SweetDelish

Do you feel like it's taking forever for your case file to reach the National Visa Center? Then this thread is for you!
It is not for you if:
You have been waiting less than three to four weeks, or 25 business days, or 30 days or 42 days for your case file to reach NVC (these are the random timelines the NVC reps tell you when you call to check for your case number) You have received your case number and want to tell everyone how happy you are about it You have been waiting however long for your NOA-2 from TSC or your CR-1 approval or whatever; this is for K-1 visa applicants who are waiting a very long time for their NVC case number Several VJers currently are in the 70- to 80-day range, waiting for California Service Center to send their I-129f case files to New Hampshire. We are approaching the expiration dates on the I-797 (the NOA-2). We are helping each other with the process and I figure more of you are out there but lost in the process.
We have been commiserating in this thread; however, this new thread can serve as a central repository for advice, assistance and complaining.
It's OK to complain, by the way. Many people will tell you to have patience or to chill out. Patience and frustration DO NOT HAVE TO BE EXCLUSIVE OF EACH OTHER. The process is frustrating, especially when you hear a different story every time you call USCIS.
Thus far, we have been told our case files were redirected to our local offices (for me, Spokane, WA); they have been misdirected to the National Research Center (where immigration files go to die); NVC is backlogged and CSC is alleviating that workload by holding back files; and, most bizarrely, a courier is on standby waiting for the right size of packet to be sent to NVC.
We watch as others receive their case numbers in nine days, 10 days, and 20 days. If you have been waiting long past a month for your case number, here are the steps you need to take (many thanks to USMSBOW for his legwork):
1. Scan a copy of your NOA-2 and send it as an email attachment to NVCResearch@state.gov. Here is an example of the email you should send:
Hello,
I was instructed this morning to send you a copy of my I-797 notice from USCIS, which I've attached. USCIS approved my K1 petition on (month day, year), but my case has yet to arrive at NVC.
My receipt #: ABC##########
Petitioner: Name and date of birth
Beneficiary: Name and DOB
You can contact me at this e-mail address (frustrateddude@visajourney.com) or at 1-123-123-4567. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any more information.
Thank you,
(Give me my damn case number)
2. Call USCIS at 1-800-375-5283 and request to speak to Tier 2 Immigration Officer. A Tier 1 agent is no assistance at this point. You must speak to an IO. If your Tier 1 agent refuses, hang up and keep calling until you find a T-1 who will connect you to a T-2. Do not fall for their 90-day baloney. Your I-797 is approaching its expiration date. This is crazy.
You will receive vague, uninformative information from your service request via snail mail. Do not settle for this. Call for another Tier 2 and request further assistance.
You can open a service request on your own on the USCIS website, after you create an account and login to your case file. I don't know if this works. We have not tried this. We preferred to speak verbally with an IO.
3. Contact your representatives in Congress and/or the Senate. Others have seen their cases sped up by doing this. While our Congresswoman is one of the most powerful women in the G.O.P., we have yet to see resolution in this arena but it's only been two weeks since we contacted her office. Once you contact your representative, you will have to fill out a privacy disclosure form. Only then can your rep take action. Get this done as quickly as you can.
Please note: your government representative cannot intervene for an approval or for expedition. He or she can only assist with locating your file.
You can find your representatives on these websites:
Congress
Senate
4. If you are at your wit's end and nothing thus far has given you satisfaction, file a Case Assistance request with the USCIS Ombudsman. You can email this department at cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov.
I did this just yesterday and today received a form letter directing me to an online form. I attempted this link from the Ombudsman's web page but was given an Access Denied error page. I am at least able to open the form from within the email.
PLEASE NOTE: None of these steps has resolved our situation at this date. I - and hopefully the others - will continue to provide updates to our cases and let you know where and how we achieved success.
ALSO NOTE: I apologize for the lengthy post. I'm a professional writer with a full bottle of wine that's almost empty. That always spells trouble.
ALSO ALSO NOTE: Said wine is the culprit behind any syntax or grammatical errors you may find. I at least ran everything through spellcheck.
ALSO ALSO ALSO NOTE: Drinking is a good idea through this process. If you haven't started yet, I highly recommend red blends from Washington's Columbia Valley, vodka or craft beer.
Good luck. Please let us know if you have attained any resolution in retrieving your NVC case number after a lengthy wait.

Congratulations! I know this will give hope to others waiting in similar situations to you.

First of all, that is horrible.
coming from a fiances point of view you cannot turf us away and send us away like an unwanted puppy.
also wanting to call immigration on us? I am lost for words.
I won't judge on you because I obviously don't know your reasons for wanting a divorce, but it gets sad when I see people treating those of us
who come over in what was good faith be treated like you can send us back like a gift you didn't like.
If you divorce BEFORE AOS is approved then yes this person will probably be deported.
You have to contact USCIS and withdraw your support/application.
Someone should be along to explain it better.

It will be where you filed from, based on your residential address, you don't have to go to Italy for the interview.
I did the same, NZ citizen living in Australia with NZ passport, all my paperwork went through the embassy in Sydney in fact, I even used my Canadian passport to have my visa issued in.

