Urgent: Should I Recall my I-129F Package: TSC vs VSC

[Pawstruck 1]

Hey all,

So I compiled everything and mailed it out yesterday for my I-129F package.

Here's the thing.

I currently live in Kentucky. Kentucky is serviced by the Texas Service Center, which as you all know has extremely long wait times. However, in August (approx. 1.5 months), I'll be moving to Boston, MA.

I understand that it is likely (although nobody can know for certain) that the Vermont Service Center has jurisdiction over applications submitted from Boston. Before you say, "The VSC no longer handles I-129F Petitions," I called the USCIS. Twice. I believe the VSC does indeed process petitions for fiancee visas. This is based on both calls to the USCIS and information from VisaJourney, which, if you look at the "Igor's List" (here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?visa=1&form=1&scenter=2&option=2&sortby=2)you can see that people are being processed at VSC.

However.

It seems that, comparably, very few applications are being processed there. (Last date posted on VisaJourney was April, 2015. The last date from the TSC is yesterday.) It's also not entirely clear that where you live is wholly determinative of the location your application is processed, or that applications from Boston certainly go to Vermont. Igor's list shows two approved applications from Boston through the VSC, but that doesn't mean that ALL Boston-made applications go to the VSC.

My question is this: Do you guys think I should have the Post Office intercept my package, and then re-send it out once I move to Boston in hopes that the VSC will be selected as my processing center?

This seems a bit gimmicky to me, but I'm tempted. Of course it's essentially a gigantic risk, because I could end up waiting an extra 1-2 months until I move to mail it out, only to have it sent to Texas anyway! 8 months just seems like SUCH A RIDICULOUS amount of time to wait... I don't understand why they wouldn't just balance the applications out by sending some more to CSC and VSC... but that's just me.

If I'm going to recall the package, I have to do it today. What do you guys think? What would YOU do?

[TBoneTX 43,043]

Of course it's essentially a gigantic risk, because I could end up waiting an extra 1-2 months until I move to mail it out, only to have it sent to Texas anyway!

You've answered your own question.

[saracatherine 4]

I've been on this site since last year and I've never heard of a case being sent to Vermont. I would wait at Texas service centre because chances are it'll probably be sent back there. I know the wait seems long but USCIS is a gamble. We got approved just under the 6 month mark and yet people are still waiting from September. You just never know. Remember the longest wait is for your NOA2, after that everything speeds up!

Edited to add: my fiancé is from New Jersey which is WAY closer to Vermont then Texas but we still ended up in Texas.

Edited June 17, 2015 by saracatherine

[Kastrs 723]

Also, it seems K1s are all being routed to CSC at the moment...

[Shauneg 762]

Hey all,

So I compiled everything and mailed it out yesterday for my I-129F package.

Here's the thing.

I currently live in Kentucky. Kentucky is serviced by the Texas Service Center, which as you all know has extremely long wait times. However, in August (approx. 1.5 months), I'll be moving to Boston, MA.

I understand that it is likely (although nobody can know for certain) that the Vermont Service Center has jurisdiction over applications submitted from Boston. Before you say, "The VSC no longer handles I-129F Petitions," I called the USCIS. Twice. I believe the VSC does indeed process petitions for fiancee visas. This is based on both calls to the USCIS and information from VisaJourney, which, if you look at the "Igor's List" (here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?visa=1&form=1&scenter=2&option=2&sortby=2)you can see that people are being processed at VSC.

However.

It seems that, comparably, very few applications are being processed there. (Last date posted on VisaJourney was April, 2015. The last date from the TSC is yesterday.) It's also not entirely clear that where you live is wholly determinative of the location your application is processed, or that applications from Boston certainly go to Vermont. Igor's list shows two approved applications from Boston through the VSC, but that doesn't mean that ALL Boston-made applications go to the VSC.

My question is this: Do you guys think I should have the Post Office intercept my package, and then re-send it out once I move to Boston in hopes that the VSC will be selected as my processing center?

