Waiting since 1-24-11 for K-1 at VSC and nothing 5+ months...

[FastViper 5]

Hi there folks and I did search around and this is my first post. A little background is my fiancée is Thai and I am American and have retained counsel in Thailand that only does Visas. We sent in the K-1 packet and it was received 1-24-11 by USCIS and I have the receipt number and also signed up for email updates. I also heck daily on the USCIS website for progress and still the same exact thing posted "initial review". I also checked timelines for the different USCIS service centers and see I am not officially over the average time. When i asked my counsel about this, he said do not call as if there is a problem, they will come back right to us and say there is a problem. In his written instructions, he explicitly says not to call and still says this is the case. I have traveled there now 4 times from USA to Thailand and been over there now 2+ months since December as I love her and did not want to be away from her. I am VERY disappointed as the illegals walk around with impunity here in MASS and yet I am waiting on this nonsense. My question is would you guys call or wait it out? Any advice other than be patient, and really maybe I need to hear that-lol. But over 5 months is crazy and makes me REALLY angry with the US government to say the least. I might relocate anyhow to Thailand long term, it will happen if there is any problem with the visa as I frankly like Thailand better-it is just my business is here and a cash cow. Anyhow, I will shut up and all ears and thanks very much for the responses.

[Ryan H 3,791]

I also heck daily on the USCIS website for progress and still the same exact thing posted "initial review".

I would suggest to you that you stop your daily online checks for progress or seeing if your case has been touched (seeing if it's been touched is only applicable if you created an account with USCIS). Rarely, if ever will you see the date change as far as your file being touched goes and the general screen will not changed from "initial review" until your file is adjudicated and a decision made.

The reason why I suggest you stop your daily online checks is you are only causing yourself disappointment and needlessly driving yourself crazy.

If your wait time gets too far past the states 5 months, you may want to call USCIS anyway and put in a service request (despite what the attorney said) and maybe have your Congressman or Senator make an inquiry on your behalf also.

[advocator 0]

I'd say start calling USCIS at 5 1/2 months or so. We were told we could put in a service request when it reached 6 months due to being a month past normal processing time. We went through a senator, he put in the request and we were approved 7 days later. Can't say it will work like that every time, but it did for us. Although we have hired an attorney to deal with a complicated issue at our interview, I can't say most people on this site like attorneys for simple cases with no problems. Most of the process can be done by you and your fiance and some attorneys don't even know what they're talking about. I'm not passing judgement on yours, just cautioning due to all the horror stories I've read on this site and others. Wishing you the best of luck!

[FastViper 5]

Thanks so much for the feedback guys. Being that I am half crazy anyhow, it exacerbates a fragile situation already-lol. I concur, there is a reasonable threshold of when to call and at this point I would like feedback of when that point is. I only have the one document that says it was received and nothing else. Even with my receipt number and creating an account, I see nothing about it being touched and no other emails subsequent to the initial one. I see a lot of folks on this board that applied for a K-1 a lot later than me approved so I am sitting here in dismay at this wait time as I can clearly see I am past the average time in processing albeit not by much admittedly. Thanks in advance for additional feedback and I think it is reasonable to call shortly as we are now at 5.5 months at the end of this week. I retained legal counsel as I have a special issue that might need to be addressed, as normally I would do this myself and frankly for the expenditure, it was inexpensive. I worked as an assistant campaign manager for a congressman (for free) last year so I do have contacts, but I do not like asking for favors from anyone.

[Darnell 8,478]

6 months is after 7/24/11 . Wait a bit more, unless you get RFE soonish.

[Love Eth 14]

I advise you to set up an appointment with your local office at InfoPass and put the service request. I used that way and got a respond from USCIS in less than two weeks.

Good Luck

[faust-yusov 103]

We're also January filers (have been waiting since 01-14-2011).

I suggest you call USCIS immediately. We did so after 5 months (06-13-2011) and they put in a service request for us.

They also advised we call back on 07-13-2011 (the 6 month mark) if we still hadn't heard anything, and they'd submit an expedite request. You can also e-mail an expedite request after 6 months to VSC.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov

I would also recommend contacting your member of congress. We did this and they asked that we fax over a copy of our I-797 NOA1 and a privacy release form. They are presently inquiring about our case on our behalf.

The steps as outlined above are, AFAIK, the best you can do. Calling USCIS (aside from at the 5 and 6 month marks) is utterly ineffectual and a waste of your time - they are evasive, have no direct communication with the service centers, and know less about the process than the majority of members on this forum.

Edited July 5, 2011 by faust-yusov

[faust-yusov 103]

I also checked timelines for the different USCIS service centers and see I am not officially over the average time.

Where did you read this?

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

The average time for I-129F adjudication at VSC is "officially" 5 months, though in actuality it appears closer to 4 (Igor's List indicates that VSC are at present working predominantly on late-Feb / early-March filers).

When i asked my counsel about this, he said do not call as if there is a problem, they will come back right to us and say there is a problem. In his written instructions, he explicitly says not to call and still says this is the case.

With respect to "a problem" (such as omitted information in the petition), this advice is accurate. VSC would issue an RFE ("Request for Further Evidence") to which you would respond with the required evidence.

However, there is verily no reason whatsoever why you should not contact USCIS with respect to the processing itself. Call them immediately on 1-800-375-5283 with your receipt number, speak to a person and ask that they submit a service request. You are outside the normal processing period and are entitled to one.

Delaying this call may in fact be to your disadvantage. USCIS will expedite your petition (should it remain untouched) 30 days after submission of the service request. Naturally the later said service request is issued, the later you can qualify for this expedite.

Edited July 5, 2011 by faust-yusov