I am bummed out. We have been watching and comparing timelines and waiting and we have shown excitement as we see all our VJ friends get approvals. We wait for ours and we look everyday and still nothing. People are good to us and offer us sound advise on being patient and how we will see our approval soon. Everyday I look for something... anything to happen only to be let down again.

They say they process them in order, but people are flying by us now. I called and they can't tell me anything. We are somehow in limbo and I am at a loss for what to do.

We are in the slow line

It seems so unfair and hurtful. They hold our lives in their hands and we can't do anything about it. We are trying to do what's right and it still seems that not only is immigration against us, but the entire world. He is so far away and we miss him more than I can put into words.

We did all our paperwork, we did all the paperwork and steps for as far into the future that we could...

I looked again for probably the 20th time today just hoping somone stayed late at the California Service Center to process just one more petition. I try to keep my mind off it, but it's there... it is like the darkness behind your eyelids.... you see it everytime you blink.

It is so hard to wait and watch as others succeed. Most of the Australian American couples have seen approvals, even the ones who submitted petitions after ours and even the ones sent to CSC after ours. I try to remain strong and happy, but each day that passes makes me think of the newest layer of dust sitting on our petitions.

I wish there was a way to see what is going on.. did they throw the petitions away? Guess you just never really know...

Thanks for listening

i feel the same way
I don't know how much more longer i will have to wait. i feel so desperate and confused as to who to talk to.

I always think of all the things I did wrong. maybe I missed something. I know rationally that I followed every checklist that I could find and if they needed something they would have sent an RFE by now. I don't know where else to turn. I am sorry you are in the slow line too. My life, David always says that our time will come and he tries to help me through it, but everyday I get worse and worse. They have our lives in their hands. I feel helpless. He holds me up, but I am afraid I am pulling him down sometimes. He holds onto hope and I think of the worst. My mind is constantly pouring through the steps to see if there is anything I can do and I hunt this site looking for a new answer to no avail.

The slow line

They need to see how much pain this causes for people. Do they know the importance of their jobs? Are they chatting in the coffee room wasting valuable time? Do they go home to their husbands and wives each night and think nothing of those who are without that honor? People tell me that it makes us stronger, but I don't feel strong. I feel hurt and sad and upset and mad. I feel lost and without. Is there something wrong? Could I have done something more? Should I write a letter and if I do, where would I send it and would they even read it?

I feel like a voice in an empty room...echoing

I don't know how to be

I am in the same boat. So tired from waiting. I am constantly checking the USCIS site and nothing. We have filed three petitions (two I 130 for me and for our baby and I 129 F) and nothing has been touch since they were received at CSC. I don't want what to think. You are right that our life is in the hands of these people. Let's hope and pray God for fast approvals.

Count us in! I am very very frustrated. I can't believe this is happening! we never got anything not even a touch from both petitions! What is going on? Everyday, i check my emails... sometimes, i just want to stay up the whole night waiting for a touch!!!

Imagine both - NO TOUCHES!!! aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

It's not fair to us. We are good people. We sent them enough proof. What do they want from us? I gave them everything I could. They can have this house. They can have my clothes and my car. Hell, they can have my birthday if they want it...They can take anything they want from me, but instead they take David and he is my everything. It's not fair and they don't know the pain. They see us as a number.. another petition in another day of paperwork. They do not know us and they do not see us and yet they get to choose our paths in our lives. I understand the need to protect a country. I understand the need to check peoples records to make sure they are not criminals. I understand the need to make the country as safe as possible, but what I don't understand is how they can't hire more people. We gave them our money to process the paperwork. We have to pay them to put their eyes on it and yet they still have to take half a year of my life??? Why?

Every day is a day closer to him, but a day robbed of him nonetheless. They can never give me that day back!

It's so wrong and unfair and mean and yes I am sad and hurting and miserable and mad. We are good people and we work hard. These people are determining our fate and they judge us by a piece of paper... a number...

I am tired of being patient... I am tired

Cheer up, approval must be around the corner for you.
They touch your paperwork, so it is not lost. They just like looking at it
Why don't you place a call to the RFE line and see if may be RFE is on the way? I hope not, but then it would be SOMETHING HAPPENING instead of just waiting.
Bon courage,
Rika

Hi,
You have articulated how many of us are feeling very well. Each day lost is one that we never get back.
But on a brighter note, your case is pending , you will get approved soon. Maybe you did such a good job with your paperwork, that they just want to hold on to it a bit longer and enjoy the job you did. Best wishes and good luck!

