Level99

FINALLY! SOME CLOSURE!

Interview went extremely well in Montreal. Got in line around 7AM, got back out with our hearts full to bursting by 9AM. The word "approved" never felt so good.

I actually met another VJer in line who's name I can't remember, but she went through CSC and applied after April. Also a few other folks who at least knew of the site, if not directly participated on it. Hoping everyone else there did well, seems like we were the only ones from a Jan filing to be there though.

Now the wait for DHL. We recently had a nightmarish experience with them shipping from the US to Canada where it took nearly three weeks to get a single box to the destination. Doesn't really instil confidence but I'm hoping that since its Canada-to-Canada, and official government documents, that we have more luck with it.

Haven't really had a lot of time to check here lately but I thought I'd share the good news and wish everyone else well again on their own journeys!

So glad to see all the good news from people over the last few weeks!

We dawdled a little bit on getting the packet 3 info back in but everything post-NOA2 has been super-quick to get a response from them. We have everything scheduled and our interview is set for December 10th. Home stretch!

Well this was definitely fitting.

Got NOA1 originally while on vacation in Florida. Got RFE when vacationing in Canada. Just got NOA2 within hours of arriving in Florida again this morning. My case just never progressed when I was in my home state!

Congratulations to everyone else who got approval, seems like the ball finally got rolling!

I ended my week pretty bad last week. Sick all week, no visa news but the usual slow VSC and the frustration that brings, and on Friday morning as soon as i left to work, my house was broken into. They stole all my electronics including my laptop where i had all my visa scans, receipts, etc etc. Fortunately i have it all backed up on the dropbox always so i didnt loose any of that. But i still feel like my stuff is out there and someone is getting a kick reading all our emails , looking at our pictures and our stories.

What a great way to end the week.

D: D: D: change all your passwords for everything you can think of ASAP, if you haven't done so already. Hopefully the stolen items will be recovered and be undamaged. Really sorry to hear about that. Even though most electronics can be replaced, data isn't so you're very lucky to have your cloud backups.

Hopefully not derailing but, when it comes to computers, never make anything easily accessible. At the very least, the next computer you get I would recommend doing both an operating system-level password and getting a program called TrueCrypt to encode the system drive. Encrypting that with a good password makes it so that if the system is ever turned off or the hard drive is removed, you need the TrueCrypt password to access anything on the hard drive. Maybe somewhat inconvenient if you restart it a lot but you'll rest easy knowing that if you ever lose it, it would take a computer thousands of years to potentially crack it open.

Yep I suspect it might be the passport size picture. When we were in the Philippines we requested a passport type picture for me and my fiancee. I then submitted it and realized later it was blue background instead of white or off white. To prepare for a possible RFE I had my fiancee several months ago take another passport type picture against a white background that she emailed to me. So I am prepared to submit the correct background. Hopefully the RFE is for that.

And yes I am being processed at the infamous VSC

If it is a RFE for the passport photos, I got hit with something similar ("Face is too large"). Quoted from my RFE:

The photos must be taken within 30 days of the date of this notice and must conform to the specifications below.

So if you think that the RFE is likely for that, be prepared to go to WalMart or something the day you receive the RFE in the mail to get new ones taken. As a paranoid person, that's exactly what I did because nobody wants to fiddle with a RFE twice.

Sorry to hear that, I hope it is a simple RFE that can be responded to very quickly.

There have been so many RFEs lately, I'm starting to get the feeling that you can get a RFE for submitting a petition at all!

"Request for Evidenc. Reason: Petition Exists"

Well here's some partial good news:

RFE that was sent on July 13th we got and responded to on July 18th. It was delivered on July 19th around 1PM, and yesterday morning they finally updated the status to RFE Response Review. In between the delivery reciept and yesterday I was panicking that they might have lost it or, worse yet, held it against me that I stapled the pictures to the TOP of the RFE papers, an not the bottom. I've heard of some people being forced to wait the 60 day timeout if they didn't put RFE on top, and even though the pictures were in a ziplock bag with the blue papers behind very clearly showing...well, after the RFE for faces being too big, I figured they'd try to extend the wait as long as they could

So now begins the potential 60 day wait for RFE response, but I feel a lot more comfortable knowing that, indeed, my petition is in human hands. My touched date prior to RFE was 2/10 so the bin we were in is likely not the same as any of those 2/9er touches from Jan.

