October 2008 Filers With The CSC

[lazulineiris 0]

Hello!

I know that it's still the beginning of the month, and there aren't too many of us yet, but I suspect that will certainly change as the days and weeks go on. Vermont Filers are more than welcome to join in on any discussion that's to be had, but I thought it would be a good idea to keep up the trend of having different threads, simply because of the sheer difference in processing times. I know we're all in the same boat, but it's understandably frustrating to those who have no choice but to sit through a longer wait-time to see others moving so quickly through the process.

I hope some discussion can flourish once more of us start joining the fun, so let's get the ball rolling.

I'd like to first say "Welcome" to everyone's favorite waiting-game, and I really hope that all of our respective journeys are swift and without any problems.

It seems that there are only three of us with our NOAs, but things have been moving really fast - With an average hard-copy receiving time [so far] of 5 days. So if you haven't received yours yet, keep a look out.

[kenneme 2]

Hi hi! Thanks for starting this.

Greetings and welcome to you all!

I have been stressing over the packet all weekend, waited for a copy of my fiance's residence card (he lives in France) and all his signed papers and... I think we're ready to mail it Monday! Yikes! The forms seem straight forward enough, I think I just over-think it! anyone else a bit OCD on this type of thing? Perhaps its just the vision of having a wedding next summer with no groom that's haunting me!

I think it all looks fine and I've checked everything about five times (and made my parents check it too!) I'm actually worried now that I've "over done" the evidence - we have basically been living together off and on for the past three years... so we have lots of "proof" of meeting. I included six photos of us together (including one of the proposal/engagement) and copies of boarding passes for this past august when we flew together to Algeria for an engagement party / meeting the family... and copies of all of my entry/exit stamps to/from France...and market them with little post-its (referenced in the supplement one page explanation of how we met)... so it's kind of a fat packet now!... is there such a thing as "over doing it"?! I don't want them to think we're trying to hard? I consulted with a lawyer and she said you really only need to provide the minimum - like two photos...

Also, did you mail it "registered" or "certified" mail...?

Any how, I'll be sending it Monday - so please send all your good vibes! and good luck to everyone.

[beans 7]

I know ours definitely has not made it to VSC yet, but we did register the package. It's not the petition that scares me, but the embassy interviews.

[lazulineiris 0]

I didn't send it certified mail - Instead, I sent it Express Mail and signed up with USPS later to have a copy of the delivery receipt e-mailed to me. I know everyone suggests to send it certified mail, but.. mine seemed to work out just as well, and my NOA was delivered to me quickly.

As for over-thinking it, believe me, I was going nuts with it, too. I went as far as to send along copies of baggage tags that he happened to leave here after his visits. Among other things, I also tried to include at least one picture from each time we met. We ended up traveling to different places, so I made sure to include a picture from those times to reflect all of that, and to match the information I sent. So.. no worries, if you're overdoing it, I totally overdid it.

Regarding what the adjudicator might think, though.. it really depends. VJ has an interview posted with a member who was once an adjudicator who was asked a similar question, and this was his response:

So, as I would heft this door stop of a packet onto my desk I would first think to myself that while it may be a tad much, this person has their stuff in one sock so to speak (translated – you have your act together, maybe a bit over the top- but together none-the-less). I would always have too much information to look through than not enough and have to send out an

RFE

. It just may happen that a piece of supplemental information is found on those extra documents. One never knows…

As an adjudicator, I know what exactly I’m looking for, what’s relevant and what’s not needed to be looked at right at the moment. I’d check the things I needed to check and basically ignore the rest, (unless I needed to find a specific piece of info that I thought might be included within your packet). Otherwise, it all stays in the file, but unless its something I’d deal with to make a determination on your case I wouldn’t bother (unless it was a real slow day and I wanted some entertainment or something to talk about at lunch with the co-workers. “Hey Mary, you should’ve seen the packet I got today…” Just kidding. We usually never talked shop and because we’re always busy, time to browse doesn’t usually happen.