I know the waiting seems forever. My fiance was ripped from my arms in March of 2006 when an immigration official at the airport determined he was a risk to immigrant illegally. He was sent back on the same plane that we had just flown on, on our our return trip from France. We were treated like criminals when in fact that wasn't the case.

Each day we watched the website for updates on our k-1 and each day was like a limbo of waiting. Our approval came in November of 2006 and his interview was for February. I was starting to make plans for his homecoming when the rug was pulled from us again. This time someone wrongly accused him of being "unlawfully present" in the US and we started the waiver process. During that time I felt half alive...waking, eating, working, sleeping. I lived for our time by phone or with the web cam. The time zone differences were so frustrating. I could talk to him before he went to sleep, but it was heart wrenching because I knew again that we would each be going to bed alone. I miss him so much. All of the little simple daily things that one can do together...morning coffee, walking hand in hand. I'm almost 50 years old and I have never felt so young in all my life as I do when I am with this wonderful man. Now we are 15 months later and I'm still waiting for him!

But the good news he is coming on Monday. His visa is approved--his ticket purchased. All this came very quickly in the last 2 weeks. I have to tell you once this occurs even if your SO isn't here yet, you'll have a totally different point of view. I can't stop smiling. It is like these terrible 15 months are almost forgotten. I know we still have lots of steps to do, more hoops to jump through, to get him to be here permanently....but it is all worth it. The only thing that this separation has done, is that it has strengthened our bond. And if there were ever any doubts about the depths of one's feelings for the other, this time erases those doubts.

Keep the chin up....it will come and it will be worth the effort.

I can't say it any better than my wife has said it.

I try to stay positive - not just for me but for Rings, who I love and cherish and worry about, and who I want to be strong for. I don't always succeed. Many of these days I feel like I am only half a person, trying to fill my days with things that might mean something to anyone else but to me they are just ways to get through the time while my life sits on somebody's desk waiting to be processed.

I know I should be thankful that we are on our way. I should be thankful that I have such a wonderful wife and so much to look forward to. I should be thankful that I have been given the chance to love and to be loved. I should be thankful my story hasn't yet become like some I have read here, including those of some of you who have posted here in this thread. I should be happy that I still have hope, and that I may be home by Christmas if everything goes smoothly.

My heart breaks for any of you who have had to wait, who have been questioned or denied even though your love is real. I do understand why the process is difficult, and why the US government needs to determine that relationships and marriages are genuine. But while I know that they are just being careful, I desperately wish that they could just see us together, just look at the love in our eyes and know that we are doing this because we cannot live without our love. I wish that I could make them understand the hurt that we go through every day that we are forced to wait.

I wish...

I wish so many things, but most of all I just wish I could begin my life with the girl I want to grow old with.

To all of you who hurt, who have been made to wait, who have been questioned and refused and who have had to justify your love to some government employee...I hope your life after this awful wait is filled with happiness and fulfilment, enough to wash away the pain that leads to the beginning of something truly magical.

You guys (the poster and Loke) seem to have been touched on 5/17. Did you guys try calling the USCIS RFE number to check on your status. I remember last week; many people getting approvals on the phone even when the website wasnt updated. I hope your 5/17 touches on both petitions were approvals and they are already at NVC...

Try to remember that every case is different and takes a different amount of time. It doesn't mean there is something wrong in your case - it may mean that the case on top of yours is taking longer than normal. Cases are processed in order to some degree, but again, every case is different and every case officer works at a different pace. Try not to worry and hang tight - it will come.

I have called and called and they won't let me know anything because the petition has not exceed the 180 days from the date it was received at CSC. They tell me nothing. I have called the RFE customer service too... nothing.

They told me they only update the website every two weeks

I'm so sorry for your long wait. But I know how you feel, it will come. My wife and I were very desperate as well, I am lucky enough that I am able to wait with my wife in her country. We originally had planned to file direct with the consulate only to be told that the day before we arrived the Adam Walsh act came into effect and they were no longer authorized to accept petitions. Imagine our surprise, we've now been sitting unemployed for 5 months waiting endlessly, living off of savings, thank god I have no house, or mortgage back in the states and the standard of living in Taiwan is very cheap.

