GOSH IDONT KNOW WHAT TO DO EITEHR.. I THINK ITS UNFAIR TO THE US CITIZENS WHO FILED WAY BEFORE OTHERS, AND ARE ATILL WAITING.. THATS NOT HOW HUMANITY WORKS.. IM HAPY FOR THOSE PPL WHO GOT APPROVED.. BUT THE USCIS SYSTEM IS CRAK... CRAKED AND WACKED UP... IM WAITIN TILL APRIL 16.. THATS IT AND IM CALIN EITHER ON APRIL 16 OR THE NEXT DAY.. AND I WILL USE THE RFE LINE.. AND IF THEY DONT HELP MUCH THEN I AM GETIN MY CONGRESSMAN INVOLVED.. I HEARD HE IS A GOOD ONE.. SO MAYBE THAT MIGHT HELP..

I HAVE A WEEK TO SEE MY APPROVAL AND THEN IM TAKIN ACTION.. LETS SEE WHAT HAPPPENS.. WE ARE A FEW DAYS AWAY FROM APRIL 15 FOR THE NEW POST DATE BUT APPARENTLY THEY DONT POST TILL THE LAST 2 DAYS OF MONTH ENDING.. WE GOT TO SEE WHAT THEY POST NOW .. WHO KNOWS MAYBE THEYL BE BAK AT JUNE 07

Dont go crazy yet, if you go crazy , I might go crazy, and someone else might go crazy, it could be a chain reaction of crazy, next thing you know we will be planning road trips to vermont and california sitting out front of USCIS with signs that say "Heck no we wont go, let us be with our S.O." And with the pressure from uscis alone im not sure if i could deal with pressure of being on the news, I mean, I would need atleast 2 hours to get ready

Its a funny thing about this whole situation when i look back at it, "oh its only a 6-9 month total wait time" said the lawyer who was asking for 2,500.00 "Well thats not so bad thanks for your advice if i decide to use a lawyer I will be sure to call you" said the man who couldnt imagine paying 2,500.00 to have some papers filled out. 6-9 months , yes thats where my hope started, "its only 6-9 months" .....................almost 5 months later "why is this taking so long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, am i moving to brazil, what is uscis doing, ah crap i wore my bunny slippers to work again!!!!!!!!!! " I think the panic set in around the time that I saw USCIS was taking 1-3 months for a NOA1, wow , it was really something just to get a NOA1 at that time, then they changed their time frames, then just sitting here waiting for USCIS to show some sign of life for many other people and not only myself, USCIS is a dissapointment theme park , their best ride....... The blackhole spiral of lost hope.

I want off the ride now but the light at the end of the tunnel has me drawn in like a moth to a flame. Dont give up hope, for most of our lives we only have hope , for our jobs, for our family, for the world, and for the future. When you lose hope you lose focus, and when you lose focus you make mistakes, some big and some small, some that affect your for the next 10 minutes and some for the rest of your life. We are all here on this forum searching for hope and i hope we all find what we need to find, be it a friend or only having the feeling of not being alone in this process.

There are a huge amount of us that are about to reach our 180 days..If there are that many of us on VJ imagine how many of us there REALLY are.
They have to be aware of that. I predict we will get news very very soon. If not, I dont know what I will do. I guess i will call my congressman again.
and yes, hyd, It is VERY unfair to those of us that have been waiting forever.
Here is my thing - if they have SO MANY people with K-1 getting approved (a long time ago if they filed in october) and they are SO BACKED UP with 130s.....then lets use some common sense and move some employees around and equal times up...I mean seriously.
I just feel completely injusticed.
When I called my congressman the lady assigned to my case had the nerve to say to me "this isnt going to be approved in a few days, it does take some time" I almost hit the ceiling...I felt completely disrespected
I said "maam I am aware that this is a lengthy process and I am aware that you have plenty of work to do besides my case, but to respond to your statement I am the one that had to leave my husband as a newly wed to come home and fulfill a teaching contract, I am the one that at the end of a long day goes home to a house alone, I wake up every morning without my husband, I am painfully aware of exactly how long this process is infact taking"

guys- there has to be something we can do - right???
maybe a petition is a good idea??

