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Posted

Luck. 

Widow/er AoS Guide | Have AoS questions? Read (some) answers here

 

AoS

Day 0 (4/23/12) Petitions mailed (I-360, I-485, I-765)
2 (4/25/12) Petitions delivered to Chicago Lockbox
11 (5/3/12) Received 3 paper NOAs
13 (5/5/12) Received biometrics appointment for 5/23
15 (5/7/12) Did an unpleasant walk-in biometrics in Fort Worth, TX
45 (6/7/12) Received email & text notification of an interview on 7/10
67 (6/29/12) EAD production ordered
77 (7/9/12) Received EAD
78 (7/10/12) Interview
100 (8/1/12) I-485 transferred to Vermont Service Centre
143 (9/13/12) Contacted DHS Ombudsman
268 (1/16/13) I-360, I-485 consolidated and transferred to Dallas
299 (2/16/13) Received second interview letter for 3/8
319 (3/8/13) Approved at interview
345 (4/3/13) I-360, I-485 formally approved; green card production ordered
353 (4/11/13) Received green card

 

Naturalisation

Day 0 (1/3/18) N-400 filed online

Day 6 (1/9/18) Walk-in biometrics in Fort Worth, TX

Day 341 (12/10/18) Interview was scheduled for 1/14/19

Day 376 (1/14/19) Interview

Day 385 (1/23/19) Denied

Day 400 (2/7/19) Denial revoked; N-400 approved; oath ceremony set for 2/14/19

Day 407 (2/14/19) Oath ceremony in Dallas, TX

Posted

Expedites, incredible luck, etc. There's no way to make them look at the petition any sooner through anything in your packet.

Timelines:

ROC:

Spoiler

7/27/20: Sent forms to Dallas lockbox, 7/30/20: Received by USCIS, 8/10 NOA1 electronic notification received, 8/1/ NOA1 hard copy received

AOS:

Spoiler

AOS (I-485 + I-131 + I-765):

9/25/17: sent forms to Chicago, 9/27/17: received by USCIS, 10/4/17: NOA1 electronic notification received, 10/10/17: NOA1 hard copy received. Social Security card being issued in married name (3rd attempt!)

10/14/17: Biometrics appointment notice received, 10/25/17: Biometrics

1/2/18: EAD + AP approved (no website update), 1/5/18: EAD + AP mailed, 1/8/18: EAD + AP approval notice hardcopies received, 1/10/18: EAD + AP received

9/5/18: Interview scheduled notice, 10/17/18: Interview

10/24/18: Green card produced notice, 10/25/18: Formal approval, 10/31/18: Green card received

K-1:

Spoiler

I-129F

12/1/16: sent, 12/14/16: NOA1 hard copy received, 3/10/17: RFE (IMB verification), 3/22/17: RFE response received

3/24/17: Approved! , 3/30/17: NOA2 hard copy received

 

NVC

4/6/2017: Received, 4/12/2017: Sent to Riyadh embassy, 4/16/2017: Case received at Riyadh embassy, 4/21/2017: Request case transfer to Manila, approved 4/24/2017

 

K-1

5/1/2017: Case received by Manila (1 week embassy transfer??? Lucky~)

7/13/2017: Interview: APPROVED!!!

7/19/2017: Visa in hand

8/15/2017: POE

 

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Morocco
Timeline
Posted
2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Expedites, incredible luck, etc. There's no way to make them look at the petition any sooner through anything in your packet.

Not even expedites. I asked the lucky ones. I am left to believe not to believe it lol 

Honest-Love-Respect

Posted

There's also DCF (direct consular filing) to consider, where if both spouses live outside of the US in the following countries, https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices , they can file directly with the consulate instead of the Chicago/Phoenix lockbox. I just recently did this and my I-130 was approved in 9 days. The total process from submission to approval was only 49 days. Most of that was just us waiting for our interview date. 

