparation. Once you've sent off the I-130 start gathering documents and preparing for the NVC stage. That will save you time.

Edited February 28, 2016 by JFH

[dwheels76 5,468]

Thanks for the response! What (if anything) determines the service centre processing the application?

I am a US Citizen, born in California, living in Canada with my Canadian citizen wife for the past three years. I am moving back to California in September, and hoping my wife can join me as soon as possible.

Does the I-130 get sent electronically, or is that merely at the NVC stage?

Did you list a US address by chance for all your mail? If so they go by that address. Say you listed a California address you will be sent to NSC or PSC.

It just depends but like Morgan said just prepare for 5 to 6 months.

USCIS sends your physical file to NVC takes anywhere from 1 week to a month to arrive at NVC depending on your service center.

Here's the NVC Process wiki for the 2nd stage (after you get approved at USCIS). You can be preparing and gathering your documents.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

[MauBicara 0]

Did you list a US address by chance for all your mail? If so they go by that address. Say you listed a California address you will be sent to NSC or PSC.

It just depends but like Morgan said just prepare for 5 to 6 months.

USCIS sends your physical file to NVC takes anywhere from 1 week to a month to arrive at NVC depending on your service center.

Here's the NVC Process wiki for the 2nd stage (after you get approved at USCIS). You can be preparing and gathering your documents.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

I have our Canadian address listed just about everywhere, as that is where we are both living until I leave in September-- but for our intended address, I did list a location in California. Sounds like we'll cross our fingers for CSC, but expect 6 months, +/- 1, for I-130 approval.

In the meantime, we'll get our NVC docs together as soon as we've sent of the I-130!