If there is something that can be done please count me in and let me know what to do.
I know I haven't been waiting as long as most but I'm getting really frustrated with this whole thing.
In the beginning I thought "sure we can wait 9 or 10 months. We are strong enough" but I'm starting to realize it may take 13-15 months or longer!
When I see other people getting approved it makes me happy and gives me hope that our application might be approved soon. But not seeing anything is driving me crazy!
I love my wife so much. Yes I will see her soon but I want to be with her and my new baby forever. Screw this one and two month visit bullsh!t!!!

yaa lets just keep hope... and see what happens at our 180 mark... :/ thats all we can do for now...

it's less than a week now Hyd... less than a week!

Hang in there Shrewdi.. our approval is coming or else we'll have to find a way to take it from them! But it seems they are close to getting to our dates.. what makes me worried sometimes is when they skip a chunk of ppl and start working on dates after we've filed!
Our spouses are counting on us to keep a level head and do our best and think wisely. So we will do that.. uscis says they need 180 days.. ok .. but after that its my time If we need to collect signatures for a petition.. we'll just do that and anything else that will get the fire under their toosh

yup kity and shrewdgal... we r so close to 180 days now.. i have a feeling we wont get aproved before that time but ya USCIS says they need 180 days ok we gave them 180 days now they givebak to us!! lets see what happens next week.. then im calin on the 17th...

I can feel howmuch terrible pain we all going through this process just being approved for one single file is 6 months ...just I cannot imagine this ...In my opinion there should not be an excuse like" we have a back log " inspite of increasing their fees and employees.All they need hardworking and efficient people to work in their offices.I think we all should do something to resolve these issues not to get repeated for ever.....I wish you all good luck ....let me know your progress..........thanks

I'm am not trying to burst anyone's bubble, but I have investigated using my senator's office and using them to issue an inquiry. I don't know where this mysterious '180 days' or '6 months' originated, but those are not any kind of magic numbers.

According to Senator Kyl's office, a Congress person can issue a 'Congressional Inquiry' to any federal office on behalf of a constituent. Sen. Kyl is a member of the Sentate sub-Committiee on Immigration and has been for several years. However, in regards to USCIS, his office, will not usually issue this inquiry until the constituent's case is outside of 'normal' processing times. These times can be found posted on the USCIS website. Unfortunately, perhaps just a few months ago, those times were usually 6 months from petition filing date and that is where these 'magic numbers' originated. However, as we all are experiencing now, it is much longer. Now, those times are closer to 7-9 months. Requesting an inquiry now will more than likely, according my senator's office, only result in a canned response stating that the petition is within 'normal and published' processing times.

The issue is not the "normal processing time" it's the inconsistency with USCIS procedures. I like an inquiry to find out how USCIS boast about processing cases "in the order received"!! If that's the case, how in the hell do people who recently petitioned in the past 2-3 months got approved? ((For those that got approved early, don't get the wrong idea.. I'm happy that you don't endure the long pain, but it's annoying for those who waited for so long))

Kitty, I understand your frustration, I know you filed way before me, but today when I saw a VSC approval on a K1 that took only 11 days for approval, I hit the roof, all VSC is processing is K1 I saw one approved in 11 days, 23 days, 25 days, and several more, and they all filed after me.
I was a January filer, and the said part all I get from USCIS is they are approving according to the posted time lines, I said what posted time lines, I only see the ones for Sept, not the times lines for filing 11 days ago, then dead silence on phone. I hate this so much. All want is to be with my husband, we have never lived together as husband and wife, as like many more on VJ.
Good luck Kitty, keep praying.
Paris Heart

Thank you kindly Paris...there is too many of us hitting the 6th month mark, and others way past it. It's difficult to keep positive when approvals are not making much sense in the way they are processing them, as u mentioned k-1's are getting approved quite fast now.. while a few months ago.. they had to wait so long aswell. There is some I-130's being approved quite early too while the rest of us sit waiting without any real way to make ourselves heard and call attention to our own cases, is the cause of our frustration. Now if we were seeing loads of approvals coming frm them, it would be a different case as we'd know soon they'd get to ours.
I left my husbands side a year ago, it's emotionally draining to be apart for this long without any idea of when we will be together. So, let's hope they start back up on the I-130's and continue for the next months adjudicating them!!

