I have contacted several senators and congressmen to initiate inquiries and those that have responded send the same letter from USCIS CSC Congressional Liason office: They are processing applications from December 13 2006 or earlier. When I talk with them, or when I speak with USCIS representatives, they all say that USCIS CSC has not processed I-130 or I-129F cases for spouse visas from March 2007 that did not have an expedite request. Yet there are several people here on Visa Journey who claim that they have received NOA2 for either or both and that the filing date was in March 2007. So who is telling the truth? My guess is the VJ'ers are, but unless we can give specific case numbers as evidence, we can not make an arguement as to why some cases from March are processed and others are not. I am curious as to what your thoughts on this are. Although I have not put my timeline below, my I-130 was received at CSC March 23 2007, and am coming up on four months. There were no touches until a week after I sent requests to congressmen and senators, but after one week of touches, two weeks have gone by with no progress. Yes, it is frustrating, but when others are getting processed and yours is not and it is in the same time frame it makes one wonder what is going on. What to say of those that are waiting even longer? Imagine how they must be feeling.

I remember this same frustration when I was stuck at CSC. And you're right - they will not believe you when you say you KNOW of others who were behind you that are already through unless you can provide case numbers to back you up.

Now, we all at VJ like each other, but would you want your personal info available to someone you only know through a website? And even if you could find such a willing participant, I somehow doubt they'd answer you with any more speed than they already do, and if they did, they'd have some kind of an excuse. They stick to their cover your a$$ lines - that they process first come, first serve and that you cannot put in a 'formal' inquiry until you are outside of their (BS, ever constant) 6 month processing dates.

I am curious to see what a 'formal' inquiry would garner. Looks like member 'chasnik' may be doing just that shortly - maybe then we'll have a better idea.

It is not a new phenomenon that you will see the discrepancy between USCIS processing dates Vs actual approval dates. Many people got approval, even when their receipt dates are much later than the USCIS posted processing dates. even if you provide proofs to USCIS, they will always come out with excuses.

Someone should ask 20/20 or a news show like that to investigate the USCIS processing internally so we could see what really goes on there. I would bet money they have internal rules for how quickly certain applications are processed and how some seem to fall well beyond the typical schedules.

The USCIS recently implemented what they call "more realistic" processing estimates. For I-129F's this year that seems to be about 6 months or more. That doesn't mean your individual case will take that long but that is the expectation they are trying to set. Many filers will get their NOA2 much quicker than 6 months while a few will wait more than 6 months. In our individual case our congressional inquiry did not seem to help until we reached 6 months. Good luck.

I know what your feeling. My I-130 was received at CSC March 22, 2007. There have not been any touches at all on the case since it was received. I noticed to that others are showing movement on their cases. I check everyday hoping that it shows some progression on my case. But day after day it is just disappointment. I have not contacted any congressmen or senators, but have thought about it. I hope all of us start to see the cases received at the CSC in March being processed very soon. Good Luck to you and I hope your approved soon.

finally, someone said what i have been trying to figure out for the past couple of months. it has been 136 days for I-130 and 126 days for my I-129. Whenever i have called uscis they have given me the standard response that they are working on petitions from this month... However, when i tell them that many people who filed around me and after me have received their approval- the response has always been that maybe they did expedite requests. I too get happy for people but it sometimes gets overwhelming to see individuals who filed after to you get their approvals while you wait for no fault of yours. I have requesting the congressman's office to inquiry on my behalf- even they told me that it is too early to expect an approval. So frustrating.

I had the same thing. No touches at all. I then sent out a bunch of faxes and then it was getting touched everyday. That lasted for a week and then nothing. I had hoped if it was getting touched someone was actually working on it, but alas, that was not the case. One piece of advice, if you contact them, do not mention 129F. Just include your receipt no. for I-130. Some of the staffers only focus on 129F (I had this bad experience with one), and moreover, you don't need to include it. Your 129F and 130 are tied together, so when one is accessed so is the other. That is my impression from what I have seen thus far. Good luck to you as well. I am normally a patient man, but this process and the lack of processing has exhausted my patience. If USCIS regards us as customers, which they plainly do, then that confers a buyer/seller relationship. In this case we are paying for a service, and you can only make an arguement when they are delinquent in providing the service when they said they would provide it. So unfortunately, I think it means we have to wait the full six months

there was one congressional staff person who said that the response they got for my inquiry was that the I-130 will take between 990-999 days to process. I was like WHAT?????? And I decided that these people were not intelligent, uncaring, uncompassionate, and insincere. I have not communicated with that office again.

