I spoke with my congressman's immigration aide today. I expressed my dis-pleasure at the processing times of CSC vs. VSC.She told me that was NO way that a couple got approved in only 19 days out of VSC. I replied"Why would they have any reason to lie?" I was pretty much told that my petition hadn't been there long enough for me to complain. She said she would look into it at a later date if I wanted. I told no thanks, i dont need the kiss of death on my petition.I also expressed my concerns at not getting preferentiol service, since I was a veteran. She told me that it would have to go into legislation and have a law passed. I told her my congressman is a legislator , right? It was pretty much a pointless conversation.

That's so frustrating! I don't dare even bother calling my Congressman...I live in a VERY conservative state where most people think immigration is evil and I have actually heard "It should take you this long. That way only the people who really want it get into the country." WTF?

Wheee! Look at that estimate date drop! I'm down at July 23rd now!

Lol...I dropped from August 18th to August 6th!

I was at August 16th last week, but I filed about three weeks before you. I doubt it will take that long for any of us to get approvals. I think the timeline system is still working through the July bog.

Just thought I'd bump this thread. Don't give up hope Feb CSC filers!!!! they can't keep us from our loved ones forever!

I've been thinking about posting all day! I just didn't really have anything to say...I think we're all at that point where we're just waiting. No news...but that also means no BAD news.

Just bumping us up again. I don't want anyone to forget about us. Even though it seems CSC has. When I hit the 60 day mark, I'm going to start riding my congressman's butt HARD!!!! The disparity between the service centers is completely UNACCEPTABLE!!!! January VSCers will be in their visa interviews by then!!!

When do you hit 60 days? Mine will be in about two weeks. I don't think contacting my congressman will do any good...I live in an extremely conservative state with a pretty significant undocumented immigrant population...a lot of people think there just shouldn't be immigration at all.

hey everyone, I've been away from the board for about 2 weeks spending time with My SO. So it's nice to see a Feb CSC thread. I'm right there with everyone one else. Got our NOA1 on the 7th but no touches since.

Welcome back! I hope you had a great time with your SO...even if it didn't last long enough. I hope we all hear something soon!

I did, having to part ways again is a major downer. but the good news is my timeline went from august 2nd to july 18th in the time i was away!

I love watching those dates drop! Mine started out at August 16th and it's down to July 22nd now. My SO will be here a week from Friday, but can only stay for 5 days We're hoping he can come out for another visit later in the summer. I want to go visit him, but I used part of my vacation time going up to see him in January, part of it will be so I can help him move, and the rest so we can have a honeymoon after our ceremony.

Hey everyone! How's it going? Anyone doing anything fun?

So, uhhhh, when's your next trip?

We haven't set a time yet but it's my turn to go there. So far we have been able to see each other about every 4 months. Since we alternate on who flies is gives each of us 8 months or so to save up for the tickets. We where luck because she got to come live with me for 6 months last year for her college internship which was fantastic. She went back to finish school in September, I went to Germany to spend x-mas and new years with her and her family. This trip we just did, we met in Boston and went up to Maine to visit my family and old friends. (we met in Maine when she was an exchange student in 2001). This last trip we where both dreaming the next time I fly out there she will be coming back with me for good!!

I hope so!!!

We're starting to hit two months for some of us...hopefully that means we're starting to hit halfway through the USCIS wait. How's everyone doing? Anyone else as bored as I am?

I'm not really bored. The wait is taking its toll on my fiance and me. We both have some really down days at times, but I try to be upbeat for her. If something happened, I really don't know if I could go through this again. Is this as huge an emotional drain on everyone else as it is for me?? Just curious. When I hit the 60 day mark, I'm going to have my congressman's aide call and see where our petition is at. I think its propping up the wobbly table in the break room at CSC LOL!!!! At least I should get a touch out of it, that would be better then the great unknown we're in now.

Absolutely to the emotional drain! I can't even describe how hard it is to people who haven't gone through this. It's that constant, nagging "what if...what if...what is the government going to find wrong with my petition?...What if they deny it?" There's just no answer and it makes me feel like I'm going to explode. I try to take it as it comes...my petition is in, there's nothing I can do about it now. All I can do is wait. If they reject it, we'll figure something out. I look at the grand scheme of our relationship and something...either fate or God...has gone to great lengths to make sure we met. I trust it won't fail now. As Mother Theresa said "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

About the calling your congressman. I know a lot of them will say they can't get involved until you're past the processing date. I've also heard rumors that if you give USCIS too much trouble they'll put your case at the bottom of the stack. It might be better to give them a little bit of time. USCIS says it can take up to 6 months, which sounds like a lot of CAC to me (corporate as$ covering...excuse my language, please), but they've written it in there to protect themselves.

i think i'm going to have to print that quote out and put it on the front of my refrigerator

i wasn't expecting the emotional drain to become an issue. was i ever wrong! i can tell myself a hundred times a day that the wait will be worth it but i still miss my guys (my fiance and his wonderful son) so, so much.

i'm glad that others feel the same way and can understand where i'm coming from. thank goodness for all the good folks at VJ!

