I sent my 129F on the 8th of may. And I noticed that most people get their first NOA within 10 days. I called USCIS and they said I should call back the 5 of June if I havent heard of anything. Should I be concerned? Should I call them again? Is this unusual?

I'm just freaking out because it seems like everything I do turns astray, and I want to make sure they recieved it so I can send another if they didnt get it or whatnot.

Did you send the package with tracking? Are you sure they received it?

It's been about three weeks. Give it another week and call them back.

no I'm not sure.
Another one of those things that I should've done...

As mentioned the Fed Ex could track it if you registered it. How did you pay? If with a check, has it been cashed yet?
Which office did you go through? west coast is a bit slower in there response times.

I sent it through USPS, and they were rushing me out the door because it took so long to get my passport photo. I'm from washington and I sent it to Nebraska. I didn't send it ground or anything, but first class so it shouldve got there in 2-3 business days.
I'm just wondering if this is normal, or a cause for concern, because im assuming like everyone else, this is seriously putting a strain on my relationship with my fiance.

Edit* oh yeah, I did write a check, and it hasnt been cashed yet. otherwise I wouldnt be so worried.

hi james and maria
when you posted your petition did you have a receipt given to you from the post office...if you have that receipt from your package you will find a tracking number..you could ring the post office dont know if it would help..

i sent mine with usps and put it in an express post bag..is that what you did too...

hope that helps in anyway...did the person you spoke to at USCIS by any chance tell you your names were in the system?

take care and good luck
kath

i think you should wait for 1-2 weeks at most as the USCIS officer told you on the phone.
from my experience, i sent I-129F on April 30, received at CSC on May 2, and got NOA1 date of May 23, received from snail mail on May 26.

so using my reference, if you sent I-129F on May 8, then you should get the NOA1 snail mail between June 8 to 10.

if you still haven't received the NOA1 snail mail by June 10, call the USCIS again to follow up.

I would wait until the day they tell you, then call. If you don't have anything, ask them to enter your name. If they've done anything with it, they can give you your receipt number. I was getting pretty frustrated with them because I filed on April 26th and it was received two days later, but I had no notice and nothing had happened with my bank account. I called this morning, and got an officer would was no help and told me to wait another 30 days. I called a few hours later, got someone else, and after explaining to her that all I knew was it was received via USPS, and that I had filed more than 30 days ago, she asked for my name, then verified my birthdate, my fiance's name and birthdate and was able to get me my receipt number, even though the check hasn't cleared my bank and I haven't received anything physical. Now I can at least track it online. Just be persistent, but polite, and don't let them try to give you vague answers so you go away. It takes less than 5 minutes for them to type in your name and look it up.

I know it's hard, but hang tight. It's the busy season for USCIS and they're slowing down because of the surge of recently filed petitions. Spring and summer are super busy! It's unfair, I know, but hang tight. Your check will be cashed and you'll receive the NOA1.

And equally absurd, don't compare what happens to others to what's going on with your submittal. For no discernable reason, some petitions are processed faster than others. It's not based on merit nor on submittal dates necessarily. The NOA1 will get there.

MM and MS

Same here. I mailed my K-1 May 3 and called them, they said wait 2 more weeks. They had no record of my K-1.

Seems hit or miss with us May filers. I was a little worried myself until the bank cleared my check which gave me a chance to find everything. Just keep calling until you get some help.

Lots of checks sometimes take a while to get through the system depending on your bank. I just happen to live in Japan and use a US bank that uses new systems for sending check data back within a week. Last bank I had took a month for the check to travel through the system.

It took them a full month to cash our cheque so I wouldn't worry yet.

Dont worry about it just yet..

wait another week or two...

I've heard in some cases they take longer than others to cash the check..

I second the part about waiting a short time then calling again. You can tell fairly quickly whether the person that answer the phone "wants" to help you or not.

I usually act very polite, tell them I am deeply concerned, and simply want my to know more. I ask please help. Sometimes the person on the line has been helpful. Other times I get the old "call back in 30 days" speach. Check out my signature and it shows they can and will give information if they want to.

DON'T give up. Visit your fiancee again. Have her visit you. Should be easy from UK. My girl is in Russia and I plan to visit about once every two months until she has her visa. Expensive... but it's much better to be planning your next visit than to stress about the visa.

My fiancee has handled our delays well. She is upset that the lawyer told us one thing... but the USCIS is taking their sweet time considering we are at the VSC.

Hi - I'm from Washington too so that meant I had to send my I-129F to Nebraska. It was received there a few days later (I sent it return receipt requested). Upon reading various threads here I learned that my packet was likely gonna be forwarded over to the Califonria Service Center, where it did eventually get to, where it sat in a pile for nearly a month. I just got my chcek cashed a week or so ago (I was checking my bank account online at least 20 times a day) and saw on the back of the check that I had a case number, and yes I HAD been transferred to CSC just like everyone told me I would on here. Then a few days later I got my NOA1 via snail mail.

I know it's difficult but I would wait another week or so before you called. Don't beat yourself up about how you mailed it and such, what's done is done, I am sure it got there ok. I would keep checking your bank statements online to see when they cash your check and also what was very helpful to me was finding 'freinds' who sent off packets around the same time I did as when one of my new friends here got her check cashed and an NOA1 in the mail, I got mine shortly after.

Keep the faith. Best of luck to you, and keep us posted.

Annette

Annette is right, there's nothing wrong with your application. For those of us who file at the NSC it takes a lot more than 10 days to get our NOA1!!! I know it's frustrating cuz we were in your shoes a month ago! Remember than the NSC forwards the applications to the CSC, so it takes longer... for what I've seen it's taking from 30 to 35 days! Check the timelines of other people who applied on NSC since April, and you'll see.

If you call right now, I don't think they will be able to give you any info, other than what we already know.

Be patient, (Yes! It's hard!) But we have no other option during this process but wait
GOOD LUCK!

Thanks for all the support
Its nice knowing that James and I aren't the only ones going through all of this ridiculousness.

But, has all of the cases been sent to california? why didnt they tell us so we could send it there in the first place?
I don't know anything about that
fill me in?

thanks a ton

Just the way it goes it seems, I asked myself that same question being so close to CA to begin with why didn't we just get to file there and save all this forwarding around? *sigh* I am sure there is a logical reason as to why it's all done this way maybe some wise visajourney sage can give us the scoop one day, eh? In the meantime hang in there and vent away, we all feel and understand your frustration.

All the best,
Annette