Yes, i'm at Vermont as well

Msnoob,

What I forgot to mention earlier on: nice to see another fellow March filer join the thread!

Just a quick update.

I have not been touched since USCIS sent NOA1s for both petitions. I'm actually not giving any credence to touches. A lot of touching without action isn't a good sign of seriouseness.

Since it's been over a month since the initial filing date and receipt of NOAs I can only imagine ( wish? ) that something good is coming. Some people have been approved in as little as one month. Looks like I won't be in this club.

I am now living in Cambodia with my wife. I am of course keeping all my receipts and tickets just in case USCIS wants more evidence of a bonafide marriage. All this excitement and tension of waiting isn't fun.

May God Bless Everyone!

Hello fellow march filers, I have not recieved a touch since filing on 3/17/08. Just wondering whats a good hotline or uscis california service center, I called the number on their site but hung up after waiting 10 minutes.

Thanks

Hello!!

I also filed the I-130 in March, but the I-129F in April (at Vermont). Now I'm very worried because it's been more than two weeks and we still didn't receive the NOA1 for the I-129F. I saw on Jeca's timeline that their application was lost by the immigration. I wonder if that happened to my package too... Do you think I could find out something by calling them? I know they have this National calling service so maybe I won't be able to get precise information. Besides I have the receipt number for the I-130 only... You know every day is precious for us... I see people already having their cases touched and I worry that my case is gonna take forever!! So sad! I wish I could be there for my husband's b-day in September...

Well, guys! I believe God answered my prayers because right after I wrote last post, my husband sent me a message saying that he received the NOA1 for the I-129F form. What a relief! I thought they had lost it!! Well, now we're officially in the game...

God Bless everyone!
Ah! By the way...
Do we have any sort of timeline for all march filers in VJ yet?

FOLKS, I have been touched on both petitions today.

Can't say if this is the first or second touches. The first touch took place a day or two after I received my NOA1s but both were touched on the same day. Again today I was touched on both.

I expect some news, rfe, or approval letter this week. Sometimes you just feel something is happening.

Too many touches will start to scare me but things are looking good right about now.

SPSguy, Just letting prople know, because of your success with filing both petitions together. I also sent both of my petitions toghether to the CSC. Both of them were received and I received NOA's for both of them. I admit I was getting a little nervous because I received the NOA for the I-129F 3 days after receiving the NOA for the I-130. But I do have both of them with the statment about the fee being waived for the I-129F.

Great!!!!!!!

Perhaps they had to file the 129F before processing the 130. I could see this happening if there's a weekend or holiday in between. I've been a bit surprised myself to see that both my petitions have been well synched. Touches on the same day. Hard copies on the same day. I actually feel something/some action will take place this coming week.

Another person on VJ received filed and recieved his NOA1s about two weeks before me. His timeline and touches were similiar to mine. He was approved last week.

Hear ye. Hear ye.

GOOD NEWS MY FREINDS!

Just as I had reported last week about the good feelings I was getting ( sometimes you just feel it ). Today, I received APPROVED NOA2 on both petitions.

My wife and I are both excited, delighted, and optomistic more good news will be coming to all the March Filers.
If you have not received yours yet, I'm sure they will come soon.

About the 129F approval: VALID FROM 05/08/2008 TO 09/07/2008.

The 129F is approved and letter states that they have sent the original petition to the Department of state National Visa Center in NH. NVC processes all approved immigrant visa petitions that need consular action. It also determines which consular post is the appropriate consular to complete the visa processing steps.

The NVC will contact the person for whom you are petitioning ( beneficiary ) concerning further immigrant visa processing steps.

About the 130 approval:

The letter states the exact same thing as the 129F NOA2 BUT CONTAINS NO VALID DATES.


It appears my approvals have once again defy all odds. USCIS have approved BOTH petitions on the same day and will be sending BOTH approvals to NVC. This is different from others that have their 129F forwarded and 130 held at State Department.

