K-1, any idea of what dates are currently being processed at the TSC?

[Avery Cates 1,141]

I hear what you guys are saying, and if a vast majority of a random sampling took 5 months +/- a couple weeks, I'd have ZERO complaint. It would imply some sort of a queued sequential processing. However, the standard deviation just seems WAAAAY too high, and nobody can ever seem to supply a valid and believable explanation for why that is?

I'd love to see an extensive survey of folks on VJ to see if we can find SOME sort of pattern beyond a ####### shoot ranging anywhere from 6 days to 6 months or more. Its the lack of consistency that drives me batty in this.

You need to remember that we only have a percentage of a percentage of active petitions on this site. By the time an extensive study were completed, things would have changed and it would become irrelevant. Especially with all the shuffling they're doing right now, it's going to depend entirely on what gets grabbed to transfer and what the status is at the service center it lands in. Also, people are quick to share the great news of a fast approval, but not so much to update that they're still waiting or it's taken 8 or 9 months.

Also important to keep in mind that the I-130s (spousal visa petitions) are taking ages to process. How is it fair to them that the fiances get handled in a much shorter time that the spouses do?

It's not entirely fair, but different petition types are different. Especially with some of the idiocy I've seen from some posters regarding thinking themselves superior to K-1s and how K-1s should be all back of the bus to them, I have a hard time feeling bad for a fair share of them. There is less for the service centers to go through and verify with a K-1 than there is an I-130.

[nina.mb 8]

Hi all -

So a quick update:

Per the suggestion of a fellow VJ-er, I called customer service and requested to speak to a Tier 2 representative regarding our case since we're 5mo+ from the NOA1 (i.e. past the estimated processing time). She transferred my call with no objection and I was put on hold for an estimated 62 minutes (ouf!). Then something miraculous happened. I decided to take my chances with the call-back option (you give your name and phone number and then call you when you get to the head of the line). Lo and behold about 45 minutes later, someone actually called back!!!! I was shocked, but pleasantly so : ) Use this option if it's given, for sure...

Anyway, result of the conversation being that apparently everything looks on track for our file (no sneaky RFEs lurking, it seems, yay!) and that they are currently working on EXACTLY our date ( i.e mid-September 2013) at the TSC.

I know some of you will remain skeptical because of Igor's list and all the petitioners with later dates who have already been approved, but hey, I'll take whatever leads I can get at this point. Officer seemed confident that we should be receiving our answer quite soon, so for those of you in a similar situation...fingers crossed for some good news in the coming days!

[SparklePony 238]

Yay! Good to hear! Hoping that NOA2 comes in very quickly!

[Avery Cates 1,141]

Hi all -

So a quick update:

Per the suggestion of a fellow VJ-er, I called customer service and requested to speak to a Tier 2 representative regarding our case since we're 5mo+ from the NOA1 (i.e. past the estimated processing time). She transferred my call with no objection and I was put on hold for an estimated 62 minutes (ouf!). Then something miraculous happened. I decided to take my chances with the call-back option (you give your name and phone number and then call you when you get to the head of the line). Lo and behold about 45 minutes later, someone actually called back!!!! I was shocked, but pleasantly so : ) Use this option if it's given, for sure...

Anyway, result of the conversation being that apparently everything looks on track for our file (no sneaky RFEs lurking, it seems, yay!) and that they are currently working on EXACTLY our date ( i.e mid-September 2013) at the TSC.

I know some of you will remain skeptical because of Igor's list and all the petitioners with later dates who have already been approved, but hey, I'll take whatever leads I can get at this point. Officer seemed confident that we should be receiving our answer quite soon, so for those of you in a similar situation...fingers crossed for some good news in the coming days!

Sounds about right.

[Jon York 156]

Hi all -

So a quick update:

Per the suggestion of a fellow VJ-er, I called customer service and requested to speak to a Tier 2 representative regarding our case since we're 5mo+ from the NOA1 (i.e. past the estimated processing time). She transferred my call with no objection and I was put on hold for an estimated 62 minutes (ouf!). Then something miraculous happened. I decided to take my chances with the call-back option (you give your name and phone number and then call you when you get to the head of the line). Lo and behold about 45 minutes later, someone actually called back!!!! I was shocked, but pleasantly so : ) Use this option if it's given, for sure...

Anyway, result of the conversation being that apparently everything looks on track for our file (no sneaky RFEs lurking, it seems, yay!) and that they are currently working on EXACTLY our date ( i.e mid-September 2013) at the TSC.

I know some of you will remain skeptical because of Igor's list and all the petitioners with later dates who have already been approved, but hey, I'll take whatever leads I can get at this point. Officer seemed confident that we should be receiving our answer quite soon, so for those of you in a similar situation...fingers crossed for some good news in the coming days!

Thanks so much for posting the results of your call! A call a lot of us cannot yet make. So, it was really good to hear it from you.

[claudi1176 2]

Our NOA1 at the Texas Service Center is 10-31-2013 and we still haven't received NOA2 or any update. It has been 4 months...and then I look at a lot of this and last months visa approvals and a lot of them have received NOA2 within 2 months or less. There is people who have filed in January 2014 in Texas and have already received NOA2. How does that work???

Our NOA1 at the Texas Service Center is 10-31-2013 and we still haven't received NOA2 or any update. It has been 4 months...and then I look at a lot of this and last months visa approvals and a lot of them have received NOA2 within 2 months or less. There is people who have filed in January 2014 in Texas and have already received NOA2. How does that work???

