CR1 wait time increased dramatically？

[yangshang0 0]

I am a US citizen filing for my immediate relative (spouse/wife) and the process started on 2/5/2023, and as of today 7/3/2024 I still have not even received NOA2, in fact the login from the website shows still wait time about 8 more month.
Is it normally take this long before NOA2? It is not even interview or NVC yet which I saw the average time it take is around 6 to 8 month respectively. Why does government make it to wait for 5 years before can reunite with my wife?

[Anonymous35460 3]

I am sorry it is taking this long and I totally understand your frustration! They are not anywhere near July 23 approvals yet. They’ve barely cleared end of May 23. I know for other countries like the UK it would take a spouse 6 months from start to finish to reach the country. It’s insane if you think of the process for the US respectively. Making couples live a few YEARS apart on other ends of the world before allowing them to live together is not in any way supporting your citizens.  On top of it, they charge a lot of money, keep increasing fees, and yet times are not because reduced - quite the opposite actually. 

 

Ignore the 8 month estimate though, that whole tracker on their website is a gimmick. I would think it’s not too difficult to have an accurate processing timeframe on there either. There’s other websites using data analytics to give us estimates that are pretty accurate, but with all the money in the world that they take from us, USCIS cannot manage the same efficiency. 

[mam521 2,062]

 

@yangshang0: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=383127

@Anonymous35460: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=472840

 

This will help others on the forum with estimating timelines.  

[OldUser 6,636]

5 hours ago, Anonymous35460 said:

I would think it’s not too difficult to have an accurate processing timeframe on there either. There’s other websites using data analytics to give us estimates that are pretty accurate, but with all the money in the world that they take from us, USCIS cannot manage the same efficiency. 

No tracker gives an accurate estimate. There's too much human factor in this process and each case is unique. Nobody knows what your case is like until it's open. Maybe it lacks evidence, maybe there's something in your facts that need extra background checks.

 

My I-751 was processed slower than others. Essentially, I could see in the tracker, cases filed a week earlier and week after being approved. Meanwhile, 100-200 cases filed around the same week as mine took 4-6 months longer to get processed. For no apparent reason. No tracker was able to predict it. I literally had a friend who filed 3 weeks after me and got approved 5 months sooner. Our history was pretty much the same - we were about same age, came from same country, worked in the same industry, married around same time etc etc. One would think if it was that predictable, my case would be approved few weeks before his. By the way, none of us had RFEs. While I agree, USCIS progress tracker is useless, there's no other tracker that can give you 100% info. You cannot predict officer John who got your case going on paternity leave etc etc. Too many variables.

[SalishSea 17,820]

11 hours ago, yangshang0 said:

I am a US citizen filing for my immediate relative (spouse/wife) and the process started on 2/5/2023, and as of today 7/3/2024 I still have not even received NOA2, in fact the login from the website shows still wait time about 8 more month.
Is it normally take this long before NOA2? It is not even interview or NVC yet which I saw the average time it take is around 6 to 8 month respectively. Why does government make it to wait for 5 years before can reunite with my wife?

“The government” doesn’t make you do anything.   The wait time is what it is because of the huge volumes of people who filed and got in the queue before you did.   There is a lot of waiting involved with all aspects of US immigration.

[powerpuff 6,697]

*** Thread moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports where wait times are discussed ***

[mam521 2,062]

43 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

“The government” doesn’t make you do anything.   The wait time is what it is because of the huge volumes of people who filed and got in the queue before you did.   There is a lot of waiting involved with all aspects of US immigration.

I think it's important to remember that immigration is a privilege, not a right.  You're asking immigration to allow a person that is not a US citizen permission to enter the country and are essentially pinky promising that the person you want to bring will be a benefit to the US, not a nuisance.  

 

12 hours ago, yangshang0 said:

Why does government make it to wait for 5 years before can reunite with my wife?

You could move to your wife's country if the wait there is less.  There's nothing stopping you guys from being together.  You're just finding it inconvenient because it doesn't suit the circumstances you'd like it to.  

[Bethie 102]

14 hours ago, yangshang0 said:

I am a US citizen filing for my immediate relative (spouse/wife) and the process started on 2/5/2023, and as of today 7/3/2024 I still have not even received NOA2, in fact the login from the website shows still wait time about 8 more month.
Is it normally take this long before NOA2? It is not even interview or NVC yet which I saw the average time it take is around 6 to 8 month respectively. Why does government make it to wait for 5 years before can reunite with my wife?

Dont reley on the time lines, also no case is the same.  It takes as long as it needs to, just need to wait it out.

 

[Nathan Alden, Sr. 17]

Since I filed my I-130 petition electronically in mid-June, my "wait time" (scare quotes because who knows the ridiculous database query they're using to generate that number--or maybe it's just RNG?) has gone from 16 months to 18 months to 5 months. We're talking about a 20-day span.

 

Sorry for your frustration, OP. I decided to move to the Philippines to be with my wife to survive these insane wait times. I'm in the process of selling everything here, even my car, and taking my cash there. Sure, the quality of life isn't as good at the US, but at least we can, you know, love each other in person. Thanks, US immigration! 👍

[Wolle 68]

I don't want to comment until we know what is going on.

