P+J

Quality analysis photomile. It makes me hopeful that some January filers will hear some good news in early May.

Yup the touches are not indicative of when an approval will occur. Many are approved without a single touch. We just need to hope they finish with these December petitions and move on to us. When the first couple Januarys come through, it will be time to celebrate. It will be game on for everyone in January regardless of NOA1 date. Approvals for December encompassed a range of dates and didn't seem very sequential. Hoping in about 2 weeks our time will begin...

Hopefully VSC will adjudicate a substantial portion of the December petitions in the next two weeks and then really start blazing through the Jan and Feb submissions. It's possible she could arrive in the US for her birthday. Kiev is particularly fast when it comes to scheduling interviews as long as the beneficiary is flexible. Some beneficiaries were able to schedule an interview within 2 weeks of the petition arriving at the embassy. Everything is electronic now and scanned so it's submitted in this manner by NVC to Kiev. So let's hope VSC picks up the pace. and maybe your hope will be a reality.

Yes. We all seem to have similar touch dates..Feels so close. Hoping VSC adjudicates a substantial portion of the December petitions over the next two weeks. It would be great to see the first January approvals begin with early May or maybe even a few slip in late April...Maybe the pace will accelerate with the holidays being over..you would think there wouldn't be too much slowing them down now.

I would think that they have better things to do than monitor these forums haha. Not saying that it can't happen, but I think it's very unlikely that they input time and energy into checking forum posts.

The U.S. embassy would not care if you're married or not. It is near impossible for a girl your age to receive a United States tourist visa. My fiance and I researched this idea thoroughly for months. Ukraine is even more strict than Russia regarding the tourist visas. Nevertheless, all applicants from FSU countries require substantial evidence to refute the possibility of intent to immigrate. You would need multiple properties that you own and a very high salary. However, at your age it might not still be enough to convince the officers. It's unfortunate, but I would save your money and let go of the idea. I wish it was different, but my fiance and I discovered that it's a near impossible task (They often deny applicants even when they satisfy the requirements).

The fee for the K1 (paid at the interview) has now decreased to 240$ as of April 12, 2012.

Still hoping for a May approval here. I think with the current trends, it should be a good month for all of us.

Stay patient bro. April should be a good month for December filers (especially for Vermont) They have started processing December petitions. The timeline is a bit skewed right now, so don't take it too seriously. The trends are good. They are finished with most October and November petitions. April seems to be the time of the year when processing rates increase at the service centers too. I think you'll have NOA2 this month or at the worst early May. Again some people get unlucky but it's not the norm. This time of the year is typically under that 5 month time frame (3-4) months. There are simply fewer petitions submitted in the winter and holiday months. Honestly, I think it could be any time for you. Another user recently look at the USCIS official data right off the government website for December. It indicated the fewest number of K1 petitions submitted in 2 years. They will work through it quickly.

Awesome analysis L+T. And I agree. Many January petitions will receive approvals in April. They will be able to work through December petitions very quickly with so few submissions.

If anyone is interested, I went through a big list of numbers I have, and found a petition from December 2 that's been approved and is in post decision activity.... I'm inclined to think that VSC is well and truly kicking off December right now!

Awesome. I think they will get through December petitions relatively quickly as it's one of the months with the fewest submitted. And then it's right into January. May even see some concurrent approvals like we saw with October and November petitions being approved pretty steadily togethr

Congratulations December Filers! April is looking good already to me.

And so it begins...I think the rate of December approvals will be going through the roof soon. VSC has approved a large percentage of the November petitions. They are coming right down the line just as we all had hoped =).

It will pick up again. statisically the service centers receive the fewest number of submitted petitions in the months of December and January. They will most likely move through adjudication of these petitions at a faster rate than the previous months and then as visa journey members update their timelines it should all even out. I'm still hoping that I might get lucky with a late April approval. I'm feeling May is the month for January filers however.

Yes. It has certainly slowed down. Hopefully, this will pass soon. VSC seems to be in a bit of a coma right now..ha...I would guess they moved adjudicators to some other petitions...But maybe things will pick up soon.

