NOA2...Wedding HELP.

[TheSantamarias 0]

Hello... I received NOA1 on November 5th, from the California Service Center. My fiance is in El Salvador. I have a few questions...

First of all, our wedding date is June 4th, 2011. DO YOU THINK I HAVE ENOUGH TIME??? We still haven't received NOA2!

Second, I look at everyone's timelines and it says "Touched" on some of them. How do you guys know your case has been touched?? This is driving me literally crazy. I haven't heard ANYTHING since November...

And lastly, is there anyone that has experience with the El Salvador Embassy? Can anyone give me advice as far as that's concerned??

Thanks everyone. All of your timelines and stories have been a great inspiration so far in letting me know I'm not alone.

[TwoCats 55]

Hello... I received NOA1 on November 5th, from the California Service Center. My fiance is in El Salvador. I have a few questions...

First of all, our wedding date is June 4th, 2011. DO YOU THINK I HAVE ENOUGH TIME??? We still haven't received NOA2!

Second, I look at everyone's timelines and it says "Touched" on some of them. How do you guys know your case has been touched?? This is driving me literally crazy. I haven't heard ANYTHING since November...

And lastly, is there anyone that has experience with the El Salvador Embassy? Can anyone give me advice as far as that's concerned??

Thanks everyone. All of your timelines and stories have been a great inspiration so far in letting me know I'm not alone.

First:

You may want to update your timeline. You actually have 03-05-2011 as your NOA1 date instead of 11-05-2010.

This is throwing off your timeline estimates.

Second:

In general - you should never make firm wedding plans until you actually have the visa in hand. Right now, California is taking about five months to approve petitions. That means you may get an NOA2 sometime in April-May maybe? I'm not 100% sure of the timing, but you're running the risk of being way too close to your planned date, especially figuring you still need to go through the embassy steps.

Third:

On the USCIS site, you need to have a login/password (click the sign up for account link).

Log in using your login/password and add your case #.

Under 'Last Updated (mm/dd/yyyy)' you will see a date.

That is your last touched date.

[TheSantamarias 0]

Ok, I updated my timeline, so it should be correct now...

I have tossed around the idea of pushing back the wedding. My parents are huge sticklers to us having a formal, traditional, huge, white wedding.

I checked my updates on the USCIS website and it says my case hasn't been touched since 11/15/2010!! :(:( This is like worse than bad news. I have no idea what to do anymore.

[TwoCats 55]

Ok, I updated my timeline, so it should be correct now...

I have tossed around the idea of pushing back the wedding. My parents are huge sticklers to us having a formal, traditional, huge, white wedding.

I checked my updates on the USCIS website and it says my case hasn't been touched since 11/15/2010!! :(:( This is like worse than bad news. I have no idea what to do anymore.

Right now, your timeline says:

Based on timeline data, your I129f may be adjudicated between March 29, 2012 and April 13, 2012*.

Of course, this isn't exact. You really never know when you'll get an approval.

You might want to check how long it takes for your consulate between NOA2 and Interview.

That will give you a better idea of how tight a timeframe it is.

Right now, though, I'd hazard to say that you're looking at a pretty tight timeframe.

You have a couple of options:

1. Wait and hope you get it in time. Knowing that if you don't, you have to choose between option #2 and #3.

2. Push the wedding back to a later date and continue the K-1 process.

3. If you can't push the wedding back, choose to get married on your chosen date, and abandon the K-1. Your spouse would have to go back to their home country and you would have to file a CR-1/IR-1 spousal visa and start the waiting over again.

[Ashley y Diego 3]

We also wanted to plan a summer wedding, and had made some plans but working with our vendors explained about the visa and said we wanted to reserve but couldn't commit 100% to the date.. good thing because even though we got the NOA2 according to the timeline, processing at the embassy took much longer than we were expecting. In the end, we chose to have a legal wedding immediately after getting the visa, but because people were traveling and we couldn't confirm the date early enough for them to book flights, we had the big wedding party later in October. This wasn't our ideal plan at first at all, but it worked great in the end because soon after the wedding we could both start working, etc. (because we had filed AOS in August).

Do I wish the visa would have come through in time for our original plans? Maybe.. but it was too much stress cutting it so close and would not have worked out, you just don't have enough power in the process to make it go your way. Do I regret planning it the way we did? No, because it gave me lots of time to work with vendors and figure everything out (I was able to have my dress made for me, think ahead of time about a hairstyle, relax about everything while stuck waiting, and spend more time with my now-husband) which made me enjoy the wedding a lot more because I was so comfortable with it and not rushed!

I hope this helps. Know that you have no way to really predict when the visa will arrive, it could be significantly sooner OR significantly longer than average. Try to do things in a way you can have fun with them instead of stressing all the time.

[Andrea&Mal 1]

I would tend to agree with the others, June seems like you are cutting it very close. I am currently making wedding plans and the thought of all those non-refundable deposits would make anyone stressed. Best to push it back (if you can) to save yourself the stress.

As for the 'touches' I wouldn't worry too much about them. I just got my NOA2 on Friday and never had a single touch listed online.

[kikip 12]

Ok, I updated my timeline, so it should be correct now...

I have tossed around the idea of pushing back the wedding. My parents are huge sticklers to us having a formal, traditional, huge, white wedding.