Hey everyone. How is everybody holding up? My fiance just landed back at home after an amazing long weekend together. We had pictures taken and spent some time with my family. This is the hardest part, though...right after he leaves, it always feels like my heart has been ripped out. I suppose in a way...it has been, he took it with him. It makes me that much more eager for an approval, even though I know I'm months away from it. So...what is everyone doing to pass the time? I'm working on getting all of my documentation for the affidavit of support together.

Its hard, so hard.
Hard to don't check the file status on uscis website every hours, hard to don't check igor's list. So hard to wait. So hard being not able to plan stuffs i would like to do already...

I try to make me busy, but it still a lot of time when i can think too much about the wait...

Its hard to see VSC filers getting approvals... Its hard as peeps around me doesn't understand how hard it is.

...

I'm trying to be patient. I waited 25 years to meet him and another year and a half to realize how in love with him I was. This wait should be easy after that.

My hobby is historical costuming and recreation, but I haven't been doing much for the last couple of years. I think I'm going to start a really big project that will take me months to finish. It will be a good distraction until I hear something.

Just wanted to bump this thread. This waiting game is unbearable. Its causing a strain on our relationship, because she doesn't understand why it takes so long. It's hard to explain, because even I don't know why it takes so god-damned long!!! VSCers are predicting that they all feb filers will be done by the end of this month. At the current pace of CSC they may be done with Nov. filers by the end of NEXT month. I can see why so many CSC filers become inactive on here. May filers at VSC will probably still get their NOA2 before I do. I thought the fee increase was to hire more adjudicators. We have had 2 approvals in the past 2 weeks. So much for hiring more help. They are slower now, than ever before, with no reason!!! No holidays, NOTHING!!!!! Sorry for the rant but this SUCKS and I just needed to vent a little.

The wait sure does SUCK. Althought the wait itself doesn't bother me as much, the thing that irritates me the most is that once we mail our files in...they just seem to vanish. The uncertainty of what the heck is going on is probably the biggest thing we all stress about.

That said, I don't think any of us Feb filers have gotten any touches since we sent out forms in. On a brighter note, my expected date has moved up to July 28th!!! (From August 22nd)

Good Luck!

Jon-I understand how hard the wait is...this really does suck. I'm really lucky, Dennis has been there with me every step of the way...he follows our timeline and CSC approval rates as closely as I do. Does she have internet access? Maybe if you got her involved in watching VJ and CSC approvals with you she would understand better. It's really frustrating to see nothing coming out of CSC, but also remember that we on VJ are a very small cross-section of what CSC is actually doing. They could be working on other visa types or maybe it's just that there haven't happened to be any VJ filers approved lately. Or, very possibly, there are a lot of CSC filers who started timelines, but don't update anymore.

VJ predicts I could be adjudicated by July 14th, but I'll be at 60 days tomorrow. I pray that means I'm halfway there. CSC seems to be running 3-6 months for NOA2s, so it's possible. If we get happy random approvals like December did, we might see approvals next month! It's not very likely, but I'm trying to be cheerful.

Ohhhh...I was just changing the wording on my siggy countdown and I double checked my NOA1 date (on the USCIS website) and realized that I'm at 62 days...it's only two days, but it made me smile.

We should be at the half-way mark now. Next month I am going to concentrate on getting the next set of forms ready, since the Phils don't send out Packet 3's we will have everything ready by July, and all we will have to do is call for our interview. I will be so glad to go back and bring her here with me.

