I-129F NOA1 is taking forever.. should I be worried?

[Midnight-Sun 0]

Hi guys!

My fiance sent our I-129F on Jan 15th (friday) and he sent it with "saturday priority" and it arrived at Vermont Service Center the day after (Jan 16th). It's been 12 days now since it arrived and still no NOA1! I checked the processing times on VJ and it's longer than usual. Should I be worried? Why is it taking so long?! How unusual is it with a late NOA1? I can't understand why it's taking so long time, they dont really have to review anything beside notify us that it's in their system and that they are gonna process our petition..

Anyone else that had a late NOA1?

[brightskte 18]

Unless he forgot to include something, I wouldn't be worried. It can take up to 20 days, from what I've heard.

If something is wrong(no check, check not signed, petition not signed, something major) they wont give you a NOA1, they'll just send it right back.

[Otto 83]

How unusual is it with a late NOA1?

It isn't unusual at all - can take several weeks - the good news is that when you do get your NOA1, it will have a receive-date on or about the day they received it (in other words, just because you get the NOA1 late, doesn't mean you're petition isn't in the queue). I'd say don't worry but I'm sure you will anyway (I would) - but try not to; it will be fine.

P.S.,

If you paid by check - you should be able to see that they've cashed it by now (sometimes that may take a couple of weeks).

[Midnight-Sun 0]

Thanks for the fast replies everyone! Highly appreciated!

Well we used a notary / attorney (pretty cheap one that my fiance knew from earlier) and he put our petition together, so everything should be right unless this guy was totally worthless (my fiance said he had worked with immigration and visa cases for 20 years..) and I asked my fiance if the had sent in the money (I dont know if he payed by check or not, I just sent him a email asking..) and he said he saw the petition arrive with UPS the day after and I mean.. I guess if something was wrong we'd have our petition back by now..

Well, it very comforting to hear that this isn't too unusual. Just sucks that everyone else seems to have their NOA1 pretty fast and I'm stuck with waiting..

I'll give me fiance a worried call tomorrow, hopefully he haven't forgotten anything. Like sending the petition or the moeny to the wrong address or something..

[brightskte 18]

Unless you've got some severe issues in which your petition would not be approved without having a lawyer, that's probably your first mistake.

Some people have used a lawyer when they could have done it themselves and it's cost them a lot of valuable time. You might send your petition off today, however your lawyer could send it out after lunch next Thursday. They aren't nearly as concerned and as impatient with the process as we all are.

Not saying you don't need one, I'm just saying a lot of the time they're really very unnecessary.

[Midnight-Sun 0]

That's what I said too, I didn't think we needed a lawyer because I did most of the work (printed out the files and so on) and he insisted on having one because he had a lot at work and thought it'd be faster if he had someone else doing it for him. It didn't take too long, around a week. But well, at least i know for sure that the lawyer shouldn't have missed anything and beside it was only $500 for the lawyer and he is doing our AOS aswell. Beside, done is done. I didn't want a lawyer but he did, so I mean.. what can I do now?

[K & M 0]

That's what I said too, I didn't think we needed a lawyer because I did most of the work (printed out the files and so on) and he insisted on having one because he had a lot at work and thought it'd be faster if he had someone else doing it for him. It didn't take too long, around a week. But well, at least i know for sure that the lawyer shouldn't have missed anything and beside it was only $500 for the lawyer and he is doing our AOS aswell. Beside, done is done. I didn't want a lawyer but he did, so I mean.. what can I do now?

Hej

My fiancée paid with a check and the check was cashed, that was the easiest way for us to tell that it had arrived and been logged.

On the back of the check (if he paid by check) there's your visa case reference number that you can use to check the status at:

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do

If you are really really worried I guess you could call them.

We submitted ours (from New York to Vermont) the 12th of November, our NOA1 is 19th of November, but I'm sure it takes different time depending on workload.

I'm not sure how this will have effect but President Obama has issued like an emergency temporary visa situation for Haitians (for obvious reasons), I don't know if that has started yet but if it has and it's processed through the normal service centers I think a bit of a delay is to expect.