"the trust is broken and will be hard to rebuild"
This to me is the death kneel.
Everything else is forgivable if you choose to do that.
In your case I think you want to go back home and you probably should.
Can you work it out and can it be worked out? Yes you can and it can if you want to.
Good luck.

A tough one
Amos 3 verse 3
I want to apply my point of view to this situation from both sides. For every story that has been 'lived happily ever after' there have been some real tough and rough situations in between , it only took two people who agreed to work it out through it all. I am not justifying this man here but I want to believe living together just revealed to you the things you weren't able to see from a distance, now that you have found out, is it a trust broken or you just found out your man's weakness, what do you want to do about it?
This seem to be your real first storm, you want to steer your ship to safety?
You have given so much, and you are truly committed, which is impressive , maybe this relationship needs to draw its stent from you.
You two really have to talk about this, the devil you know is far better than the angel you don't know.
I also want to believe you see it all better than everyone here and like Gowon said everything can be worked out.
There are things that are not lovable about our partners but we love them unconditionally anyway.

1 Year Later....
I was just thinking about how different things were 1 year ago. 5/11 was that horrible day that we learned Jordan could not enter the US and we had to cancel our plans for spending the summer together. 5/17 was the day I sent the K-1 package. I did it in 6 days...6 days of crying, stress, research, more crying, more research, discovering Visa Journey...lots more research, lots more crying after reading timelines, Igor's, etc. Then the sense of accomplishment turning to a sense of dread after reading all the things I might have screwed up. Ugh. Now I can sit back and smile that it's all behind us now.
Hope everyone is enjoying their lives TOGETHER with the one we waited for. Jordan is taking his driver's test today. He said his last step to becoming official. lol Hope he passes, he's only been driving for more than 35 years.
Things are going great for us, hope the same for everyone who supported me here!

Looking at all these posts for us May 2012 filers makes me feel happy that you guys have seen this through and are now with your loved ones
As for me, i am still trying to find inner peace and trying to move on with my life. Im sure one day I will be back to normal, but my road to recovery is long and bumpy.
As for you guys though, you guys were really tested and pushed to the limit. And your love is so strong that you guys have made it out the other side and you are now together forever! Congratulations again!

Hi everyone! Long time no see. Not much has been happening, immigration-wise, so I keep forgetting to check in! (And whoa, the site looks different!) A few weeks ago, I suddenly got a bunch of USCIS alerts on my phone and got all excited, only to find out that they were confirmation notices that we'd changed our address. Well, duh!
In non-immigration land, though, (almost) everything is great, except that we've been trying (to no avail) to get Aaron added to my primary checking account since he arrived. It's an online account through Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct). We had no problem getting a joint account at BoA pretty much the day after he arrived, but CO360 just will not budge. Part of it is probably his lack of a credit history, which I haven't been as conscientious about addressing as I should have and he doesn't really understand the importance of. We applied for some sort of newcomers card for him a few days ago, and hopefully he'll get approved for that and we can start the ball rolling. The CO360 account is just too convenient for us in so many ways that it doesn't make sense to switch banks, so they had better come around at some point.
In other news, though....
...he got a job! He's in school, primarily, until he can boost his education level enough to be competitive for jobs in this area, but we wanted something stable and part-time with regular daytime hours, and my friend/ex-coworker mentioned an opening at her (my former) company. He applied, got an interview, and got the job: the first job he ever applied for in the U.S. I'm so amazed and proud. He's been there a week so far, and if all goes well it will take him through school and provide a giant boost to the family income. Which couldn't have come at a better time, because...
...we bought a condo! Somehow, we managed to keep the wedding affordable enough that we had enough left for a down payment once the dust settled. The new place is gorgeous, in a much more appealing neighborhood, twice the size of the apartment we were renting before (and with extra storage space, a shared porch/yard, and our own parking space, to boot), and the monthly cost to us is the SAME. Best of all, it has 3 bedrooms! One for us, one for guests, and an extra one. Which couldn't have come at a better time, because...
...we're having a baby! I'm due around Thanksgiving.
What a year! And to think that last year at this time, I was sitting on the edge of my seat convinced that the NOA2 would never come and Aaron would never get over here and even if he did, how did I know that we'd get along well and be able to make a life work together. And somehow, pretty much everything fell into place <knock on wood>. Happy, happy, happy.

Got approved today, should have the visa in a week.
Thanks so much for all the help and advice that you guys have given us. It is very much appreciated!
So so happy!!!!!

I can't understand from you original post what it is he is thinking of trying to do.

I am not here to ask advices or anything..
Just want to share that my husband passed away this morning... peacefully... he had brain cancer and we have been fighting for more than a year now... there was a point in our fight that we thought we are winning... but we lost... i am just thankful that he passed away peacefully... in his sleep, and i got the chance to tell him everyday that i love him... and that he is my love, my life, my world, my home and my everything...
Whenever I read people here posting marriage not working out, just using me for greencard, giving up... and a lot of things... i am so sad...
I found the perfect husband... the perfect person... and yet he was taken away from me in such a short time...
I promise I will honor his name... i will honor our love... and I do not think I could love other person as much as I loved him... and still loving him... my love for him will not die until my last breath...