So to answer your question more directly – I don’t think it’s gonna hurt your case any if that’s what you’re worried about.

So no worries - I'm sure you'll be okay. Best of luck to you with the start of your journey.

I know ours definitely has not made it to VSC yet, but we did register the package. It's not the petition that scares me, but the embassy interviews.

I'm sure you'll be fine when the time for your interview comes. One thing you can do to ease your mind is read the reviews for your embassy, located here: http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?letter=C

I hope your petition arrives soon.

[beans 7]

I didn't send it certified mail - Instead, I sent it Express Mail and signed up with USPS later to have a copy of the delivery receipt e-mailed to me. I know everyone suggests to send it certified mail, but.. mine seemed to work out just as well, and my NOA was delivered to me quickly.

As for over-thinking it, believe me, I was going nuts with it, too. I went as far as to send along copies of baggage tags that he happened to leave here after his visits. Among other things, I also tried to include at least one picture from each time we met. We ended up traveling to different places, so I made sure to include a picture from those times to reflect all of that, and to match the information I sent. So.. no worries, if you're overdoing it, I totally overdid it.

Regarding what the adjudicator might think, though.. it really depends. VJ has an interview posted with a member who was once an adjudicator who was asked a similar question, and this was his response:

So, as I would heft this door stop of a packet onto my desk I would first think to myself that while it may be a tad much, this person has their stuff in one sock so to speak (translated – you have your act together, maybe a bit over the top- but together none-the-less). I would always have too much information to look through than not enough and have to send out an

RFE

. It just may happen that a piece of supplemental information is found on those extra documents. One never knows…

As an adjudicator, I know what exactly I’m looking for, what’s relevant and what’s not needed to be looked at right at the moment. I’d check the things I needed to check and basically ignore the rest, (unless I needed to find a specific piece of info that I thought might be included within your packet). Otherwise, it all stays in the file, but unless its something I’d deal with to make a determination on your case I wouldn’t bother (unless it was a real slow day and I wanted some entertainment or something to talk about at lunch with the co-workers. “Hey Mary, you should’ve seen the packet I got today…” Just kidding. We usually never talked shop and because we’re always busy, time to browse doesn’t usually happen.

So to answer your question more directly – I don’t think it’s gonna hurt your case any if that’s what you’re worried about.

So no worries - I'm sure you'll be okay. Best of luck to you with the start of your journey.

I know ours definitely has not made it to VSC yet, but we did register the package. It's not the petition that scares me, but the embassy interviews.

I'm sure you'll be fine when the time for your interview comes. One thing you can do to ease your mind is read the reviews for your embassy, located here: http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?letter=C

I hope your petition arrives soon.

Yeah, it's the support issue. Currently, his mom is our cosigner but he is on social security disability from the military. I just don't know how well that is received in the eyes of immigration services.

[kenneme 2]

Thanks! That is reassuring that I am not the only over thinker! I think we have a good balance now, with six photos, various passport stamps/visas, and a set of boarding passes...

My poor fiance is like running around Paris freaking out trying to redo the 325A and retake his photo - it seems something always goes wrong at the last minute...well it adds a little spice at least The problem was we found a gap in his employment history when he was a student, so had to change it and wrote in:

none- student, science and technology at X University, Paris France occupation: none (and the dates)

I know that is not an employment per se but it explains the gap in his jobs - is that ok?

Beans -

That is so F#$% up! What a country we live in...they ask someone to sacrifice for your country and then don't provide adequate support for them afterwards, and to add insult to injury, they could count that against you for marrying the person you love!?! What BS. I hope that won't be a problem for you two. If it ends up being an issue you might consider contacting some of the veterans support groups in the US (VFW or Iraq Veterans Against the War... there are lots of groups) to see if other folks have faced this challenge? Just an idea...But I'd say for now don't stress about it, as long as you have the co-sponsor support with sufficient income etc.

[beans 7]

Thanks! That is reassuring that I am not the only over thinker! I think we have a good balance now, with six photos, various passport stamps/visas, and a set of boarding passes...

