FILLING I -130 as LPR vs USC @ Case will be upgrade but ......

[navchusu11 5]

Hi VJers,

Want to share my experience and hope that new I-130 fillers can make right decision on right time to bring their beloved spouse here earliest possible.....If anyone has different experiences or ideas, it will be great for all of us if you share....

If anyone is on LPR ( Legal Permanent Residence) status and still a year to be eligible for Naturalization then only fill Petition I-130 as of 03/29/2012 @ VSC. I came to know today, when I got an email from VSC, that Case can be Upgrade from LPR to USC ( United State Citizen) but Priority Date will be count when you become citizen. I will post the email below what i received from VSC. As of today, Processing time frame @ VSC for I-130 as LPR is Jan. 9, 2011 vs only 5 months as USC. So, if you will be eligible for citizen ( USC) within less than a year, WAIT, become USC then fill I-130 that works quicker. If you guys read the email carefully, my case is still located on the LPR shelf as of March 29, 2012 and will be relocated. If I were not regularly in contact with NVC, my case would be in same shelf eventhough I received the email on Dec. 12, 2011 regarding my case was upgraded. The worse misleading fact was on March 21, 2012 I called them and Customer Service Representative (CSR) filled my Service request and gave me the Referral ID/ Ticket number TBXXXXXXXXXXVSC and asked me to wait for 2 weeks before contacting them again. I know within next week, I will get same genetic email saying they are working on my case and should hear within so and so time....whatever the reason, ( might be limited access to the data base), it looks like CSR does not have clue whats going on for individual case, at least that is my feeling.....( because she filled my service request as 5 months time frame of filling I-130 and I was supposed to inform that my priority date counts from the date of upgrade)

"Currently your case is pending at the Vermont Service Center (VSC). Your original priority date for Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative EACXXXXXXXXXX was October 17, 2011. As of December 8, 2011 you have become a United States Citizen and your new priority date is December 8, 2011. Over three months have passed since your naturalization. Your case is located on the Legal Permanent Residence shelf. Your new status and priority date will be applied to the case and your file relocated to the proper shelf. This information is being sent March 29, 2012 to the proper point of contact for the update. According to the service center processing chart the wait time for this case type is five months. This means your case is expected to be worked before May 8, 2012 and is within standard processing times. Please note that date is an estimate and subject to change."

Its not good to see this kind of email but I am happy to get clear picture what's happening with my filling. Officialy 2 more months for WAITING GAME...WORSE thing recently work load for VSC and CSC looks equal....5 months time frame....

Note: Some of Petitioners who filled I-130 @ VCS as USC on December 2nd week were already got approved. I wish I would aslo wait until I got my naturalization..even i did not get the result, clearly my intention to filled on Oct. 17, 2011 was to bring my beloved here quicker....

Hope my experience will help for new filler who is in doubt what is the best to do if they are in the same boat as I were in last October....

thanks .....

[cathy2904 97]

This does not seem to have been true in our case. We filed at the end of March 2011. After we called USCIS in July to let them know that Trevor was now a USC, they sent us an RFE asking for a copy of his naturalization certificate. Our NOA2 came 5 days after they received that - less than 5 months from initial filing. See my signature for the exact timeline.

[anglosax 0]

CATHY- Congratulations to both of you

We are just about to embark on the same visa journey after 5 years of LPR limbo. I will apply for USC this month and then for I-130 for my wife. We were married in 2007 in UK, can we also apply for I-130 immediately after my N400 application as you did, or do I have to wait until it is granted and I am a USC?

[cathy2904 97]

CATHY- Congratulations to both of you

We are just about to embark on the same visa journey after 5 years of LPR limbo. I will apply for USC this month and then for I-130 for my wife. We were married in 2007 in UK, can we also apply for I-130 immediately after my N400 application as you did, or do I have to wait until it is granted and I am a USC?

Thank you.

No, I would recommend that you file the I-130 as soon as it is ready. Then, when you are a USC call USCIS, ask to speak to a Tier 2 operator and ask them to upgrade your petition to that of USC. In our case that call prompted an RFE for the Naturalization certificate and, as you can see from my signature the NOA2 followed on pretty soon after that. I believe that is because we were already pretty near the top of the pile at that point but it meant that both processes could run in parallel and probably saved us a few months.

Good luck to you both. It will seem like forever while you are going through it but once it is all over you will forget all about the waiting.

Edited March 29, 2012 by cathy2904

[anglosax 0]

Cathy - Thanks for the advise and adding me as friend . Is it possible to message eachother on or off the forum as there are more questions you could answer for us

Sorry to hijack this post

[navchusu11 5]

CATHY- Congratulations to both of you

We are just about to embark on the same visa journey after 5 years of LPR limbo. I will apply for USC this month and then for I-130 for my wife. We were married in 2007 in UK, can we also apply for I-130 immediately after my N400 application as you did, or do I have to wait until it is granted and I am a USC?

