January 2017 I-129F Filers

[AkesAngel 585]

3 minutes ago, Martin & Rona said:

Is USCIS on strike??????

 

Are you kidding me, they only processed 6 cases in two days.  

 

Wow, at this rate we won't get processed until December.

Do you have any idea how many couples in Dec and still few Nov filers are waiting? I was more surprised they touched Jan cases that early ... js

Edited April 1, 2017 by AkesAngel

[GazLisa 1,168]

3 minutes ago, Martin & Rona said:

Is USCIS on strike??????

 

Are you kidding me, they only processed 6 cases in two days.  

 

Wow, at this rate we won't get processed until December.

They're still processing November and December cases too 

[slo 12]

1 minute ago, Martin & Rona said:

Is USCIS on strike??????

 

Are you kidding me, they only processed 6 cases in two days.  

 

Wow, at this rate we won't get processed until December.

Those are only the cases processed for January.  They processed many more for December filers and you can find those on the December filers list.  That said, USCIS is woefully behind and getting further behind.  This appears to be the worst backlog they have had in at least a year.  This backlog is not due to increased numbers of applications. 

[Martin & Rona 157]

1 minute ago, slo said:

Those are only the cases processed for January.  They processed many more for December filers and you can find those on the December filers list.  That said, USCIS is woefully behind and getting further behind.  This appears to be the worst backlog they have had in at least a year.  This backlog is not due to increased numbers of applications. 

 

1 minute ago, slo said:

Those are only the cases processed for January.  They processed many more for December filers and you can find those on the December filers list.  That said, USCIS is woefully behind and getting further behind.  This appears to be the worst backlog they have had in at least a year.  This backlog is not due to increased numbers of applications. 

 

2 minutes ago, slo said:

Those are only the cases processed for January.  They processed many more for December filers and you can find those on the December filers list.  That said, USCIS is woefully behind and getting further behind.  This appears to be the worst backlog they have had in at least a year.  This backlog is not due to increased numbers of applications. 

Yes I agree. However, you would think with USCIS more then doubling our application cost for Jan 2017 filers the processing time would be increasing as opposed to going the opposite direction. I understand there are still many Dec and some Nov filers that need to be processed. Just adding my 2 cents for us January filers. This is becoming very frustrating since the process seemed to be picking up over the past couple of weeks. Well fingers crossed that all us Jan Filers get processed this month???? Some prayers may also be needed here!!!!

[GazLisa 1,168]

32 minutes ago, slo said:

Those are only the cases processed for January.  They processed many more for December filers and you can find those on the December filers list.  That said, USCIS is woefully behind and getting further behind.  This appears to be the worst backlog they have had in at least a year.  This backlog is not due to increased numbers of applications. 

How do you know they are getting further behind and isn't due to increased applications 

[mbassett 288]

22 minutes ago, Martin & Rona said:

 

 

Yes I agree. However, you would think with USCIS more then doubling our application cost for Jan 2017 filers the processing time would be increasing as opposed to going the opposite direction. I understand there are still many Dec and some Nov filers that need to be processed. Just adding my 2 cents for us January filers. This is becoming very frustrating since the process seemed to be picking up over the past couple of weeks. Well fingers crossed that all us Jan Filers get processed this month???? Some prayers may also be needed here!!!!

I understand the frustration, Just got back from spending some quality time in the Philippines with my fiance and we are so excited to start the next stage of our life together...I only hope the process speeds up but I know everything happens for a reason and good things come to those that wait...The fact that they are actually processing a few January filers gives me hope..Soon we all will be with the ones we love...

[alexo 3]

8 hours ago, Nghi T Pham said:

My NOA1 was 23 Jan , received RFE on 07 Mar and reply by 17 Mar. Get text for NOA2 on 27 Mar and received NOA2 mail today.

Thanks. Did you get your case expedited because you are in military or did you call to get it expedited?

[AkesAngel 585]

26 minutes ago, Martin & Rona said:

 

 

Yes I agree. However, you would think with USCIS more then doubling our application cost for Jan 2017 filers the processing time would be increasing as opposed to going the opposite direction. I understand there are still many Dec and some Nov filers that need to be processed. Just adding my 2 cents for us January filers. This is becoming very frustrating since the process seemed to be picking up over the past couple of weeks. Well fingers crossed that all us Jan Filers get processed this month???? Some prayers may also be needed here!!!!

It always happened that some got approved real quick and a few had to wait way longer ... I totally understand your frustration ... but it makes me sad to read, that you kinda expect, to be approved faster because of higher fees? Or did I get something wrong?

I'm thankful for all the awesome ppl and help here on VJ, as it is helping me to stay calm for the long time with not knowing, what's going on with our petition. And we are all in the same boat here.

 

2 minutes ago, Gary JT said:

How do you know they are getting further behind and isn't due to increased applications 

I don't think there were much more petitions in Nov and Dec, average was about 4-4.2k per month from what I've seen before, so its only a bit higher. 

[Martin & Rona 157]

5 minutes ago, mbassett said:

I understand the frustration, Just got back from spending some quality time in the Philippines with my fiance and we are so excited to start the next stage of our life together...I only hope the process speeds up but I know everything happens for a reason and good things come to those that wait...The fact that they are actually processing a few January filers gives me hope..Soon we all will be with the ones we love...

