rgfox

Hi All,

I have approved I-130s for my wife and her son, Mark, who is 6. We thought it was strange that on the AOS and IV receipts from NVC there was no mention of Mark, so I called NVC and they said that they had just received Mark's I-130 and that these are completely separate cases. Fine. Ignoring the fact that although these I-130s were approved at the same time , Mark's was sent out a couple of weeks later by USCIS, my question is, when and how will the two cases converge? for example so Mark's "interview" is at the same time as his mother's. What is NVC procedure? The NVC help desk was not so friendly this time so I figured I'd ask here first before calling them back. The lady said "they try to keep the interviews on the same day" so I don't think she knows. It is ridiculous to think they would have separate interview times for mother and young son. Are they going to want a separate DS-3032 for him too? Is there any way I can speed Mark's case up at NVC so it catches up with his mom's?

Thanks!

Richard

Can anyone please tell me why, oh why, State requires the the same data submitted on the I-130 must be submitted again on another form called the DS-230? It is so extremely easy to write a short script to copy data from the USCIS database to the NVC database. As a компутер scientist it kind of blows my mind that multiple sets of identical or overlapping data have to be submitted for the same case when technology enables a much more streamlined process. But on the other hand, such business processes are why so many of us are employed, and why so many immigration lawyers are needed and who also contribute to the economy; so maybe in a way government inefficiency is a good thing, and we should thank Uncle Sam for that? And also, I should be thankful that I have the opportunity to contribute to the photography industry, with the dozens of sets of identical photos.

But to a specific question: we are extremely paranoid about sending original documents in to the NVC. They must be DHL-ed from Russia, and although DHL is a great company which my firm uses all the time, stuff can get lost. Am I worrying too much? Should we just take it down to DHL and Godspeed, or wait until I am back in the States on the 9th and I can mail it domestically?

Thanks,

Richard

IS there any july filers at CSC got their NOA2?? I m still waiting on mine..(

Sorry I can't help myself; you must use "ARE there any july filers...", not "IS there any". You use "IS there any" when asking about something you can't count, like snow or beer. So "Is there any beer?", but "Are there any cans of beer?" You can count the cans so "Are" is used. Haha you probably already knew that and were just typing fast, sorry.

I had a late June NOA1 date and JUST got my NOA2, CSC.

What's an original copy? A document can either be the original, or a copy.

haha, you are right, I meant original, not original copy. So now I understand that I have to send originals and photocopies... I really don't like sending the originals in the mail, because if they get lost we are looking at months to assemble them again.

Hi ,

What I am reading indicates that ORIGINAL copies of documents should be submitted to NVC with the DS-230. But I also heard that original documents should be brought to the embassy for the interview! Which is it, cause they can't be in two places at the same time!

Thanks

Well, I finally received approval and my NOA2! 5.5 months after my NOA1. Whew, how nerve-racking but what a great feeling to be done with that part!

Question: on our marriage cert in Russia, we left her previous married name intact, because it would have complicated things a lot for her and she would have had to give up her passport for some period of time to change the name on it, possibly impacting her ability to bring her passport to the interview. So we just planned to change her name when she gets here, before she gets her drivers license, credit card, etc. But I read somewhere that it is possible to say during the interview that you would like to have the same last name as your husband, and that the interviewer can issue a visa with the name? Sounded funny to me because the passport would have her previous name still.

In short, anyone with experience changing an immigrant spouse's last name once they are here in the US (For US purposes, not her Russian passport, which we'll do too), I'd love to hear what process you went through.

Thanks!

You never know what they are going to do. My NOA1 date was June 27th, and on Nov 28 I started calling. Basically they told me what has already been stated in this thread, that CSC is behind a little and call back in 2 weeks, as they update their processing dates on the 15th of the month. The system would not let them enter an inquiry.

Then I called my Senator last week and her office will inquire too. I was very frustrated of course. Then, this morning, I got an email - I-130 approved. So you never know what they are doing.

I'm just going to get up on my soapbox for one second to say that (yes, I know the USCIS does an important job with a huge volume of requests):

What drives me crazy are the inequities of the system and the lower priority that personal petitions, family petitions, are given than corporate-based petitions. A temporary worker takes a month- a wife, 6 months. But the petitioner's sponsorship is actually much greater than the corporation's! We are putting people last. End of soapbox.

They have been telling my husband June 16 for the last 18 days. I got my NOA2 on 10 November (22 June file date), 2 of my children got RFE on 24 November and the third hasn't even been acknowledged. Everytime he calls they tell him, to wait 6 days and they are still processing June 16! I just don't understand how they can split a families application up and it end up being so far apart.

