Just Curious about I-130

[Phason 3]

Hello,

I was trying to figure out how Service centers process the I-130's  It appears they do it by date, and then in alphabetical order by country. However, some cases I am seeing cases were processed and given NOA-2 in 90 days, or a bit longer. We are seeing a few that applied close to the same time as us and they are now approved, and the beneficiaries are in the Philippines, and Mexico. My husband is from the United Kingdom. Any thoughts we are on edge waiting to hear something, and hoping our case is not lost.

[kcrb 24]

Country is irrelevant in the matter. Country of residence of the beneficiary matters when waiting for a visa to become available (if you aren't in the unlimited categories). Cases are received and processed as they enter the service centers. Processing time is impacted by case type and location. You are probably seeing a lot more Filipino and Mexican cases getting their approval because there is simply a much, much higher volume of cases, as they are the two countries with the most applications sent to USCIS ever year.  My I-130 was sent to Texas and was completed within 52 days of receiving NOA1. I have seen people, also from Mexico, who had their cases sent to the Nebraska service center and are still waiting/just got NOA2, and have a priority date a week or two after mine. Another thing that can delay processing at USCIS is if a background check needs to be done, as this is completed by the FBI, and from what I can tell, the process is slow. 

 

I can see that you've been waiting awhile, have you contacted USCIS or are you still within the "normal" processing times for your service center? 

Edited March 22, 2017 by kcrb

[Phason 3]

14 minutes ago, kcrb said:

Country is irrelevant in the matter. Country of residence of the beneficiary matters when waiting for a visa to become available (if you aren't in the unlimited categories). Cases are received and processed as they enter the service centers. Processing time is impacted by case type and location. You are probably seeing a lot more Filipino and Mexican cases getting their approval because there is simply a much, much higher volume of cases, as they are the two countries with the most applications sent to USCIS ever year.  My I-130 was sent to Texas and was completed within 52 days of receiving NOA1. I have seen people, also from Mexico, who had their cases sent to the Nebraska service center and are still waiting/just got NOA2, and have a priority date a week or two after mine. Another thing that can delay processing at USCIS is if a background check needs to be done, as this is completed by the FBI, and from what I can tell, the process is slow. 

 

I can see that you've been waiting awhile, have you contacted USCIS or are you still within the "normal" processing times for your service center? 

Yes, I have contacted them, and they basically said until the processing times say as of 9/7/16 they cannot give status, and it was pretty much pointless doing the info pass. We are waiting at the Nebraska Service Center where the processing times don't seem to move. Thanks so much for your response.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Phason

[kcrb 24]

The good news is, it seems like USCIS has been forwarding cases from Nebraska to Texas. Even if your case doesn't get forwarded, it means the case load in Nebraska will go down, so hopefully you have an answer soon. 

[Phason 3]

Hi, I knew about the transfers to Texas. However, our case never did. Even though Nebraska transferred some of their cases they are still the furthest behind, and all the other service centers are far ahead.  Just so nerve racking, and confusing. Thanks for your reply though. =)

[agripa 100]

7 hours ago, Phason said:

It appears they do it by date, and then in alphabetical order by country.

I don't think there's any priority by alphabet. Certain countries in the past have had their applications auto-expedited. For example, there was a major typhoon in the Philippines a few years back, and it appears that applications from the Philippines are processed a bit faster as a result. While it is frustrating to see that applications are not always processed in the direct order in which they were received, there are several possible explanations for this --

1. Obviously, certain service centers (Texas) move faster than others. It's frustrating, but you can't really do much about it.
2. Certain applications are flagged for additional security checks. It's hard to say what exactly triggers this, but this can lead to longer processing times.
3. Even within a single service center, applications are distributed amongst different teams or units (my lawyer used to adjudicate applications at the National Benefits Center; this information is from her). Certain teams may be faster than other teams, again leading to out-of-order processing.

There's really not much you can do in the end. All of these factors are out of your hand.

[Phason 3]

Thank you for your advice it does help me to understand the process better.  We just haven't been able to get an update on our case, and its frustrating nearly 6.5 month  later, and I'm sure a lot of others are feeling the same. We all just want to be reunited with our loved ones.  I would have thought that when Nebraska would have transferred the cases to other service centers that they would be further ahead than they are.  The other service centers even with the transferred work load are further ahead of Nebraska still. Anyways, as you said nothing you can really do about it, but thank you for responding to my post, and best wishes to everyone.

[Phason 3]

Is it true that there is no electronic processing for NVC and London embassy? Just read a post where someone had said the abbreviations were the consulates, but some of the abbreviations don't make any sense? Thanks

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/Submit_documents.html#method1

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to USCIS Service Centers forum; topic is about service center operations.