VJer's, we finally received a replacement receipt notice yesterday with a priority date of 20070427 even though our I-129F was mailed on 04/27/2007. This notice explains the 08/06/2007 touch. All along we were lead to belief that our NOA-1 date was 05/23/2007 according to USCIS website. The priority date indicated on the replacement receipt notice is 20070427 which will make us an April filer. However, USPS notification says a delivery notification was left on 04/28 and a final confirmed delivery date of 04/30/2007 at NSC. What we are struggling to comprehend is how come the priority date is the same date as I-129F sent date. The petition was mailed through USPS express mail with a next day delivery service. Perhaps, this is a typo by USCIS. We plan to call USCIS and get this clarified. Perhaps this is another one of USCIS strategy; confuse the customer ploy...great!

I'll be interested to see what you find out because my on my NOA1 hardcopy my received date is the same as the date that I sent our petition (2007/05/07); however, when I created my online account with USCIS it stated that on May 30, 2007 they received and sent out a notice describing how they were going to process the case. When I received our NOA1 hardcopy the notice date was 2007/05/31.

Please post here when you get an answer - I'll be interested to see what the explanation is. Thanks, in advance!

Okay. I'll post my findings here. Hopefully, USCIS can get their story straight.

I-I29Fs don't have priority dates. Maybe you are referring to your actual receipt date?

Kitkat I understand what you’ve said. However, on the replacement receipt notice paper, the received date field is blank, priority date field is 20070407 and the notice date field is 08/03/2007. Could it be because this is a replacement receipt notice and this is the reason priority date is used? Also, it appears to be a generic replacement receipt notice because there were text on the paper that mentioned form I-130 and applications requiring biometrics.

Anyway, I just got off the phone with CSC and here are my findings: mails service are contracted out and the 20070427 date is the date stamped for my package by the mail service company that originally received my I-129F package. The 05/23/2007 date is the date that USCIS clerk entered my information into USCIS database with regards to this application. She did acknowledge that it was a bit odd that my priority date is the same date as when I dropped off the package at the post office since USPS does not provide same day delivery service between Chicago & Nebraska. Anyway, she indicated it was to my own advantage and this is the date they have in the system and it will never change. Perhaps this was an error on the part of the mail service company albeit a good error for me.

Thanks for posting your findings. Glad to hear that the error worked to your advantage!

To clarify, there is no significance to a priority date on a I-129F NOA receipt. Normally priority dates are important in the case of a person waiting for a visa number to become available i.e. brother of a USC. For K1s, visa are immediately available therefore the priority has no value. It's just the date it was received - nothing more - and won't impact anything.

I had posted the same question on another thread..apparently we were posting at the same time. I also got a replacement NOA1 in the mail yesterday with no rec'd date and only a priority date. I mailed my I-129f on 5/31, have a priority date of 6/5, check cashed date of 6/18 and a replacement notice date of 8/3. I don't know if the 6/5 date is the date they sent it to CSC or is my actual NOA1 date or if the 6/18 is considered the NOA1 date.

I'd be happier if I could just get my hands on an NOA2!

For peace of mind, you can call USCIS to confirm the date, but my guess is the 06/05 date is your NOA-1. Good luck.

With the I-797C (NOA1) and I-797 (NOA2) there are a bunch of dates that makes it confusing.

NOTICE DATE is the date the physical paper (I-797 or I-797C) was printed, and is basically irrelevant to your Visa Process.

On the I-797C (NOA1), the RECEIVED DATE is the date your petition is prioritized by. That is the date that should be entered in the VisaJourney.com timeline. The NOTICE DATE is simply the date your I-797C was printed.

On the I-797 (NOA2), the date that is important is the first date listed in the date range of the petition Validity. For example, "Valid from 07/09/2007 to 11/09/2007" means that 07/09/2007 is the NOA2 date. That is the date that should be entered in the VisaJourney.com timeline. The RECEIPT DATE is simply the date your I-797C was printed; and the NOTICE DATE is simply the date your I-797 was printed.

And when I say "prioritized by" i simply mean that is the date your case is filed by; and when you look at the timelines they publish, if the set amount of time has elapsed from that date and you have not had a response, you can call them and get better information; or escallate to a congress person.

Please don't confuse that with VISA priority dates, which is a totally different thing.

Thank you, bszoom, for the information. My received date is the same as the date that I sent my petition to the NSC (2007/05/07). So, this is the date that I should enter as the NOA1 date?? I'm sorry if this question seems redundant - I just find it difficult to believe that they received my petition the same day that I sent it.

I have the same problem...I mailed our petition on 5/2/07, it was signed for in Nebraska on 5/7/07, but my NOA1 was dated 5/30/07 I can't believe it took them four weeks to get my petition from Seattle to Nebraska to California. They say they process them in order of received date, but I find it very difficult to believe they actually received it on 5/30/07. This whole thing is so unfair. I feel like we've lost almost a month. I could have gotten into my car and driven my application to their front door in less time.

[quote name='bszoom42' date='Aug 10 2007, 11:52 AM' post='1112539']
With the I-797C (NOA1) and I-797 (NOA2) there are a bunch of dates that makes it confusing.

NOTICE DATE is the date the physical paper (I-797 or I-797C) was printed, and is basically irrelevant to your Visa Process...

Thanks for the info, but what I was trying to point out is that myself and now a few others have gotten replacement notices because we never got the NOA1 and there is no received date...only a priority date and so we were confused as to which date is the one we follow (ie: the date the check was cashed or the priority date.) I don't have a bunch of dates on my notice, only the priority date and the notice date which is the date they printed the replacement notice. Thanks for trying to help

Ok, if there is a RECEIVED DATE - use that. Some mail gets delivered on the same day, some mail takes months.


If there is only a PRIORITY DATE, then I would use that.


The NOTICE DATE is most definitely useless, except for determining when the I-797C was printed out.

We had the same problem. We filed in April but the NOA1 date is near the end of May. Internal mail should not take that long.

I guess that figuring out the real NOA1 date has become a problem for most people who are now receiving their replacement notices. My fiance just got ours today. we filed on April 23rd, the notice on the USCIS website says May 1st, yet the hard copy says April 25th. Am i an April filer? I just wish i were, just wish.