USCIS Processing Time for CSC

[Pennycat 880]

You probably misunderstood what I said. I meant that no matter what happened at TSC, that it took 8 months or whatever, isn't something that is important in our cases at all. Yes CSC is taking a bit longer now - NOW - which is what I said, you compare your case with what the situation at CSC is RIGHT NOW. And right now the general timeframe between NOA1 and NOA2/RFE seems to be about 2-3 months (whatever the reason is, TSC or not, doesn't matter). What matters is the general processing time at CSC right now.

That might come to change in a few months from now, or a year from now, and it has changed quite a bit already since last year. But that doesn't matter as the it is right now that matters. The reason for this is totally uninteresting (ie TSC or whatever it is, is totally uninteresting), as we can't do anything about that anyway.

Right but we are talking *right now* and *right now* there is no delay. They are still beating their goal time by several months. You and everyone else at CSC are still coming in well under what they consider normal time. Slower than CSC has been historically, I'll give you that (but as you said, historical comparisons don't really matter unless you're trying to gain some perspective to calm your "freaking out" mind)-- but still much much faster than budgeted for, which should be the good news in this process, not the bad.

There will always be a little variance in cases within a service center, for lots of reasons, but for the most part, without RFEs, most people who applied around the same time to CSC seem to be getting handled within 3 weeks of each other (so a 10ish day margin for error, and that includes weekends). I get that it's frustrating to be on the longer end of the wait times within your group, but it's still generally a great thing when they're working on your two-week period. It won't be long at all.

Embassy processing times are so different across the globe that honestly, even the last person approved on a NOA1 date can still be the first to POE and vice versa. Some embassies don't have interview appointments available for 8+ weeks. And you can only make your embassy appointment (at some of them) after your medicals are done, and then sometimes the doctors don't have appointments available for 4+ weeks. Others, the doctors have walk-in availability and the embassies have next-day interviews. I'd figure out what the wait times during embassy processing are NOW, maybe book my medical if I'm in one of the slow countries and have everything possible to be gathered and filled out so that I can book my interview the second I'm able so that my wait for an interview isn't longer than my wait for NOA2. NVC ships applications in batches to embassies. So everyone applying for visas all have their files arrive on the same day of the week, and are eligible to schedule interviews all in a bunch. The ones who are ready to jump are going to be the ones getting interviews right away and this very seriously could be a difference of weeks if not months.

[IfoemaUS 25]

You will stress yourself out. Patience is key in this process. Immigration is a long difficult process and no 2 journeys are exactly the same.

click edit, make the changes, and then you must scroll all the way to the bottom and click submit.

Oooohhh believe me, we don't forget. What this poster is trying to tell you is that for every obstacle you go through there are 10 other VJers with issues, wait times, and obstacle alot worse than yours. Take the time to hop over to the AP forum. There you will see VJers waiting years for their visa to be issued. So what we are trying to tell you is to educate yourself, read the guides, read others threads, learn all the ins and outs. Tip: Calling USCIS is known as calling the "misinformation line". You rarely get accurate info from them.

What we are trying to say is again...read up educate yourself on wht the process is and what can happen. Its good to read other threads to know possible situations that can arise. Yes, us VJ "old timers" do get a bit tired of reading the same posts over and over complaining about their waiting. We have all played the waiting game. When I first joined VJ, I read and read, and read. I read everything...the guides, the processing times, the embassy info, the forums, other peoples timelines. I used the search tool if I had a question. It does seem to me that when new VJers have an issue and instead of trying to research on their own, they jump on and start a topic. So, while I love helping people and trying to answer questions, it does get frustrating when you see the exact same posts repeatedly. Am I bitter...not at all...but I do wonder if we have forgotten how to do some of our own work instead of relying so heavily on others to do the work for us. Internet age drawbacks, I guess.

OP I wish you much luck on your journey and to be with your loved one soon!

Thank you LionessDeon. I have edited the timeline multiple times the way you described, get a confirmation email and yet it goes back to the same thing.