But I can tell you it's the unknown that's the killer. It's difficult but try not to think about it, I was worried too if I forgot to sign something, the picture sizes were wrong, etc. Chances are nothing is wrong and once you get that approval everything behind it goes faster. You had both your petitions touched, that's a good sign. We had that happen also but then a week and a half of nothing then noa2. Hang in there, try to think about the future and you two being together.

My I-130 was touched just once before approval... no touches for 3 whole months. My I-129F was touched last in april with the message changing to pending, then on May 17 I got emails for approval for both of them. All I can say there is no rhyme or reason to the touches. Hang in there, I feel you all.

well, i have just talked to someone at the vermont service center about a possible undelivered RFE. i asked about whether or not we were supposed to be receiving one and were told that there was no RFE coming and that our I-129F was up for review, and that we should receive a notice shortly. can't rightly tell y'all what that means, but i am just hoping that it means that they are actually looking at it (no online updates, though) and since there are no RFEs, there are no problems. has anyone else had this experience. if so, i could use some clarificaton as to what "up for review" means.

AE & DE

How'd you get in touch with them? Which number did you call? I'm hesitant to say anything because from my experience, and this board, USCIS helpline has been pretty unhelpful in actual case status (besides from what you can see on the website).

if you call the customer service line, go through the motions about RFE, put in your receipt number, you will ultimately get a hold of a person in vermont. simply ask if there was an RFE sent out, and they will tell you yes or no (maybe). i have called that number before and have talked to folks that were less helpful than the customer service line. it is the luck of the draw, really. they can only give basic info, so calling them will not get you all of the answers that you may have. like i said.. all i was able to find out was that there were no RFEs, and that the case was "up for review". sometimes, you can apparently do this and they will say that the case was approved and such, even though there was no status change on the USCIS website. however, if you simply ask what the status is, they won't tell you. i know that this is not much help, but it is better than nothing.

Oh my god vikasp! i was gonna ask the same question! How are we able to reach those guys? i mean my husband has been trying to contact them but he ends up talking to someone from NVC telling him that there is no update. There is even one time, we sent an email to them and we were told that they don't have any records of our case numbers (NOA1 for I129F - I130)

I am really worried about this, it's been almost 6 months and i never got any touch from my I130... If someone can post the VSC's contact number, that'll be awesome!



Thanks!

The number is (800) 375 – 5283

They have been no use to me at all. I have called it every day and asked if I have gotten an RFE and they say "Have you gotten a request in the mail?" and when I say "No" they say "Your case is pending and we will have no information for you unless the petition was received 180 days or further out" and that is all they tell me.

They did say that they update the website only once every two weeks which I thought was interesting.

Did you get a Transfer notice for your I-130? You should have gotten at least the I-797C saying that they transfered the petition and an e-mail update stating when CSC received it

yes we got a transfer notice and that was about it. no touches...

Rings...you and your husband have an incredible love as evidenced by both your postings. The words written by both of you shot right to my core. My husband and I (along with many others here) went through the same trials, the same emotions, the same anger, the same tears, the same waiting...waiting...waiting...seemingly endless waiting.

It's wrenching. But it's also bonding. Our K-3 application took 5 months to get approved. And I couldn't count up the number of nights I sobbed myself to sleep. I can say, however, that once the approval came, everything sped up drastically.

Although what we endured together (apart) was a nightmare--and it absolutely was--it also gave us something only an experience like this could...it gave us strength.

You'll get through this because you have to. And I promise, your relationship will reap the rewards of your hard work and patience.

I am trying to stay positive. I really am. I just miss him so much. I know that all of you are waiting too and you all have your own sorrows. I am just so torn up as petitions get approved that were sent in at later times than ours. We got the slow line and that is so hard to swallow when you throw everything into the petition and research and studies to be sure every detail is right. I spent so many late nights just pouring over sites and taking notes.

I know that patience is a virtue. I feel like a child who is throwing a temper tantrum haha. I can't help it though... the kids miss him and ask about him and it is heartbreaking. I miss the simple things... his smell or the way his hand feels in mine. I know that someday this ache will end and that we will be stronger and we will be more aware of what we could be living without. I know this all rationally, but my head is having such a hard time sending that rationality to my heart. I have never done anything so hard in my entire life.

I know that each one of you is going through this and I hope that luck is on your side. I hope so much that you all remain strong and fight the fight. If any of you ever need an ear.. I have two