En-oh-eh-to now

Spreadsheet updated! March transfers are at 35.8%!

At last, USCIS is starting to pick up the pace. A week ago, 10% of March filers received NOA2. Today, we're at a solid 34.5%, Now if only the service centers were on the same timetable....

My status on the website updated twice. This is the second update:

On November 25, 2013, we transferred your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN, to your local USCIS Office for further processing. The new office has jurisdiction over your case and will send you a decision as soon as processing is complete or you will be notified if further information or action is needed.

We are in Hong Kong. Please tell me that "local" doesn't mean back in the U.S. Should I freak out now?

It means "service center" which is in the US.

did you get switched back to initial review too?

Yep. What an enjoyable roller-coaster ride they have given us...

Just another email from USCIS...back to initial review.

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: MSC1391607193

Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Your Case Status: Initial Review

On November 25, 2013, a notice was generated regarding your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please check our website at www.uscis.gov for further updates on your case, including the mailing of this notice. If you move, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address.

During this step, USCIS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews the applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators.

Yep. Pretty sure our files are in the same batch!

Okay now it says "On November 25, 2013, we transferred your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN, to your local USCIS Office for further processing. The new office has jurisdiction over your case and will send you a decision as soon as processing is complete or you will be notified if further information or action is needed. If you move, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address."

Does that mean it got transferred to a U.S. office 'cause WE ARE IN HONG KONG! And everything on my I-130 said that.

No. It has been shipped off to one of the service centers rather than a local office, regardless of domestic or expat filing.

TSC has a habit of doing this: http://www.visajourn...ent-for-review/

I guess that's where my case is as well.

TSC has a habit of doing this: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/284334-please-helpcase-sent-back-to-uscis-from-state-deparment-for-review/

I guess that's where my case is as well.

Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity

On November 25, 2013, a USCIS office received this case from the State Department with a request that we review it. We will notify you when we complete our review, or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State. For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations.

I am doing my best not worry, but this seem very bad to me. I received this email today, four days after my initial transfer from NBC to Texas. I never received a decision so I am confused as to why I would have post-decision activity? Why would they need to review it again when they never reviewed it in the first place? Why did the state department have it?

Okay, now I got a fourth e-mail, just like the one above.

The three emails is normal. If you speak with Tier 2, they will tell you where it is at.

But what is not normal, from what I can gather, is that the third email is missing the "is being processed" wording.

Oh, cool! Didn't know you were transferred as well! Good luck

Maybe try and call CS/Tier 2? I think some people here were able to find out which service center their file went to.

Tier 2 could not tell me where it was transferred to. I guess I could try again.

En, you were transferred, too?

Yes, but since we do not reside in the Philippines, I do not know how they will proceed. Our case may have been filtered out. Our notices indicated:

1. Transferred to another office

2. Transferred to local office

3. Transferred to another office (identical to the first message)

I will probably never get the hard copy since we are abroad, so I'm clueless about the location. I guess it was transferred, but will not be expedited due to our residence abroad.

I just received the hardcopy. It came with a supplement transfer notice explaining that it should take no longer than 60 days for NOA2.

Any chance you got the third e-mail notice? It is kind of strange - the third notice that I got is identical to the first, word for word. The "and is being processed" is not in the notice. I live abroad, and may or may not get the letter showing where my case was sent.

I guess i got left out..? Some october filers were even approved already..

Have other September filers already been transferred? I would venture a guess that those Oct. filers hadn't yet been put into long-term storage, so they retrieved their files with ease. Perhaps they already had a transfer in the works for recent filers anyway since they gave up on the NBC processing petitions.

Just got this...so this means my I-130 was accepted? Does this count as the NOA2? (No other emails since May 19, 2013). What do I do now (or get ready to do?) It's been 6 long months. Thank God I got this so my wife and I can get home together.

"On November 22, 2013, we transferred this case I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN to another office for processing and sent you a notice explaining this action. Please follow any instructions provided on the notice. We will notify you by mail when a decision is made. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283."

All cases with a Filipino beneficiary have been transferred to another service center (probably CSC, TSC, or NSC). It seems that all such cases have been expedited, regardless of where the beneficiary resides.

Of course I do.

It just wasn't your turn on the wheel.

Now it almost is.

A lot of families missed their "turn on the wheel" as you put it - husbands, wives, and kids are forced apart. Don't you agree that the response to a growing backlog could be addressed more efficiently?

So now you understand why cases are being transferred to additional processing centers to have more hands adjudicating them.

Congratulations, you're well on your way to understanding now!

You're doing a fine job of being condescending. You are aware that our complaint is that this wasn't done sooner.

Half a million out of how many total petitions of all types?

Really? You're not stunned based on that figure alone?

You insist on more? Okay. There are a little over 2,000,000 pending petitions, and our backlog makes up 25% of that. One single type of form makes up 25% of the backlog. I suppose that this is "only" 25% as far as you're concerned. Well, I-130 petitions are make up 5% of all submissions.

Now, I-130s are a little backlogged

You have failed to grasp just how serious this backlog is. It is nearly a half million petitions. USCIS really let this get out of hand. Do you still think this qualifies as a "little backlogged"?

A good tactic to improve the national I-130 processing time average...

We bore the brunt of this, thanks to USCIS.

Edit: We = OUR FAMILIES

It appears that applications from the Philippines have been given priority because of the typhoon,

The NBC has limited information in their database during initial review, right? They pull all cases in which the beneficiary is a Philippine citizen, and transfer them off to a service center. What happens next is anyone's guess. Do they:

a. Sort them based on where the beneficiary resides, and adjudicate only those who live in the affected areas?

b. Adjudicate tens of thousands of petitions at once, and send them to the overwhelmed embassy?

i hope this is a good thing..

"On November 21, 2013, we transferred this case I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN to another office for processing and sent you a notice explaining this action. Please follow any instructions provided on the notice. We will notify you by mail when a decision is made. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283."

USCIS

10/07/2013 - I-130 mailed

10/10/2013 - NOA1 (SMS)

10/14/2013 - NOA1 in overland park, (snail mail)

11/21/2013 - transfered to USCIS office

xx/xx/xxxx - NOA2

I-130 petitions filed for a Filipino beneficiary, regardless of current residence, are being transferred. Will the service centers be sorting them out to process only those from the affected areas? This remains to be seen.

Except they're not doing anything that they didn't already start doing weeks ago. They just now got around to making an announcement about it, which they were likely already on track to do anyway.

If it make people feel better to write letters that's fine. Maybe even got them to make the announcement a few days sooner than intended.

Just don't fool yourselves. Bit of overreactions with tears and all that.

Yes, we can never be certain that USCIS was not planning on making an announcement in the coming days or weeks, or that next month they planned on updating I-130 processing times. Have they ever updated processing times twice in the same month? I doubt it. We got their attention. Now they know we exist. We are on the radar now! They know there are a LOT of I-130 petitioners out there, and if we connect with more of them, we have some serious numbers behind us!