I-130 December 2016 Filers

[MrHanky 1,377]

51 minutes ago, pamequez said:

Hi Everyone! First time posting!! I sent my 1-130 packet on Dec 22nd! ( yeap right before the fees increased) My spouse is Ecuadorian and I am the U.S Citizen.  I currently work for the U.N and reside in Quito,  Ecuador.  I was home (in DC) for the holidays so I sent my package thru snailmail to the Chicago Lockbox. The package arrived to Chicago on the 27th. Its been 7 business days and no e-mail nor has my personal check been cashed. I'm getting anxious.  Hopefully I receive some feedback!! I can already tell this whole anxiety ####### lol will be the theme of this year till this whole thing is over!! Good luck to you all!!

I'm sure the holidays added to the delay.

I got notice 7 days after, others at the beginning of the month got notice after 2 days which gave me anxiety as well.

I know you don't want to hear it, but give it a few more days, my best guess is very early next week if not tomorrow.

I'm trying to not even think about this now since it's at least half a year till the next step.

 

[sxa1992 1]

I sent my I-130 packet on Dec 21st (AZ Lockbox) to beat increase fee as well. It got delivered on the 23rd and still no email or hardcopy. So, I think it's normal that holidays affected the processing time for NOA 1.

[MrsMcFarlane 3]

20 hours ago, pamequez said:

Hi Everyone! First time posting!! I sent my 1-130 packet on Dec 22nd! ( yeap right before the fees increased) My spouse is Ecuadorian and I am the U.S Citizen.  I currently work for the U.N and reside in Quito,  Ecuador.  I was home (in DC) for the holidays so I sent my package thru snailmail to the Chicago Lockbox. The package arrived to Chicago on the 27th. Its been 7 business days and no e-mail nor has my personal check been cashed. I'm getting anxious.  Hopefully I receive some feedback!! I can already tell this whole anxiety ####### lol will be the theme of this year till this whole thing is over!! Good luck to you all!!

Did your package reach before the date deadline? If not, and you sent the $420 you probably didn't send the correct amount. I believe the package had to be received the day of the 22nd in order for the old fee to be accepted.  

[ashular 0]

3 minutes ago, MrsMcFarlane said:

Did your package reach before the date deadline? If not, and you sent the $420 you probably didn't send the correct amount. I believe the package had to be received the day of the 22nd in order for the old fee to be accepted.  

I'm not sure that's true, I just checked the USCIS website again and they say "This chart lists USCIS' fees effective December 23, 2016. Applications and petitions postmarked or filed on or after December 23, 2016, must include these new fees or USCIS will reject your submission."

 

I took this to mean that packages postmarked before the 23rd are charged the old fee, those postmarked on/after the 23rd are charged the new one.

[MrsMcFarlane 3]

Just now, ashular said:

I'm not sure that's true, I just checked the USCIS website again and they say "This chart lists USCIS' fees effective December 23, 2016. Applications and petitions postmarked or filed on or after December 23, 2016, must include these new fees or USCIS will reject your submission."

 

I took this to mean that packages postmarked before the 23rd are charged the old fee, those postmarked on/after the 23rd are charged the new one.

Ahhh true. Well you should be recieving your NOA1 anyday now. Probably holiday rush slowing things down. I received my email 8 days after I sent! Keep us posted! 

[pamequez 22]

Good morning everyone! Thanks for your feedback. What a way to start the new year, constantly thinking about this ordeal lol! But so I have been calling USCIS but they are unable to transfer me to an officer because the wait time is sooo long, that they request a number to call back. As i have stated I am in Quito, so i dont have an U.S. number for them to call me back. Yesterday, a USCIS rep informed me to try at 8am so that I can speak to an officer immediately.  I did that today, and they finally provided me with a receipt number!! YAY!!!! Its LIN, so I guess my packet is going to the Nebraska Service Center. I guess I have to wait for the physical NOA to arrive but it feels good to know that the packet is at least in the USCIS system,  I think I am going to be one of those people that are going to consistently call to figure out what is going on.  I have yet to receive an e-mail with this receipt number! 

[Daneandkathy 53]

 

@ashular Sorry for the delay in response our wifi has been out due to snowstorms. We received the letter at my folks house in Oregon shortly after I left to return back to Macedonia. We mailed it in on the 12th, it arrived on the 15th and got the letter the 28th with receipt dated the 16th. Just checked the USCIS website to see update as it has been almost a month and nothing, just says "received".... Not sure how long to wait before calling to check up, any ideas??

 

K&D

[arsalk 22]

18 minutes ago, Daneandkathy said:

 

@ashular Sorry for the delay in response our wifi has been out due to snowstorms. We received the letter at my folks house in Oregon shortly after I left to return back to Macedonia. We mailed it in on the 12th, it arrived on the 15th and got the letter the 28th with receipt dated the 16th. Just checked the USCIS website to see update as it has been almost a month and nothing, just says "received".... Not sure how long to wait before calling to check up, any ideas??

 

K&D

From what i understand, the letter you received should have the case number and is called NOA1, the 1st 3 letters identify the location its been sent to. Then based on that you can look at the processing time for that particular service center. 