This is how I see it:
You did not lie per se at the interview, because you were not sworn in, that's fine, But... by attending the interview and being there supporting your spouse you are saying that your relationship is valid and true, all is well etc.

Having gone through the process and now having my fiancee here, I have to say the wait was worth it and no I wouldn't shorten the process any. I believe that with the wait came a better since of the expectations of my fiancee as we continued to Skype twice daily and we had a lot of questions that still needed to be discussed. I believe the wait made us stronger for it.
Bob

You wife is always going to be your sponsor, having a joint-sponsor doesn't change that. She will still need the I-134 and supporting documents.
In our case it was emailed to the Petitioner, they emailed him a form to change the email address for P4 (which we then sent to ours). It will be sent to whatever email you put on the documents.

Yes I did, they sent a copy to my friends place in Sydney and she emailed it to me.

With all due respect, it really depends on what you want to see and do! Unlike the above poster, I would go for the South Island if you were to pick one or the other, but as a native kiwi I would say you could do both islands in one trip if you chose what you wanted to see and use your time wisely! (NZ is beautiful to do by road, but you could see everything you would want to see in one trip if you do some air travel)
Mountains and natural beauty landscapes? South Island.
Cities? hot springs? North Island.
Cities, hot springs, mountains, beaches? Both! (And you can fly from Auckland to Christchurch in 1 hour 20 minutes - NZ is not a difficult place to get around and a flight on the best carrier is usually around $69 from AU > CHC).
March would be a better choice than October in my opinion, October can still be very winterish whereas March is the tail end of summer and generally more reliable weather.
Some ideas:
Day 1 - Fly into Auckland, get on the road and head to the Coromandel, stay for a day around there for the beautiful beaches and scenery. You could kayak here!
Day 3 - Back to Auckland, fly to Wellington (~$49 each) Spend a day exploring the eclectic city, have a yummy soy chai at a cafe, check out Te Papa for the national museum!
Day 5- Take the ferry from Wellington to Picton. Hire a car. Drive to Nelson. Spend a day exploring the beaches and town around the top of the South Island.
Day 7- Drive down to Christchurch stopping through the alps towns or the vineyards.
Day 8 - Explore Christchurch, either hop in car or on a plane and head south to Queenstown. Spend a few days exploring Southland (Queenstown, Franz Josef, Wanaka). This area is where you would want to be for hiking, kayaking etc. - all that you mentioned. So if you only want to go to one area then head straight to Southland.
Day 10 - fly back to Auckland for your flight home (~$79)
This is just an idea and are the highlights that I would say NZ has and what I love about NZ and what I would want my husband to see when we visit again next year!

Keno and I are starting to slowly prepare all the documentation we are going to need to submit our I-129F. We want to take our time with the whole process to make sure every 'i' is dotted and every 't' is crossed. Being one of the first same-sex bi-national couples to immigrate to the US on a K-1 visa on the heels of a potential victory in the Supreme Court on June 27th means we don't want anything to go wrong on our end.
While we cannot file our I-129F until DOMA is repealed, we want to be ready the instant it is to submit our paperwork because it is such a time-consuming process.
Keno is currently securing his passport quality photos which he will include in his packet of info (G-325a, statement of intent to marry) that he will send to me in late January. He should have them within the week.
To everyone who supports us, thank you very much - you have no idea how much kind words and support means to us.
To those who wish us ill or dislike us because of our sexuality, please just avoid posting inflammatory comments and leave us be - that's all we ask and we do wish you the best of luck on your journey to bring your loved one to the US.

I am sooooo happy to read all of the good news for us May Filers. Throughout this process, we all thought we would have to check ourselves into a mental institution, but with VJ helping us, we are making it.

Today is the day!!
It was almost 7 months ago when Jordan was told he could no longer visit the US, because he was engaged and the first day we learned what a K-1 visa was. We had no clue. Those were some dark days. Then we discovered Visa Journey and started on the path. Now here we are today....
At this moment he's probably standing in the same area at the Vancouver airport with a K-1 Visa in his hand ready to come home!!
He'll be arriving at the OC Airport this afternoon!!!
Keep the faith everyone...your day will come, I promise!

agree with all of your opinions! It will be a while before we can spend it with his family again. Well I guess i will end up going even though parents are not so happy with the idea. But its not just me know its two families.

That doesn't sound like it applies here. I read her words and they sound like a woman in crazy love with intentions of a genuine marriage.
But your concern about immigration fraud is a good point. I would stay clear of the work visa option and only use a visa for the purpose it is intended for. Start here:
http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare
and pick one that suits you and your boyfriend, getting married now or later.

I would go spend it with your fiancee.. you will still have plenty of Christmases to spend with your family. and who knows when you would get to spend it with your finacee's family..

Thanks everyone!
I go back home today and have a VERY short wait for him to arrive.

better hope in one hand in sh*t in the other, as long as you're picking & choosing which posts are acceptable and which are derailing..nothing open about that.