I just spoke with my congressional aide

[slowlyman 118]

I just got off the phone with one of my congressional aides. Pleased keep in mind I am paraphrasing and I have no idea if her information is correct. But here is a summary of our discussion.

Up till about a month ago CSC management was unaware of any processing delays. The flood of congressional inquires caused an internal review. The result was a decision to hire additional staff. That staff is currently going through training.

The dream act has had no effect on work load at CSC in regard to K-1 applications. The increased load has come from an increase in K-1 applications being filed and the internal water problems.

No work has been shunted off to Virginia.

The Goal of the hiring is to get processing times back down to 5 months.

Many aides are keeping as close eye on CSC which should keep the pressure on.

The dates on the CSC website are useless. She said as long as there is one July application still in the system the date will continue to show July even though later months work are being approved.

She told me with a January NOA1 she would not expect an approval until July-August even with the new hiring.

Applications are processed out of order because every officer has a stack and will work from oldest to newest in that stack. Additionally some officers work faster then others.

As the backlog at CSC is moved down the line, processing times at NVC are expected to increase to 3 months. New policies require the Embassy to set an appointment date BEFORE the paperwork is sent from NVC. In my case appointments are being scheduled at Bangkok out about 3-4 months. Which means after the appointment is set and the paperwork is forwarded, it will be an additional wait of 3 months. During that time she can get her physical etc.

In the opinion of this aide, with a January NOA1 she would expect us to have everything complete and ready to travel no earlier then January 2014. She said she could be wrong, but looking at her other cases and recent history, 12 months from NOA1 to completion is about what we should expect.

[Karee 4,190]

I just got off the phone with one of my congressional aides. Pleased keep in mind I am paraphrasing and I have no idea if her information is correct. But here is a summary of our discussion.

Up till about a month ago CSC management was unaware of any processing delays. The flood of congressional inquires caused an internal review. The result was a decision to hire additional staff. That staff is currently going through training.

The dream act has had no effect on work load at CSC in regard to K-1 applications. The increased load has come from an increase in K-1 applications being filed and the internal water problems.

No work has been shunted off to Virginia.

The Goal of the hiring is to get processing times back down to 5 months.

Many aides are keeping as close eye on CSC which should keep the pressure on.

The dates on the CSC website are useless. She said as long as there is one July application still in the system the date will continue to show July even though later months work are being approved.

She told me with a January NOA1 she would not expect an approval until July-August even with the new hiring.

Applications are processed out of order because every officer has a stack and will work from oldest to newest in that stack. Additionally some officers work faster then others.

As the backlog at CSC is moved down the line, processing times at NVC are expected to increase to 3 months. New policies require the Embassy to set an appointment date BEFORE the paperwork is sent from NVC. In my case appointments are being scheduled at Bangkok out about 3-4 months. Which means after the appointment is set and the paperwork is forwarded, it will be an additional wait of 3 months. During that time she can get her physical etc.

In the opinion of this aide, with a January NOA1 she would expect us to have everything complete and ready to travel no earlier then January 2014. She said she could be wrong, but looking at her other cases and recent history, 12 months from NOA1 to completion is about what we should expect.

If you haven't seen it already, take a look at Igor's list. It should give you a pretty good indication of how things are going. The processing times posted on the USCIS website are useless. Always have been.

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?form=1&visa=1&scenter=1&option=2&sortby=2

[Lynkali 163]

The dream act has had no effect on work load at CSC in regard to K-1 applications. The increased load has come from an increase in K-1 applications being filed and the internal water problems.

...

As the backlog at CSC is moved down the line, processing times at NVC are expected to increase to 3 months. New policies require the Embassy to set an appointment date BEFORE the paperwork is sent from NVC. In my case appointments are being scheduled at Bangkok out about 3-4 months. Which means after the appointment is set and the paperwork is forwarded, it will be an additional wait of 3 months. During that time she can get her physical etc.

In the opinion of this aide, with a January NOA1 she would expect us to have everything complete and ready to travel no earlier then January 2014. She said she could be wrong, but looking at her other cases and recent history, 12 months from NOA1 to completion is about what we should expect.

Some of this is clearly false information. Other bits, I'm not sure -- some of it sounds plausible and logical.

As several posters back in March/April tallied, there are graphs that show that DACA did indeed have a HUGE effect on K-1 processing. I strongly suspect they're just covering that up, but it doesn't really matter now, the DACA flood has slowed to a normal river, and they should be able to keep things at a normal pace, without creating huge backlogs again. I hope!

12 months from NOA1 to visa-in-hand seems about right, imo, although I hate it and would hope that it could still go faster. But yes, that seems likely given recent processing times.

However, that bit about appointment dates (you mean INTERVIEW DATES?) being scheduled before the petition leaves the NVC is clearly just wrong! We have current filers right now going through the NVC stage and there is no indication of anything like what you're saying. I haven't gotten to this stage myself, but that part of your aide's response sounds like utter nonsense to me. I do believe there could be a backlog and delay at the NVC stage, but interviews are in NO way scheduled while the petition is still at NVC. Sometimes they aren't even scheduled for MONTHS after the petition reaches the local consulate. That still varies entirely by country and has nothing to do with the NVC forwarding the petition.

