hey guys, very new here...what does touched mean and how can i tell if its happened (i feel like this is a sex ed question!!) ??

my husband is australian and in australia...i dont have my info with me for specific dates, but my i129f and i130 seem to be taking significantly more time than other peoples. i filed i130 at the end of march, havent heard a peep since the receipt notice early april. is that normal? it doesnt seem normal.

with the i129f filed immediately after i130 receipt, my first request for evidence was a paper that made me sign that my marriage wasnt arranged. did i miss something in the original application? are they allowed to just change legislation to make this a requirement halfway through a pending application? i received this in june and sent it out the next day. 3 weeks later i received a receipt, with another copy of this form! i called customer service and they said to send it in, just in case. i did. 2 weeks later i got a receipt.

then i didnt hear anything from them until october 22 when they sent another request for evidence for g325a..i had only sent one copy of each. does it say to send two on the instructions? i cant believe i could make such a big mistake. sent it out and got a receipt a couple days ago.

of course this whole time i have called incessantly and gotten zero information from customer service.

the third question is that after being lied to by the service center and them telling me that dcf and filing in the US takes the same amount of time, can i just say f this and go back to australia and try to file the dcf? it would probably be quicker at this point and im getting pretty desperate!

the last question is why do they have to be so torturous so randomly? ive read so many posts of people having theirs completed in a 1/4 of the time it has taken out. horrible sadists!!

also just filed a congressional inquiry with my local congressman to speak up on behalf of my case. well see what comes of that!

thanks for reading and for your help!!!

It sounds to me like things are really really taking longer than it should be.

A touch is what it means when you register online, and you see the date has changed for the last update. This means that someone has touched your file and scanned the barcode, although you don't always know what it means.

I'm not sure about the DCF, but I would definitely start calling people.

As for the G325A, you were supposed to send 1 copy for you (4 sheets) and one for your spouse (4 sheets). Sometimes they lose things though.

Sorry for all your delays.




and to register online, go here:

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/selectusertype.jsp

Good move, things really happened for my wife and I after faxing our 2 senators and local congressman. I have emails responses from the embassy to the senators and congressmen and senators. I strongly beleive there played a big part in keeping our case moving forward.

You will not get good information by calling the service centers.

You always have the option of abandoning your case and doing DCF. As for timing differences? Since you are so deep in the K-3 then who knows.

a dummy question: what is DCF?

you guys are amazing!! thank you so much for the information. i just did an 'ohhh no' because i submitted, by instruction from the customer service person, to send two copies of the form inside the g325a packet (for a total of 4 pages) rather than all 8 total of 4 copies for each of us. should i send more in?

DCF = Direct Consular Filing

We are kind of in the same boat as you. We haven't filed the I-130 and I-129F as long as you...but basically we are abandoning the current petitions...

Reading from peoples experience, as long as you are prepared, you can get the visa 2 - 4 months tops.

Goodluck!

Queromare -- I just added a reply to your DCF post -- have a look there, but I think it's a great option for you!

It's so fast and easy and you're already married - that's half the battle.

REALLY EXAMINE DCF!!!! Read the guides and seriously consider it - will take MONTHS off of your filing time.

While I understand your need to make something happen, you want to make sure you're not at cross-purposes with yourself.

First thing I see is that you've had an RFE on one of your petitions--which one?
Did you know that typically, approval appears within 30 days of an RFE return receipt? This is based on watching other folks' experiences over time and does not include the IMBRA RFE that was added to your case. (I don't know if your one additional copy will satisfy or if they're going to be freaks and want all four from each)
To answer your rhetorical question, yes of course they can add legislation that affects files currently in the pipeline. You are wasting energy if you continue to be ticked off by that.

The phonecalls are an equal waste of time.

I'd encourage you to think it over pretty well before dumping this and going for a DCF, and normally I'm the DCF cheerleader. It partly depends on which petition got the RFE and how much more money you're willing to spend to gain what amount of forward movement.

we have tentatively decided that if in a month (when i am scheduled to visit anyways) we do not hear anything that we will abandon the US filing. the thing is that so little has happened...the time after we sent in the 'our marriage wasnt arranged' form until we got the second rfe was as long as it has taken most of you for the whole filing! we are averaging three months in between contacts or rfes and a change of status. so while i would love to believe that we would get an approval within 30 days, i feel like it is extremely unlikely in our case. this is for the i129f...havent heard anything about i130.

basically we are being driven to act foolishly and to waste a ridiculous amount of money that we dont have just to know where we stand. for SURE. 8 months of not seeing each other is pretty unbearable.

(the question about new legislation was not rhetorical, i work with many agencies and ive never heard of new legislation being retroactively applied to pending applications...im pretty sure that would not hold up in federal court if contested. im not really ticked off either, i just wish it hadnt happened).

does anyone know of any other recourse for speeding this up other than making a congressional inquiry? it would be really great if we didnt have to start all over.

It still looks as though you did not send in a complete g325. For yourself and your spouse there should have been 4 pages each totalling 8 in all. When you download this form if you look I believe on the bottom it will have the page numbers 1 through 4. They do look identical, but are four seperate pages.

WRT your files, yoiu should take into consideration that there is some other reason your petition slowed down, like an IBIS hit or a namecheck issue. Going to the Consulate to file doesn't remove that obsticle and *could* (not will) create an additional problem or delay.
It's *generally* NOT a good idea to ditch a case in progress for an identical filing overseas.

