I-130, Should I Be Worried?

[AdamKelsey 1]

My wife and I live in the UK whilst she finishes her studies, and i am moving over with her next year (june hopefully) to live in the US. We sent the i-130 form off with all correct (again, hopefully) documentation in September, and shortly received the N0A1. It's been 3 months now and my application is still pending. Surely i should have received something by now? How long does it usually take to receive the N0A2? The average application for my office is 5.4 months (Oct 2012), is this the time from them accepting the form to receiving the visa?

Much appreciated,

Adam

[bsd058 296]

My wife and I live in the UK whilst she finishes her studies, and i am moving over with her next year (june hopefully) to live in the US. We sent the i-130 form off with all correct (again, hopefully) documentation in September, and shortly received the N0A1. It's been 3 months now and my application is still pending. Surely i should have received something by now? How long does it usually take to receive the N0A2? The average application for my office is 5.4 months (Oct 2012), is this the time from them accepting the form to receiving the visa?

Much appreciated,

Adam

This is the time from them receiving the form to the time the petition is approved. Once the petition is approved, you will still have to go through the NVC and consulate stages, I believe.

[Roosha 51]

Are you sure you're at the Texas Service Center and you weren't routed to the National Benefits Center? Check your number, does it start with MSC?

[AdamKelsey 1]

My Number begins with EAC, we sent it to texas and apparently it was rerouted to vermont.

Does this mean we may not make our june deadline? That's when my wife's student visa runs out.

[Tygrys 143]

My Number begins with EAC, we sent it to texas and apparently it was rerouted to vermont.

Does this mean we may not make our june deadline? That's when my wife's student visa runs out.

You may or may not make it...

Your wife (she is an USC as I understand) can return to US anytime, you will have to wait for your CR-1 visa.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Tygrys

[Roosha 51]

Wait, you're in the UK, why didn't you file directly with the embassy? http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=36dc6c0fe7f5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=1ac900c262197210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

It will go a LOT faster if you did it that way. I'm not sure if you can still do it that way, I'd contact the embassy to see if you still have that option.

Also, if you're both living overseas, you should have sent it to the Chicago lock box, NOT to Texas. That might be why they re-routed to Vermont. If your file is going to stay in Vermont you're looking at around 6 months just for approval from USCIS, then you're still going to have to go through NVC and all the other steps.

You probably won't make the June deadline if you're at Vermont, but if you've been routed to NBC you probably will. I'd call and talk to a tier 2 person, they'll be able to tell you exactly where your file is, then you'll be able to get a better idea about your timeline.

[AdamKelsey 1]

I spoke to a woman at the US embassy in London and explained our situation. She explained that because my wife did not have permanent residence in the UK and she only has a student visa we would have to send it to the Chicago Lockbox, i apologise, this is where we sent it.

Where should we call? the London embassy?

thanks again.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I spoke to a woman at the US embassy in London and explained our situation. She explained that because my wife did not have permanent residence in the UK and she only has a student visa we would have to send it to the Chicago Lockbox, i apologise, this is where we sent it.

Where should we call? the London embassy?

thanks again.

You did the right thing. You were not eligible for Direct ConsulR Filing. No need to call the embassy. They can't help because the case is still with USCIS. VSC is currently working on petitions submitted in mid- May. Find VJ reported averages on this page. http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/. (middle column)

Edited December 6, 2012 by Nich-Nick

[NikLR 13,232]

If your petition was not transferred to the NBC then you may be in for a long haul. Vermont is taking a very long time with petitions. You should also fix up your timeline. Vermont Service Center is your service center with a EAC number.

Edited December 6, 2012 by NikiR

[bigdog 377]

Good Luck with this.

[twocastles 26]

My wife and I live in the UK whilst she finishes her studies, and i am moving over with her next year (june hopefully) to live in the US. We sent the i-130 form off with all correct (again, hopefully) documentation in September, and shortly received the N0A1. It's been 3 months now and my application is still pending. Surely i should have received something by now? How long does it usually take to receive the N0A2? The average application for my office is 5.4 months (Oct 2012), is this the time from them accepting the form to receiving the visa?

Much appreciated,

Adam

I can tell you from my experience, three months is less than half the time we waited for approval from the USCIS. They received our case on December 5 last year and we didn't get approval until June 25, 2012. She interviewed November 7, 2012...a year and three days after we got married. She is coming December 17, 2012 for good.

That said, it's luck of the draw with the USCIS processors. You may get a good one, or you may get a lazy one. There were plenty of January, February, and even March filers getting approved from the VSC before we did. It's infuriating and unfair, but that's the way it goes with the USCIS. And they don't even want to hear from you in less than 5 months. The NVC stage takes time also, but at least there's more communication with them and some of the time it takes depends on how quickly you act in paying and submitting the proper documents. It's not months and months of nothingness like with the USCIS.

I wish you luck! Check out the links the others above have posted for the average processing times and similar timelines to your own. Look for the September 2012 filers forum to share your experiences.

[civilservant 42]

We submitted our I-130 in June, it was routed to Vermont.

We are yet to hear any news. I wouldnt be too hopeful about the expiration of that visa to be honest.

[WaitingforOregon 10]

We sent our I-130 late May, got our NOA1 in June, and still waiting. It's been over 6 months now. Good luck and may we all get a reply soon!

[The Mean Lady 604]

We sent our I-130 late May, got our NOA1 in June, and still waiting. It's been over 6 months now. Good luck and may we all get a reply soon!

Are you aware you'll have to travel to montreal and not ottowa?

[pgmsc 3]

My wife and I live in the UK whilst she finishes her studies, and i am moving over with her next year (june hopefully) to live in the US. We sent the i-130 form off with all correct (again, hopefully) documentation in September, and shortly received the N0A1. It's been 3 months now and my application is still pending. Surely i should have received something by now? How long does it usually take to receive the N0A2? The average application for my office is 5.4 months (Oct 2012), is this the time from them accepting the form to receiving the visa?

My husband and I are just about finishing, and we also went through VSC. It took us about 6 months to get the NOA2 after the NOA1, and about 3 months from the time it went through NVC to the interview date. The 5.4 months is just for the time it takes to review the I130 petition; it doesn't include the time it takes to get processed by the NVC, although that bit tends to go faster depending on the country (and the UK is relatively quick). If you sent everything off in September, you'll probably be right around that June time period, assuming the time line for Vermont doesn't drastically change and you don't have anything unusual with your application. Good luck!

Edited December 7, 2012 by pgmsc