I just really dont know what to do.
I have never felt this way before. so hopeless. and that is what I feel.
I agree, there would be some hope if we at least saw VSC processing in somewhat of an ORDER..but no..here we are...all lost in the dark.
I am so angry.
Do you think it would have mattered if we had all gotten lawyers? (like anyone could afford it with the VISA fees too!)
Maybe I just need to take a break from VJ because I have started checking it obsessively seeing if anyone has updated approvals.

Having a lawyer would do nothing to improve processing times. (And half of the visa lawyers don't seem to really know their job as far as I can tell, anyway.)

On the 22nd it will be 6 months for me, too. But we are fortunate in that we get to see one another frequently. I feel for those who are apart for the majority of this process.

Shrewkgal,
I know what you mean, I feel like a junkie who needs her VJ fix. Need to breath for a bit, hang in there everyone, and God Bless us all.
Paris Heart

well guys.
I go to church with my local state senator and am best friends with his daughter. I work right down from my congressman's office and have had no success with the congressman and his workers are rude. So- the senator is going to contact the Congressman's office on behalf of me and this is the email I sent.

Hey P*
I need to send you my receipt number and I forgot the paper at home.
If you think it would be better (or no difference at all) I can call
Congressman B***** myself. Just let me know.
I dont know how much you know about my specific immigration process
(probably more than I do, haha) but I have been at Vermont since October
30. That is 164 days.
I do not want special treatment, that is not what this is about but I am
just so frustrated with this entire process. I understand that USCIS
received like 1 million more applications than last year and obviously
there will be a time delay.
Here is my struggle. All of us in that time window that are being delayed
had to pay the increased fee that was implemented so that processing times
could be cut (due to more employees I think).
The USCIS proudly boasts that they process cases in order as received, but
I am not sure where they received this information (maybe 3 years ago that
was true..but not from the patterns I have seen now). I know of a few
people that sent in their I-130 after Christmas and have already been
passed through Vermont and are now at NVC.
I am just really dissapointed. All my life I have heard how that the
honesty and honor of government is a lie and I refused to believe it. I
still do not believe it to that extent, but I do not understand why our
government officials all over the country (especially those in Vermont's
jurisdiction) are not protecting us.
I cannot explain to you how you have gained even more respect from me and
those I have told about you since you are so willing to at least CARE
about my case. It was very disheartening to speak to the rep. at Congressman B****
office and to get rude responses- AND incorrect advice. She told me to
file the I-129 (in conjunction with the I-130) and vermont is phasing out
those petitions and not even processing them anymore...
Anyway, thank you Phillip and I just want you to know that I have seen you
stand by your convictions and commitments and you truly care. THAT is what
government is supposed to be. I teach my students that we have a government
for the people by the people and all I can think is that when I call my
representatives to ask for help that I am seen as a nuisance. Your service
will not go unnoticed and God will bless you for that.
My other question - is there nothing we can do to change this process? It
isnt just about getting my husband home (although I want him home badly)
it is about getting the focus of our country back on the people and back
on the family.
K-1 petitions are for fiance's and those cases are being processed about 3
times faster than those of us that are married. Special work Visa's are
being processed almost immediately after petition. Those of us separated
from our husbands, wives, parents, and children..we are the ones getting
lost in the shuffle.

Okay, I am off my soapbox now but I just feel the need to make people
understand what I see, haha.

Thanks again Phillip.

hey thats cool, let us know if u have any luck.....

I totally will.
Guys. I really thought this was our week...well...it isnt over yet. I am praying for us.

