I-129F February 2018 Filer

[Greenbaum 12,259]

21 hours ago, americaninlove said:

I’m just curious, for those people who called did you do the recorded updates? I called today and went through the prompts and got the recorded status update which just said we received your case on February 13th. Would an operator know more than that? Should I call again Monday since it seems people past my date got a better update from a live person? I know no one actually knows the answer to this. The wait is just pure torture!

When you call they are looking at the same thing you are looking at. The exception is Tier 2's can see a little more detail. Calling is not going to get you a concrete answer because they don't know for sure. It's all up to the workload of the agent that was assigned to your case and when they receive all your background checks and they have verified that you meet or exceed their guidelines will you have an approval. The day in the life of a USCIS agent is below. I am posting for you and others to get and idea what is going on in USCIS with your case, straight from a previous USCIS agent.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

What steps does an USCIS agent take to adjudicate my case at USCIS.

 

First, I would select a case file/folder. All petitions/files are kept in folders that a have a scannable bar code identifier. This folder has everything that a person submits on the left side of the folder and all the agency generated documents on the right side. They should be in date order, Petition and then most recent from top to bottom.  The left side has the pictures on top.

 

You begin by looking at the petition for correctness by checking the information via several databases depending upon what type of petition you are adjudicating. Also if the form was complete and everything was in order.  Discrepancies in people's names from what the database had vs. what the petition said, birth dates, things like that all had to be resolved and could generate a RFE if the adjudicator couldn't figure it out with the tools he had.

 

There were some standard criminal and background type databases that were required for all petitions. A "hit" in any of these databases would flag the petition and it would be sent to a special group who worked to resolve why the "hit" occurred. Sometimes it could be something simple as a similar name of a bad guy, but every hit had to be resolved.

 

I remember that certain surnames would invariably cause a hit, but they could be resolved rather quickly by comparing the applicant's background information with those of the "hit" name. There were various ways to do this of course, and it took time. That's why some applications take longer to process because there are stumbling blocks along the way that must be worked through before approval. Consequently, all the other petitions that the officer was working get set to the side. or, the adjudicator/officer might set the difficult one to the side and work on less complicated ones. Remember it was a production environment where you had to be accurate but fast. Getting a petition kicked back for mistakes to be re-worked hurt your overall stats, so, you tried to be a thorough as you could, but also as quick as you could.

 

After clearing an applicant through the various mandatory database searches, then you could begin to review the various information on the petition. Sometimes there would be stupid mistakes like forgetting to sign it, or using a copy when an original signature was required etc... Kind of careless mistakes or from not really understanding the instructions type of thing. Anyway, these would generate an RFE, and the file's status would be update in the computer as awaiting response to RFE or something like that, I don't recall the exact terminology.

 

Anyway, instead of sending the newly RFE'd file back to the large file storage area, it would be kept at the officers desk in a holding cue. Then when an RFE reply would come in, I would pull it (the file) off the shelf and rework it. I tried to clear all my answered RFE's out first thing every morning because it was "old" work as compared to the dates I was working at the time. If the RFE had the required information, it would continue to be processed and/or approved and sent on its way. If the RFE did not address the item, then another RFE would be generated and back on the shelf it would go.

 

A word about RFE's. It was my experience that no two officers would always see eye to eye on if an RFE was required. Some officers could or would spend some more time digging around the file or a database to find the information  (if they thought it could be found) and others would just as soon rip off an RFE. So it varied. Then there were some times that an RFE was required because of the situation. Again, it depends a lot on who was looking at your case and what the question was / what information was needed. No hard and fast rule.

 

Also, each adjudicator/officer had a master list of RFE "phrases that they could pull off their computer and plug into a standard RFE form depending upon the situation. Each of these "phrases" could be further "wordsmith" to suit a particular situation. Again depends on the officer.  That's why you may see some RFE's that are similar but not exact. We would borrow each other's RFE phrases to add to our list as we came across one that fit a particular situation. 

 

It would be like "Hey, cube mate. I've got this situation, do you have anything in your RFE library that might fit?"  answer "Sure, try this one. I'll email it to you". And that's how that worked.

 

You asked about country of birth etc.. Yes and no. There were "watch lists" of certain countries that meant that certain procedures had to be followed when processing petitions from these countries, but it was just a couple more things to check/verify along the approval process. It didn't slow things down dramatically. So, I wouldn't worry about that being a big factor.

 

Additional review. Mainly if you came up as a "hit" for a surname of a bad guy (or gal) that would have to be resolved. Marriage Fraud. Overstaying your visit. Lying. Criminal activity/organized crime, police reports, things that would be outside of a "normal" person's life you might say.