[Avery Cates 1,141]

Our NOA1 at the Texas Service Center is 10-31-2013 and we still haven't received NOA2 or any update. It has been 4 months...and then I look at a lot of this and last months visa approvals and a lot of them have received NOA2 within 2 months or less. There is people who have filed in January 2014 in Texas and have already received NOA2. How does that work???

Regardless of what others are getting, you're still well shy of the 5 month goal.

[K&Z 5]

Hi all -

So a quick update:

Per the suggestion of a fellow VJ-er, I called customer service and requested to speak to a Tier 2 representative regarding our case since we're 5mo+ from the NOA1 (i.e. past the estimated processing time). She transferred my call with no objection and I was put on hold for an estimated 62 minutes (ouf!). Then something miraculous happened. I decided to take my chances with the call-back option (you give your name and phone number and then call you when you get to the head of the line). Lo and behold about 45 minutes later, someone actually called back!!!! I was shocked, but pleasantly so : ) Use this option if it's given, for sure...

Anyway, result of the conversation being that apparently everything looks on track for our file (no sneaky RFEs lurking, it seems, yay!) and that they are currently working on EXACTLY our date ( i.e mid-September 2013) at the TSC.

I know some of you will remain skeptical because of Igor's list and all the petitioners with later dates who have already been approved, but hey, I'll take whatever leads I can get at this point. Officer seemed confident that we should be receiving our answer quite soon, so for those of you in a similar situation...fingers crossed for some good news in the coming days!

Any news on your NOA2? Hope you already got it!

[SparklePony 238]

It's the randomness of the process. Some get approved in two weeks, some take 7 months.

[nina.mb 8]

K&Z - thanks for checking in!

Sadly, no word yet. Fingers crossed for this week. I has to be soon, right?!? I spoke with a Tier 2 again on Thursday and, maddeningly, received EXACTLY the same answer as I did the previous Thursday, like right down to the day. "Everything in your file seems to be on track, and they are currently working on applications from your date, September 14th."

No movement for a whole week...come on now, TSC! If anyone has any brilliant ideas what I can do from here, I'm all ears, but I feel like it's probably just more waiting. Does the Congressperson card really have any effect? Is it time to go there?

Sparklepony - a particularly warm thank you to you for your support on here. Your comments are always so well-timed and insightful, just what I've needed to hear when I feel like I'm coming apart at the seams. It totally is the randomness of the thing that's getting to me most! Thanks

[SparklePony 238]

Awww, thank you for the kind words.

Because you've passed the 5 months processing time, if you haven't yet, you can contact the Ombudsman at USCIS - do a search on here for it, for more info. I'm sure there will be much that you can learn.

After that, getting your congressperson involved is the next step. From all I've read on here, it really does help. And do keep us posted - we're waiting for good news from you soon!

[nina.mb 8]

Awww, thank you for the kind words.

Because you've passed the 5 months processing time, if you haven't yet, you can contact the Ombudsman at USCIS - do a search on here for it, for more info. I'm sure there will be much that you can learn.

After that, getting your congressperson involved is the next step. From all I've read on here, it really does help. And do keep us posted - we're waiting for good news from you soon!

Yet again, SparklePony, you brought to my attention another option I had no idea even existed - thanks! Even if it hasn't yielded any results yet, it just feels good to have another avenue to work on.

Submitted my inquiry at the Ombudsman's Office a few days ago and received the generic "your case has been assigned to an analyst and you can expect an update within 45 business days" response. MADDENING! 45 more days of this and I risk going full-blown crazy...I plan to add the Ombudsman's Office to my weekly Thursday check-in with the Tier 2.

I also gave our Senator's office a call (luckily, I'm originally from Maine, so they have significantly fewer constituents to deal with than other states) and spoke with a very helpful staffer who seemed eager to help and was meant to send me a Privacy Waiver by email ASAP so they could get started on inquiries. Haven't received anything yet...

As you can probably tell, I'm going full-court press now, so if anyone has ANY other ideas...hopefully these will yield something in the meantime, but starting to get rather weepy and despondent over here

Thanks again for your support and insights...VJ has been playing a crucial role in my sanity during this mess!

[SparklePony 238]

Sounds good - do keep harping on them for answers. And call the Senator's staffperson again for the Privacy Waver form. Sometimes it's something as simple as a misspelled email, you know?

Hang in there - it will happen for you!

[woohoo25 28]

So I'm looking at Igor's list and it seems like a lot of people who were transfered to California are in there as well. Any ideas on how to filter them out? I'm currious as to what the Texas Center is really up to, not many approvals from there in the past few weeks it seems. This randomness is making me a bit obsessive I like to sort of know how long of a wait, I'm in for. I'm a January filier, so I guess not really much cause to complain if some people here are waiting since September. As for contacting a senator, do they only help if its after processing time? Can't well all just call get our petitions to come sooner. I know, I shouldn't be complaining, I'm just hoping my fiance can get here before I start Grad school in September, otherwise there will be a lot of complications with sorting out logistics.

[SparklePony 238]

Yes, contacting a Senator is only for after the 5 month processing time, otherwise they would be up to their ears in requests. And, as frustrating as the wait is, I think that makes sense. They know they need time to process all the background checks that need to be done. Now, why some centers take longer to do these than others is anyone's guess. Don't forget though, that just because we don't see approvals on VJ, doesn't mean there aren't any. Our membership is only a small portion of the total filers.

As for Igor's List, I doubt there is anything that can be done about that. Apparently, the timeline input boxes and text have been modified so as to prevent people who are sent to California from saying they're with Texas just because the petition was sent to a Texas Lockbox. That should help with the future data, but I doubt it will help with any current petitions.