Did you do a separate I-130 for each child? I guess so, you have to. But you are saying that the children's petitions are not grouped together with the Mom/Dad's? That's cuckoo.

Deadline??? LOL let me know when they get a real deadline that actually have to follow by law. My case is going well on to 3 years

Uck a duck! Why did they go crazy on you? What's "Touched"? (from your timeline)

Can u tell me how to reach the live representative on the phone? I call the toll-free number provided on their website but I just heard some general info and its automatic. I cant hear any option of speaking to live representative. My NOA1 is on June 8. Thanks a lot for your help.

I just called the number on their website too. Follow the menus for Case Status. (I think they eventually say "to change your address or report a problem with your case, press __") You need your receipt number from the NOA1.

but here it shows they are processing August 10th... am i correct?

Don't know what it shows here, but just verbatim what the customer service person told me. First I asked if there was some status I could get, as their own guideline of 5 mos has been exceeded. He said yes, I could submit an inquiry. When he went into the system to do that (he says), it shows him that CSC is now "working on" I-130s from 6/16. I don't know exactly what the def of "working on" is. Then he says that it won't let him submit an inquiry until after "my" NOA1 date of 6/27. And suggested I call back in a week or two. So it sounds to me like CSC is backed up right now.

I just spoke with USCIS, they said that their system shows that CSC is working on I-130's with an NOA1 date of June 16, and that once they are processing petitions from my NOA1 date (June 27) then they can submit a letter of inquiry. Asked me to call back in a week or so.

Wow do I ever feel blessed that it was only 27 days from the time I dropped it in the mail until we got NOA2.

Sorry everyone else is having a slow time

I think having Canada rather than Russia as your beneficiary's country rather helped with that.

Were at 7 months for AOS, our local CSC is on June processing? Waiting.

Thanks, but you did not answer my question. My question was about results of communications with USCIS past the 5 month mark.

Richard

You carry on waiting.

What was your process, did you just "carry on waiting"? For how long?

Hey Man !

What's USCIS Tier 2, ISO Human, telling you, when you call in to the USCIS Hotline?

I haven't called yet, am going to Monday

You have to understand that the 5 months is a guideline, not a deadline

Excuse my misuse of terminology. Guideline. Same questions apply, I am looking for the same data as in my original post. They have exceeded their "guidelines" or policy, which means something is amiss, or possibly not being handled correctly, and I want to know what the issue is. This thread is to ascertain what others' experience is in this situation.

Assuming I don't get my NOA2 today, they will have gone over their 5 month period on Saturday. Before I call them next week, I would like to know anyone's experience, good or bad, when calling the uscis customer service center to get more information when the 5-month goal is exceeded. Has anyone been successful in getting an update, and if so, what kind? Or does it depend on what operator you get? Totally useless? Will they let the investigator or arbitrator or someone at csc talk to me? I'd love to know the range of possible outcomes before I call.

I would have thought my case was fairly typical. Foreign wife with young son, neither of us has a criminal record, good documentation. Met in January 2011, married June 3, NOA1 I-130 June 27. Since filing I've been to see her twice, visited Rome, lived with her in her flat with her son for a week, which I just got back from yesterday. Going back at Christmas for 2 weeks. If they want more proof I've got the proof, but to take more than 5 months? Sheesh.

Thanks, everyone.

Richard

I just called the USCIS Customer Service center to see if there was anything else they could tell me, i.e. why would one application take 76 days and another, like mine, take 4 months and counting; and they said it's up to the individual office and they couldn't speculate as to why. I already knew before I called, but I called anyway, like a hail Mary pass; they were polite and professional and all, as was I, but they could not tell me anything beyond that the processing time is estimated (not guaranteed) to be 5 months and I had to wait at least that long before they could check into anything. Grrr!

I do not see how the timelines shown for CR-1 processing on this site are accurate. The data does not reflect it at all. Right now the chart at (http://www.visajourney.com/content/ir1cr1historical) says that CSC is taking roughly 76 days from NOA1 to NOA2. Baloney! My NOA1 date was June 27 2011 and there is nothing special about my petition as far as I know: no criminal record, one previous marriage each to someone native to our own countries, relationship with my wife and visits fully documented. That is 120 days and still no NOA2. When I look through the individual stats I see some lucky souls that have got their NOA2 very quickly, in 3 months... how or why, I have no idea. But I see nothing that reflects this 76 days. This process is not fair, or equitable, and I wish this site would accurately report timelines so as not to raise my expectations! Is there a moderator or someone that knows about the process who can give me an accurate time for an NOA2? Or tell me where this 76 days is coming from?