GUYS I JUST CALLED USCIS... i coudlnt wait another wekk.. plus i was off today.. i had this urge to call.. andi had a feeling maybe they had my info wrong in their system.. since i mailed my i130 is oct.. and got noa1 in january.. i had a feeling they were porb counting me as a january filer

so i called uscis.. CUSTOMER serv rep.. piked up.. i said HI i have a questin about my case.. im reaching 6months and I was wondering what date you have in ur system as receiving the app.. since i mailed in oct.. he said LET ME CHK, HE CAME BAK AND SAID JAN 11 (WHICH IS WAT MY NOTICE DATE SAYS)

SO THEN I SAID ON MY NOA1 IT SAYS OCT 16... HE SAID OH IM SORY U WIL HAVE TO MAKE AN INFO PASS APPT. IM LIKE OK.. IS THERE A WAY U CAN TRANSFER ME TO AN OFFICER. HE SAID NO.. MAKE AN APPT. AND LET THEM KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.. AT THE LOCAL OFFIC.E. I SAID OK AND MY HEART BROKE.. I WAS SO SAD.. THEN I WAS LIKE WAIT LET ME TRY TO GET THRU AGAIN USIN RFE LINE..

SO I GOT THRU LADY SHE SAID GOOD MORNIN VERMONT SERVICE CENTER... I SAID HI!! I TOLD HER MY PROBLEM.. AND SHE SAID OK LET ME LOOK IT UP, I T OLD HER I CALLED USCIS AND THEY TOLD ME TO MAKE AN APPT. AND SHES LIEK OK LET ME DOUBLE CHEK AND SHE SAID

YUP WE HAVE U AS RECEIVED OCT 16, BUT WE RECEPITED IT JAN11.. BT WE WIL GO BY OCT.. I SAID WOW THANKS! U MADE MY DAY.. THEN I ASKED HER HOW LONG CAN I EXPECT AN APPROVAL FOR

SHE SAID WE R ON AUG 19 NOW... AND GIVE IT ABUT ANOTHER MONTH.. I SAID THANKS! AND THEN I ASKED HER IHEARD THAT YALL R NOT APPROVING THE 1129F... WHY IS THAT? SHES LIKE OK HANG ON.. SHE CAME BAK
AND SAID ONCE THE OFFICE IS GETIN READY TO ADJUDICATE UR CASE HE WIL INFORM U AS TO WHAT GOT APPROVED.. SHE DINT QUITE ANSWER THE K3 QUESTION BUT OH WELL.. I SAID IL TAKE ANYTHING.. NOW..

THATS IT SO IM GLAD I GOT THRU VSC THEY WERE HELPFUL...AS THEY CAN ACTUALY LOOK UP UR CASE....

SO JUS WANTED TO INFORM YAL!!

Good work hyd!!!

Thanks for the prayers Shrewd!! Im praying for all of us too to get our approvals

Hey hyd... u go girl... Aug 16 ... weren't they on Aug 19 last month on their timlines? If they get on with approvals, in one month they can easily go thru and approve 2 months + of petitions. Let's pray this is the case.. so we can get our approvals this month

ya im prayin too alottt..they said AUG 19.. there were on aug 19 last time RIGHT LOL!! i gues they caught up with the july (rfe) folks.. they went bak to july cuz they said they had received the july RFE's back and had to go bak to those petitions... i gues they r caught up with that now.. lets see what this months proceesing times have in store for us... byeee

Back in square one.. ok, np. I can deal with that as long as they start approving more ppl Let it be this month... Oh God I hope so.. let's keep positive

no news?
I had a dream that I got a white envelope and started opening it..I knew it was my NOA2 and I started shaking with excitement and woke myself up

maybe that is a sign of things to come...one can hope....

That's so sweet... its probably a sign of what is soon arrive I really hope soooo.
Check for my notice tonight toooo I have only bad dreams these days

LOLLL i hope it beocmes reality... maybe IT is a sign.... wow.. good dream!! lets see what happens within the next few weeks...

Hi guys,

Wanted to share a good news with you and also ask some questions. My wife received our I-130 approval 3 days ago, which said the approval date was April 2. She mailed the petition on Nov. 13, NSC received on 15th, but the letter says "priority date" is Nov. 19th. So, didn't understand that part.

I made my wife call NVC number to see if they have assigned any case number. She says she can't hear anything about the case number. So, i was wondering if she is doing something wrong. Can somebody please help me in detail with this case# thingie...like what number(s) to call, uscis number (both noa1 and noa2 have the same numbers WAC08....).

Thanks a lot in advance.