The USCIS pads their estimates more than Scotty from Star Trek!!!!! Wish I could pad my work so much and tell my boss I'll come into work at 2 in the afternoon...then if I show up at 12 he's escstatic! lol

And if they don't get done in 6 months....wait another 6 months and we'll see....repeat as necessary. Yes this is the beauty of our government.

I get a little more upset about this everday. I really wish we could all show up in force some place and hold a big protest so someone wakes up and goes...Oh! Looks like we may need to fix this!

That's the response I got - 900 days. The congressional aid sounded a bit upset as if he'd been given a lecture from the USCIS. He maintained that it was not possible that other people who applied in March were receiving approvals.

Perhaps this is the new USCIS standard line, or it's one clerk (was it at the CSC too?) who's giving out this information. Needless to say, we're all in trouble because we filed right after the laws changed. It's probable that USCIS didn't plan for the increased load when they discontinued counsellor filing. Consider the Passport fiasco - the same thing. One branch of government changed the rules and the other was left holding the bag. The "transferring to CSC for faster processing" bit is dubious as well.

The problem with this is that we all know that the USCIS is not providing the correct information relative to the processing times. We received our NOA1 on 24 April and had our first touch according to our profiles last updated date on the 17th of July.

I am wagering a guess that they put a behind date to cover themselves relative to the 6 month time frame.

On an ending note and a little tid bit to pass along....Congress and the Senate need to have a reason to move. This reason generally comes by the way of the media and I do not mean tabloids.

You would be surprised how fast a politician moves when you mention the word journalist!

In light of the recent Senate and Congressional issues relative to IMMIGRATION in the United States, the last thing anyone wants to here is a reason to justify illegal immigration. I do not under any terms support illegal immigration as I feel it not only makes us unsafe as a country but it makes the process for those of us who use the legal path a bit harder in some respect depending on the adjudicator. Let's face it we are leaving our lives in the hands of one indivual, who either had a good day or had a bad day.

I myself happen to be a published Victims Rights Advocate (Domestic Violence not Immigration), and I do know that journalists can make so many people on so many levels respond.
No politician likes to be made out the bad guy or a non responder to their constituants.

No more than any of us like those generalized form letters.......

Hello all,

I have a question for all of you. Are you all citizens or legal residents? Did you mark that there was an immigration proceeding with your spouse or family member? I ask cause I wonder if there is a trend here for a reason why our cases could be on hold or set to the side. I filed in mid April and my spouse was actually denied entry to the US cause DHS said that my husband seemed he intended to stay even though he wasnt and had his roundtrip ticket on hand, under the Visa Waiver Program. But any how. My case was received by a Semegi through USPS receipt, so Im sure that pretty much everyone that has filed in CSC knows who this person is. So obviously some people's cases were set to the side. I have only gotten one f ing touch since April on my I-130.

Is the whole purpose of the California Service Center to do background checks or screening on the sponsors (US citizens and Legal Residents)? I think I have read that somewhere. Then the Embassy does the background checks on the spouse or family member. Any one know?

Im in the military, so I know that that does not mean much to USCIS. Not that Im any different from yall but I would figure they wouldnt think twice with me especially since I have been in for a couple of years. There has got to be a trend here some how. Cause I noticed people that filed after me have received approvals already. I should just have my husband fly to Mexico and walk over. That would be alot easier and quicker than this crap.

I am going to send a message to some news station about this crap. USCIS needs to work on their customer service.

Hey, I just thought about this. What if we sent a petition to USCIS with like an overwhelming number of names for cases not approved or in the process? Send that to Congress or Senators. I bet yall there would be a trillion petitioners all over the US.

OP, Please add a timeline: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/intro.php

Sign me up for this! I am more than willing to petition them. I know I've got no reason to ###### and moan because I've been waiting far less than more of you here, but this whole distance thing is already starting to affect my marriage and I'll be damned if USCIS ruins my marriage.