Why are NOA1s not being processed?

[Charlie_SK 4]

It appears there have been no NOA1 receipt notices received by I-129F applicants since mid-December. I am one of the people that haven't received my NOA1 (packet received by lockbox on 13th Nov). Does anyone know whether they are actually processing the K1s right now? I don't understand how it could possibly take SO long even if there is an influx of applications. It's getting really frustrating. 

[SalishSea 17,839]

14 minutes ago, BreeMB said:

It appears there have been no NOA1 receipt notices received by I-129F applicants since mid-December. I am one of the people that haven't received my NOA1 (packet received by lockbox on 13th Nov). Does anyone know whether they are actually processing the K1s right now? I don't understand how it could possibly take SO long even if there is an influx of applications. It's getting really frustrating. 

They are processing them.  They don't 'process' petitions within the first month of arriving to the lockbox, even pre-covid.  It will be months and months before they adjudicate yours.

[NoMansLand2020 298]

19 minutes ago, BreeMB said:

It appears there have been no NOA1 receipt notices received by I-129F applicants since mid-December. I am one of the people that haven't received my NOA1 (packet received by lockbox on 13th Nov). Does anyone know whether they are actually processing the K1s right now? I don't understand how it could possibly take SO long even if there is an influx of applications. It's getting really frustrating. 

Limited staffing. Petitions are being processed. It's a slow process at the moment with the pandemic. We filed over a year ago and have yet to even get an interview. 

Edited January 14, 2021 by NoMansLand2020

[ryvfader 45]

I'm seeing a limited number of I-129F's being processed in the past month, but a large slowdown since the holiday weeks. 

 

I'm counting 316 NOA-1's in the past month with delivery dates ranging from 8 October to 8 January, 238 that I count were issued the 13th to the 18th of December. Most of these were delivered to the lockbox between 13 November and 16 November. Hopefully we see these numbers pick back up to pre-holiday rates tomorrow and Friday but who is to say. 

 

 

 

[Charlie_SK 4]

15 minutes ago, ryvfader said:

I'm seeing a limited number of I-129F's being processed in the past month, but a large slowdown since the holiday weeks. 

 

I'm counting 316 NOA-1's in the past month with delivery dates ranging from 8 October to 8 January, 238 that I count were issued the 13th to the 18th of December. Most of these were delivered to the lockbox between 13 November and 16 November. Hopefully we see these numbers pick back up to pre-holiday rates tomorrow and Friday but who is to say. 

 

 

 

Ok that's seems like it's still chugging along. Where are you seeing this information? When I do a timeline search or when I look at all the K1 visa timelines I see that the last NOA1 was received mid December. I don't see any that have been received this year

 

[AishaniA93 108]

30 minutes ago, BreeMB said:

Ok that's seems like it's still chugging along. Where are you seeing this information? When I do a timeline search or when I look at all the K1 visa timelines I see that the last NOA1 was received mid December. I don't see any that have been received this year

 

Hey fellow Aussie We filed December 23rd and it seems there are people who filed back in October that still have not received NOA1. It's so frustrating but at least we are not the only ones. 

 

I did read another post (I think on the November 2020 filers forum) where someone said that even though we are not receiving NOA1, USCIS is still processing them based on the normal timeline that we WOULD receive it (ie maybe a week after arriving at the lockbox) and so maybe our adjudication process has already started...? It seems too good to be true haha but it was definitely a positive blip through this. Waiting for someone to delve into that theory a little further. 

[ryvfader 45]

1 hour ago, BreeMB said:

Ok that's seems like it's still chugging along. Where are you seeing this information? When I do a timeline search or when I look at all the K1 visa timelines I see that the last NOA1 was received mid December. I don't see any that have been received this year

 

I'm using an application to batch query WAC numbers as they are issued then picking out the new I-129Fs. 

 

 

39 minutes ago, AishaniA93 said:

Hey fellow Aussie We filed December 23rd and it seems there are people who filed back in October that still have not received NOA1. It's so frustrating but at least we are not the only ones. 

 

I did read another post (I think on the November 2020 filers forum) where someone said that even though we are not receiving NOA1, USCIS is still processing them based on the normal timeline that we WOULD receive it (ie maybe a week after arriving at the lockbox) and so maybe our adjudication process has already started...? It seems too good to be true haha but it was definitely a positive blip through this. Waiting for someone to delve into that theory a little further. 