However, it would be very unfair to deal with the newcomers first and make those who have already been waiting for over a year wait even longer.

 

What bothers me, however, is that it is precisely those who already have their permit, some of whom received it in a much shorter time,-look at there timeline-

who are now the ones who are crying out the loudest when some people find this additional waiting time unjustified...that's just not fair...sorry

Edited July 4 by Wolle

[yangshang0 0]

Then what should I do? what if this waiting just going on forever? All my call to USCIS got answered by a robot and whenever I asked to talk to someone it just hang up on me.

 

The wait has been over 17 month now

Edited July 4 by yangshang0

[mam521 2,062]

I will start by saying it helps the ENTIRE VJ community when talking about statistics when you FILL OUT YOUR TIMELINES.  

 

When looking at immigration, you have to consider a couple of things.  First, USCIS and the Department of State aren't the same entity.  The I-130 is handled by USCIS and can go to any one of the processing centers and can be shifted to a different processing center in an attempt to load balance work.  Certain case types are exclusively handled by specific processing centers.  Luckily, the I-130's are typically dispersed among the major centers.  

 

Secondly, when looking at consular processing, you have to look at NVC and the consulate.  These are Department of State entities.  Not all consulates are created equally and volumes of cases handled by the consulate are not equal globally.  Spousal visas are not the only cases consulates are responsible for handling and if you toss high fraud countries in there, it's an even bigger challenge. When you hang out here for some time, you can begin to appreciate the 💩 that goes on and how much people try to dupe the system.  You also see people wanting advice on how to commit fraudulent acts - it's pretty eye opening and it's those people that spoil it for everyone else.  

 

Third, these organizations are fee funded.  You want more staff, then you're going to pay instrumentally more money in fees.  You want them to have better IT - gonna have to fork over more fees.  Everyone is complaining about inflation, well, it'll happen at USCIS too and people already complain about the fees they have to pay.  

 

Fourth, government matters.  Immigration rules change depending on who's running the country.  Trump had put restrictions on immigration and required forms indicating proof of healthcare for impending immigrants.  Whether or not it's constitutional doesn't matter - it slows the process when it's stuck in court proceedings.  Biden rescinded some of Trump's policy but he's tied up in litigation with Texas over policing the border.  We have seen a big uptick in the number of DS-5535's being handed out at consular interviews since covid.  Circumstances like these slow the process because they require people to review and vet the cases.  

 

I came through what is considered one of the tougher consulates, especially for being a first world country and direct the neighbor to the US.  My I-130 took just under a year.  I was originally in the US on a work visa and in that time, I had to pack up my kids and our pets from our family home and leave the US for 18 months while our case was pending.  When I did finally get my I-130 approved and then had my DS-260 approved, it took another 134 days for our interview letters to be issued.  DQ to interview was 160 days.  All told, my case, from NOA-1 to interview was 634 days.  So, it took nearly 2 years pre-covid.  I wasn't handed a 221g for extended AP.  I wasn't handed a DS-5535.  We just when through standard processing.  

 

We don't see all that happens behind closed doors of USCIS and DOS.  The estimates are based off of 80% of cases.  USCIS received 10.9 MILLION cases last year, an increase of 1.9 million over the previous year.  The DOS issued 10.4 million temporary visas.  It's unprecedented and it really is a case of doing less with more.  

 

I realize @Willie_Overall doesn't like it when I say immigration is a privilege, but it is and that privilege was granted to over 30,000 Filipinos who were issued immigrant visas in 2023.  As it is, spouses of US citizens have an easier time because there isn't a yearly numerical cap on spousal visas, unlike most other visa types.  What other country is dealing with 10.9 million immigration applications? None.  It's more than the next 4 countries people are seeking residency for combined.  Chaos would ensue if you let an additional 10 million people in just like that.  Look at Canada - there is a major housing crisis and astronomical strain on the social programs offered because they let too many immigrants into the country along side an aging population.  

[Rhoadie 23]

On 7/3/2024 at 2:57 AM, yangshang0 said:

I am a US citizen filing for my immediate relative (spouse/wife) and the process started on 2/5/2023, and as of today 7/3/2024 I still have not even received NOA2, in fact the login from the website shows still wait time about 8 more month.
Is it normally take this long before NOA2? It is not even interview or NVC yet which I saw the average time it take is around 6 to 8 month respectively. Why does government make it to wait for 5 years before can reunite with my wife?

Try contacting your Senator.  I have done that and it was helpful.

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~25 posts have been removed. This thread has been derailed long enough. DO not derail this thread any further. Your posts are to be productive to the OP's questions.  If you would like to discussed what you do not like about immigration take it to the proper forum.~~

[TBoneTX 45,267]

Three more posts have been removed.  A member has been banned from further participation in this thread because of assaultive posting toward others that treads on the site's Terms of Service provisions.

 

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Edited July 6 by TBoneTX