Here is my issue with the way this post has turned....the delivery of the one reply that upset me was just very tasteless. I understand being frustrated, but if you are that frustrated to lash out at someone else who hasn't been here as long then maybe just don't answer and move on. I am a person who is very process-oriented so I do not mind doing the work and I don't need to completely rely on others (hence why after I read the application before I even found VJ, I knew I wouldn't need a lawyer). Like I had said before, many people have redirected me to links and I've gotten info from there no problem. Simply being polite shouldn't be too much to ask.

[yuna628 9,530]

Speaking for myself, it's not that I'm bitter. I initially posted to get clarity on if the 5 months was for the entire visa process or just NOA1 to NOA2 because based on timelines and charts (that are updated real time) it seemed to be little over 2 months for NOA2 and 5 months total...now I understand those are only estimates...so when the replies came and redirected me (politely) then I understood better. Then my concern became what happened that it seems like everything just came to a screeching holt (which is a curiosity and I thought this forum was here to be able to discuss such things). In any case, those that have been here and gone through should understand the emotion behind it when you are new to it and it seems that some vets do not have that empathy; which is confusing to me.

Maybe I can shed some background light:

Back when TSC handled cases, people there could be waiting up to a year or beyond, and that was even after the USCIS attempted a small fix of transferring a few thousand cases initially to CSC. All their fix did (which they would often routinely deny) was see everyone that got transferred breeze through the process just as fast as new cases that came into CSC. Seriously, back then you could find people claiming they were in and out within 7 days.

It's rough when you wait so long you're well over the USCIS processing time, and are directly lied to on the phone by USCIS representatives, given the run around in the investigative process to find out what is taking so long, be turned away by elected officials, or have those officials who actually want to help you routinely be lied to by the USCIS staff. What? You waited 300+ days. You liar. And even if you aren't lying there's something wrong with your case then. Or the routine.. awww you're just unlucky.

So people started taking action.. pushing buttons. Ran statistics with hard data and a comprehensive report that couldn't be denied. Making a stink where it counts. If one person doesn't budge then you keep going until you get to the top. And that's what happened. The person at the top is pretty reasonable if you can get their attention.. and that was always a big unknown if.

After watching the Sessions senate committee hearing it was pretty disgusting to see what a pony show it was.. things really truly seem inept with the USCIS a good deal of the time. It's self funded, and they can pretty much do as they please, unless pressed from the top. And that's all it took. TSC would finally stop handling any new cases, no more transfers, if you were still there waiting, you'd still be there waiting. It was bittersweet. There were no solutions or end to the wait in sight for those who had worked hard to change things. They remained trapped there for as long as it took. CSC still pushed new cases out as fast as possible, but statistically you could see eventually a slowdown would come for them.. just not for a while. That ''for a while'' has now come.

Meanwhile you had people on this forum every day literally mocking those trapped there. Sometimes sure, they didn't understand what was going on.. they'd make statements like ''oh you're unlucky.. your case is just an outlier mine was sooo fast at CSC'', or ''my congressman told me...'', or ''well your fiancé must be up to something bad to be taking so long on a background check''. Or you had people bragging their case was done and out of CSC in a week or two. We even had someone claim to be from a service center threatening to destroy/give a hard time for our applications for complaining about the poor job they were doing! The reality was it had nothing to do with background checks (a favored lie from the misinformation telephone line along with fuzzy math, generous helpings of condescension, and one that was repeated to me by a representative that made me want to toss the phone out the window). Fun times.

My goodness it stands to wonder if all the people at TSC were being investigated so thoroughly, what was CSC doing? Which you start wondering about, when you review the SB shooting case. The first of it's kind for a K1. There was certainly a lapse in judgment on whomever handled that case on CSC. You can imagine the top was pretty angry. I'm sure there's extra checking going on for what it's worth. But even still, don't worry too much. All of you at CSC right now, won't have too long of a hellish wait. We all want to be with our loved ones, that's why we filed the paperwork. It can be hard, and it's not easy. But I promise if you can get through everything you have been through already in a ldr, you can get through this with flying colors. You'll be with your loved ones before you know it. Some embassies are seriously more difficult to get through though, so during the wait there's plenty of resources here to read up on in the meantime and time to prepare. Before, CSC left persons not a lot of time to prepare, now you've got that opportunity. A wait can never be fast enough when you're waiting for someone you love... but like it or lump it, that's the situation the government purposefully puts us in.