 

So back to the approval process. So if no RFE was needed then i would "approve' the petition, affix my stamp with my identifier # , sign and date it. I would then scan the file, update the status and send it on its way to the next stop wherever that was. Actually, all the approved petitions/files were placed in a separate box and those were collected as you went along and taken for final disposition/processing.

 

Then you start all over again with the next case.

[dlagunday 14]

Hi guys I've been a silent reader for a while. i thought you might want to know for approval monitoring purposes. We got approved yesterday! 

New site based dates:

Noa1 - Feb 26, 2018

Noa2 - Aug 24, 2018

[AnnaR 28]

42 minutes ago, dlagunday said:

Hi guys I've been a silent reader for a while. i thought you might want to know for approval monitoring purposes. We got approved yesterday! 

New site based dates:

Noa1 - Feb 26, 2018

Noa2 - Aug 24, 2018

Did you get an email, mail or site update?

[Nate & Kylie 46]

46 minutes ago, dlagunday said:

Hi guys I've been a silent reader for a while. i thought you might want to know for approval monitoring purposes. We got approved yesterday! 

New site based dates:

Noa1 - Feb 26, 2018

Noa2 - Aug 24, 2018

Congratulations!

 

Thats our new site date too, hopefully next week our number is called! Enjoy your approval and have a beer for us

[Bambi_Eyes9390 109]

5 hours ago, Greenbaum said:

What steps does an USCIS agent take to adjudicate my case at USCIS.

 

First, I would select a case file/folder. All petitions/files are kept in folders that a have a scannable bar code identifier. This folder has everything that a person submits on the left side of the folder and all the agency generated documents on the right side. They should be in date order, Petition and then most recent from top to bottom.  The left side has the pictures on top.

 

You begin by looking at the petition for correctness by checking the information via several databases depending upon what type of petition you are adjudicating. Also if the form was complete and everything was in order.  Discrepancies in people's names from what the database had vs. what the petition said, birth dates, things like that all had to be resolved and could generate a RFE if the adjudicator couldn't figure it out with the tools he had.

 

There were some standard criminal and background type databases that were required for all petitions. A "hit" in any of these databases would flag the petition and it would be sent to a special group who worked to resolve why the "hit" occurred. Sometimes it could be something simple as a similar name of a bad guy, but every hit had to be resolved.

 

I remember that certain surnames would invariably cause a hit, but they could be resolved rather quickly by comparing the applicant's background information with those of the "hit" name. There were various ways to do this of course, and it took time. That's why some applications take longer to process because there are stumbling blocks along the way that must be worked through before approval. Consequently, all the other petitions that the officer was working get set to the side. or, the adjudicator/officer might set the difficult one to the side and work on less complicated ones. Remember it was a production environment where you had to be accurate but fast. Getting a petition kicked back for mistakes to be re-worked hurt your overall stats, so, you tried to be a thorough as you could, but also as quick as you could.

 

After clearing an applicant through the various mandatory database searches, then you could begin to review the various information on the petition. Sometimes there would be stupid mistakes like forgetting to sign it, or using a copy when an original signature was required etc... Kind of careless mistakes or from not really understanding the instructions type of thing. Anyway, these would generate an RFE, and the file's status would be update in the computer as awaiting response to RFE or something like that, I don't recall the exact terminology.

 

Anyway, instead of sending the newly RFE'd file back to the large file storage area, it would be kept at the officers desk in a holding cue. Then when an RFE reply would come in, I would pull it (the file) off the shelf and rework it. I tried to clear all my answered RFE's out first thing every morning because it was "old" work as compared to the dates I was working at the time. If the RFE had the required information, it would continue to be processed and/or approved and sent on its way. If the RFE did not address the item, then another RFE would be generated and back on the shelf it would go.

 

A word about RFE's. It was my experience that no two officers would always see eye to eye on if an RFE was required. Some officers could or would spend some more time digging around the file or a database to find the information  (if they thought it could be found) and others would just as soon rip off an RFE. So it varied. Then there were some times that an RFE was required because of the situation. Again, it depends a lot on who was looking at your case and what the question was / what information was needed. No hard and fast rule.

 

Also, each adjudicator/officer had a master list of RFE "phrases that they could pull off their computer and plug into a standard RFE form depending upon the situation. Each of these "phrases" could be further "wordsmith" to suit a particular situation. Again depends on the officer.  That's why you may see some RFE's that are similar but not exact. We would borrow each other's RFE phrases to add to our list as we came across one that fit a particular situation. 

 

It would be like "Hey, cube mate. I've got this situation, do you have anything in your RFE library that might fit?"  answer "Sure, try this one. I'll email it to you". And that's how that worked.