DCF Mexico

06/04/2017: Married

06/24/2017: Mailed I-130

06/27/2017: NOA1 (technically a RFE as we were missing beneficiary ID)

07/06/2017: NOA2

07/12/2017: Case assigned by Juarez embassy

07/17/2017: Packet 3 received

08/15/2017: Interview/Approval!

08/22/2017: Visa received via DHL

09/03/2017: POE

09/16/2017: Permanent Resident Card received

 

Total days from NOA1 to approval: 49

 

I wrote a DCF Mexico guide! http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php?title=DCF_Mexico

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Kuwait
Timeline
Posted (edited)

Mine was completed in a month exactly from the date the tracker showed Delivered. I filed it from abroad to the Chicago Lockbox and was assigned to Nebraska. My country doesn't support DCF and we didn't expedite.

 

No clue how or why I got lucky -- I give the glory and credit to God for blessing my wife and me.

 

I did have to call USCIS though because I put the wrong mailing address, so I never received my NOA1 or my case number. Had to leave my number for a call-back from a Tier 2 supervisor, who used my SSN and beneficiary's biographical data to pull up my case and provide my case number, as well as processing a change of address. 

 

 

Edited by knightofdight
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Morocco
Timeline
Posted
31 minutes ago, Jorge Valdivia said:

There's also DCF (direct consular filing) to consider, where if both spouses live outside of the US in the following countries, https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices , they can file directly with the consulate instead of the Chicago/Phoenix lockbox. I just recently did this and my I-130 was approved in 9 days. The total process from submission to approval was only 49 days. Most of that was just us waiting for our interview date. 

Wow! I have never heard of such service. I am surprised not many take advantage, and then again, maybe only few countries and certain candidates qualify. I know of couples who reside in Mexico, and had to go through it all via the traditional ways; Wait, wait, wait and then wait.

Honest-Love-Respect

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Morocco
Timeline
Posted (edited)
31 minutes ago, knightofdight said:

Mine was completed in a month exactly from the date the tracker showed Delivered. I filed it from abroad to the Chicago Lockbox and was assigned to Nebraska. My country doesn't support DCF and we didn't expedite.

 

No clue how or why I got lucky -- I give the glory and credit to God for blessing my wife and me.

 

I did have to call USCIS though because I put the wrong mailing address, so I never received my NOA1 or my case number. Had to leave my number for a call-back from a Tier 2 supervisor, who used my SSN and beneficiary's biographical data to pull up my case and provide my case number, as well as processing a change of address. 

 

 

Don t count your blessings till "Visa in Hand". I hope the rest of your Visa Journey is just as fast. In other words, don 't jinx yourself and I do wish you a smooth and fast journey. I say so because I have seen couples stuck in one step and or the other, while others fly through. Let us hope we all go through this process as fast as possible.

Edited by Derick

Honest-Love-Respect

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Kuwait
Timeline
Posted
4 minutes ago, Derick said:

Don t count your blessings till "Visa in Hand". I hope the rest of your Visa Journey is just as fast. In other words, don 't jinx yourself and I do wish you a smooth and fast journey. I say so because I have seen couples stuck in one step and or the other, while others fly through. Let us hope we all go through this process as fast as possible.

Yeah, I know it isn't over til it is over. But, thus far we HAVE been blessed. The first part went smoothly, the NVC didn't lose any of our stuff, and our waiting has been minimal. I hope the rest of it goes just as smoothly. There's a cloud of anxiety hovering over me that will only dissipate once we're truly finished and she has her visa in-hand. 

Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Derick said:

Wow! I have never heard of such service. I am surprised not many take advantage, and then again, maybe only few countries and certain candidates qualify. I know of couples who reside in Mexico, and had to go through it all via the traditional ways; Wait, wait, wait and then wait.

You're right, unfortunately not many people know or take advantage of it. Like you, I know many couples living in Mexico that go through the traditional route because they don't know about DCF.