Edited May 5, 2016 by yuna628

[Pennycat 880]

You still do not get it.

First, do you realize that the new people you speak of change frequently, and therefore you should expect the same old questions and concerns just like you have so many expectations of the constantly changing new people who don't know you have these expectations when they ask LOL

Second, I have no issue with me freaking out, you do...but from your own scathing response you pointed out that 5 months is all the USCIS can give out so therefore I asked for clarity----> (..."was told that it takes 5 months to process through the State Department...I asked is that the time it takes to get from NOA1 to NOA2 and sent to NVC and was told yes"..."please tell me this can't be true. Maybe she meant it takes 5 months to go through the entire process??" <----this is me asking for clarity; because as you pointed out repeatedly, that's all they can say is 5 months.

Lastly, all of the other support I've had here (perspectives, tips, and all) was very tasteful in delivery even if at the end of the day they were basically telling me to suck it up, read and be grateful...you however have been the only one very bitter in your delivery. Because one panics doesn't mean they are not grateful or counting blessings.

Ok, sure. I don't get it. Go ahead and tell yourself that. Not like I haven't been through it already, and more, and helped probably hundreds of people through the process at this point, most of whom manage to keep their cool. Whatever. Just another person for the "Ignore" list for me.

Like my tone or not, I have given you some solid advice for how to read the USCIS chart and the VJ timelines, for general perspective in this process, maybe too hard of a nudge to try and read before utterly losing your head, and for next steps, all of which you will really, really need for Nigeria. A good VJ of mine had to wait over 2 months for her interview and then because her fiance didn't get to the embassy early enough (he was there over an hour before his appointment time though), they didn't let him in, made him reschedule because he'd "missed" it and then it was another 2 months but at that point there was complications because the I-129f approval had expired and I don't even remember what all next. So read up in the Nigeria forum and seriously, get your ducks in a row for embassy phase if you're in a hurry whatsoever.

Good luck to you.

[Caykay1 71]

I'm freaking out! I just called USCIS to see how long it is taking for petitions to be approved and was told that it takes 5 months to process through the State Department...I asked is that the time it takes to get from NOA1 to NOA2 and sent to NVC and was told yes..... ...please tell me this can't be true. Maybe she meant it takes 5 months to go through the entire process??

Nobody can make they move faster. Be patient. There are over 300 million in America and if 15% are petitioning for a loved one, then just know it's not going to get to your turn overnight. Too bad most people don't understand.

[IfoemaUS 25]

Ok, sure. I don't get it. Go ahead and tell yourself that. Not like I haven't been through it already, and more, and helped probably hundreds of people through the process at this point, most of whom manage to keep their cool. Whatever. Just another person for the "Ignore" list for me.

Like my tone or not, I have given you some solid advice for how to read the USCIS chart and the VJ timelines, for general perspective in this process, maybe too hard of a nudge to try and read before utterly losing your head, and for next steps, all of which you will really, really need for Nigeria. A good VJ of mine had to wait over 2 months for her interview and then because her fiance didn't get to the embassy early enough (he was there over an hour before his appointment time though), they didn't let him in, made him reschedule because he'd "missed" it and then it was another 2 months but at that point there was complications because the I-129f approval had expired and I don't even remember what all next. So read up in the Nigeria forum and seriously, get your ducks in a row for embassy phase if you're in a hurry whatsoever.

Good luck to you.

No, I don't like your tone...so I'm good if you ignore...VJ is not just one person and I've gotten great/solid advice from others and by (surprise) reading, which I do manage to do and how I found VJ...but at least you admitted that you nudge too hard. Thank you.

[IfoemaUS 25]

Nobody can make they move faster. Be patient. There are over 300 million in America and if 15% are petitioning for a loved one, then just know it's not going to get to your turn overnight. Too bad most people don't understand.

Yes, I understand that. I wasn't looking for it to be overnight or to make it move faster. I was asking a question, which somehow got lost as the threat went on. But I appreciate all of the encouragement, thank you.