I also just returned from the Philippines after spending two weeks with the woman I love with all of my heart. She lives in Iloilo and we had a wonderful time visiting her family and work colleagues. She's teasing me over the time I spent fixing her sink and buying her a new clothes washer. Yes it is comforting knowing they have worked a few January filers so at least things are moving forward. We also hope the process speeds up so that she can settle here in Florida with her 12 year old son allowing us to spend time together before he starts school.

 

We all need to remain optimistic and lean on one another. Our time will come, just not soon enough for any of us. 

[NatO23 235]

59 minutes ago, Martin & Rona said:

Is USCIS on strike??????

 

Are you kidding me, they only processed 6 cases in two days.  

 

Wow, at this rate we won't get processed until December.

Just a bit of reassurance for you - the typical time from NOA1 to NOA2 is around 90 days. Sometimes more, sometimes less. So it's pretty much on track for CSC to just now be starting the January petitions. I'm sure it'll start slowly as they continue to work through November and December (there's still a lot of untouched files there!), but at least they're chipping away at January. Slow progress is still progress. Hang in there, and I'm sure we'll all start seeing some increased levels of action across our filing month very soon. Don't forget - the 6 cases in 2 days in ONLY for January. There were hundreds processed for Nov and Dec across those same 2 days. 

Edited April 1, 2017 by NatO23
missed info

[Martin & Rona 157]

53 minutes ago, AkesAngel said:

Do you have any idea how many couples in Dec and still few Nov filers are waiting? I was more surprised they touched Jan cases that early ... js

It always happened that some got approved real quick and a few had to wait way longer ... I totally understand your frustration ... but it makes me sad to read, that you kinda expect, to be approved faster because of higher fees? Or did I get something wrong?

I'm thankful for all the awesome ppl and help here on VJ, as it is helping me to stay calm for the long time with not knowing, what's going on with our petition. And we are all in the same boat here.

 

 

 

Hi JS - Yes I do believe that with USCIS more than doubling the application fee we should expect to see better service and turn around with our application. My understanding is they doubled the application fee to increase the number of employees operating at the 3 USCIS Centers to improve their stats. Okay we are dealing with a government operation and financial allocation doesn't always go where the help is needed especially now under our new administration. 

 

We are also thankful for all of the awesome people here on VJ and all of the help and time you spend sending us the stats. I didn't mean to offend anyone by my comments and know that we are all sharing the same pain and frustration. Let's just hope that we all get approved by the end of this month.

[Martin & Rona 157]

Duplicated response

Edited April 1, 2017 by Martin & Rona
duplicated

[Martin & Rona 157]

11 minutes ago, NatO23 said:

Just a bit of reassurance for you - the typical time from NOA1 to NOA2 is around 90 days. Sometimes more, sometimes less. So it's pretty much on track for CSC to just now be starting the January petitions. I'm sure it'll start slowly as they continue to work through November and December (there's still a lot of untouched files there!), but at least they're chipping away at January. Slow progress is still progress. Hang in there, and I'm sure we'll all start seeing some increased levels of action across our filing month very soon. Don't forget - the 6 cases in 2 days in ONLY for January. There were hundreds processed for Nov and Dec across those same 2 days. 

Thanks for your clarification. Yes I do understand they are still working on many Dec and some Nov filers and it was very good to see they have finally started handling us Jan filers. Yes we all need to remain optimistic and continue on with our journey here. 

[slo 12]

37 minutes ago, Gary JT said:

How do you know they are getting further behind and isn't due to increased applications 

I know because a year ago, NOA2s were consistently coming in less than 40 days and the number of applications since that time has been extremely consistent. (See, http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1historical ) In an average month last fiscal year, USCIS received 4407 I-129F petitions and filings were remarkably consistent every quarter (this data is on the USCIS website here: https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/immigration-forms-data/data-set-all-uscis-application-and-petition-form-types ). We also know from Geowrian's script that he (and AkesAngel) runs that in December 2016 there were 4465 petitioners, i.e., just another average month. So, per the stats, there are about 145 petitions filed per calendar day and about 200 per work day. So, when I see USCIS is taking some FINAL action on anything less than 180 cases per work day (let's generously assume 20 never get fully adjudicated; that is., they are withdrawn or never respond to RFEs, etc.), it shows to me that they are falling further and further behind.  This is consistent with what we are seeing now.  Also, note that based on the scripts run by Geowrian and AkesAngel the number of petitions filed in November 2016 and January 2017 are lower than compared to the typical month in the preceding FY2016, so there clearly has been a drop-off in work being done by USCIS, at least on I-129F petitions.  Personally, I believe some USCIS staff were directed by higher ups to work on other things starting last ~September-October, followed by employees/contractors taking a lot of holiday vacation (note that employees and contractors also accrue generous sick leave that is used as vacation), and increasing use by federal employees/contractors of flex-time (in DC federal employees do not work every other Friday, which may also be the case at CSC and explain the much lower numbers of petitions processed every Friday), among other factors that I prefer not to get into in a public forum.  

Edited April 1, 2017 by slo
typo

[GazLisa 1,168]

Posts on here don't fill me with any hope March filers will get NOA2 till at least July or August 😔😔😔😔😔 being apart from my fiancé 💔💔💔💔