It's extremely difficult for us still waiting not to speculate. I just hope for those getting to 180, 190+ days that this doesn't ruin the Summertime for you Just keep calling, keep asking, keep checking with Congress-folks. NO WAY are we all giving up on things now. Right? RIGHT?!

Looking forward to your next numbers run, Sabi. The few petitions around mine are a smattering of NOA2, RFE, and some still under intial review.

yes I think I have seen someone who got an RFE and the another RFE... if that is what you ask ?

Yup, that's exactly what I was wondering. Really hoping that when they finally get to our petitions, they look through the WHOLE thing when nitpicking out issues and don't just send RFE for one issue while another went unnoticed.

Dumb question but are multiple RFEs a possibility? I'm starting to watch the RFE timespan for the Jan-ers like a hawk.

yeah I have noticed that but it is so random that I just can't be bothered with trying to figure them out! They know they are above the processing time but for whatever reason they just won't admit... and this update , even though it was done in July, looks like it is based on whatever was happening in May

Yeah, I know I know, I'm reaching wherever I can to make some sense. I'm an over-organizer, which also means I tend to over-analyze! Maybe VSC asked them not to update to the most current otherwise people would catch a glimpse of what's really going on

Hoping y'all get some NOA2s this week. Those Feb VSC folks will take solace in the posts of courage and levity here when it gets farther down the line.

Hmm, found something interesting. Don't know if anyone else has noticed this yet. I have the habit of checking the processing times each time I check on my petition status (I was hoping they'd update the status once they got my response to RFE, at least letting me know they're no longer holding the petition in suspension. No change yet).

I129F -> K1/K2 -> Vermont Service Center:

USCIS National Goal: 5.0 Month(s)

USCIS National Average: 7.2 Month(s)

Vermont Service Center: 5.0 Month(s)

Effective as of May 31, 2012

Erm....what? Okay, so the National Average is longer, even compensating for the CSC quickness VSC could potentially slow it down to 7.2, but VSC is still on 5 months?

Talk about inconsistent! Checked it for CSC, and that's also listed for 5.0 months. The only one that actually changed the graph layout was TSC, which shows 15.5 months (they stopped processing K1's, right?). Still, the math don't add up: 5 + 5 + 15.5 / 3 = 8.5

No idea why I'm trying to make sense of this anyway.

Well our RFE was for the Visa photos not adhering to the guidelines, specifically that our faces were "too large". Whenever I think of large faces, I think of Robert Z'dar because I'm fairly certain I do not have a large face in comparison to him (google him, you'll see what I mean, lol). Regardless, the lady and I both just got back into the country for another 2 month stint and got the new photos taken care of already, shipped off today.

Definitely still fretting the indeterminable wait between now and the next notification. I'm sure a whole lot of you will be getting updates and NOA2's in the mean-time. Got a gut feeling VSC will start ripping through these petitions near the end of this week! (my guy may also be trying to tell me I'm hungry. It gets those two signals confused sometimes )

Oh man, brutal stuff...

I drove up to Quebec from my home to visit the lady for the weekend, and bring her back for a 2 months stay. I drove nearly 15 1/2 hours straight yesterday. We checked the site today, since we saw more activity. Apparently, we've been hit with an RFE. I honestly have no idea what we could have missed as I included literally everything I could to prove the relationship. Guess we'll have to wait and see what the letter says when it gets here. Definitely feels like a punch to the gut, even if it does mean that our file has actually been worked on.

This stuff ruins the romantic weekend we had planned, simply because now neither of us will be able to get our minds off of what the RFE might be.

On a side note, my Congressman's office sent a letter to them last Friday. Not sure if there is a correlation between that and this, as I know I'm borderline Jan/Feb filer, but figured it should be mentioned.