My poor fiance is like running around Paris freaking out trying to redo the 325A and retake his photo - it seems something always goes wrong at the last minute...well it adds a little spice at least The problem was we found a gap in his employment history when he was a student, so had to change it and wrote in:

none- student, science and technology at X University, Paris France occupation: none (and the dates)

I know that is not an employment per se but it explains the gap in his jobs - is that ok?

Beans -

That is so F#$% up! What a country we live in...they ask someone to sacrifice for your country and then don't provide adequate support for them afterwards, and to add insult to injury, they could count that against you for marrying the person you love!?! What BS. I hope that won't be a problem for you two. If it ends up being an issue you might consider contacting some of the veterans support groups in the US (VFW or Iraq Veterans Against the War... there are lots of groups) to see if other folks have faced this challenge? Just an idea...But I'd say for now don't stress about it, as long as you have the co-sponsor support with sufficient income etc.

That's a really good idea if push comes to shove I will have to remember that, thank you!

[the_fox 0]

Hi all, glad to see the October thread!

I've sent our package on Oct 7, USPS certified with e-delivery confirmation; it got there on Oct 9, signed by V. Semegi. Still waiting for the NOA1, and since it's Columbus Day I know it won't come today - USPS is closed.

I'm looking forward to a really short timeline for all of us!

[beans 7]

Hi all, glad to see the October thread!

I've sent our package on Oct 7, USPS certified with e-delivery confirmation; it got there on Oct 9, signed by V. Semegi. Still waiting for the NOA1, and since it's Columbus Day I know it won't come today - USPS is closed.

I'm looking forward to a really short timeline for all of us!

We're slowly but surely coming out lol. Just wish there were more VSC filers around. I mean at the end of the day we're all the same but comparisons within the same service centre are always nice.

[lazulineiris 0]

I could be wrong, Beans, but I would imagine that since you have a co-sponsor they won't mind - Especially since Canada isn't considered to have high-fraud consolates. Maybe searching the forums for a similar question, or asking if you can't find it, will help ease your mind? Maybe check around the regional forums, too.

Kenneme -- That should most definitely be okay. You explained why he was not working at the time, so they'll likely be okay with it. I had a somewhat similar question with mine, so I called USCIS and spoke to a very nice man who said that as long as you explain the situation, it should be fine.

The_Fox - Congratulations on sending your application and welcome to the fun.

[Fred N Emilia 0]

I am glad to see this October thread too and it SAYS CSC! seems like all threads out there is VSC ONLY VSC ONLY!

Anyways,

Goodluck October filers!

[MellySuzanne 0]

One more October filer :-)

[lazulineiris 0]

Glad to see the list growing. Hope everything goes smoothly for you. Don't forget to fill out your timeline so you can get a spot on Igor's list, and to get an estimate of when your file could be adjudicated.

My check finally cleared yesterday [October 14th]. I was really nervous that it would get sent back to me, because I forgot to date it [despite checking everything quite a few times]. But yay. Now it's just a matter of patience.

I also noticed that my estimated adjudication time moved up significantly from when I first began to fill out my timeline. First it told me I could see a decision between March 4th and 14th of next year, and now I'm looking at a potential decision between March 1st and 9th of next year. Is this happening to anyone else? I think it's awesome, either way.

Though, watch.. tomorrow, it'll go back to where it used to be, lol.

[chadlaure 2]

Hello October Filers...

no NOA1 for us yet... It's been 2 weeks now

Our timeline moved up as well so maybe CSC is going faster! So why do not they send the NOA1 to our lawyer

[kenneme 2]

Hello October Filers...

no NOA1 for us yet... It's been 2 weeks now

Our timeline moved up as well so maybe CSC is going faster! So why do not they send the NOA1 to our lawyer

Courage courage laure.f! I'm sure you'll hear something soon.

As for me, I finally mailed it today! I received the package from my fiance this afternoon with the final signed papers and new passport photo - put it all together and... mailed it finally (via certified mail). Yeah! All fingers crossed ...