Last month around that time the first December Filers got approved at CSC, so maybe they will speed up soon, and in the next week they might start moving again and January filers should show up... We moved from August 19th to yesterday July 20th, now back to July 28th... on Igors List we moved last week from 212 down to 222

Honestly you've got to prepare yourselves for a difficult wait. It's impossible to say if February filers have reached the "halfway" point or not. Approvals could pick up or they could remain at the rediculously slow rate they've shown. If the CSC goies at an average 20 per week clip it would be more than 2.5 months if you follow strictly Igor's list (remember people join all the time and some approvals are for people that did not join until the approval was received). That's why sometimes we go backwards on Igor's list. Igor's list, just like the estimated timelines are just approximations and tools to see how we are progressing, not when our individual cases will be adjudicated. The best advice I can come up with is get busy in planning and organizing. On the January thread we've moved all over the place from decorating, to wedding gowns and wedding planning, to travel, to setting up blogs. This may all seem random but it has a purpose - it keeps us focused on things other than just the sitting and waiting (which can get very depressing). Have faith in your relationship and in your strength and everything will work out just fine!

Quit being a killjoy! Let us keep our unreasonable hopes alive! Some days it's all that keeps me going...even though I know it's unreasonable and I know it's probably not true. Thinking that I might have hit the halfway point makes it seem more bearable. Don't take that last little bit of hope from me.

I didnt say a word about halfway point, so dont kill me... I use to study math, and since I'm a kid I have it with numbers, so Im a person who take thinks like that appart, and I don't think that I will hear anything for another 3 month for sure!

no bodies that I can see

And for aravis, anything you say is fine.... you're well over halfway, I hope.

My fiance called up USCIS last April 15 to ask the status of the petition. He was told that he still has remaining 115 days before the approval so most likely our case will be approved on or before August 9. Hopefully it will be earlier though. This whole process has been very stressful.

Just bumping our thread again. I can see why alot of people stop posting that are CSC filers. I just read a thread about a VSCer whining that their approval took 96 days. Sorry for my complete lack of sympathy.

They won't find any sympathy from me either....

i hope it is earlier for you, too. this is a very stressful process. hang in there.

Hey guys. Look's like CSC has done some work this week. They've put out 3 approvals!! Here's hoping they continue to increase the rate.

I'm trying not to get too excited, but Dennis and I are looking at me possibly going to Winnipeg for about two months (July and August) for the (hopefully) last stretch of the wait. I'm so excited! We're trying to decide if we can afford it because I would have to quit my job...which is kind of silly because I'll just have to find another one when we get back, but I'm so incredibly under-paid and over-worked...I've been seriously thinking about looking for a different job for a long time. I just had to say it to someone...hopefully it all works out!

wow! that would be amazing!!! i hope it works out for you. what a great way to spend the summer!

Figured I'd give this a bump to the front again. No news on my side, we're still in the waiting game with everyone. But on a good note, Tina and I have made plans to be together in July so we can celebrate our one year engagement anniversary together. i'm wishing we get our approval during that time!!

Yay! Dennis is probably coming here for about a week in July, I can't wait to see him! I want to go up there to visit, but I've used all of my vacation time already (Well...I have 5 days left, but those are for helping him move and then a couple of days for the civil ceremony and a mini-honeymoon). We're all starting to officially hit 90 days. I told myself that I would admit to myself that I was hoping to hear something once I hit 90 days (I know...it's extremely optimistic), once I hit 120 I'll start really looking.

Here's hoping we'll all get approved at three or four months! Someone posted in another thread that looking at last year's numbers 30% of K1s for the entire year were approved in May. I would love to contribute to that number this year!

Also...I'm not sure if anyone else noticed, but February filers have officially broken the 200 mark on Igor's list. I'm currently 198 and I didn't get my NOA1 until Valentine's day.

Nothing new on this side. I've moved from 240 to #228 on the list! I got my NOA1 towards the end of Feb so I'm still under the 90 day mark. It seems like CSC is waking up slowly....keeping my fingers crossed. I was checking out last years approvals and noticed the amount of applications approved in April and May. They can really crank out those approvals if they actually do some work.

Government employees are the same everywhere... "Ahh...I'll get to it next week" - they say that every day.

lol...remember that they work on lots of other kinds of visas besides K1s. I wish they could dedicate their time to us, but there are a lot of other people waiting, too! The general theory for the April slow down is that H1-B visas, which are limited to something like 8500 a year, re-open on April 1st. They get flooded about 13000 applications for those 8500 visas. So they focus on those since they're limited numbers, then they get back to the other visa types.

I'm so happy, we finally under 210.... 208 is a nice number right now, after being between 212 and 225 for over a month... Craig is coming on Monday, and today we hit day 75, my personal half time of getting NOA2. Happy first of May! (we have 2 holidays today in Germany!)

woo-hooo! Enjoy the visit! There's nothing quite like seeing your fiance after months of being apart!

You said it! heres to feb filers being the whole 30%!!! I just checked igors list and have moved up to 178! I was in the 180's last week. lets keep it moving people!!!!