No case number after 4 weeks being approved

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

Well the NVC people seem so much nicer than CSC people. I asked when they gave me a csae number this morning and they said it should be shipped off to the embassy in 2-4 weeks. It is nice to see a flash of progress again after those months of dust collecting at CSC

[Queen Jenn 0]

Well the NVC people seem so much nicer than CSC people. I asked when they gave me a csae number this morning and they said it should be shipped off to the embassy in 2-4 weeks. It is nice to see a flash of progress again after those months of dust collecting at CSC

That's good. Most of the NVC people are nicer than most of the CSC people. But I DID get a nice lady at CSC today and one of the NVC people was quite rude to me.

It SHOULD ship off to the embassy in LESS than 2-4 weeks. Unless you get stuck in an additional name check, it should be more like 2-4 DAYS!!!

[shawndoc 0]

Just got off the phone with NVC, still nothing.

[timcass_12 5]

Thanks for sharing this information. I'll share this instruction to my husband so he could get the get the real status of our case. To note, our I-129F got approved more than 4 weeks ago and yet we're still waiting. I got an email from NVC last April 15 informing us that they've not receive our case yet and just like what we've read here in VJ, they told us that cases are to be approved within 2-4 weeks timeframe or worst case scenario will be after 90days. Uggg... too much waiting sucks. We've gone through a lot of waiting already and looks like we're to wait a little more longer.

Anyways, I hope something good will happen tomorrow. I'll keep you guys posted and ya, let's just keep on praying that we get our respective case numbers soon.

Okay, so I called CSC and pushed all the "appropriate" buttons for an approved petition. You just get a customer service rep who isn't even in California and they CAN'T even tell you where the file is. The guy even told me that if I was approved on March 24, 2008 then that's when it was shipped. Yeah, right.

So, then I called and used TBone's RFE trick. Call 1-800-375-5283. Hit 1, 2, 2, 4, 2, 1. Enter your receipt number. Then hit 1, 1. You should get an actual person at CSC who can look and tell you EXACTLY where your file is. I spoke to a REALLY nice lady (but I can't remember her name).

I told her my NOA2 date was March 24, 2008. On the NOA2 is says "If it has been more than four weeks since you received this approval notice and you HAVE NOT received notification from NVC that you petition has been FORWARDED OVERSEAS, please call the NVC at (603) 334-0700"

I told her I called them and they told me they didn't have it yet. So it must still be in California. She said she would look and put me on hold for a minute.

When she got back on the line she said once the NOA2 is issued, the cases go to an "NVC staging area" to await shipment. Mine left the staging area yesterday which means that it is on its way to the NVC. It left on April 21, 2008.

If you call this number and get someone who won't go look, just try back later. I'm hoping that all of you with March approvals are on the truck with me!!!!!!!!

[Queen Jenn 0]

Just got off the phone with NVC, still nothing.

NVC won't tell you ANYTHING except that it can take up to 90 days. Call CSC and use TBone's trick. That should get you to someone at CSC who can tell you EXACTLY where your file is.

[shawndoc 0]

I just tried the RFE trick. It did indeed put me in touch with a real person who actually could tell me the status of my case! Yea on that, boo on what he told me.

He said my case had been processed by the "contractors", and was in a box on a pallet waiting to be shipped. It had not been shipped yet, but would "soon". He said after a case gets approved, there is still some work on it that need to get done, it is then handed off to the contracts to process, and he doesn't know what their process is, but it is up to them to do final processing and shipping and sometimes they have to wait for "numbers" before they can load it in the box. Then they have to wait to fill a pallet before shipping it out.

Not the most helpful description, it was clear the person I was talking too was new and trying to repeat an explanation he'd been given but didn't full understand himself.

Either way, Yea! on the trick working, Yea! on the person I got for trying to provide me a helpful explanation, and Boo! on whoever/whatever is making a process that takes less than a week on average at the VSC take what is now 5 weeks at the CSC.

[KandD 1]

Hey Everyone,

How about we call Fed ex or UPS to pick up our petitions at the CSC and have them shipped to the NVC ourselves. We could all have them there by next week. LOL This is so ridiculous. Im sure the NVC is getting tired of our phone calls. The nice lady i spoke to at the NVC said they arent lost that the CSC just hasnt shipped them yet. Im not looking forward to dealing with the CSC nightmare in the few years to come after our SO are here. I sure hope things change by then, but i dont have much hope.

[shawndoc 0]

In all fairness, these delays seem to be only hitting people approved mid-end March. It doesn't appear to be normal behavior for people who were approved before this time.

My guess is something has happened. We've seen in other posts the following:

- CSC just took on a new contractor for handling their mail which was delaying NOA1's for up to a month

- H1B Visa's got dumped on the CSC April 1.

- We know there's a big push to take care of the back log of name checks, some of which go back 3 years.

So my guess is either one or a combination of those is what's causing this nightmare (Or maybe something else we haven't heard of). We were just "lucky" enough that our paperwork got approved at just the wrong time.

[kokosunny 0]

In all fairness, these delays seem to be only hitting people approved mid-end March. It doesn't appear to be normal behavior for people who were approved before this time.