 

When I first started our visa process I talked to several lawyers in the US and none of them mentioned DCF. I would always be sure to tell them that both my wife and I lived in Mexico and that we were looking for the absolute quickest way, but again, not a single lawyer mentioned it. It wasn't until I discovered the DCF forum on VJ (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/82-direct-consular-filing-dcf-general-discussion/) that I realized it existed and that it was easy enough to just do myself.

 

You're also right that only some qualify. The general requirements are that the USC spouse lives in the relevant country as a resident (not a tourist/visitor)  for at least 6 months. Most embassies are less strict, but there are still some requirements.

Edited by Jorge Valdivia

DCF Mexico

06/04/2017: Married

06/24/2017: Mailed I-130

06/27/2017: NOA1 (technically a RFE as we were missing beneficiary ID)

07/06/2017: NOA2

07/12/2017: Case assigned by Juarez embassy

07/17/2017: Packet 3 received

08/15/2017: Interview/Approval!

08/22/2017: Visa received via DHL

09/03/2017: POE

09/16/2017: Permanent Resident Card received

 

Total days from NOA1 to approval: 49

 

I wrote a DCF Mexico guide! http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php?title=DCF_Mexico

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Colombia
Timeline
Posted
22 hours ago, Derick said:

I have noticed some I-130 petitions were approved within one month or even less.

Is this true or some VJ members are just full of it? Thanks

Ps. If true, share the secret recipe, please.

I used to work for a different Federal agency where I examined applications/cases aligned in a queue. We weren't supposed to deviate from the queue but occasionally the examiners would see a super easy case at the top of the stack which was an easy pass and we'd approve right away. Examiners who made a habit of it were called onto the carpet, but no one got dinged for a very occasional quick and easy approval out of queue.

 

Understand that there are real live human beings behind the examination of your case. These people are undoubtedly evaluated based on a couple of metrics... how many cases they fully examine and send out an RFE or rejection, and how many cases they approve. Easy approvals or easy rejections make their work and lives much much easier.  More difficult cases generally have to wait in line.

Marriage: 2014-02-23 - Colombia    ROC interview/completed: 2018-08-16 - Albuquerque
CR1 started : 2014-06-06           N400 started: 2018-04-24
CR1 completed/POE : 2015-07-13     N400 interview: 2018-08-16 - Albuquerque
ROC started : 2017-04-14 CSC     Oath ceremony: 2018-09-24 – Santa Fe

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Morocco
Timeline
Posted
4 minutes ago, Russ&Caro said:

I used to work for a different Federal agency where I examined applications/cases aligned in a queue. We weren't supposed to deviate from the queue but occasionally the examiners would see a super easy case at the top of the stack which was an easy pass and we'd approve right away. Examiners who made a habit of it were called onto the carpet, but no one got dinged for a very occasional quick and easy approval out of queue.

 

Understand that there are real live human beings behind the examination of your case. These people are undoubtedly evaluated based on a couple of metrics... how many cases they fully examine and send out an RFE or rejection, and how many cases they approve. Easy approvals or easy rejections make their work and lives much much easier.  More difficult cases generally have to wait in line.

Makes a lot of sense. One would also imagine that no officer/agent wants to approve a questionable case; That case gets pushed down, unless it remains that person s responsibility until either approved or rejected. 

Honest-Love-Respect

Posted
1 hour ago, Derick said:

Wow! I have never heard of such service. I am surprised not many take advantage, and then again, maybe only few countries and certain candidates qualify. I know of couples who reside in Mexico, and had to go through it all via the traditional ways; Wait, wait, wait and then wait.

