DCF exceptional circumstances time between I-130 approval and contact from Embassy

[saksnoot 31]

I filed an I-130 for my wife directly with the London embassy on April 26 due to exceptional circumstances. Today, I emailed to ask how we’d be contacted with next steps.

 

The response I got was peculiar. Apparently our I-130 was approved the day it was filed, but the beneficiary will not be contacted for at least 12 weeks from the day of approval.

 

The file is clearly with the consular section in London, since the I-130 was filed there. The London embassy site says that for I-130s that were processed by the USCIS field office in London, they send you the LND case number within 8 weeks of I-130 approval. And for K1 visas, they send the case number within 2 weeks of the file arriving at the embassy.

 

It seems like the embassy in London is working at a decent pace these days, and the reason we were allowed to file locally is that our case warrants a level of urgency. So the 12 week delay seems unusual to me.

 

Does anyone have any idea what might be happening or if there’s anything I can do to help the process not have a 3 month hiatus, effectively. I know I should be grateful the process has moved this quickly so far, but I’d like to do whatever I can do to help it along.