Just chatted with a friend about what's going on at VSC right now. She actually said something really clever: has anyone gone to their local news agency to potentially highlight the issue? We don't really have a lot of options to take action within the system, so why not make the issue noticable where it gets more attention? I realize that indeed, there is an ebb to the tide of activity at any Service Center, but I guess it couldn't hurt to make more people aware of what's going on.

I don't think USCIS is going to want to get potentially negative press and have zero response to it. I just can't get over the fact that they told me they were not going to update their timeline estimates despite the fact that they are obviously falling way behind in their processing.

Just a thought

And back. My Rep's office said they'll make the inquiry officially between now and Monday, at the very latest. I should hear back in a week or two but they told me I can call them anytime to check on the status. They were super-friendly in-person and completely understood the frustration I was going through.

Sabi, that's great to hear about Tier 2 and getting a service request in. Maybe the whole scripted Tier 1 response is to keep people who don't know better satiated for a longer period of time. Glad you got the SR.

Texas, that's harsh! Can't believe you got RFE after so long. Hopefully it isn't anything outrageous and can be dealt with quickly. At least you know a) they have your file, and b) they actually took some time to look at it.

Got a somewhat energyless woman on the phone in about 10 minutes wait time. She took my info, confirmed who I was, and told me I was still within normal processing time.

She stated that they are still processing January 9th, and that I can not take any action until they are after my date on processing. I asked them when they were planning on updating the official estimates since, if they are processing January and not February, that the estimated time should be six months instead of five.

She said they were not going to update the estimates. She again mentioned I'm withing normal processing time.

...I think I'll just swing by my Rep's office during lunch today. Stop in, say hello. Get the ball rolling on figuring out what's going on, check up on my case, and figure out why they just openly admited to posting inaccurate estimates on their website. You know, the good stuff.

Ok Terry is ringing them again and this time he will ask to level 2 CSR... we will see what kind of reply we get now...

I'm on the horn with USCIS CS right now as well. Making my first call before I call/mail my representative to inquire about the case. I'll report back how the call goes down, especially the date they say they're processing.

Figured I would share my two most recent experiences since both spooked me a little bit.

My fiance and I have been on a two month visiting rotation. She stays with her parents in Quebec for two months, then she comes to the US and stays with me for two months aproximately. I have a job that requires a lot of my time so my vacations are short and inconsistent, and she is currently unemployed (what job would hire her that would allow her to take leave for two months and come back? Our collective sanity is worth more than she would be making, in our perspective). She graduated college last May as well, so she is not in the best position to prove ties to her home country when she comes to visit. She has no car of her own so you could pretty much say she is not in the best position to provide ties to return to her home country whenever she visits. Lately, we've been driving when she needs to come down or go back up, so there's not even a return ticket. But when driving, I'm always there with her to help back up her story

We cross near Champlain, NY on the I87 Border Crossing. Going into Canada has never been more than a 3 minute chat about where I work, where am I going, what am I doing, how long am I staying, and where I am staying. I brought my dog (a Pitt-Terrier Mix) and didn't even get asked for up-to-date vaccinations. The trouble has always been coming back, and we go through the same place.

First big hiccup was traveling back down in January. We traveled down on Jan 2. The BPO asked the normal questions, asking how we were related. The moment I said fiance, his eyes lit up. He asked when we were planning on getting married, and I told him we were going to apply for a fiance visa shortly. He asked if she was working, and she said she was unemployed right now. He asked how long she was staying, I said 2 months. He asked how she was coming back, and she said some of her friends were spending their spring break with us and would be bringing her back to Canada when they returned. After five minutes of talking with other BPOs, he sent us to additional questioning. 45 minutes after sitting in the office we were finally brought up and spoke with a different BPO. She dove right in to questions about how long we had known each other, who was planning on moving where, when we were going to get married, was she going to get a job, why she was spending 2 months in the states (she actually made a comment that anyone who stays longer than a month on a passport/visitor visa and isn't a "snowbird" is considered not normal), had she been denied entry before, and so on. I had been studying the K1 for a while at that point, so for almost all of her questions we were able to say that we were within the laws of visitation for the US and that we were getting prepared to start the legal process to bring her down permanently. She left to talk with other BPOs and came back to tell us that while she COULD deny entry right then and there, that because our stories checked out and we knew all about the K1, that she would let us through. She advised that we immediately apply for the K1 once we got home, though, as that would help prove validity during future border crossings. And so we went on our way. Definitely a scary experience to say the least.