@ Cathy

thanks for sharing your journey and I wish I had the same experience as yours. I tried to do the same thing as you did but did not work out.

@ Anglosax

I can't tell what you have to do as we two ( I & cathy) have totally different experience. the only thing I can tell you is my situation is latest. rules might be changed in between. at the same time, I mentined that it is as of March 29, 2012. It might be totally differnt, I mean processing time frame, when cathy filled his I-130 as LPR. for me it took only 3 months to get my citizen vs almost 5 months for Cathy. I updated my timeline but sorry I dont know where I have to check the option to show my timeline underneath my post.here is my journey

06.25.2011 - got married back native country

last of August filled N400 when got back USA

10/17/2011 - NOA1 for I -130 ( took only 5 days to get notice of filling)

12/08/2011 - N400 approved. ( same day called VSC to upgrade I-130)

12/12/2011 - got email notification about upgrade (

Type of service requested:

-- Upgrade I-130

The status of this service request is:

Thank you for informing our office that you have now become a U.S. citizen. Congratulations on your citizenship. Your previously filed I130 petition has been amended to reflect your new status. The Citizenship and Immigration Services processes cases in the order in which they are received for each type of visa classification. You can use our processing times to estimate when we will make a decision on your case. Please check our website at www.uscis.gov for current processing times. You may also wish to register for automatic email notification of action taken on your case.

I kept calling them and every time they told me my case was already upgraded. just to have peace of mind, again I requested on written

on feb 2012, I received the email from VSC as below

Make a copy of your Naturalization Certificate and send it to the National Visa Center (NVC). Once your case is approved it is sent to the National Visa Center to await an available visa. There is a wait for Preference or Legal Permanent Resident I-130s. Visas are immediately available for a United States Citizen (USC). It is to your advantage to notify the NVC. Records here at the Vermont Service Center (VSC) give your Code of Admission as USC. The date and location are listed as well. There is no need to send a copy of your certificate to VSC.

and what I got this afternoon(03.29.2012) clearly says: my new priorty date counts from 12.8.2011 not from 10.17.2011. As i mentioned earlier, I dont know there might be rule changed in between my case and Cathey...but I cant tell one thing mine is recent and its upto you whatever decision you make to file I-130.

my suggestion: you already waited for more than 4 years, just wait for another 3 months, then you dont have to go through this LPR vs USC hassel...If something does not work as planned then you dont have to worried about this issue in future......

if I hear anything new, ( definitely NOA2) in between, I will update you...

[navchusu11 5]

CATHY- Congratulations to both of you

We are just about to embark on the same visa journey after 5 years of LPR limbo. I will apply for USC this month and then for I-130 for my wife. We were married in 2007 in UK, can we also apply for I-130 immediately after my N400 application as you did, or do I have to wait until it is granted and I am a USC?

I already shared my experience. Over here I will try to answer you specific query

I never mentioned that we have to wait to file I -130 until we get our USC. You can file I -130 anytime as long as you are LPR. Main thing is how could we bring our spouse @ USA quicker....I am just wondering why you waited so long...my understanding is VISA will not be availabe promptly when you case is completed if filed as LPR...So, if you file I-130 as LPR it might take around 2 and half years to get your spouse here( Per US embassy @ Kathmandu, waiting time period will vary with embassy to embassy) vs only 8 months being USC.....

Vjers,....Correct me if I am wrong.....

[cathy2904 97]

Cathy - Thanks for the advise and adding me as friend . Is it possible to message eachother on or off the forum as there are more questions you could answer for us

Sorry to hijack this post

I have sent you a private message. If you did not get that you can email me via the link on my profile.

I can't tell what you have to do as we two ( I & cathy) have totally different experience. the only thing I can tell you is my situation is latest. rules might be changed in between. at the same time, I mentined that it is as of March 29, 2012. It might be totally differnt, I mean processing time frame, when cathy filled his I-130 as LPR. for me it took only 3 months to get my citizen vs almost 5 months for Cathy. I updated my timeline but sorry I dont know where I have to check the option to show my timeline underneath my post.here is my journey

You are right, no two cases are ever exactly the same. I do know of several other people on here who had similar experiences to us once they became USCs. And the policy may have changed as you say. It seems to me, like so much with USCIS, that you will often get a different response depending on who you speak to. And perhaps it depends exactly where in the process you are.

As far as the time that the Naturalization process takes is concerned, I think that will often depend on how busy the local office is. Trevor had his biometrics down within a month but there was a long wait for his interview. He was lucky enough to be able to get a same day oath ceremony.