 

Very likely this was my post

Though I'll note the entire post is assumative based on information posted from the Lockbox that the delays will not affect the receipt date of files, and historical situations where they also specified that Lockbox delivery dates would be honored. Also all the NOA-1 receipt notices I'm reading follow the same trend that the notice is written as if the I-129F was processed without delays. For example one from today uses the following verbiage "On October 30, 2020, we received your form I-129F...if you do not receive your receipt by November 29, 2020, contact the USCIS Contact Center...". So this was processed today, but they are giving the receipt date from when it was delivered to the Lockbox in October, not even changing the deadline date. My hopeful thinking based on their verbiage is that you could still expect an adjudication in July based on current timelines even though it was not processed at the Lockbox until January since the adjudication backlog is so long right now even with background checks it still has time to find it's place in the rough chronological order of delivery for adjudication within the current USCIS timeline as if it was processed at the Lockbox in October without any NOA-1 delays. Basically you can still keep some faith in the USCIS estimated timelines based on your delivery month rather than whatever month our NOA-1s end up getting issued. Again, entirely speculative/assumative on this, but logically it's making sense to me and that leaves me with some hope. 

 

Though I think it's safe to say if your initial payment has not been charged and you have no NOA-1 then your I-129F is definitely not being adjudicated yet, since contacting USCIS shows they have no case existing in the system under your identifiers and March-May NOA-1's are still being adjudicated as of now leaving a minimum of five additonal months of adjudications before ours. Apologies if my initial post or this post is confusing, I'll blame the American education system. 

Edited January 14, 2021 by ryvfader

[AishaniA93 108]

6 minutes ago, ryvfader said:

Again, entirely speculative/assumative on this, but logically it's making sense to me and that leaves me with some hope. 

This little bit is what I’m banking on haha. Though definitely have accepted it’s going to be a long long wait. 
 

The annoying this for us is we went through a lawyer. So our filing fee was included in the first payment to the lawyer. So we actually have no way to see if the $535 has been cashed or not coz technically the whole amount was billed to the lawyer and then they pay on our behalf. 
 

aaaaah to have patience haha 

[davidvs 337]

9 hours ago, AishaniA93 said:

The annoying this for us is we went through a lawyer. So our filing fee was included in the first payment to the lawyer. So we actually have no way to see if the $535 has been cashed or not coz technically the whole amount was billed to the lawyer and then they pay on our behalf. 

Your lawyer should be able to tell you if their payment has cleared yet.

[Loren Y 2,755]

Don't worry, your petition is in this pile of mail at the lockbox....

 

 

 

[Loren Y 2,755]

10 hours ago, AishaniA93 said:

This little bit is what I’m banking on haha. Though definitely have accepted it’s going to be a long long wait. 
 

The annoying this for us is we went through a lawyer. So our filing fee was included in the first payment to the lawyer. So we actually have no way to see if the $535 has been cashed or not coz technically the whole amount was billed to the lawyer and then they pay on our behalf. 
 

aaaaah to have patience haha 

Are you sure the lawyer actually sent it? I have seen lawyers sit on stuff for weeks, even months before they send it. Did they tell you it was received, or did you run the tracking number yourself. I have seen shady lawyers do a whole bunch of petitions, send 1 petition, then send that same tracking number to everyone so they think they actually sent the petition. Lawyers rank on my list right below Used car salesman for honesty.

 

Edited January 14, 2021 by Loren Y

[AishaniA93 108]

13 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Are you sure the lawyer actually sent it? I have seen lawyers sit on stuff for weeks, even months before they send it. Did they tell you it was received, or did you run the tracking number yourself. I have seen shady lawyers do a whole bunch of petitions, send 1 petition, then send that same tracking number to everyone so they think they actually sent the petition. Lawyers rank on my list right below Used car salesman for honesty.

 

When we called them a few days ago they explained the backlog to us and said they will follow up if nothing by the end of the month 

 

I’m inclined to believe them as they have top reviews which is why we went with them. But yes agreed to the used car salesman comment! I don’t want to think of my lawyer as shady just yet

[davidvs 337]

1 hour ago, Loren Y said:

Don't worry, your petition is in this pile of mail at the lockbox....

 

 

 

Is that a real photo from the lockbox?

(It wouldn't surprise me)

[aaron2020 11,651]

Patience.  

It can take up to a month or more to get the NOA1.

Furthermore, there was Christmas and New Year where everything slows down.

[Loren Y 2,755]

40 minutes ago, davidvs said:

Is that a real photo from the lockbox?

(It wouldn't surprise me)

It was from a story a few months ago from a news agency investigating why mail service was so slow. This is a employee photo from a sort center supposedly.