I checked my updates on the USCIS website and it says my case hasn't been touched since 11/15/2010!! :(:( This is like worse than bad news. I have no idea what to do anymore.

I am in a very similar situation, people on this site just don't understand that you can't plan the type of wedding that will satisfy some families in the 3 months you have. My backup plan is this: if the visa doesnt come in time, he'll come over and we'll have the big wedding with family and friends, but not get a marriage license (i.e. have a religious, not a legal wedding) . Then, he'll fly back to england for his interview and when he comes back we'll have a small town hall wedding as our "legal" marriage. its not the best of situations (and you absolutely cant mention that youre entering the country for your wedding), but it will work if worst comes to worst.

Also, its common for your application to go "untouched" from after you get a NOA1 until shortly before you get approved/RFE'd from what I've read.

[ecce 20]

Don't worry about not being touched. Touches don't mean a thing.

Good luck with the wedding. It sounds pretty tight to me. I am thinking of postponing my August wedding before my guests start buying plane tickets, and we filed September 2nd...still no NOA2. But CSC is better than VCS so you have a shot if you want to go for it. I am just trying to hold off on booking any of the smaller stuff as loooong as possible.

[* Kristin * 49]

Could always plan for a 'big' wedding in like August or such... June is just quite close.

We've planned for a late August wedding (our NOA1 was in September last year)... so giving ourselves plenty of time....

I am in a very similar situation, people on this site just don't understand that you can't plan the type of wedding that will satisfy some families in the 3 months you have. My backup plan is this: if the visa doesnt come in time, he'll come over and we'll have the big wedding with family and friends, but not get a marriage license (i.e. have a religious, not a legal wedding) . Then, he'll fly back to england for his interview and when he comes back we'll have a small town hall wedding as our "legal" marriage. its not the best of situations (and you absolutely cant mention that youre entering the country for your wedding), but it will work if worst comes to worst.

Also, its common for your application to go "untouched" from after you get a NOA1 until shortly before you get approved/RFE'd from what I've read.

[TheSantamarias 0]

Everything that I have planned so far can move if needed... The biggest thing is the hotel for the reception. Every other vendor is very nice about it and I was up front with them while planning. I think I want to see when I get the NOA2 and go from there. I'm HOPING that it comes soon... It's so hard these days. Everyone wants you to do this the right/legal way and they make it so hard.

Thank you for being so supportive everyone!

[ecce 20]

It's very good that you have supportive vendors at least - that makes a huge difference. Best of luck to you! It's true that for most weddings you have to plan more than 3 months ahead - USCIS just doesn't care of course!

I have heard a few suggestions about having the fiance fly in just for a ceremony...but doesn't that assume that the fiance can visit the US? To me that seems to be a big assumption for a lot of people. For one, wouldn't the beneficiary already have to hold some sort of visitor visa or other visa or waiver for visiting the US? Because aren't the chances of getting a visitor's visa while applying for a K1 very slim? And also, isn't there a substantial possibility that the beneficiary would be turned away at the POE because they are applying for a K1 and therefore a risk to stay? that just seems like a huge risk to take and to plan a wedding around. Please correct me if I am wrong - I would like to know.

[TheSantamarias 0]

I agree. While I appreciate all feedback and suggestions, the idea of him visiting the US is just no possible for a few reasons. First of all the expense is just too much. Then also, they can turn him away even after paying over a grand for a plane ticket. There's just too much red tape involved, so to speak. Apart from that, I've heard of people being denied because they say that they are seeking the visitors visa under false pretences. Again, this is hearsay so I'm not sure, but I just can't afford - emotionally and financially - to take the chance right now.

[kutakendra 3]

I don't know about your Embassy. I'm NOA1 10/27, CSC, London- a busy one. (check out your Embassy's wait average wait time to get a better idea.) Trying to get married 5/30. I'm planning on a second wedding date of 6/20. Luckily, we are planning on Las Vegas, so our plans are a bit more flexible. I'd be careful. I was optimistic two weeks ago, when CSC was cooking along, but now they seem to be doing random date approvals, and not many at that.

Good luck.

[amykathleen2005 441]

Fortunately UK citizens and other VWP people can visit without a visa, to answer that question. Although they still might not get in and they can't lie when asked a direct question why they are coming.

To the OP, there is almost no way you are going to make that date. Push it back for your own sanity. It is you wedding, not your family's no matter what they might think.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

Hello... I received NOA1 on November 5th, from the California Service Center. My fiance is in El Salvador. I have a few questions...

First of all, our wedding date is June 4th, 2011. DO YOU THINK I HAVE ENOUGH TIME??? We still haven't received NOA2!

Second, I look at everyone's timelines and it says "Touched" on some of them. How do you guys know your case has been touched?? This is driving me literally crazy. I haven't heard ANYTHING since November...

And lastly, is there anyone that has experience with the El Salvador Embassy? Can anyone give me advice as far as that's concerned??

Thanks everyone. All of your timelines and stories have been a great inspiration so far in letting me know I'm not alone.

DO NOT set a wedding date. There are no guarantees about this process. Your petition may take longer to be processed, plus there is no guarantee that the visa will be granted either. Do not add stress to an already stressful process!