This seems a bit gimmicky to me, but I'm tempted. Of course it's essentially a gigantic risk, because I could end up waiting an extra 1-2 months until I move to mail it out, only to have it sent to Texas anyway! 8 months just seems like SUCH A RIDICULOUS amount of time to wait... I don't understand why they wouldn't just balance the applications out by sending some more to CSC and VSC... but that's just me.

If I'm going to recall the package, I have to do it today. What do you guys think? What would YOU do?

I would do more research and you'll see ALL cases are being sent to California at the moment. They are taking a little over a month for approval.

[Pennycat 880]

Hey all,

So I compiled everything and mailed it out yesterday for my I-129F package.

Here's the thing.

I currently live in Kentucky. Kentucky is serviced by the Texas Service Center, which as you all know has extremely long wait times. However, in August (approx. 1.5 months), I'll be moving to Boston, MA.

I understand that it is likely (although nobody can know for certain) that the Vermont Service Center has jurisdiction over applications submitted from Boston. Before you say, "The VSC no longer handles I-129F Petitions," I called the USCIS. Twice. I believe the VSC does indeed process petitions for fiancee visas. This is based on both calls to the USCIS and information from VisaJourney, which, if you look at the "Igor's List" (here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?visa=1&form=1&scenter=2&option=2&sortby=2)you can see that people are being processed at VSC.

However.

It seems that, comparably, very few applications are being processed there. (Last date posted on VisaJourney was April, 2015. The last date from the TSC is yesterday.) It's also not entirely clear that where you live is wholly determinative of the location your application is processed, or that applications from Boston certainly go to Vermont. Igor's list shows two approved applications from Boston through the VSC, but that doesn't mean that ALL Boston-made applications go to the VSC.

My question is this: Do you guys think I should have the Post Office intercept my package, and then re-send it out once I move to Boston in hopes that the VSC will be selected as my processing center?

This seems a bit gimmicky to me, but I'm tempted. Of course it's essentially a gigantic risk, because I could end up waiting an extra 1-2 months until I move to mail it out, only to have it sent to Texas anyway! 8 months just seems like SUCH A RIDICULOUS amount of time to wait... I don't understand why they wouldn't just balance the applications out by sending some more to CSC and VSC... but that's just me.

If I'm going to recall the package, I have to do it today. What do you guys think? What would YOU do?

I'd listen to people on Visajourney before I listen to anything that the USCIS hotline says, that's for sure. If you don't want to hear "VSC does not accept I-129f petitions" don't read any further.

For starters, the USCIS information line knows nothing. They give out incorrect information all the time. You can believe them if you want to, or you can believe what people here know from experience (we'll get to Igor's list in a moment). From experience, we see that the VSC stopped processing I-129f petitions in 2013. This is before my time here, but people here are WAY more knowledgeable about this process than pretty much anyone (and that does include immigration lawyers and USCIS phone-answerers)...particularly for the K-1 visa which is actually really fairly "rare" in terms of sheer numbers and the oddity of the process.

Need proof? Yes, Igor's list shows petitions at VSC. That's because it's all from user-input data, and people make mistakes. Half of the CSC filers think that they're TSC filers just because they mailed their petitions to a Texas zipcode (spoiler alert: they're wrong. And they throw off the data on Visajourney in general and Igor's list in particular in a big, big way). If you want proof of this, if you actually go to Igor's list itself and filter to VSC and approved petitions, you will see exactly 4 in the year 2015. And 2 of those 4 people, if you then look at their profiles and some of the posts they've made....they are actually at TSC (one person I can't tell, and one person you can't see their profile).

Attached is a screen shot of Igor's list with the users who were "approved at VSC" in 2015:

Digging into their profiles you can see Ashley and Alonso is active on the June 2014 TSC filers thread; Heatman and Swissmiss is active on the October 2014 TSC filers thread and Bob and Gary....not sure but apparently they had a 17 month wait somewhere. Not sure about the fourth couple. It's much more likely that they filled in their timelines and profiles incorrectly than it is that hundreds of other VJ members have been erroneously routed to TSC.

