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

[bosko5457 4]

Add me & my fiancé to this long growing list of VJers who are upset, disappointed, angry, helpless, and lost about how this process has taken a turn for the worst. First of all I would like to thank all of my fellow VJers who have come on here to share their experiences with the rest of us, although it sucks to see everyone have to go through this painful & uncertain process, it is also good to see that we are not alone feeling lost in this entire process.

Well, for the most part I was satisfied with how quickly the process was moving right along,

July 18, 2014: I filed my petition

July 21, 2014: petition received by USCIS CSC

July 23, 2014: received my I-797 NOA

October 8, 2014: received RFE, somewhat was delayed here because I had to send my evidence requested all the way from Macedonia since I was ther with my fiancé at the time

October 29, 2014: received email case status: RFE review

November 13, 2014: received email case status: post decision activity, petition was approved

November 18, 2014: received hard copy of NOA2

Since then, nothing, zero, nada!!!!!

And, yes, I have gone through most of the avenues that my fellow VJers have gone through who are in this exact predicament, I called USCIS and of course they say that the petition was sent to the NVC due to the fact that it was approved, but yet they were unable tell me when it was sent.

I have called the NVC, of course they say they haven't received our petition from the USCIS CSC.

I have spoken to a Tier 2 Immigration Officer, and of course all he could do for me is put in a service request about what is going on with my approved petition, I should hear something in 15 days he says. I ask, while I am waiting for this service request to be answered, is it possible that my approved petition gets sent to the NVC, his response, that is a possibility, but I don't want to assume anything until we see what the service request says.

I have went the email route as well, sent emails to the NVC back in December, still haven't heard anything from them, sent an email to USCIS CSC inquiry, waiting on a response from them.

I have also just said to hell with it, I have reached out to my local Congressman, and also my State Senator. Got a response email from my Congressman saying that they will look into my inquiry, and I just contacted my State Senator yesterday, so hopefully hear something next week on their plan of action.

So, needless to say here I am just as many as you are, just waiting, waiting for something productive to happen, waiting for anything.

2 months since petition was approved, unacceptable, especially when you see other petitioners have their petitions sent from USCIS to NVC two weeks after approval, and they get their NVC case number a month later.

One example, a fellow petitioner, petition approved on 11/13/2014 at USCIS CSC, NVC date received 12/1/2014, case number assigned 1/6/2015, AOS bill envoiced 1/7/2015.........

So, I ask, how is this even possible, when we have the exact same approval date & at the same USCIS service center? I am at a loss when I see things like this, I am happy for them that their process is moving forward, but also, why are we still stuck in limbo with our case?

Here is a useful link, it may drive you crazy even more when you look at it, but it gives you a good idea of other petitioners' timeline's: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtbvTEwLyHz1dDhjM3lXTEl1cW1SbjRwdW9YRGlIanc&hl=en#gid=7

Well, I apologize for this long & drawn out message, I just needed a place to rant, and this seemed like the appropriate place to do so.

I look forward to reading up on everyone's updates and progress with their cases, and I wish you all health, happiness, and good luck in "Our Pursuit of Happiness", which the government seems to be violating our very right as Americans to the Pursuit of Happiness.

I wish you all the best of luck, and remember, keep those heads held high, stay positive, and when this is process is all said and done, our relationships will be much stronger for it, and we will truly appreciate and enjoy the love and time we have with our fiancé's/future spouses. God bless you all in your Visa Journey!!!!

[gregory30 1]

I dont understant why is so hard for USCIS, sending all information, since our case has been approved. is this process take more than a year??

[JakeK 2]

I've e-mailed NVC research, called USCIS, and contacted my congressman. My fiancée reads a Thai forum about this and quite a few couples over there are going through this as well.

[thatangela 134]

You guys can add one more couple to the list. We received our NOA 2 on September 18, and the NVC still doesn't have it. We've contacted our congressman's office for help, but they haven't done a whole lot to aid us. It's sad to say this, but I'm kind of happy to see that we're not the only people dealing with this. My fiancée's family doesn't believe me that this is happening and thinks I've just made it up, and keeps telling her that I've abandoned her and stuff. Maybe showing them this thread will make them realize I'm not a liar.

Whoa. That's intense.

[townbizz 2]

Ha, yeah. Understand. The other surprising thing was the reply came from a specific person instead of some generic e-mail address.

I also just read about someone who went to my local USCIS office, had an appointment at 10:30 AM, but had to wait until 11:30-12 until she finally met with an IO. Hoping I don't have a similar experience Monday...

so you can make an appt to go to your local uscis office to see what's going on with your case? im curious to see how much that helps compared to there lethargic phone service......

[usmsbow 796]

so you can make an appt to go to your local uscis office to see what's going on with your case? im curious to see how much that helps compared to there lethargic phone service......

yeah, look for infopass on the uscis website. You can make an appointment to discuss your case, although you might not be able to get one for a week or two. I will let you all know Monday if it was useful for me or not.