I was not really expecting the approvaL this soon. I was thinking somewhere around end of may and beginning of june. So, I am really pleasantly surprised. Good luck to those who have been waiting.

Thanks again.

Many congratulations to you!!! I've filed around the same time as you, but my case has not had a touch since 2/19. I hope to have my approval soon too. Can you please update your timeline, so that other people can have an estimate of theirs. Thank you!!

May I ask if you have also filed K3? If so, did you hear anything about that?

Hi MISSINGYOU,

Thank you. The first few time we checked, I dont believe we saw any touches in our online update. We just received the approval letter. No, we have not filed K3.
I hope you get ur approval soon. This one is simply a waiting game. So, ur number will come too. Good luck.

Guys, what number do you call when you use the 'RFE trick'? I have seen that information in this thread but could not find it now. Thanks for your help.

hey guys...
just found out today that if you filed taxes jointly with your spouse and used an ITIN then you are NOT elig. for the economic stimulus payment... sheesh..this is not our year guys!

The FAQ's on the IRS website has always said that if one or both of the individuals listed on the return have an ITN and not a SSN, then no rebate will be issued. I elected to file as head of household this year for that reason (I have a dependent son from a previous marriage that qualifies me for HoH status).

yes. I wasnt saying that it is new knowledge it is just knowledge that I did not know. sorry

hey guys.
i called USCIS and they told me I can expect 3 more months at vermont.
I have already been there 6. as I know most of us have.
I WANT TO CRAWL IN A HOLE AND SCREAM. SCREAM LOUDLY

Dont pay attention to those fools at USCIS, most of them couldnt even tell you their own name if it wasnt in the computer system with their agent ID. Last time they told me i needed to wait 9-10 months more for an approval, and another 6 months to get a visa, pretty much they told me its a 2 year process. Im on 5 months now and I know that if they dont do anything soon I will be moving to Brazil. Alls fair though, one of us had to give up our life, it makes no difference to me if I go there or she comes here. Im not to happy about being poor though that part will be awful, and im not sure if she will let me be a stripper as I can not work there on a tourist visa

hahahahha
I know what you mean. I might be moving too

LOL... shrewdgal.. did u call uscis? or did u maange to get thru VSC.. usin RFE... cuz USCIS can tell u watever we dnt need to rely on it unles it was told to u by the officer at vSc.. remember i called last friday and she told me to wait one more month for my approval since i filed in october... :/

yeah my lady wasnt much help
I dont think I have ever felt so hopeless in a process
how do you guys do it?

I am on my sixth month, I always kept a hope that my approval would come b4 this day.. it was the worst one yet I think the more approvals i see from ppl that filed way after oct coupled with the small amounts of approvals coming out of VSC..its made me so discouraged.
I hate to check for a touch anymore
Let's think well.. i dont want to wait another 2-3 months! Any suggestions?????

kityyyy even im on 6months now!!!!!!!! watt.. this is the worst feelin i thought i would DEFINATELY get it before 6 months!! its so SAD!! i hope we get approved this week.. im gona wait another month liek th eoficer said .. and then lets see what happens .... i hate seeing others aproved after me, it realy gets me more depressed... honestly.. ya hapines to them.. they get to be with their spousee soon.. but i have no idea wheni can be with my husbanddd

I just got my NOA2!!! add my case please to the timeline:

Date submitted I-130: Nov. 17th, 2007
NOA1 date: Jan. 24th, 2008
Date able to see case online: Jan. 27th, 2008
Touched: April 14th, 2008
NOA2 date: April 14th, 2008

So happy!

Omg.. we'll have to do something soon! I know Shrewdie is close to the 6th month mark too Girl I was so stressed, I'm sorta upset with my husband and getting gray hair from this process . It's not his fault, but I dont know what to say anymore.. he dosent ask about it, but I'd like to be able to give him good news. He told me a few wks ago to just forget about this for awhile until I can feel better. He made me feel good, but really this is not right. And a few days ago a thought came to me... I should have divorced him and then i can file for K-1 and he'd be here so quick Desperate matters bring about desperate thoughts How does your hubby handle it?

congrats! please tell us ur service center VSC or CSC..??