If I'm wrong about that, please correct me, but I can't see that NVC info being correct in any way at all.

[Bayareaguy 156]

Up till about a month ago CSC management was unaware of any processing delays.

I find that hard to believe. "I" was aware in January there were significant delays. It is either BS, or they are really really incompetent.

The flood of congressional inquires caused an internal review. The result was a decision to hire additional staff. That staff is currently going through training.

Nice to see our complaining may have had an impact.

The dream act has had no effect on work load at CSC in regard to K-1 applications. The increased load has come from an increase in K-1 applications being filed and the internal water problems.

Not sure about DACA, but the claim of an increase in K-1 applications is false, per USCIS own data. The fact they are actively trying to blame it on a false K-1 increase makes me suspicious that DACA is a significant factor.

The plumbing problems? We've heard both it has caused delays and it has not (other than the 2 days they were closed). Not sure we will ever really know the truth about that one.

Many aides are keeping as close eye on CSC which should keep the pressure on.

Good, good!

[A&P_Germany 8]

Did you happen to ask about the recent (this week) slow downs?

[YouAreMySong 1]

Up till about a month ago CSC management was unaware of any processing delays. "Not aware"... only shows what kind of management they have. VJs be the judge. The flood of congressional inquires caused an internal review. Kudos to VJ members' efforts!!! The result was a decision to hire additional staff. That staff is currently going through training. I hope they don't mess up on our papers

The dream act has had no effect on work load at CSC in regard to K-1 applications. The increased load has come from an increase in K-1 applications being filed Their website data says otherwise and the internal water problems.

No work has been shunted off to Virginia.

The Goal of the hiring is to get processing times back down to 5 months. Hopefully

Many aides are keeping as close eye on CSC which should keep the pressure on. Yes! Be an eagle for us!

The dates on the CSC website are useless. She said as long as there is one July application still in the system the date will continue to show July even though later months work are being approved. Ohhh I see

She told me with a January NOA1 she would not expect an approval until July-August even with the new hiring.

Applications are processed out of order because every officer has a stack and will work from oldest to newest in that stack. Additionally some officers work faster then others. I hope they hire only the best qualified and fast workers

As the backlog at CSC is moved down the line, processing times at NVC are expected to increase to 3 months. New policies require the Embassy to set an appointment date BEFORE the paperwork is sent from NVC. In my case appointments are being scheduled at Bangkok out about 3-4 months. Which means after the appointment is set and the paperwork is forwarded, it will be an additional wait of 3 months. During that time she can get her physical etc.

In the opinion of this aide, with a January NOA1 she would expect us to have everything complete and ready to travel no earlier then January 2014. She said she could be wrong, but looking at her other cases and recent history, 12 months from NOA1 to completion is about what we should expect.

Thanks for the update Much appreciated!!!

[slowlyman 118]

Did you happen to ask about the recent (this week) slow downs?

I did not. Sorry

[Scott65 27]

Some of this is clearly false information. Other bits, I'm not sure -- some of it sounds plausible and logical.

As several posters back in March/April tallied, there are graphs that show that DACA did indeed have a HUGE effect on K-1 processing. I strongly suspect they're just covering that up, but it doesn't really matter now, the DACA flood has slowed to a normal river, and they should be able to keep things at a normal pace, without creating huge backlogs again. I hope!

12 months from NOA1 to visa-in-hand seems about right, imo, although I hate it and would hope that it could still go faster. But yes, that seems likely given recent processing times.

However, that bit about appointment dates (you mean INTERVIEW DATES?) being scheduled before the petition leaves the NVC is clearly just wrong! We have current filers right now going through the NVC stage and there is no indication of anything like what you're saying. I haven't gotten to this stage myself, but that part of your aide's response sounds like utter nonsense to me. I do believe there could be a backlog and delay at the NVC stage, but interviews are in NO way scheduled while the petition is still at NVC. Sometimes they aren't even scheduled for MONTHS after the petition reaches the local consulate. That still varies entirely by country and has nothing to do with the NVC forwarding the petition.

If I'm wrong about that, please correct me, but I can't see that NVC info being correct in any way at all.

Just FYI.. Our K1 was approved 4/17 at CSC. 4/22 arrived at NVC. 4/25 was enroot to the Kiev Embassy. 4/26 I called and received our KEV number. 4/29 package arrived in Kiev and was signed for by Embassy staff. Expecting letter arriving to my fiancée any day. NVC may backlog a little because of the flood gates opening from CSC but realistically not much in processing happens there.

We are waiting on banks opening after Orthodox Easter (RBA in Ukraine closed until the 7th). Then she will pay the $240 fee and we can schedule medical and interview. Not sure of that time frame elsewhere, but everything in the Ukraine forum hints at 4 - 6 weeks from K1 approval to VISA. I would suggest checking your individual country forum and look at the timelines of others there.

Good Luck!!