If you want to show your timeline underneath your posts, you need to add it to your 'signature':-

select the arrow next to your username in the top right hand corner of the page - Choose My Profile - Edit My Profile - Change Signature

Edited March 30, 2012 by cathy2904

[DeathStrike 9]

Thanks for sharing your information.

Now this is getting me a little worried, since I am going through similar process -

I already filed for my wife as LPR F2A on Sept 06, 2011 (CSC), and I am on the naturalization process (interview on April 23, 2012) and planning to upgrade F2A to CR1.

I filed to save the I-130 processing time (as suggested in VJ before) - now in case I have to go through the whole I-130 initial processing again (that my PD gets the new day I naturalize and upgrade) - that will be a disaster - personally.

I guess I need to wait and see, and probably look at other/this thread for experiences of other filers.

[cathy2904 97]

All I can tell you is that I have had a number of conversations with people on this site regarding upgrading the petition and this is the first time I have heard of a PD being reset. Of course, navchusu11 may be right and the rules may have changed in the last few months. Let's hope not. I checked the guide on the USCIS site: http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/B1en.pdf and that has not changed (although I am aware that that doesn't necessarily mean a thing. )

Edited March 30, 2012 by cathy2904

[navchusu11 5]

I have sent you a private message. If you did not get that you can email me via the link on my profile.

It seems to me, like so much with USCIS, that you will often get a different response depending on who you speak to. And perhaps it depends exactly where in the process you are.

@ Cathey

thanks for you help for timeline......

I can't disagree what you said.....it feels we are calling at call center, not to a real person who has solid knowledge about the immigration rules and regulation of USA.....

@ Deathstrike

what I am suggesting might not be morally/ legally right...it’s up to you to make final call...

i. by the time when you get you oath for N-400 ( if you have to wait for special ceremony) it will be almost 9 months from your LPR F2A filling.... So check the time frame @ CSC when you have your interview for N-400 and if it is close to August/ September 2011 then Wait to get your case approved from Service Center...As soon as it transfers to NVC update them you being USC...

but if the time frame still shows somewhere March 2011 for LSR, call them to upgrade your case as soon as your interview has positive outcome...thats how you might be a month a head on whole process....the only time you have to send your copy of naturalization is @ NVC stage....and your spouse does not have to wait for VISA....

and if thing works out as Cathey's situation, you will get approved within couple of weeks from your oath date.......thats why I am again calling on April 5, 2012 as it will be officially 15 days from my first service request...hope I will hear some good news.....

good luck....hope i did not make you confuse......

Edited March 30, 2012 by navchusu11

[meika 1]

I am so worried too how comes they did not tell us this? We got thee upgrade letter n thee service request letter also but nothing about pd changing n that means I would have to wait til june omg my pd is august 2011

[cathy2904 97]

I am so worried too how comes they did not tell us this? We got thee upgrade letter n thee service request letter also but nothing about pd changing n that means I would have to wait til june omg my pd is august 2011

When did you upgrade?

[navchusu11 5]

I am so worried too how comes they did not tell us this? We got thee upgrade letter n thee service request letter also but nothing about pd changing n that means I would have to wait til june omg my pd is august 2011

@ Meika

they also did not tell me about the PD. I got N-400 Oath on 12/08/2011 and same date, I called Service Center to upgrade the CASE. You can see on email dated 12/12/2011, it only Congratulate me being USC and inform about the CASE Upgrade. I was keep back and forth with VSC on email that how I got the email on 03/29/2012 which tells about change PD. Unfortunately, It took almost 5 email to get the fact that my PD got changed. We can feel how efficiently they are working. So, Still does not have faith they are right or wrong even though its on paper (email)......

@ Cathy

If I am not wrong, Meika filled I-130 ( LPR F2A) on August 2011 and upgrade the Case to IR-1/CR-1 on somewhere close to Feb 2012 and still waiting for NOA2.....might file Service request close to early March.....already close to 8 months and for VSC its really long....seems PD gets reset when CASE is upgraded......

Cant do anything BIG besides keep follow up with @ VSC........ Good luck.....Really test us of our Patience…..

Edited March 31, 2012 by navchusu11

[navchusu11 5]

I am so worried too how comes they did not tell us this? We got thee upgrade letter n thee service request letter also but nothing about pd changing n that means I would have to wait til june omg my pd is august 2011

@ Meika

I got the email last week regarding my Service request. As expected, It was genetic email saying that my CASE is Pending at VCS and I will hear within next 60 days from the date of letter issued. Then,on the same day, I sent letter to VSC describing my situation and inquiring about my CASE. Today, i got way better response....seems more specific to my situation....it says; I should hear about the CASE within next 2 weeks...... :thumbs: finger crossed