Thanks!

Frustrated in D.C.

There are people who seriously need an immigration attorney, and those who don't. I think it is irresponsible when people say "don't use an attorney" without knowing anything about your situation. In my case, I did consult an attorney, a single $90 session, and he gave me mostly very good advice, with one exception: I filed an I-129F when, in fact, I didn't have to. But aside from that, very valuable advice. If your "situation" is complicated, you want to think about a consultation with an immigration attorney. My $0.02

Good luck

What puzzles me is why they even have the K-3 anymore? The lawyer I consulted recommended told me to file the I-129F but now I realize he was wrong and, as a previous poster said, the CR1 is better and less paperwork and cheaper. So the lawyer was an idiot. But I hope that my K-3 gets closed and they proceed with the I-130 CR1. But it just shows you the inertia of the government that they even have the I-129F for the K-3, which is a duplicate of the paperwork for the I-130, a complete duplicate, anyway. Ridiculous!

I do not know where this site is getting its data for the historical processing times (http://www.visajourn...nt/k3historical). It is showing CSC as having a 100 day time from I-129F NOA1 to NOA2, and 90 days for the I-130 NOA1 to NOA2. This not reflected in the individual data I am looking at. Certainly in my case it is not true, with a 110 day interval for the I-130 NOA2 already, and right around 95 days for the I-129F NOA2. So where is that data coming from?

It seems that things have frozen at the CSC for I-129F K-3 petitions, and most IR1/CR1 petitions too. Why do I think so? When I look at the K-3 timelines people have entered here, Rachelle & Jacob were the last ones to get their NOA-2 from CSC, their dates were :

NOA1 I-130: 2011-05-2

NOA1 I-129F: 2011-06-14

NOA2 I-129F: 2011-09-15

NOA2 I-130: 2011-09-15

Since then, no NOA2s for K-3 visas have been received; at least, none that have been entered on this site. They are, however, issuing some NOA2s for IR1 and CR1, for some people it is only taking a month or two months. For example, Su and Marvin from Malaysia had the following dates:

I-130 NOA1: 2011-06-24

I-130 NOA2: 2011-07-26

Interview: 2011-09-22

One month! Maybe they made a data entry error?

There are also large numbers of IR1/CR1 applications who have not received their NOA2 from CSC, or have not bothered to enter it here if they have.

This is incredibly frustrating and inequitable. What this tells me is that there is no method to the USCIS process, and that some people wait months longer than others. K-3 visa applications seem to be getting screwed, with much longer timelines than the lucky (and God bless) Su and Marvin, who apparently waited only one month for their NOA2.

Does anyone have an inkling of what is going on? Has CSC stopped dead in their tracks?

It seems that things have frozen at the CSC for I-129F K-3 petitions, and most IR1/CR1 petitions too. When I look at the K-3 timelines people have entered here, Rachelle & Jacob were the last ones to get their NOA-2 from CSC, their dates were :

NOA1 I-130: 2011-05-2

NOA1 I-129F: 2011-06-14

NOA2 I-129F: 2011-09-15

NOA2 I-130: 2011-09-15

Since then, no NOA2s for K-3 visas have been received; at least, none that have been entered on this site. They are, however, issuing some NOA2s for IR1 and CR1, for some people it is only taking a month or two months. For example, Su and Marvin from Malaysia had the following dates:

I-130 NOA1: 2011-06-24

I-130 NOA2: 2011-07-26

Interview: 2011-09-22

One month!

There are also large numbers of IR1/CR1 applications who have not received their NOA2 from CSC, or have not bothered to enter it here if they have.

This is incredibly frustrating and inequitable. What this tells me is that there is no method to the USCIS process, and that some people wait months longer than others. K-3 visa applications seem to be getting screwed, with much longer timelines than the lucky (and God bless) Su and Marvin, who waited only one month for their NOA2. How did that happen?

Does anyone have an inkling of what is going on? What happened to first-come, first-served? Has CSCS stopped dead in their tracks? And, I do not know where this site is getting its data for the historical processing times (http://www.visajourney.com/content/k3historical). It is showing CSC as having a 100 day time from I-129F NOA1 to NOA2, and 90 days for the I-130 NOA1 to NOA2. This not reflected in the individual data I am looking at. Certainly in my case it is not true, with a 110 day interval for the I-130 NOA2 already, and right around 95 days for the I-129F NOA2. So where is that data coming from?