[IfoemaUS 25]

Maybe I can shed some background light:

Back when TSC handled cases, people there could be waiting up to a year or beyond, and that was even after the USCIS attempted a small fix of transferring a few thousand cases initially to CSC. All their fix did (which they would often routinely deny) was see everyone that got transferred breeze through the process just as fast as new cases that came into CSC. Seriously, back then you could find people claiming they were in and out within 7 days.

It's rough when you wait so long you're well over the USCIS processing time, and are directly lied to on the phone by USCIS representatives, given the run around in the investigative process to find out what is taking so long, be turned away by elected officials, or have those officials who actually want to help you routinely be lied to by the USCIS staff. What? You waited 300+ days. You liar. And even if you aren't lying there's something wrong with your case then. Or the routine.. awww you're just unlucky.

So people started taking action.. pushing buttons. Ran statistics with hard data and a comprehensive report that couldn't be denied. Making a stink where it counts. If one person doesn't budge then you keep going until you get to the top. And that's what happened. The person at the top is pretty reasonable if you can get their attention.. and that was always a big unknown if.

After watching the Sessions senate committee hearing it was pretty disgusting to see what a pony show it was.. things really truly seem inept with the USCIS a good deal of the time. It's self funded, and they can pretty much do as they please, unless pressed from the top. And that's all it took. TSC would finally stop handling any new cases, no more transfers, if you were still there waiting, you'd still be there waiting. It was bittersweet. There were no solutions or end to the wait in sight for those who had worked hard to change things. They remained trapped there for as long as it took. CSC still pushed new cases out as fast as possible, but statistically you could see eventually a slowdown would come for them.. just not for a while. That ''for a while'' has now come.

Meanwhile you had people on this forum every day literally mocking those trapped there. Sometimes sure, they didn't understand what was going on.. they'd make statements like ''oh you're unlucky.. your case is just an outlier mine was sooo fast at CSC'', or ''my congressman told me...'', or ''well your fiancé must be up to something bad to be taking so long on a background check''. Or you had people bragging their case was done and out of CSC in a week or two. We even had someone claim to be from a service center threatening to destroy/give a hard time for our applications for complaining about the poor job they were doing! The reality was it had nothing to do with background checks (a favored lie from the misinformation telephone line along with fuzzy math, generous helpings of condescension, and one that was repeated to me by a representative that made me want to toss the phone out the window). Fun times.

My goodness it stands to wonder if all the people at TSC were being investigated so thoroughly, what was CSC doing? Which you start wondering about, when you review the SB shooting case. The first of it's kind for a K1. There was certainly a lapse in judgment on whomever handled that case on CSC. You can imagine the top was pretty angry. I'm sure there's extra checking going on for what it's worth. But even still, don't worry too much. All of you at CSC right now, won't have too long of a hellish wait. We all want to be with our loved ones, that's why we filed the paperwork. It can be hard, and it's not easy. But I promise if you can get through everything you have been through already in a ldr, you can get through this with flying colors. You'll be with your loved ones before you know it. Some embassies are seriously more difficult to get through though, so during the wait there's plenty of resources here to read up on in the meantime and time to prepare. Before, CSC left persons not a lot of time to prepare, now you've got that opportunity. A wait can never be fast enough when you're waiting for someone you love... but like it or lump it, that's the situation the government purposefully puts us in.

Thank you so much for that! It really did shed some light for me on multiple levels. I appreciate the time you took to explain what happened. I have definitely been preparing, reading, and continue to prepare because I know the consulate we'll be at is difficult. I wasn't being impatient in my initial post as many assumed, but rather was trying to reconcile what I read and followed here (posts and timelines) versus what I was told on the phone but somehow that didn't translate.

[acf 0]

Thank you....I think what's making it so tough is following timelines and seeing that mostly all of February NOA1 dates received NOA2s and all of a sudden March isn't moving. .....All kinds of emotions here lol

My feelings indeed!

We also called USCIS a few days ago and I wouldn't beleive when they said it would take 5 months. I guessed this is the official time frame.

