NOA2 to NVC: Have you been waiting more than a month?

[TabeaK 516]

I am guessing they have assigned you a new NOA-2 date.

[Chlois21 0]

I'm one of those people who had a lawyer from the start of things and it still resulted in a delay similar to this. I got my NVC number and the materials have been forwarded to the consulate, which actually happened all at the same time.

My original NOA2 date was 10/15/14 and I sent an inquiry to NVC Research on 12/23/14 because we hadn't gotten a letter and when calling the NVC, they repeatedly said they hadn't gotten the packet. I called my lawyer and she called USCIS/ NVC and told me that an officer checked at NVC to make sure that the packet was there. However, it was sitting in a stack of other applications with a bar code that simply hadn't been scanned into their system yet. We continued to hear nothing, and the expiration date on the NOA2 was 2/14/15. She said that if we didn't hear anything by 1/13/15, then she would start making inquiries again. It was expected that the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas slowed things down to a crawl at the agencies and she wanted to give it a little time after the surge of staffers on holiday quieted down to see where things stood.

We didn't hear anything by her micro-deadline, so she called USCIS and they generated a new NOA2 letter/ date of 1/9/15 through 5/8/15, which was heart breaking for us but it was the most the USCIS Tier 2 Officer could do and NVC gave no information at all. We asked her to pull all the stops and figure out how to rattle them and get the system moving again. So, she identified that a specific state senator from our state could make an inquiry, but that it was a rare thing that they would do anything unless the case had a medical urgency to it. Still she sent me a release of information with the senator's office in Washington, allowing the senator or their staff to look into the matter. I did this on 1/21/15 and wrote an explanation on the form, as well. Our case isn't one which involves a medical element, but my fiance is an independent contractor and his income has always fluctuated. However, he lives in a small community and everyone expects him to leave at any time and he hasn't been able to secure very much (if any) due to the visa application status. The money we saved up for the wedding is being spent elsewhere to maintain two separate households.

On 1/23/15, I received an email reply from NVC Research stating that they processed our case and it was sent on 1/23/15 to the consulate with a NVC case number and everything. It felt like they didn't want to talk to me until they had the news I was looking for and that it was more useful to tell me nothing until their work was done. In theory, I can understand their method of problem solving, but I am always going to be left wondering if it was the action done by the senator or my case naturally came up. Either way, it seems that the USCIS is indeed sending the cases to the NVC but that they remain untouched and unscanned into their system until it is time for the case to be actively worked on, which only takes a day or two and there is a back log that is being worked through right now.

In terms of using a lawyer, etc. I will say that it has been helpful and that I don't feel it has been money thrown away. The flat fee included all of the paperwork preparation for the AOS and a review of documentation of a lasting relationship prior to submitting all applications. There's a lot more service that isn't listed, but it has been nice to have someone go over everything and to do all of the filing, etc. She also has been the person to do most of the cold-calling the NVC/ USCIS when we couldn't due to work schedules, etc. Because she isn't being paid by the hour, I don't feel the money has been wasted, though it didn't guarantee a speedy K-1 process.

My advice is to continue to check on things and follow all of the actionable options that you can do, but that there is indeed no single method that gets it all done. The system is flawed and doesn't seem interested in becoming more efficient. Also, the timelines on VJ vary quite a bit and some steps might seem to be skipped over, depending on the situation. We never received the notice of receipt from NVC, but our case was there and was sent to the consulate anyway.

[-PiLoT- 11]

OK great news our case went from 13th Jan Noa 2 approval (our second) to the NVC and received the case number on the 22nd Jan

[usmsbow 796]

OK great news our case went from 13th Jan Noa 2 approval (our second) to the NVC and received the case number on the 22nd Jan

Great, congrats.

[usmsbow 796]

For those still calling NVC, a head's up:

Due to extremely hazardous weather conditions, the National Visa Center will close at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, January 26, 2015 and will remain closed on Tuesday, January 27, 2015. We apologize for any inconvenience.

[gregory30 1]

Omg they gonna take adventage of that

[Blueblood 5]

OK great news our case went from 13th Jan Noa 2 approval (our second) to the NVC and received the case number on the 22nd Jan

Pilot, firstly, congratulations to you and your fiance!

May I ask, Did you receive your NOA2 on Jan 13th, or was it dated Jan 13th?

If the latter, you're actually behind me (time wise), but I've yet to hear word one from the infamous NVC. I'll also add that I no longer believe the purported rumos of Philippines expedition--at any stage. I've read posts saying they've had theirs held up, and others "expidited." I've also seen many posts by non-Filipino filers that experienced very short USCIS wait times.

What happens next? Is your Petition already on the way to the embassy?

Lastly, I agree with other posters re the snowstorm: The NVC is going to milk that to the fullest and use it to explain massive delays going forward. I realize it's PIC, but I just don't trust them. Too many filers on this board have experienced crazy-long delays for me to have faith in them.