 

You asked about country of birth etc.. Yes and no. There were "watch lists" of certain countries that meant that certain procedures had to be followed when processing petitions from these countries, but it was just a couple more things to check/verify along the approval process. It didn't slow things down dramatically. So, I wouldn't worry about that being a big factor.

 

Additional review. Mainly if you came up as a "hit" for a surname of a bad guy (or gal) that would have to be resolved. Marriage Fraud. Overstaying your visit. Lying. Criminal activity/organized crime, police reports, things that would be outside of a "normal" person's life you might say.

 

So back to the approval process. So if no RFE was needed then i would "approve' the petition, affix my stamp with my identifier # , sign and date it. I would then scan the file, update the status and send it on its way to the next stop wherever that was. Actually, all the approved petitions/files were placed in a separate box and those were collected as you went along and taken for final disposition/processing.

 

Then you start all over again with the next case.

This is amazing! Thank you so much for posting this!

It helps so much to see a glimpse of how it's working on the other side

[FromBtoZ 125]

5 hours ago, dlagunday said:

Hi guys I've been a silent reader for a while. i thought you might want to know for approval monitoring purposes. We got approved yesterday! 

New site based dates:

Noa1 - Feb 26, 2018

Noa2 - Aug 24, 2018

Hey, any more detail about how you heard?

[dlagunday 14]

8 hours ago, AnnaR said:

Did you get an email, mail or site update?

I got an email from uscis that they have taken an action to my case and sent me a link to the new site. I logged in and i saw that our case was approved. I received the email 5:14am (Chicago time) old website still says our case was received. 

 

[Toastbear 149]

Is the website down for anyone else?

[Kanwarpreet 17]

3 minutes ago, Toastbear said:

Is the website down for anyone else?

Yes it is. Showing me the same error

39 minutes ago, dlagunday said:

I got an email from uscis that they have taken an action to my case and sent me a link to the new site. I logged in and i saw that our case was approved. I received the email 5:14am (Chicago time) old website still says our case was received. 

 

Congratulations :)
Waiting waiting waiting :)

[BJ & Christine 1,392]

Must be doing a undocumented update on site. Even tho they just did one on Thursday 

[americaninlove 381]

Trying to keep positive while waiting waiting waiting. My fiancé comes in FIVE DAYS so that’s all I’m thinking about right now. To keep the mood light for those of us with no news, I’d love to know how you met your partner. What got you into this mess in the first place?? Lol. Help me pass the torturous waiting time!

[BJ & Christine 1,392]

25 minutes ago, americaninlove said:

Trying to keep positive while waiting waiting waiting. My fiancé comes in FIVE DAYS so that’s all I’m thinking about right now. To keep the mood light for those of us with no news, I’d love to know how you met your partner. What got you into this mess in the first place?? Lol. Help me pass the torturous waiting time!

We met playing a online game called war dragons. Which we don’t play anymore. Awhile after chatting I flew to England to met her in person and see if all the chatting we were doing was real or a dream. 

After 6 trips between the 2 of us. We knew it was real and choose to wait in this que with the rest of y’all and see what uscis has to say. 

 

[Scott Br 164]

37 minutes ago, americaninlove said:

Trying to keep positive while waiting waiting waiting. My fiancé comes in FIVE DAYS so that’s all I’m thinking about right now. To keep the mood light for those of us with no news, I’d love to know how you met your partner. What got you into this mess in the first place?? Lol. Help me pass the torturous waiting time!

Met at work on multiple trips to Manila.  We started chatting outside of work a couple of years later.  Met as a couple for the first time in Hong Kong January of 2016.  We have met a total of 13 times, since becoming a couple, traveling to many different places.  Unfortunately, she has not been able to secure a tourist visa to the US, so it will be her first time being here after the K1 is approved.  My company is sending me on a 60 day assignment over there, so I will be able to accompany her to the interview and bring her and her kids back with me.

[visavisa123 66]

36 minutes ago, americaninlove said:

Trying to keep positive while waiting waiting waiting. My fiancé comes in FIVE DAYS so that’s all I’m thinking about right now. To keep the mood light for those of us with no news, I’d love to know how you met your partner. What got you into this mess in the first place?? Lol. Help me pass the torturous waiting time!

My two best friends were getting married in Playa Del Carmen. I was a bridesmaid and my fiance who is the cousin of my male bestfriend was a groomsmen. We meet at the wedding and spent the whole night dancing together and such. We added each other on Facebook that night and had been together ever since. I broke down and bought a flight a few days ago to go visit him at the last weekend of September for his birthday. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm trying to focus on that now and forget about the Visa haha