According to the updates provided by members on the forums when people update their time line http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?form=2&visa=3&scenter=5&option=3&sortby=2 populates and you can then check which service center is processing what dates atm. 

I am not 100% but the dates might not always be accurate. 

 

You can also check the USCIS website to see which service center is processing what dates at the moment, they are usually behind on updating the webpage though https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do

 

Now your wait begins as its taking USCIS minimum 4 months what i have notices to send in NOA2 if you dont have a RFE. Then to NVC and then to the consulate. So this becomes anywhere from a 9 month to a year process IMHO. 

 

It sucks big time. 

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by arsalk

[Daneandkathy 53]

@arsalk thanks, took a look at both and it looks about right, the USCIS says it is processing June 2nd applications.... so 6mths out. Luckily I have a job teaching English online so I can live in Macedonia with my husband (working on my extended visa for here at the moment)... When we were at the embassy earlier to get paperwork for our civil ceremony they said interview date were 6mths out as well. So at least a year...

 

K&D

[ILikeBread 43]

We sent our petition from France the 21st of December, it was finally picked up the 10th of January (!), now we are still anxiously waiting for the e-mail, it's hard not to worry...

[misshepburn 52]

On 12/25/2016 at 0:22 PM, Shacues16 said:

We sent our I-130 on 12/06, they received it on 12/08. Our NOA1 is dated 12/14 and our case has been sent to Texas Service Center. Has anyone else been sent to TSC?

shacues16 - welcome to the forum! 

 

My case was sent to TSC and it was processed very fast - in about 20 days. Granted I'm a September filer so TSC may have slowed somewhat since then (according to other people on this site a lot of Nebraska people have transferred to TSC) but in general TSC is fast. Start prepping your materials for the NVC stage.

 

Good luck to all! 

[MrHanky 1,377]

4 minutes ago, misshepburn said:

shacues16 - welcome to the forum! 

 

My case was sent to TSC and it was processed very fast - in about 20 days. Granted I'm a September filer so TSC may have slowed somewhat since then (according to other people on this site a lot of Nebraska people have transferred to TSC) but in general TSC is fast. Start prepping your materials for the NVC stage.

 

Good luck to all! 

20 days?

that's crazy and I would assume unusual?

Maybe because you're from a low fraud country.

 

Do people request a transfer or get automatically transferred because the service center is too busy?

 

[Daneandkathy 53]

Ours was sent to Nebraska, it has been a month and 3 days since they received it and no news, the website just says received... I have the same question as MrHanky do people request transfer to texas? My husband is from Macedonia which I guess is considered one of the high fraud countries, is that why Nebraska gets so many?? 

 

K&D

[Shacues16 18]

16 minutes ago, misshepburn said:

shacues16 - welcome to the forum! 

 

My case was sent to TSC and it was processed very fast - in about 20 days. Granted I'm a September filer so TSC may have slowed somewhat since then (according to other people on this site a lot of Nebraska people have transferred to TSC) but in general TSC is fast. Start prepping your materials for the NVC stage.

 

Good luck to all! 

Hi misshepburn, and thanks for the welcome!

 

Wow, 20 days!! That's super fast! Yes, Texas has received a lot of transfers, so may have slowed down, but I will try and stay hopeful.

I have already received my police certificate, I ordered it earlier this month cause I just couldn't wait, lol.  I will have to read up more on the NVC stage to keep busy and be prepared.

 

Looking at your timeline, you are really close to the end! Wishing you the best of luck, you're nearly there!

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by Shacues16

[misshepburn 52]

7 minutes ago, MrHanky said:

20 days?

that's crazy and I would assume unusual?

Maybe because you're from a low fraud country.

 

Do people request a transfer or get automatically transferred because the service center is too busy?

 

 

4 minutes ago, Daneandkathy said:

Ours was sent to Nebraska, it has been a month and 3 days since they received it and no news, the website just says received... I have the same question as MrHanky do people request transfer to texas? My husband is from Macedonia which I guess is considered one of the high fraud countries, is that why Nebraska gets so many?? 

 

K&D

@MrHanky and @Daneaandkathy -- 

 

1. You cannot request a transfer to another service center (if its done, its decided by USCIS). They say on their website that they sometimes do this to balance caseload across their system.

 

2. The location of your service center is in theory dependent on the location of the US sponsor. Historically the centers were set up geographically and where you go depends on where the USC lives in the US and/or what kind of visa you're applying for (there are certain ones that only Vermont does, for example). The country of the foreign spouse doesn't play a role. For example, if the USC lives in a southern state of the US you will get sent to Texas, whereas if you live on the west coast (California, Oregon, etc.) you will be sent to California Service Center. This pattern has seemed to hold up pretty well for those in my VJ I-130 group.(September 2016 filers) I live in Virginia and our case was sent to Texas.

 

3. All this being said - there are lots of exceptions and they will send people to different centers depending on current caseload.. so in that sense it can be very random!! 

 

I am not sure what, if any, pattern there is for couples who reside together overseas and file from abroad.

 

Hope that helps - and check out the September 2016 i-130 group - we are super active and some of our members keep up a list of our progress which may be useful to you.

 

Good luck