My wife and I are so surprised at the speed of approval that frankly we don't know which route is best at this point. We'll take a few days off to celebrate and return to share our final decision.

My thinking is to move forward with the 129F approval and get the VISA in hand and let the 130 approval idle until we adjust status in the U.S. Due to our situation we are considering getting the K3 visa and taking advantage of the 2 year entry advantage.

Since the 129F has a validity date of four months, I assume the worst happens is she will be called in for an interview no later than September. But something tells me it will be much sooner..maybe even this month.

Okay folks that's it for now. I'm happy to report every step of the process so others can learn from my experience abeit positive or negative.

I will be traveling the next few days. Take and God Bless!

CONGRATS! I hope I get a touch or something soon, Im going crazy!
Im happy you got both approved

Congrats Hope everything goes just as well for the rest of your Journey for you and your wife.

I am praying that mine goes just as fast.

Today, I went online and noticed the status for both my petitions still show PENDING despite receiving both NOA2s in the mail this week. YET BOTH WERE TOUCHED ON 5-15-2008.

I was curious ( but had a hunch that they must have sent both petitions to the VISA center ). So I picked up the fone and called 603-334-0700. The system asked for USCIS case# or NVC case#. Since I only have USCIS# I entered the # for 130. NVC recording states that they have entered the case into their computer on 5-15-2008. THE SAME DAY THAT THEY TOUCHED MY CASE. The automated system was able to provide me with NVC# for the 130 and stated that the beneficiary will be notified within 6-8 weeks.

Next, I entered the USCIS case# for the 129F and the recording states no record is found.

I can only imagine ( hope ) that the NVC sent the approved 129F to the consulate thus no record is found in the NVC computer.

Hopefully this does not mean that they cancelled my 129F approval and will process only the 130 as my wife and I prefer the K3 visa over CR1. But I remain optimistic that NVC will do the right thing since I indicated clearly on both petitions and on coverletter that my intention was to obtain a K3 visa for my wife.

I might be mistaken but this is when indicating the K3 Intention will come in handy.

In summary, everytime my case is touched, some action is taken. This time my 130 is received/entered in NVC computer. THE MYSTERY HERE IS WHERE IS MY 129F PETITION. IT'S BEEN TOUCHED but did they trash it or forward to consulate processing, thus never hits NVC computer system?

This morning NVC office has confirmed with me that they have assigned NVC case numbers for both petitions.
NVC confirms they have sent 129 to the consulate and will retain 130 for further processing. According to the lady on the phone, this is standard procedure for K3 VISAs.

I also received confirmation that my 129F left NVC on May 16. Using DHL.com, I see that a package from US. Department of State arrived in Cambodia on May 19, 2008.

So Far So Good.

I finally got a touch on my I-129 only. Not sure what theyre doing but Im just glad its not lost. I hope its something good. like approval!

Crap my touch was an RFE Does anyone know what they usually ask for when they ask for more evidence? I hope its something easy!

I'm sorry to hear the news. Some on here will say that an RFE is easy. I'll tell you that it can be. Two months ago I was helping a lady satisfy her RFE to NVC. For some reason, they kept telling her that they never received. She has been going through this for almost 18 months.

She's sent the same RFEs several times with registered mail.

Here's where it got really bad..

NVC was waiting for original copies of her marriage certificate and police clearance. As you can imagine there can be only one original so going back to the authority for more orginal copies became a major inconvenience and expense.

Be careful and get proof like certified and registered mail when submiting original copies for RFEs. If possible, have several copies of original documents JUST IN CASE.

FYI, the lady is still waiting for NVC to investigate the missing orginal docs.

UPDATE.

Today, I received a letter from NVC stating that they have forwarded the approved 129F petition to the consulate in Cambodia for K3 VISA.