I wrote some other stuff that I've taken out, but I have to point out that language like 'we are being driven to...' is counterproductive. You don't have the longest case, by a long shot. You are not being abused, the agency are not sadists, you are not being persecuted. I think you will have a lot better success with your case if you do some more reading and stick with the Congressional inquiry that you've now started.

I also do not understand how re-filing will let you know where you stand... ?
And, do you have the NOA date for your I-130 (when it was received?). Have you made sure you are in/out of normal processing range, as CIS defines it?

meauxna, i appreciate your reality check. to be honest it never occurred to me that there could be a LEGITIMATE reason why our application was taking so long. what is an ibis hit? the extent of misinformation given to me lead me to believe that there is a serious incompetence issue in this agency, rather than a real reason, but that is not necessarily the case.

as for counterproductivity and language...this agency exists to serve its clients, who pay a lot of money, are kept almost completely in the dark and are given dead wrong information throughout an emotionally difficult process of unspecified length. you seem resigned to that reality but i am not. i understand many more people are suffering more than i am, but that does not bring me comfort. it makes me angrier. and anger at the process may seem counterproductive to you, but it leads to action for me. i dont know where you are in your immigration, maybe yours is complete and you forgot, but it HURTS. and writing (jokingly, nonetheless) about my distaste is the absolute least dramatic therapy for me to express the pain i have felt for 8 months. so please, leave that part alone, everybody copes in different ways, everybody has plenty to grieve over no matter how long the process is, and i am just happy i found sources that can help me get on the right track.

that said i think you have given excellent advice that will probably put an end to the DCF question for us, pending more information of course, and i am very interested in and appreciative of your input.

the i130 was received on march 31. i dont have the notice with me at work but i assume it is 180 days, since they are processing may 2 applications.

looked back on my records and i actually did send 4 sheets each to the rfe, despite the call center telling me 2 each!

thanks for your well measured reply. We'll just have to agree to disagree on the some of it, or maybe we can talk about it another time. I appreciate our differing levels of sensitivity on the topic!

Now, you do have something concrete you can work with there. If you are going to follow up with your elected reps and getting someone to do something, you can tell them that you are officially outside of the processing time*. This is something they actually CAN follow up on for you.
But, choose wisely. Out of the two Senators and one Representative available to you, one will have a better reputation for helping with immigration. Find out who that is and stick with them. Multiple Congressionial inquiries can interfere with each other and make things worse.
Reviewing the posted processing date, you actually could be on an officer's desk at this point... you're right in that window, but definitely follow up on your I-130 ASAP.

You then have to consider how much time you'll spend in the NVC.. I think you are nearly at a wash with speed at this point (vs DCF). I can say that the Immigrant Visa is much more complete than the K visa and if you get a choice and can hold out, do. And don't totally rule out DCF--it's always there for you.

About IBIS, it's part of the security check and includes the USC. Common names etc can cause a 'hit' which can not be cleared until it's cleared. You can search on google, and google/groups (alt.visa.us.marriage-based) for more detailed explanations of what it actually "is", but I think that's all you want to know right now.

I will add one thing about what we're agreeing to disagree about, and that's who the agency's customer *is*. It might not be you, sad to say. US immigration law is essentially written from the perspective of 'every one is ineligible until they show themselves eligible' aka Stay Out. The world has moved on faster than the laws can keep up. I'm not resigned to how things are, but I am realistic. You can find our timeline in my signature.

Crack on! You'll get lots of encouragement and info here, and sometimes, more than you asked for. I'll be looking for your good news to be posted very soon!





*When the posted processing date is +30 days past your NOA1 date, you are officially outside of the processing guidelines. The SC usually won't talk to you if you're inside that date. Outside it and they *must* respond to your Congressperson. The posted processing date is supposed to be the oldest case on their shelf.

regarding the G325 "A" ///for your information

submitting our I130 . it required a G325 (1 copy per person with pictures)
which we filled out and sent off
with the full petition application. no problem!!!

once I received the NOA1 for the I130

next step...

since we are already married I129F for K-3 visa
the petition was to include a "G325 "A" form filled out 4 times per person????
I could not see the difference in the G325 form to the G325A form. I almost
photocopied the G325 form 4 times.....when I realized there was a difference!!!

when you print out a G325A form it comes in a PDF and prints 4 copies...

the key is to notice the lower left hand corner of the application form...
there are 4 different dept names that each application will be forwarded to!

sooooo....I think you may be way behind in the application process since you
have not completed the full I129F petition. You will probably have to rectify
this ASAP!

did you take photocopies of your application petition with supporting documents???

cheers!
Denise

you know i perfectly understand your feeling . we also filed our I-129f to MSC and sent already the rfe and noticed us sept 29 and after that we are still waiting.. but i guess we both should have patience.. and i dont blame you.. if you feel that way too.. coz i for myself i have seen some been approved only 13 days.. wow.. what a lucky couple...! just hold on there.. and pray im sure things will work for all of us in time...

ahhhhh!! the receipt date is march 31, the notice date is april 4 and they are processing may 2. so it could be weeks before that date is modified.

luckily there is a large public policy group at my work, one of whom had the job of making the congressional immigration inquiries for awhile and knows exactly how the process works and who to go to.

i129f has been touched almost everyday this week including saturday...i130 hasnt been touched since april 6, is that normal?

I don't 'do' touches..there is no discernable pattern to them for you to draw any conclusions, other than those you might with tea leaves etc.

The dates you list mean that you are hopefully like 99% of the posts I reply to on this topic: your case is on a desk and just at the point you get head-explody, you get the NOA2.

Me & my Magic Eight Ball say: watch your email this week.