Now here's some good news: you'll be going to CSC! Starting on March 27, the Dallas Lockbox (which is very, very different from the Texas Service Center) started routing all incoming I-129f petitions to CSC as a ham-fisted attempt to solve the backlog at TSC. Good news for all new filers, like yourself. Bad news for everyone already at TSC. Like, really bad news for everyone already at TSC, myself included. Plus, there's no telling yet what effect that has had. CSC hasn't slowed significantly yet, but it may. But it won't slow down to where TSC is, at least not for another several months.

Edited June 17, 2015 by CatherineA

[Pawstruck 1]

Thanks a million for the replies, guys. Really appreciate it!

Here's hoping for CSC?

[Shauneg 762]

Thanks a million for the replies, guys. Really appreciate it!

Here's hoping for CSC?

Look for a WAC case number. Give it about ten days from now provided you also sent in a notification form. CSC takes about 6 weeks to approved and then another month or so to get to NVC. Two to three weeks there at most (mine was 6 days) and off to the consulate. What country it's going to determines the timeline from there.

Good luck, stick to the site and you'll be fine. As others have said do bother with USCIS/NVC unless you've asked here first...they are card readers and don't deal in real life experiences....

[sandra3711 52]

Thanks a million for the replies, guys. Really appreciate it!

Here's hoping for CSC?

You're one lucky man! As of March 27th all i-129f cases are processed by CSC, so you should get an approval in no time! Good luck

[Shauneg 762]

May filers (ones who normallly would have ended up in Texas) are getting approvals there while Texas October filers are still waiting. Seen a few threads on here about poor individuals who got their Texas case numbers in the days before the swap. Waiting a day or two would have saved them months.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Shauneg

[Pawstruck 1]

Dangit! Was I supposed to send in a form explicitly stating I'd like to be notified ("notification form" as Shauneg said)??? :/

[Shauneg 762]

Dangit! Was I supposed to send in a form explicitly stating I'd like to be notified ("notification form" as Shauneg said)??? :/

Search for form 1145. Can't link on my phone.

Looks like you'll have to wait for a paper notification for your noa1. Good thing is once you get that you can register on uscis and link the petition to you using the reference number....you can then change it on there to enotify for Noa 2 and for when it's sent to the nvc. No worries.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Shauneg

[NikaMo 39]

Your case going to CSC

[raven52 233]

There is something that CSC does, that others at this time cannot do, "they get K-1 visas processed" hope you are one of the lucky ones.

I am hearing, (just guessing) about 4 months give or take a little.

We were 186 days, at the VSC, when they were doing K-1 visas.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

Hey all,

So I compiled everything and mailed it out yesterday for my I-129F package.

Here's the thing.

I currently live in Kentucky. Kentucky is serviced by the Texas Service Center, which as you all know has extremely long wait times. However, in August (approx. 1.5 months), I'll be moving to Boston, MA.

I understand that it is likely (although nobody can know for certain) that the Vermont Service Center has jurisdiction over applications submitted from Boston. Before you say, "The VSC no longer handles I-129F Petitions," I called the USCIS. Twice. I believe the VSC does indeed process petitions for fiancee visas. This is based on both calls to the USCIS and information from VisaJourney, which, if you look at the "Igor's List" (here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?visa=1&form=1&scenter=2&option=2&sortby=2)you can see that people are being processed at VSC.

However.

It seems that, comparably, very few applications are being processed there. (Last date posted on VisaJourney was April, 2015. The last date from the TSC is yesterday.) It's also not entirely clear that where you live is wholly determinative of the location your application is processed, or that applications from Boston certainly go to Vermont. Igor's list shows two approved applications from Boston through the VSC, but that doesn't mean that ALL Boston-made applications go to the VSC.

My question is this: Do you guys think I should have the Post Office intercept my package, and then re-send it out once I move to Boston in hopes that the VSC will be selected as my processing center?

This seems a bit gimmicky to me, but I'm tempted. Of course it's essentially a gigantic risk, because I could end up waiting an extra 1-2 months until I move to mail it out, only to have it sent to Texas anyway! 8 months just seems like SUCH A RIDICULOUS amount of time to wait... I don't understand why they wouldn't just balance the applications out by sending some more to CSC and VSC... but that's just me.

If I'm going to recall the package, I have to do it today. What do you guys think? What would YOU do?

VSC hasn't processed K-1s since about July 2013.