Best wishes to all. Let's hope we can all have patience with this arduous process.

[aspec 3]

I've been trying to call the NVC for the past couple months with no luck (always a busy signal). I sent them an email a few weeks ago and received a response this past Friday. It stated:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

The National Visa Center (NVC) is unable to assist you with your
inquiry. Please direct your inquiry to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate
General processing your petition.

Please visit http://www.usembassy.gov to find the contact information
for the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate General. The individual
Embassy or Consulate General website includes contact information for
visa-related inquiries."

Based on that, I sent an email to the consulate last night and received a reply this morning stating they received my petition. So, it looks like things are moving forward once again. I had a 22 Oct NOA2 date.

[TS2014 7]

OK great news our case went from 13th Jan Noa 2 approval (our second) to the NVC and received the case number on the 22nd Jan

Awesome news! Wishing all of you the best. We have a 2-3 month wait for interview (after a 3 month wait for approved petition to reach NVC). I will be getting all my paperwork put together this week. I hope it won't affect the interview part if the paperwork from bank/employer is from 2-3 months previous to interview.

[usmsbow 796]

I've been trying to call the NVC for the past couple months with no luck (always a busy signal). I sent them an email a few weeks ago and received a response this past Friday. It stated:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

The National Visa Center (NVC) is unable to assist you with your

inquiry. Please direct your inquiry to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate

General processing your petition.

Please visit http://www.usembassy.gov to find the contact information

for the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate General. The individual

Embassy or Consulate General website includes contact information for

visa-related inquiries."

Based on that, I sent an email to the consulate last night and received a reply this morning stating they received my petition. So, it looks like things are moving forward once again. I had a 22 Oct NOA2 date.

Glad it worked out for you. Did the consulate provide you with a case # too?

[aspec 3]

Glad it worked out for you. Did the consulate provide you with a case # too?

They did not, but they mentioned that they mailed my fiancee the instructions/paperwork for the rest of the K-1 Visa process that same day so hopefully she will be getting it within the next couple of days.

[Blueblood 5]

I've been trying to call the NVC for the past couple months with no luck (always a busy signal). I sent them an email a few weeks ago and received a response this past Friday. It stated:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

The National Visa Center (NVC) is unable to assist you with your

inquiry. Please direct your inquiry to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate

General processing your petition.

Please visit http://www.usembassy.gov to find the contact information

for the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate General. The individual

Embassy or Consulate General website includes contact information for

visa-related inquiries."

Based on that, I sent an email to the consulate last night and received a reply this morning stating they received my petition. So, it looks like things are moving forward once again. I had a 22 Oct NOA2 date.

Congrats, aspec.

Frankly a bizarre initially sentence from NVC; "uable to assist you." In fact, they had good news for you, the best news NVC can give anyone: They'd sent your petition to the embassy!

What number(s) did you use in the email to NVC?

I thought, perhaps wrongly, we needed the NVC case number before getting anywhere with them.

Also, NVC never sent you anything at all in mail? The Petition form itself literally would not allow proper entry of my fiance's address, so frankly I'm concerned the NVC or embassy will have be able to mail something to her....

Good luck to everyone at the NVC stage!

[usmsbow 796]

Congrats, aspec.

Frankly a bizarre initially sentence from NVC; "uable to assist you." In fact, they had good news for you, the best news NVC can give anyone: They'd sent your petition to the embassy!

What number(s) did you use in the email to NVC?

I thought, perhaps wrongly, we needed the NVC case number before getting anywhere with them.

Also, NVC never sent you anything at all in mail? The Petition form itself literally would not allow proper entry of my fiance's address, so frankly I'm concerned the NVC or embassy will have be able to mail something to her....

Good luck to everyone at the NVC stage!

US embassies in the developing world tend to not mail packets out to beneficiaries. They do it in places like the EU (and I guess Japan too) where the mail service is more reliable.

[usmsbow 796]

Just a head's up for those whose files have recently been sent to their embassies. NVC's tracker said my file was sent on Wednesday last week, but according to DHL it was picked up yesterday and is currently in Ohio. If you want to track your package, just follow the advice from this post:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/302190-dhl-tracking-from-nvc-to-us-embassy/

[aspec 3]

Congrats, aspec.

Frankly a bizarre initially sentence from NVC; "uable to assist you." In fact, they had good news for you, the best news NVC can give anyone: They'd sent your petition to the embassy!

What number(s) did you use in the email to NVC?

I thought, perhaps wrongly, we needed the NVC case number before getting anywhere with them.

Also, NVC never sent you anything at all in mail? The Petition form itself literally would not allow proper entry of my fiance's address, so frankly I'm concerned the NVC or embassy will have be able to mail something to her....

Good luck to everyone at the NVC stage!

I used the receipt number from the NOA2. I've been away from home for the past couple weeks so I'm not sure if they mailed me anything yet.