K1 visa NOA2 long wait

[Anita27 62]

Hello everyone! 

I need an advice. We are waiting for our NOA2 for a year and almost 3 months. We don't know what to do..the answer to the inquiry came like "the security check is pending and we can't go on with your case until it gets clear". We sent 2 inquiries in 4 months and the answer was the same! We should have no problems with the security checks and we just can't get why it should take so long! Please, any advice what our next step can be??

Thanks a lot

[RJandHamid 1,133]

Sorry to hear you have been waiting so long. It seems that rarely people do get stuck in these frustratingly long security checks. Unfortunately there usually is not much you can do other than keep waiting. When was the last time you made an inquiry about the case? Was it an online inquiry or did you call USCIS and speak with someone?

Edited June 14, 2017 by RJandHamid

[Anita27 62]

It was a month ago and we got the answer a week ago. It was an online inquiry. Calling them is even more useless than doing it online! It's really very frustrating. 

[RJandHamid 1,133]

I would call and ask to speak with a tier 2 officer. They may or may not be able to give you an estimated time frame for the security check. I really wish USCIS would be more clear about these checks, they just seem very random and take so long to process. At this point I would also trying reaching out to your local congressman or woman, sometimes they can help get some answers from USCIS.

[Anita27 62]

Thank you so much for your advices! One more question, do you have any idea which congressman should we reach out if my fiance lives in los angeles?

[geowrian 22,337]

The issue with security checks is that USCIS doesn't actually do security checks. They make requests with various agencies to do them, and then they must wait until they get conclusive results back. Sometimes there's a hit on one that requires additional investigation. The big one is the FBI checks....there's no insight nor firm timeline for these. Typically they take days (I go through them regularly for government clearances), but they can take much longer. And the FBI will not provide any information into where they are in the process or how much longer it will take...it's done when it's done.

 

Best wishes. I hope they finish soon.

[RJandHamid 1,133]

Congressman are divided by district, so if he knows the district he lives in, he can look up the representative from the list I will link to. The page also lets you put in the zip code if they don't know the district number. 

 

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/CA#representatives

[Anita27 62]

Thanks a lot for your time!

14 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The issue with security checks is that USCIS doesn't actually do security checks. They make requests with various agencies to do them, and then they must wait until they get conclusive results back. Sometimes there's a hit on one that requires additional investigation. The big one is the FBI checks....there's no insight nor firm timeline for these. Typically they take days (I go through them regularly for government clearances), but they can take much longer. And the FBI will not provide any information into where they are in the process or how much longer it will take...it's done when it's done.

 

Best wishes. I hope they finish 

13 minutes ago, RJandHamid said:

Congressman are divided by district, so if he knows the district he lives in, he can look up the representative from the list I will link to. The page also lets you put in the zip code if they don't know the district number. 

 

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/CA#representatives

Thank you so much again! I really appreciate that!

Edited June 14, 2017 by Anita27

[__immigrant__ 58]

We've been through this security checks thing. it took us a year and 10 months to get our NOA2. there are steps we did that made the USCIS approve us.

• We contacted our congressman.
• We set an infopass and asked why our case was delayed for so long we were told because of the security checks.
• We hired a lawyer and he told us to gather more evidence.

We weren't convinced of what the lawyer or the congressman told us BUT when we did all of this we got our NOA2 right away.

 

Good Luck.

[Anita27 62]

9 minutes ago, abe.wichner said:

We've been through this security checks thing. it took us a year and 10 months to get our NOA2. there are steps we did that made the USCIS approve us.

• We contacted our congressman.
• We set an infopass and asked why our case was delayed for so long we were told because of the security checks.
• We hired a lawyer and he told us to gather more evidence.

We weren't convinced of what the lawyer or the congressman told us BUT when we did all of this we got our NOA2 right away.

 

Good Luck.

Sorry to hear that you've been through the same thing! Happy that you got your answer!  I just hope we will get news soon. We will contact the congressman's office for sure. Thank you for your time and best of luck!

[Charlesvb12 61]

I've been waiting since Jan 17th still only NOA1... How did you put inquiry in if you applied in March you arent even passed normal "processing times" according to USCIS. From what ive been told they arent even allowed to put an inquiry in until you're past processing time

Oh wow excuse me saw it was from 2016... I'm really sorry to hear that I hope it comes ASAP!!!

[tritruong85 54]

20 hours ago, Anita27 said:

Hello everyone! 

I need an advice. We are waiting for our NOA2 for a year and almost 3 months. We don't know what to do..the answer to the inquiry came like "the security check is pending and we can't go on with your case until it gets clear". We sent 2 inquiries in 4 months and the answer was the same! We should have no problems with the security checks and we just can't get why it should take so long! Please, any advice what our next step can be??

Thanks a lot

 

2 hours ago, abe.wichner said:

We've been through this security checks thing. it took us a year and 10 months to get our NOA2. there are steps we did that made the USCIS approve us.

• We contacted our congressman.
• We set an infopass and asked why our case was delayed for so long we were told because of the security checks.
• We hired a lawyer and he told us to gather more evidence.

We weren't convinced of what the lawyer or the congressman told us BUT when we did all of this we got our NOA2 right away.

 

Good Luck.

Wow, after reading your stories I am starting to panic. I have been waiting since December 14th of 2016 and I cant imagine how it must few to wait over a year.  I have called several times and get the same answer "within our processing time".  I am afraid that they will tell me that they need to do security check if I call back.  I don't have anything to hide but just don't want to wait that long.

[RJandHamid 1,133]

1 minute ago, tritruong85 said:

 

Wow, after reading your stories I am starting to panic. I have been waiting since December 14th of 2016 and I cant imagine how it must few to wait over a year.  I have called several times and get the same answer "within our processing time".  I am afraid that they will tell me that they need to do security check if I call back.  I don't have anything to hide but just don't want to wait that long.

Hey @tritruong85, have you called again recently? The processing times updated yesterday to January 15, 2017, so they might be able to give you a more specific time frame for an approval now that you are officially outside of processing times. Really hope you hear some good news soon!

[tritruong85 54]

5 minutes ago, RJandHamid said:

Hey @tritruong85, have you called again recently? The processing times updated yesterday to January 15, 2017, so they might be able to give you a more specific time frame for an approval now that you are officially outside of processing times. Really hope you hear some good news soon!

The last time I called was last week and even spoke to a Teir 2 officer. They just told me that since mine was only one day from their posted date (December 15th) that it is just in the process.  She apologized that some officer processed  petitions slower than others, and all I can do is wait.  Asked her for an approximately timeline or when to call back.  She did not give me a timeline and told me to called back in 3 months if I still haven't heard anything from them. But I will probably call again today, it is really frustrating talking to them.

[Anita27 62]

55 minutes ago, Charlesvb12 said:

I've been waiting since Jan 17th still only NOA1... How did you put inquiry in if you applied in March you arent even passed normal "processing times" according to USCIS. From what ive been told they arent even allowed to put an inquiry in until you're past processing time

Oh wow excuse me saw it was from 2016... I'm really sorry to hear that I hope it comes ASAP!!!

Thank you! Good luck to you too!