Drew3435

Hello. VJ is showing my approval is now past due. I had two missed calls on October 5th from Private Number. They were blocked and I didn't notice them. I was expecting that if/when they did call it would come from a 202 area code number. My case still shows 4 months estimate in the portal. I have heard they will put minimal effort into contacting you and then just close the case out due to being unreachable. I tried calling in but it won't send me to an agent, and the portal says I can't send a message to check on case status. Was this USCIS trying to get in touch? Will they send correspondence through the portal or mail before closing the petition out? Is there anything I can / should do proactively? Thanks.

Nope. It was just a regular job. No idea why they would look that far back.

Sure as heck seems like it.

Yeah I know what you mean. I am starting to worry a little because it seems to deviate from the norm. Maybe they found some perceived issue.

To make it even weirder, I went back and checked the i-130. I didn't list this employer because I stopped working there more than 5 years prior to submitting the application.

I am the petitioner. It definitely seems they contacted them. It is written as a response to a query and provides the dates I worked there any my salary. It is in the work number website so maybe USCIS made the request from there. It is dated today.

Well the good news is, it looks like there is some movement. It just changed from 24 months to 4 months. And it looks like they reached out to one of my former employers. I saw a letter to them from the employer in theworknumber website dated today. Here is hoping.

I hear you. It's just a little challenging psychologically to see that happen. For me, the last time it reset to 24 months it just came down at a normal rate. One money at a time.

I hope you are right. I am hopeful the fact that we filed jointly and paid taxes on her income will help make the case that our marriage is bonified. It's funny, whenever I see or hear that word, bonified, I think of that scene from O Brother Where Art Thou, where the lady says that her other suiter is bonified.

Hello. I know timelines in the USCIS portal are supposed to be unreliable. But every time I upload unsolicited evidence, they reset my estimated time to decision to 24 months. The last thing I uploaded was a joint tax return. Are they punishing me for making more work for them or something? I don't do this frequently. I've uploaded evidence maybe 4 times in the last year.

Thanks for this background. You summed things up pretty well. Her English is pretty good, probably above average compared to her peers there. We do not have much difficulty communicating. I was just concerned that if it were conducted in English, she could end up "yeah"ing to something really important. Her written English is excellent. She is highly educated and has a very good job there. I didn't mean to imply that she can't communicate with me. Just worried about the outlier situation where it could complicate her immigration. I do plan to learn Filipino language when I have the bandwidth to take some courses. I definitely do not wan to put this all on her.

Thanks for the tip. She will likely fly into JFK since I am in the Philly area, and there is a direct non-stop flight from Manila to JFK. I may just go to pick her up and fly back with her to make the process easier.

That is great news! Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the clarifications. I have a better understanding now of this topic.

Hi folks, This is a long way off. But I like to plan things out in advance. My wife's English is passable, but she does yeah me a lot. When I was there, I found communicating a little more difficult than I thought it would be. There were clear situations where she would nod or affirmatively respond, but it was clear she didn't know what I was asking. It is a difficult subject to approach with her because she seems almost offended if I raise anything about our communications / her English speaking skills. My question is, should I insist on hiring a translator to go to the interview with her? Just in case? Her interview will be in Manila. Maybe their Filipino will be sufficient to not require one? I just want to make sure there are no issues that reset her immigration process once we get to that point. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks, Drew