[jjsmol 3]

hey usmsbow, I think I have some good news for the two of us. I learned from my backdoor USCIS contact that any I129F cases which were "sent" from the CSC in the second half of December didn't actually leave the building until the 5th of January. It usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to get to the NVC after that. Hope that helps explain the situation for the two of us. He also was insistant that the cases would not be rejected by the NVC due to the I797 being expired.

[usmsbow 796]

hey usmsbow, I think I have some good news for the two of us. I learned from my backdoor USCIS contact that any I129F cases which were "sent" from the CSC in the second half of December didn't actually leave the building until the 5th of January. It usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to get to the NVC after that. Hope that helps explain the situation for the two of us. He also was insistant that the cases would not be rejected by the NVC due to the I797 being expired.

That's a relief. I had an infopass meeting this morning, and the IO told me the same: it was sent to NVC on January 5th. I was skeptical because of the previous info I had received before (most notably the mid-December date).

And for those of you wondering if an infopass are useful, this was my experience:

I showed up 10 minutes before my appointment. The check-in person asked me for ID, I provided it. My ID has my old address though, so she asked me for proof of residence. I was a little annoyed since the infopass appointment letter doesn't say you need that at all, just some form of ID (including a passport). Thankfully my most recent USCIS letter had my current address on it, and that satisfied her.

I then only had to wait 5-10 minutes before an IO called my number (so basically it matched my schedule time). She at first was not useful.

Her: "Sir, once we approve it, we no longer have jurisdiction over it. You need to contact NVC"

Me: "I did. As of last Friday afternoon, they still did not have it."

Her: "Do you have that in writing?"

Me: "Well they sent me an e-mail saying that."

Her: "Did you print it out?"

Me: "Uh, no, sorry."

Her: "You should have."

Me: "Ok, sorry, I didn't think an e-mail from December would be very useful" [in hindsight, I guess I could have found the e-mail on my phone]

Her: "Excuse me, one minute"

She then takes my NOA2 and disappears for a couple minutes. When she comes back

Her: "Well it looks like we didn't send it until January 5th"

Me: "That was the date USCIS sent me my change of address letter. Are you sure it isn't that?"

Her: "Yep, it isn't that."

Me: "Do you have any idea what happened between September and January 5th?"

Her: "No sir, I just saw it was sent to NVC on January 5th. Have a nice day"

So if her info is right, then I have to say she was a bit more helpful than the last Tier 2 person I spoke to. If she's wrong,then well infopass is no better than calling the USCiS service line.

Edited to add: the infopass is also quicker. If you factor in travel time to the local office, I suppose it isn't, but at least you don't deal with Tier 1 people.

Edited January 12, 2015 by usmsbow

[thatangela 134]

Argh ... why do they have to be such C-bombs about it? They should be responsible and accountable for our files but they act like none of this ish matters. Fuckabuncha CIS dicks.

[usmsbow 796]

Yeah, seriously. Their attitude alone is frustrating. At least they could pretend to care! Or express their own frustration with this messed up system!

[npinedo 0]

Most likely they were closed for 2 weeks thus the delay in sending the petitions to the NVC. Thanks for sharing this info. I was hoping I would get my case number by the end of the week but I don't think is going to happen. My petition was approved on 12/22.

[gregory30 1]

Good luck bro my case was approved on Oct 3.2014, and NVC does not have it yet, nobody give me any answer about it, im kind of frustrated

[wiss7 7]

Had a call with a very rude tier 2 after being on hold for 173 minutes

He said that per the previous service request we have to wait 60 days !

I asked if my file were sent at least, he replied that he doesn't know and if any complaints on the case to be sent by mail to CSC chief !!!

[Jing Jing 2]

hey usmsbow, I think I have some good news for the two of us. I learned from my backdoor USCIS contact that any I129F cases which were "sent" from the CSC in the second half of December didn't actually leave the building until the 5th of January. It usually takes 2 to 3 weeks to get to the NVC after that. Hope that helps explain the situation for the two of us. He also was insistant that the cases would not be rejected by the NVC due to the I797 being expired.

I received similar info reg my September approval.

I think i would be a fool to believe this after all the lies presented to us all. The only thing i'll believe at this point is something in writing from NVC or the embassy. I'm still going to hound them though.

I believe we are caught up in some sort of internal political game. We are being used for their gain. They don't have enough personnel after changes occurring due to immigration reform and decisions by Obama so they're using us as tools.

Yes, they want you to contact congress and the CSC director. They can use this to get more funding.

Maybe conspiracy theory but that doesn't mean it's not true.

BTW I worked for the feds for over 20 years and I've seen this trick played out many times.

It sucks....

[usmsbow 796]

Had a call with a very rude tier 2 after being on hold for 173 minutes

He said that per the previous service request we have to wait 60 days !

I asked if my file were sent at least, he replied that he doesn't know and if any complaints on the case to be sent by mail to CSC chief !!!

Thanks for the info. I will call USCIS today and see if the tier 2 person's info matches what I was told at the infopass meeting yesterday. I tried last night, but the Tier 1 person said due to the call load, she couldn't pass me on to a Tier 2 person. Given your wait of 173 minutes, I'd say she at least was being honest. That's a crazy long wait...