August 2023 I-130 filers

[Dan and Akari 44]

Couldn’t find August 2023 filers so I figured I would start one. 
 

I, the USC, filed online for my wife, Burmese living in Thailand, and received NOA1 same day, August 2,2023. 
 

We had previously filed K1 in May 2023…long story.  Sent letter to withdraw K1 at the beginning of September. 
 

Received notification on September 21 that “Case is being actively reviewed “ for our I-130.  MyProgress at the time said four weeks, then moved to three, two, one and then “Your case is taking longer than expected “
 

Received notice of K1 withdrawal on September 27. 
 

Filed I-129f for K3 early October. Received notification of receipt of K3 a couple weeks ago. 
 

We are committed to maintaining a positive attitude to get us through this process and we do a lot of research to try to stay one step ahead.  My wife is now looking for a clinic to update her vaccinations (she is from Myanmar and has no record of vaccinations), get a proactive chest x-ray, and I am gathering all the financial information needed.  
 

Wishing everyone lots of luck…and patience. 
 

[Dan and Akari 44]

Are there no other August 2023 I-130 CR1 filers here??

[Daughter of Zion 41]

Hello we’re in sync. I’m a USC and filed I-130 for my husband who lives in Dubai on August 2nd 2023, received NOA1 4 days later with Nebraska as my SC . Filed I-129F with priority date as October 18th, received K3 receipt 2 weeks later via mail and my service center changed to Texas for both forms. My partner and I try to avoid getting anxious by focusing on the timeframe of most approvals which in our case would be June or July, but if approved earlier than that will be nice. Trusting on God for a smooth process for us all.

[Ontarkie 14,314]

Where are all the August filers? This thread is for you. Come join and support each other. 

[Dan and Akari 44]

Checked our case status this morning…

 

I-130 APPROVED!!!!! January 25. Super excited. 
 

Shifting our focus now to what we need for NVC phase.   

[LadyXoxo 44]

Hello, that is awesome news. My timeline is similar, priority date is Aug 3, 2023 and as of last Friday changed to “taking longer than expected”. I’m hoping for a positive update soon. My application is also being processed at the Nebraska Service Center

[Dan and Akari 44]

1 hour ago, LadyXoxo said:

Hello, that is awesome news. My timeline is similar, priority date is Aug 3, 2023 and as of last Friday changed to “taking longer than expected”. I’m hoping for a positive update soon. My application is also being processed at the Nebraska Service Center

I hope you get good news soon as well.  I am not sure why we were approved so quickly, but I think filing a K3 immediately after filing the I-130 may have helped.  FWIW, we filed as follows:

Filed I-129F for K1 May 2023

Switched to I-130 for CR1 (long story involving Myanmar tradition) August 2, 2024. 

NOA 1 same day because we filed I-130 electronically

Sent letter requesting withdrawal of K1 at the end of August

I-130 went to "Actively being reviewed" on September 21

K1 Withdrawal acknowledgement received September 27

Filed I-129F for K3 in September after we received K1 withdrawal notice

 

I really hope that processing is faster across the board for everyone.  I would suggest creating a timeline and please do keep us posted on this thread.

 

[mocha12 17]

Hello, congrats on your I-130 approval!! 

 

I filed July 11 for my French husband's IR-1 and we have been in the “Case is being actively reviewed" stage since August 25, 2023. We didn't file an I-129 for the K3 and now I'm wondering if this was a mistake. I am also now wondering if we should've filed online vs. submitting via dropbox, but that is how we were instructed to do by Boundless, which we used for the application process. We still have two months estimated wait time for the I-130, but I've heard it's taking 11 months on average. 

 

I'm confused as I didn't even know you could file online.

 

[Dan and Akari 44]

9 hours ago, mocha12 said:

Hello, congrats on your I-130 approval!! 

 

I filed July 11 for my French husband's IR-1 and we have been in the “Case is being actively reviewed" stage since August 25, 2023. We didn't file an I-129 for the K3 and now I'm wondering if this was a mistake. I am also now wondering if we should've filed online vs. submitting via dropbox, but that is how we were instructed to do by Boundless, which we used for the application process. We still have two months estimated wait time for the I-130, but I've heard it's taking 11 months on average. 