My guess is something has happened. We've seen in other posts the following:

- CSC just took on a new contractor for handling their mail which was delaying NOA1's for up to a month

- H1B Visa's got dumped on the CSC April 1.

- We know there's a big push to take care of the back log of name checks, some of which go back 3 years.

So my guess is either one or a combination of those is what's causing this nightmare (Or maybe something else we haven't heard of). We were just "lucky" enough that our paperwork got approved at just the wrong time.

You may be on to something. Maybe there is a misplaced shipment of March approvals??? Seems there are a lot. Did a pallet of March approvals get stuck in the back somewhere and is gathering dust? Given the exceptional time I think it is time for someone to get pushy. We are not in that group and were approved in mid-April so I can't push. There is obviously something all messed up (worse than normal) with CSC right now. Be good to get some more input and chatty conversations with CSC officers (not call center agents in New Mexico) may give us some leads. (There is an April 2 USCIS memo on the name check business)

[Nosotros 0]

The good news is that my petition was received by NVC yesterday, and was told the usual 2-4 weeks to send it on. I am so saddened that alot of you who were approved before me (shawndoc and queen_jenn come to mind) are still sitting on palettes at csc. Why the sporadic movement of cases? I thought they all got loaded into the same palette until it filled up, then another palette was fed cases.

I guess the additional processing they do must get things really out of wack, but then some body had a good point also about the same process being less laborious and time consuming at VSC. Why?

Any way, wishing all of you speedy receipt of your cases at NVC.

[gatita 0]

Called NVC an hour ago. We finally got our case number. NVC said they sent it on to the consulate on the 21st. Yay!! Hope all of yours get going too.

[Kamaboko 0]

In all fairness, these delays seem to be only hitting people approved mid-end March. It doesn't appear to be normal behavior for people who were approved before this time.

My guess is something has happened. We've seen in other posts the following:

- CSC just took on a new contractor for handling their mail which was delaying NOA1's for up to a month

- H1B Visa's got dumped on the CSC April 1.

- We know there's a big push to take care of the back log of name checks, some of which go back 3 years.

So my guess is either one or a combination of those is what's causing this nightmare (Or maybe something else we haven't heard of). We were just "lucky" enough that our paperwork got approved at just the wrong time.

You may be on to something. Maybe there is a misplaced shipment of March approvals??? Seems there are a lot. Did a pallet of March approvals get stuck in the back somewhere and is gathering dust? Given the exceptional time I think it is time for someone to get pushy. We are not in that group and were approved in mid-April so I can't push. There is obviously something all messed up (worse than normal) with CSC right now. Be good to get some more input and chatty conversations with CSC officers (not call center agents in New Mexico) may give us some leads. (There is an April 2 USCIS memo on the name check business)

i am arguing with my fiance. this thing has really stressed me out. 5 weeks now and not case number. nothing. i am starting to get devastated. he's coming in 3 weeks and we always hoped to leave for US at the same time, now it's not gonna happen. let's be patient. as i am trying to be.

[KimandRuss 0]

The wait for CSC filers to go from CSC to NVC has been happening for months now and, if you search older posts, you'll find many people being told exactly what the poster above stated. The approved petitions sit on a pallet until it's ready to ship to NH. Perhaps those new contractors came in right after the influx of petitions? The only reason I can see someone approved before you waiting is because maybe their box was on the bottom of the pallet and just hasn't been processed yet. First on... last off.

You're all right, though. So unfair! I hope you all get there and off to your USEM soon!

[timcass_12 5]

Ok so my husband called USCIS 3 times today following the RFE trick instructions. Here's what happened -

First Call - The person who got his call didn't even know that our case was approved and told him to schedule an appointment with the local immigration office. unbelievable!

Second Call - The guy he talked to said that our documents were sent out to NVC on April 23 which is... TODAY! 5 weeks almost... ugg

Third Call - The guy he talked to again informed him that our case has been sent to NVC today, April 23 (we're still in doubt though not until we get our case # from NVC).

Btw, before he called USCIS the 3rd time, he contacted NVC first to verify if they have not received our docs yet, to which NVC confirmed that they don't have it yet...

Anyways, due to frustration with the process my husband decided to call NVC again on Friday just to check if they got our docs. I mean, they might not knowing everything is screwed up already but there's no harm in trying and it's always best to do some further verification rather than wait for them to contact us.

All of us should keep our fingers crossed for now and hope all this will be better once our papers reached NVC. Keep on praying. God Bless.

Edited April 24, 2008 by timcass_12

[Queen Jenn 0]

It's so frustrating when you get three different answers. I also had someone tell me that my petition was sent to NVC on March 24. That is totally untrue because that was more than 4 weeks ago.

If it was shipped on April 23, it won't get to the NVC by Friday. Mine was supposedly shipped on April 21 and I called last night and NVC doesn't have it yet. I'm under the impression that they send them via TRUCK, so it will take 3-4 days to get from CSC to NVC and then who knows how long for them to put it into their system.

But that doesn't stop me from calling every other day