2006 NOA2s issued by VSC to VJ members as reported in timelines:
January: 26
February: 40
March: 36
April: 30
May: 5
June: 2
July: 50
August: 67
September: 39
October: 44
November: 24
December: 31

Notice the BIG slowdown in May and June 2006. VSC had a reputation of turning out NOA2s in under 30 days, and they typically did this throughout 2006, with exception of the massive slowdown in May and June that you see there. During that period it seems likely that almost all the people working on I-129f adjudication were transfered to other work. Whatever the other big important workload was, eventually eased up, and a sufficient number of workers were again reassigned to I-129f duty in July. Shortly following were massive numbers of approvals very quickly (July/August '06 saw an incredible 13 VJ members approved per week [Mon-Fri]--This August [2007] it's been only a little over 3 approvals per week...), and the backlog cleared up quickly. By September 2006 NOA2s were typically going out in under 30 days once again.

The point is this: These occasional slow-downs (like the one we are in now) ARE historically precedented. And they are followed by floods of NOA2s.

So be happy everyone, for the September (and October) tidal wave of NOA2s is near at hand!

I wouldn't spend too much time trying to figure out how USCIS works, it will drive you nuts

I agree. But it is interesting info. nice research.

thanks for the effort

It's not bad, except this August has only netted a handful of approvals, not the 67 that were approved last August.

August is essentially over, so.

I'll be a little more optimistic if September sees a flood of approvals, but right now, I don't buy it, sorry

IMBRA had a huge effect on things last year. We need to take that into consideration too.

Its really not a good idea to compare last year to this year. The backlog last year was due to the IMBRA recall. All petitions had RFEs to complete the IMBRA Piece and some with NOA2s were even called back from the embassies, hence the slowdown then. This year the slowdown started even before the new fee increase and the redistribution of where the petitions are processed. We have no idea why there is this great slowdown. So, don't get too excited yet. It might pick up in Sept., but then again it might not. I know we all want our approvals, but I'm not hanging my hat on a theory.

Well if nothing else, we know that they are capable of turning out NOA2s real fast when they want/need to (see July/August 2006).

And if there was ever a time they "needed" to, it's now. Lots of people have been waiting over 100 days without a word, for what should a simple stamp of approval and forwarding on to the next step (or an RFE).

yea its getting a little ridiculous...when the list of VJers waiting for NOA2s from Vermont first began back on June 21, there were 43 people on the waiting list...the list has almost quadrupled since then!!! some might say, oh well thats just because more people apply in the summer than other times of year...i might buy that if most of the people from the original list werent STILL ON THE CURRENT LIST...soooo ridiculous, DO YOUR JOB for chrissake!!!

its so frustrating because Huskerkiev said that he could approve a typical case after looking at it for just 15 minutes...i cant imagine what is going on, being that VSC has been approving about 1 case per day for quite some time now...is there ONE employee working on K1s, and does this ONE employee only work for 15 MINUTES per day?!!?!? grrrrrrrr

Haha - yeah I can't imagine it would take that long to look through a case - even an hour would be kinda ok - you look through the stuff, figure out if it is fake or not, figure out whether it has all the required info and then approve or RFE!!

Still waiting for that flood..... Should I build an arc? Perhaps I'm not wearing the right shoes.

There's plenty of floods, take your pick.

I'd be very surprised if there was a flood. Doesn't seem like USCIS can do much right this year. If sub-par work was the main objective, I think they accomplished it. Kudos to them.

The reason for the slowdown has been the huge increase in H1B visa applications. They were received in April. The number submitted was far higher than usual, and congress increased the quota quite a bit over previous years. (A tangential question is Why did they do this. I don't know the answer to that). By now the massive backlog of those should finally be clearing up and the adjudicators can get back to picking up crates of our stuff again, instead of mostly sifting through crates of those darn H1B's.

For this reason I predict September will see a solidly increased rate of NOA2s (Wishful thinking? Yes of course it is! )

Very much wishful thinking...oh well...that is all most of us have. The USCIS...lack of planning and resources A pat on the back should be given, for their hard work

In the business world this kind of service would cause an outrage in customers. All I ask for is better updating and communication from USCIS.

I agree with you J. I don't understand why there are only 2 service centers working on K-1s for the whole country! Jeez!!!!
WTF! It's ridiculous! Even 4 service centers to process all those applications are not enough! Damn! I'm so pissed off...!

--MIRLA.

This is all really so frustrating!!!

they design it this way so that it will discourage people to try to cheat the system. If we can't make it through this, then how can we expect to make it through a multicultural marriage?