 

I'm confused as I didn't even know you could file online.

 

@mocha12 Welcome to VJ!

 

Unfortunately, there is no evidence other than anecdotal evidence that the K3 helps.  I did a lot of research when I joined VJ because we wanted to stay ahead of the process.  I saw a lot of anecdotal references for the K3 potentially helping if you file it early.  It doesn't help so much when filing it later in USCUS phase because your I-130 petition is likely to get adjudicated before the look at the K3 which has projections of 6 months.

 

As far as online filing, I chose that option because I felt the online process of walking me through the form was more beneficial that filling it out on paper, and we got our NOA1 the same day.

 

I recommend doing as much research as possible here on VJ to understand how you can best navigate the remainder of your journey.  For example, your next step is the NVC stage.  Research all you can about how to get through the NVC process.  Read up on paying the AOS and IV fees, become an expert on completing the I-864 and DS-260 and start gathering as many of the necessary docs as you can, i.e. taxes, financials, his civil documents, etc.  For example, we weren't prepared for such a quick petition approval, and one civil document needed for the beneficiary is a police certificate from every country the beneficiary has lived in for 6 months or more.  My wife is Burmese but lives in Thailand and the Thai Police certificate takes 3 weeks to process.  Understand if there is an expiration or other caveats on each record.  She had to return to Myanmar to get an updated police certificate and recreate her vaccination record since her mother could not find the original.  All of these things take time, and if you know what to expect in advance you can move through the process smoother...not necessarily smooth, but smoother.

 

I wish you the best of luck and hopefully you will get an approval on your petition soon.

[jay_bird 11]

It feels so weird there are so few August filers posting. 7 months is already gruelling enough, hope our number comes up soon-- i know it's more likely to take 10-12 but my gosh I'm looking at a 3mo wait just for an appointment, because my embassy is Montreal and it's notoriously slow Definitely ready to be home with my spouse.

[Dan and Akari 44]

1 hour ago, jay_bird said:

It feels so weird there are so few August filers posting. 7 months is already gruelling enough, hope our number comes up soon-- i know it's more likely to take 10-12 but my gosh I'm looking at a 3mo wait just for an appointment, because my embassy is Montreal and it's notoriously slow Definitely ready to be home with my spouse.

I agree that it seems strange that less than a handful of couples have posted as August 2023 filers. I find it very beneficial to get information from others in a situation similar to ours. 
 

Yes, the wait is stressful to say the least. We have been fortunate because our I-130 was approved January 25. We just submitted everything to NVC on March 11th and received DQ notification March 15. I think it is taking about 4 months on average to get an interview date in Bangkok. Hoping to get that letter soon.
 

Keep the positive energy and your number will come up sooner than you think. 

[Dan and Akari 44]

Received our interview letter today for May 20th in Bangkok. We are super excited to be one step closer to being finished with this part of our journey. 
 

Hoping everyone else will be getting positive news soon!

[jay_bird 11]

On 3/28/2024 at 11:40 AM, Dan and Akari said:

Received our interview letter today for May 20th in Bangkok. We are super excited to be one step closer to being finished with this part of our journey. 
 

Hoping everyone else will be getting positive news soon!

 

Congratulations! I hope the interview goes smoothly 🤞All of us deserve to be united with our loved ones, I'm glad you two have your interview date (and it's really not too far away! Nice!)

 

Still no updates for us, I'm definitely sad about it but there's nothing I can do but wait at this point. We uploaded unsolicited extra evidence after our big Christmas trip to see my inlaws, and again after a trip to DC together, I don't think it'll do much at this point but our marriage was super new when we submitted our I130 so we wanted to show ongoing stuff.

[Enigomlom 37]

August Filer here it’s about to be one year and still actively reviewing 😭😭

[LadyXoxo 44]

2 hours ago, Eni123 said:

August Filer here it’s about to be one year and still actively reviewing 😭😭

I know 😫. I’m so desperate to get pass this phase and have my family reunited. I’m back to taking longer than expected but I really don’t pay much attention to that. @Eni123

Edited July 17 by LadyXoxo