Thanks for the info guys. Yes. I will definitely be putting it into a folder like you suggested Gary. It will be much more convenient for her. I'm visiting for Easter, so I'm going to bring everything to her then and explain how it's organized. Also, is there any reason for me to wait until closer to the interview to fill out my I-134? Although we're still waiting on NOA2, I thought I could just bring that with the supporting documents.

Yes. If you have a Dominican or Haitian beneficiary they often receive priority processing, and it may be faster for you. Good luck! And speedy NOA2s to all of us.

Yes. Looks like VSC is picking up again. It will be interesting to see how fast the approvals start coming in now. And Jamie, our NOA1 dates are relatively close. I really think most January petitions will be approved by end of May latest. And if we're lucky, and VSC really gets going I think some could make it through in April too. January is one of the months with the least K1s petitions submitted, so it may work to our advantage. Fewer to process.

Hey guys,

do you know if the Kiev embassy returns any of the relationship evidence presented at the interview? We organized it in a sectioned folder/binder, and I wasn't sure if any of it would be useful for AOS later. Is it common for them to keep it or do they return it to the beneficiary at the conclusion of the interview? Thanks!

Awesome for December filers. It's an early December NOA1 too, so it looks like they're moving right along into the new month now. Hopefully, there will be many more approvals in the next couple of weeks.

yup. I read a couple too. Still doesn't seem to common though. And again best thing is to know your consulate. If you're consulate is notoriously difficult then be prepared for anything. I'm not surprised that Pakistan would be difficult.

I have never read of them asking for a Facebook password. The only thing I have heard of is a Consular Officer having the petitioner or beneficiary's Facebook open at the interview. And to do this, the petitioner or beneficiary must have had their profile easily searchable to all registered users. I actually don't recall hearing of them even asking to do it at the interview either. there's typically a window and it's not like the petitioner can go through the window and type in their information. Unless you have some huge red flags. Or you have made your profile easily accessible, I don't think you'll be hearing much about Facebook at your interview. I'd imagine it's consulate specific too. They'll probably go as deep as they think they need too. But you can control almost every aspect of the information that's available to them now. They've greatly enhanced the privacy features within the past few months.

the government can only access your Facebook if it's set to public view. or if you had it visible to friends of friends and they friended your friend, or if they send a friend request and you add them. Our government has enough problems putting murders, terrorists, and other criminals behind bars (gathering and accessing the information to do this is a challenge enough for them. It would be illegal to access someone's account at will. In terms of social media, they will have as much information as you want them too. So if there is anything someone wouldn't want them to see, it's good to keep profiles to friends view only. Or if you really want to be invisible set your connection parameters to only friends can search for your profile. You'll effectively become invisible on Facebook.

Penguin Ie is correct that they could ask to see it. I've never heard of them asking for a password however, but merely to view the page. And from what I've seen it's rare. Social Media is not the most reliable source for them as it's easily fabricated and can be highly inaccurate.

I was really hoping they would get to you guys in March too! I guess we have one week left so maybe they'll get on some of these December petitions! Something must have happened with them shifting some of the adjudicators to other visas right now. Hopefully they'll be back on track soon. It's seemed very very slow at VSC lately. I think this is the second week of few if any petition approvals...

Yes. It would seem that a stray petition will occasionally make its way into the hands of an adjudicator earlier than expected. It was most likely filed erroneously during sorting, but if everything is included for approval, the adjudicator simply approves it. I was hoping I'd be lucky like this too when I received some touches in quick succession. I'm starting to think it's pretty rare (unless it's a petition for a Haitian or Dominican beneficiary) something goes on behind the scenes to accelerate approval of these petitions that we are unaware of. I would expect 4-5 months right now for NOA2. Most October filers have received approval and they are coming right down the line with the November petitions. As long as they direct enough adjudicators to the K1s, approval really shouldn't be more than 5 months when if you're filing during such a slow time of the year (December - March have the least number of petitions submitted typically).

Hoping a speedy NOA2 to you man. Hope your girl can get here by summer too! I'm praying for a May approval and maybe a June interview at the latest...After looking through some timelines, it seems that Kiev can schedule interviews pretty quickly too. Quite a few people were getting them 2-3 weeks after contacting the embassy. Once it's in the system things can move pretty fast.

I'll be glad when I see some more VSC petitions coming through. Once they hit those December petitions it should starting rolling again.