Yeah it's only a dozen or so countries that have USCIS field offices (and those are the only ones who can do DCF). So you figure that both people have to be legally residing there (not just visiting), already a small number, and want to immigrate to the US (smaller still) and it's just not as common. Plus, the ones who do it don't need a ton of help from Visajourney and so are probably less likely to end up here :)

Marriage/ AOS Timeline:

23 Dec 2015: Legal marriage

23 Jan 2016: Wedding!

23 Jan 2016: "Blizzard of the Century", wedding canceled/rescheduled (thank goodness we were legally married first or we'd have had a big problem!) :sleepy:

24 Jan 2016: Small "civil ceremony" with friends and family who were snowed in with us. December was a bit of a secret and people had traveled internationally and knew we *had* to get married that weekend, and our December legal marriage was nothing but signing a piece of paper at our priest's kitchen table, without any sort of vows etc so this was actually a very special (if not legally significant) day. (L)

16 Apr 2016: Filed for AOS and EAD/AP (We delayed a bit-- no big rush, enjoying the USCIS break)

23 Apr 2016: Wedding! Finally! :luv:

27 Apr 2016: Electronic NOA1 for all 3 :dancing:
29 Apr 2016: NOA1 Hardcopy for all 3
29 Jul 2016: Online service request for late EAD (Day 104)
29 Jul 2016: EAD/AP Approved ~3 hours after online service request
04 Aug 2016: RFE for Green Card (requested medicals/ vaccination record. They already have it). :ranting:
05 Aug 2016: EAD/AP Combo Card arrived! (Day 111)
08 Aug 2016: Congressional constituent request to get guidance on the RFE. Hoping they see they have the form and approve!

K-1 Visa Timeline:

PLEASE NOTE. This timeline was during the period of time when TSC was working on I-129fs and had a huge backlog. The average processing time was 210+ days. This is in no way predictive of your own timeline if you filed during or after April 2015, unless CSC develops a backlog. A backlog is anything above the 5-month goal time listed on USCIS's site

14 Feb 2015: Mailed I-129f to Dallas Lockbox. (L) (Most expensive Valentine's card I've ever sent!)

17 Feb 2015: NOA1 "Received Date"
19 Feb 2015: NOA1 Notice Date
08 Aug 2015: NOA2 email! :luv: (173 days from NOA1)

17 Aug 2015: Sent to NVC

?? Aug 2015: Arrived at NVC

25 Aug 2015: NVC Case # Assigned

31 Aug 2015: Left NVC for Consulate in San Jose

09 Sep 2015: Consulate received :dancing: (32 days from NOA2)

11 Sep 2015: Packet 3 emailed from embassy to me, the petitioner (34 days from NOA2).

18 Sep 2015: Medicals complete

21 Sep 2015: Packet 3 complete, my boss puts a temporary moratorium on all time off due to work emergency :clock:

02 Oct 2015: Work emergency clears up, interview scheduled (soonest available was 5 business days away--Columbus Day was in there)

13 Oct 2015: Interview

13 Oct 2015: VISA APPROVED :thumbs: (236 days from NOA1)

19 Oct 2015: Visa-in-hand

24 Oct 2015: POE !

15 Dec 2015: Fiance's mother's B-2 visa interview: APPROVED! So happy she will be at the wedding! :thumbs:

!

Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Morocco
Timeline
Posted
On 10/20/2017 at 9:38 AM, knightofdight said:

Mine was completed in a month exactly from the date the tracker showed Delivered. I filed it from abroad to the Chicago Lockbox and was assigned to Nebraska. My country doesn't support DCF and we didn't expedite.

 

No clue how or why I got lucky -- I give the glory and credit to God for blessing my wife and me.

 

I did have to call USCIS though because I put the wrong mailing address, so I never received my NOA1 or my case number. Had to leave my number for a call-back from a Tier 2 supervisor, who used my SSN and beneficiary's biographical data to pull up my case and provide my case number, as well as processing a change of address. 

 

 

Nebraska was that fast?   they had our case in 2013 and transfered it to Missouri 9 months later for faster processing 

and all here are saying Nebraska is slow

you not only got lucky you got more than lucky

elhamdo lellah

 
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