It also had the impression it went fast in February, and all of a sudden it really slows down. We got our NOA1 on March 3rd, so I had put my hopes on getting the NOA2 this week... Now back to just being patient. :-(

[cdneh 3,112]

Well, to the OP, if you hadn't any patience when you started, you will have by the time you get to the end

Certainly, I am just another 'old-timer'. I was 113 days to NOA2, which wasn't bad, seeing that VSC was the slowest then. November, should have got me here by Christmas, seeing the Consulate I was heading to wasn't one of the busiest there is.

Wrong. Nearly two months, in AP, at NVC, on a K1, before our case was even sent to NZ. No one here could really tell me what was going on, they had just started subjecting K1's to extra scrutiny and there really wasn't any info to be found on VJ about it. The misinformation line first told us they didn't have it, then they did have it, and it was going out right away, then they said they lost it. Then they told us it was in AP. There were others that starting popping up with the same problem, and it was great to find out we weren't the only ones. 189 days until interview, and it was March before I finally arrived here, and that was at a fairly easy consulate.

What I am saying is anything can happen. Nigeria is a very tough consulate to go through. Up at the top right hand side of this forum, you will see a box where it says Google custom search, and it's very useful. Have a hunt for other people going through your consulate, have a look at the frequency of AP after interview, have a look at what they had to accomplish to satisfy the requirements how they addressed the red flags they had to contend with.

VJ is a great resource, and I valued it for many reasons. In particular, I appreciated the straight up approach. There's little point in painting a rosy picture where there is none. A truthful answer to a question isn't always appreciated, and it's very easy to get testy and annoyed with people who are telling you things you do not want to hear.

You have a long way to go. Try and be patient, pace yourself, and get your ducks lined up for the parts of the process to come. All the best.

[pch1 64]

Time for a moderator to call this thread closed...I think the OP go the message and the answer.

[HabeshaWife2016 26]

It took less than 30 days for our NOA1 & NOA2, be encouraged, be thorough with your application and it will go by faster than you think.

[IfoemaUS 25]

Well, to the OP, if you hadn't any patience when you started, you will have by the time you get to the end

Certainly, I am just another 'old-timer'. I was 113 days to NOA2, which wasn't bad, seeing that VSC was the slowest then. November, should have got me here by Christmas, seeing the Consulate I was heading to wasn't one of the busiest there is.

Wrong. Nearly two months, in AP, at NVC, on a K1, before our case was even sent to NZ. No one here could really tell me what was going on, they had just started subjecting K1's to extra scrutiny and there really wasn't any info to be found on VJ about it. The misinformation line first told us they didn't have it, then they did have it, and it was going out right away, then they said they lost it. Then they told us it was in AP. There were others that starting popping up with the same problem, and it was great to find out we weren't the only ones. 189 days until interview, and it was March before I finally arrived here, and that was at a fairly easy consulate.

What I am saying is anything can happen. Nigeria is a very tough consulate to go through. Up at the top right hand side of this forum, you will see a box where it says Google custom search, and it's very useful. Have a hunt for other people going through your consulate, have a look at the frequency of AP after interview, have a look at what they had to accomplish to satisfy the requirements how they addressed the red flags they had to contend with.

VJ is a great resource, and I valued it for many reasons. In particular, I appreciated the straight up approach. There's little point in painting a rosy picture where there is none. A truthful answer to a question isn't always appreciated, and it's very easy to get testy and annoyed with people who are telling you things you do not want to hear.

You have a long way to go. Try and be patient, pace yourself, and get your ducks lined up for the parts of the process to come. All the best.

Thanks for the insight! I appreciate direct and truthful answers and had received the same in prior posts so that wasn't the issue...the approach was; directing personal frustration was unnecessary. I'm grateful for all the help here otherwise.

[wbeem 567]

Much easier said than done

Look at our K1 timeline in our signature. It took nearly 10 months. No, it was not fun. What Yuna probably meant to suggest was a few cases of wine, rather than a glass. But it's worth it once you're together.

[CplusC86 22]

Also, Nigeria can have lengthy APs. Idk if that was mentioned.