USCIS is transferring some cases to balance workload

[yuna628 9,527]

Why are there so many Negative Nancy's in here?

This is a fantastic step in the right direction! Our voices are being heard and only time will now tell. I couldn't be more delighted to hear this news! Heads and chins up high!

Of course I am happy for anything that speeds up the process. However I remain extremely nervous, because while CSC pumps them out fast, they also screwed up a few cases by sending them to the wrong place, not sending them in a timely manner, and in the process and I feel additional and needless RFE's because of lost paperwork.

Apologies if that sounds negative. It's not meant to be. I call it cautious optimism. Never one to not be thankful for good news or a gift, unless that gift is a regifted gift, of last years mouldy fruitcake. And this is the government, I'm expecting fruitcake but will be pleasantly delighted if it's enjoyable apple pie... and while eating the pie be concerned they will bait and switch it out for fruitcake at any moment.

Shh... I have weird humour today.

[ascertainLovE 165]

For those that have waited 6 months or longer, this transfer means nothing. I hope people respect that. There is nothing wrong with feeling that way either. As it is, my petition will likely take 10-11 months. I hope you understand why one wouldn't jump for joy in such a scenario.

[waiting4awhile 18]

Maybe a VJ veteran can provide a summary post for us noobs about how the transfer process was handled the last time, and what effect it had on the overall processing time. I'm hearing that for some it didn't have much of an impact? Any anecdotal tidbits you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Edited March 26, 2015 by naija202

[Adrian-Gloria 43]

For those that have waited 6 months or longer, this transfer means nothing. I hope people respect that. There is nothing wrong with feeling that way either. As it is, my petition will likely take 10-11 months. I hope you understand why one wouldn't jump for joy in such a scenario.

Take your negativity somewhere else, there's nothing wrong with jumping for joy because you never know what could happen.

Maybe a VJ veteran can provide a summary post for us noobs about how the transfer process was handled the last time, and what effect it had on the overall processing time. I'm hearing that for some it didn't have much of an impact? Any anecdotal tidbits you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Last year approvals were taking about 6 months as well and they started transfering cases to CSC, applications got approved faster, they took care (talking about the people in this site) of a bunch of guys who had been waiting for a while and at the same time of the ones that had been waiting only a couple of months. It certainly helped balance the workload until this year.

[MissPearls 38]

This is amazing news! I'm really excited to see that everyone's wait times will start to (hopefully) be drastically reduced. Fingers crossed for everyone!

[ascertainLovE 165]

Take your negativity somewhere else, there's nothing wrong with jumping for joy because you never know what could happen.

Last year approvals were taking about 6 months as well and they started transfering cases to CSC, applications got approved faster, they took care (talking about the people in this site) of a bunch of guys who had been waiting for a while and at the same time of the ones that had been waiting only a couple of months. It certainly helped balance the workload until this year.

Whatever. Nothing will change.

[av8or1 246]

Maybe a VJ veteran can provide a summary post for us noobs about how the transfer process was handled the last time, and what effect it had on the overall processing time. I'm hearing that for some it didn't have much of an impact? Any anecdotal tidbits you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Well, as wbeem mentions earlier in this thread, the August transfer last year didn't do anything to help the TSC increase the speed with which it processed the I-129F petitions. It did slow down the CSC a little, but not by much. Thus the respective processing times of the two centers did come closer together, technically speaking, but only because the CSC slowed down a bit, not because the TSC sped up any. That said, it wasn't long after that point that the CSC mowed through all of the TSC transfers and were back down to their one-month-or-less processing times. The CSC did screw up with the sending of the approved petitions to the NVC however. And that really hosed some of the TSC filers whose petitions had been transferred. Upon inquiry, we were told that this was a one-time mistake. So take that for what it's worth.

Anyway, in the final analysis, the transfer was itself only a one-time affair (it was not repeated in some kind of on-going attempt to balance processing times) and therefore it did little to affect positive change over the long term. As time progressed towards the end of last year, the CSC continued to reduce the amount of time required to process the I-129F whereas the TSC continued to increase the amount of time it processed the same petition. Thus there was a clear divergence and imbalance in the comparative processing times between the two service centers. This is reflected in the VJ data. It's also important to note that the transfer last August consisted of about 3000 petitions from April/May 2014, and since last August, the TSC has only managed to process enough petitions for their official "normal processing times" window to stand currently at August 02, 2014. This means that in 7 months they have only processed approximately 3 months worth of petitions. Simply abysmally slow. And it doesn't take much in the way of math skills to arrive at the conclusion that they've been losing ground...

Edited March 26, 2015 by av8or1

[GH8283 5]

I feel cautiously optimistic! Yay! But, since this is all a bit new to me, if we go by the assumption that November/December 2014 petitions are transferred from Texas to California, what exactly does that do to the "wait" time? I assume Nov/Dec at TSC would be approved by June/July. Does transferring make that time shorter, or does it allow petitions filed after December not to take as long?

[MissPearls 38]

Just curious why you think November/December files when there is still September and October waiting.

[GH8283 5]

I have no idea, I was just going by what others had mentioned in this post. It seems like they were basing there prediction on what happened last time there was a transfer?

[wbeem 567]

Take your negativity somewhere else, there's nothing wrong with jumping for joy because you never know what could happen.

That's a little harsh. For those who have waited this long, they are not likely to reap the benefits of a transfer. We were approved last week after 224 days at TSC. We filed before the transfers took place and were so excited. Average time at TSC when we filed was hovering around 150 days at the time. We prepared for the worst, which was 5 months, and hoped for the best when we saw the transfers, expecting it to further reduce wait times. It did not. TSC slowed down even more.

Having endured the agonizing wait which we and so many others did, there will never be an instance where I will not stand up for anyone who is in a similar situation.

Last year approvals were taking about 6 months as well and they started transfering cases to CSC, applications got approved faster, they took care (talking about the people in this site) of a bunch of guys who had been waiting for a while and at the same time of the ones that had been waiting only a couple of months. It certainly helped balance the workload until this year.

Are we talking about the same service centers and process here? I must be living on another planet. How did it balance things out? TSC went from around 5 months to 7.5 months and CSC went from around 4 months to a matter of weeks or even days.

[wbeem 567]

I have no idea, I was just going by what others had mentioned in this post. It seems like they were basing there prediction on what happened last time there was a transfer?

Yes, pretty much. That's all we have to go on right now, and we could be wrong, but they have not announced specific months or batches at this time, so until we hear something official, that is all we have to go on.

[sei&jos 5]

This is wonderful news!!

Lets just see what's gonna happen

[jpujols55 1]

nice!! based on what more experienced people are saying is that if they do transfer nov-dec. i believe this is very helpful to the people from jan-march as they move up a couple of months.

[lecilia 15]

i heard cali is really strict thoo and alot get denied by them is it true ?