Give it a few more days and I'm sure it'll work out!

/M

[Midnight-Sun 0]

How fun to find another svensk on VJ, not so many of us to be honest!

Well I was searching for similar timelines to me and I saw another swedish/american couple that sent in their petition on jan 19th and got a NOA1 the day after. I don't remember what center it was too, but yes.. maybe I just got someone that is a little slower than the rest. I'm gonna ask my fiance right now for the details.

[Midnight-Sun 0]

Ok so I spoke to him, well more like freaking out and yelling haha..

He said that the attorney gave him specific orders where to send the petition and submitted all the papers that the attnorney gave him and told him to send with the petition and he payed my money order and he is checking if it got cashed and also asking the attorney why it's taking long.

[visacat 1]

We also posted ours that weekend and the Monday was a bank holiday so they were closed we only got our NOA1 yesterday so I wouldnt worry too much

[bahisgirl 11]

I mailed our I-129F on January 19th, but noticed the check was cashed this week and it had the case number on the back. Still haven't received the NA01 hard copy yet, but according to the USCIS website it is in initial review. Check your online banking statement if you can. I was certainly relieved when I did.

Jackie

[Matt&Cui 0]

We did not get our NOA1 (physical copy) for about 6 weeks. We sent our 129f in late march, around mid april I was worried because we had not recieved NOA1. After many phone calls I was able to get somebody on the line who wanted and tried to help us. Our case was accepted 4 days after we had sent it and NOA1 was issued and sent but we had never recieved the physical copy 797 NOA.

One month after the acceptance date I recieved a email about our case status that read "Document I-129f returned as undeliverable" the way this email read was confussing but I was assured it was probley just our NOA1.

Anyways they had made a mistake on our address and sent it to our physical adress when it was suppose to be sent to our P.O Box. One and a half months later we finally received our NOA1.

I would check your bank and see if they cashed your check if so thats a pretty good sign things are in order and make a phone call who knows maybe you will get lucky and find the one person who is willing to help you.

[Bernie C 24]

Hi guys!

My fiance sent our I-129F on Jan 15th (friday) and he sent it with "saturday priority" and it arrived at Vermont Service Center the day after (Jan 16th). It's been 12 days now since it arrived and still no NOA1! I checked the processing times on VJ and it's longer than usual. Should I be worried? Why is it taking so long?! How unusual is it with a late NOA1? I can't understand why it's taking so long time, they dont really have to review anything beside notify us that it's in their system and that they are gonna process our petition..

Anyone else that had a late NOA1?

For reference:

I mailed our I129F on 6/15/09, received NOA1 in the mail on 6/29/09 and and it was dated 6/19/09. So it took 4 days to process and 14 days to receive the hard copy in the mail from the day sent. You have nothing to worry about at this point. Sometimes a little shorther, sometimes a bit longer. Sit tight for another week and GOOD LUCK along your journey!

[Midnight-Sun 0]

Hi guys!

Well after freaking out yesterday my fiance checked with the company that transfered his money order (didnt pay by check) and they apparently cashed it this week, on Jan 25th. He also spoke with our attorney that said that the time frame for NOA1 can be very different depending on what workload they have. But I am relived in a a way that they at least had cashed it, even tho I wish we could have a case number aswell just to see where we are in the process. But the attorney said that it should come in a few days tho.

Good luck guys and thank your your replies!

[Ken & Emma 0]

Hi guys!

My fiance sent our I-129F on Jan 15th (friday) and he sent it with "saturday priority" and it arrived at Vermont Service Center the day after (Jan 16th). It's been 12 days now since it arrived and still no NOA1! I checked the processing times on VJ and it's longer than usual. Should I be worried? Why is it taking so long?! How unusual is it with a late NOA1? I can't understand why it's taking so long time, they dont really have to review anything beside notify us that it's in their system and that they are gonna process our petition..

Anyone else that had a late NOA1?

If it was paid by check, have your fiance check his bank online to see if the check has cleared. Most banks will let you see a scanned copy of the check online. The stamp on the back of the check also includes your Case #.