I never had my case touched... actually... The last update on my I-130 was on April 1st (6 days after the date on the noa1), and the last time they updated my I-129f was on May 5th (also only a few days after they sent me the NOA1). So I think they were just giving a first look at the papers. I don't stop telling myself this is not a bad sign since some officer may not update the information everytime they work on our cases. But it feels good when we see something happening, han?
I hope the VSC 'revolution' has started with the I120f they approved today so they approve ours really fast!!

I got the RFE in the mail today, I sent a copy of my marriage license in english but not in arabic . So I will overnight that on Tuesday. . Hopefully they finish my case fast after they get the paper.

Just a quick update on what has happened since package got delivered to consulate in Cambodia.


Emailed Cambodia Embassy For Packet 3: 6-05-2008 - No Response
Emailed Cambodia Embassy For Packet 3: 6-15-2008 - No Response
Walked into Cambodia Embassy For Packet 3: 7-03-2008 - Told to email
Emailed Cambodia Embassy Again 7-3-2008: Received Autoresponse with basic web links
Emailed Cambodia Embassy Again 7-3-2008: Received reply Stating Address in Cambodia was invalid so they had to mail packet 3 to my U.S. address. However, they also included packet 3 in the email.

Lesson learned: Make sure your country's mailing system is reliable. If not reliable, make sure your mailing address is easy to find or better yet get a post office box at the postal office.

I honestly do not believe they would have emailed me the packet 3 information if I had not emailed them multiple times.

Anyways, here we go with packet 3.

Wow.. Congratulations!! Good luck with it.. I'm still waiting for my approval from USCIS!!!

Is there anyway I can see what all is contained in Packet 3 to get ready for it?

Chet,

I am sorry to hear the delay for you. It's frustrating I know. I get frustrated just by walking into PP embassy and not getting a straight answer. I cannot imagine the frustration you have. If you would private message me your email address I'll forward packet 3 to you. It's really the same as what you sent with 130 and 129 and 134 affidavit of support.

One thing I learned today is that my wife won't be able to get a police clearance until the ministry opens after the election which is July 28. Can you imagine that? A whole ministry closing down for the election.

If you think its difficult getting an answer from USCIS, it'll be 100 times worse from PP embassy. A lady I work with told me her niece didn't get her packet 3 for almost one year. Not sure if it's the unreliable mail system or unreliable embassy workers in Cambodia. I walked into the embassy and heard the teller speak English to a fellow "white" American. Came my turn I stepped up to the glass counter and asked if he spoke Cambodian. He said "any language is fine." So I spoke English to him. He looked at me like he's never spoken English before. So he went inside to get another Cambodian guy. I spoke to the new guy who apparently thought I was a complete idiot and that I should have emailed the request for packet 3. I told him I had already emailed several times but they don't respond. He wasn't any help. He wrote down the same email address that I had emailed several times. Bottom line is no need to walk into the embassy until your wife is scheduled for the interview.

The good news is that in Cambodia, there is only packet 3 and then the interview. Unfortunately, there wont be any action without a police clearance.

How are things coming along now in Cambodia? I've heard some disturbing rumors that the government may impose a 3 year waiting period before anyone can leave. I hope that this is not true as I can't be away from my wife for that long!! Email me when you get this message with your updates. Hope all is going well for you as you wait for the police clearance and interview.

Chet,

Since we have communicated by email several times, I'll just answer your last question about the 3 year waiting period. I'VE NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A RULE IN CAMBODIA.

To update everyone, my wife received her packet 3 and has received her VISA valid for two years.
We both will be living in Cambodia for now but will be using the K3 sometiems around new year.

I will likely file to have the 130 processed in Cambodia since we will be staying in Cambodia for a while.

To summarize: From start to finish, our k3 was approved in less than 5 months. Everthing was quick until
it reached Cambodia.

We first didn't receive our K3 package and after several atempts by email, they finallly sent the package to me by email. Had I not contacted the embassy by email, we would have had to wait 30 days to receive the package at my U.S. mailing address.

Hope this helps. I'll keep this thread updated as/when we decide to move forward with my wife's 130. I am happy just have her k3 and 2 year entry.

good luck!