Second hiccup came when traveling down in April. Same border crossing, different BPO. He asked where we were going, how long was she staying, where she lived, what my job was, and how we were related. He definitely started getting snoopy once I said we were engaged. However, before he could press on with too many questions, I pulled out the NOA1 from the K1 and handed it to him. He shut the window for a few minutes, then handed back the paper and waved us through just saying "alright, go ahead". I would almost say he sounded disappointed that we were able to go through

Gotta go through this again in a few weeks so I'm hoping for another smooth experience.

Honestly its likely just a compounding of little things that would normally be handled without a sweat, but they're all happening at the same time. Pure speculation of course, since none of us has any sort of contact WITHIN the VSC, but it is unbelievably hard to repress those little voices in your head trying to reason what is causing the slowdown in that black box of a service center.

H1B filing finishing up, obviously understaffed, potentially diverted to other projects with emphasized priority, being unable to disrupt the flow and divert some of the excess off to CSC, summer vacations (everyone who works at the VSC is a human being, like us, who can't work full throttle constantly without burnout so they do deserve some time off, even if we don't want to admit it because it affects the status of our own lives so significantly), and a whole slew of other things. I personally wouldn't want to bonk ANYONE there on the head because they're under enough stress as it is, I'm sure. We're in the unfortunate position of being able to see where others are, gathering definitive proof that some files go faster than others without rhyme or reason in a very sporadic fashion. We see where the CSC is processing, and their consistency in comparison to what's going on at the VSC is powerful enough to cast doubt and uncertainty on whether or not it will be this slow for a while, slow down further, or speed up, let alone WHEN it will change.

It's getting to all of us. I mean, I had a friggin' dream last night that I logged on and the NATIONAL GOAL AND AVERAGE were changed to 11 months just to match an updated VSC processing time. Talk about a nightmare, right? This morning I even considered setting up a date in my own mind for when the early Jan filers would have waited long enough without being able to open service tickets and possibly organizing a protest of some kind.

But then I had another thought. If I were one of the people at the VSC, who more likely than not do know what we're going through and how tough it is for us, and I were under tremendous strain of an oversized workload while being in a place that is understaffed...well, I'd have to start ignoring how bad it felt to stay behind and just focus on trying to make headway. I'm actually going to send a letter or email to the VSC giving encouragement, telling them that I can only guess how tough it is there right now, and that I believe they can get back on track very quickly.

We're petitioners. Besides filing service claims and calling our representatives, we have little-to-no power to intimidate or pressure them to work faster on our applications. But a little good ol' fashioned encouragement wouldn't hurt at all, methinks Negative energy is just going to breed more negative energy.

But I also may be off my rocker on the whole thing

Well Katchoo, to give you maybe a tiny weensy bit of hope ... Montreal has been on the ball lately. On the Canada forum I read they are getting interviews within a month of the consulate sending packet 4, and packet 3 is going out quickly too! I've been looking at timelines too and most VSC petitions are processed thru NVC within the 15 days.

I'm not giving up hope... I'm thinking if NOA2 comes by the end of June... October is very possible!!

As a cusp end of Jan/start of Feb filer also going through Montreal, this is extremely encouraging for us. We were hoping for September but honestly if it can happen by end of year we'll stil be happy.

I sympathize and empathize with all of you going through the torture that the ambiguity in this process forces us to deal with. Not that it helps much but when I'm thinking about this stuff and feeling powerless, I find channeling the negative energy into anything constructive helps immensely (like working out, or cleaning the house, or anything to feel more accomplished).

Then again, sometimes we all just need to vent

Edit: just realized you submitted 129F the day before we did!

First off, let me just say thank you so much to each and every VJer here. Thanks to you all and the information on this phenomenal website, I was able to get the I129F filed in quick and complete fashion, and many of my fears and questions about upcoming processes and dos/don'ts have been answered without needing to pay a lawyer or call government agencies. Y'all do right proper good work to have world-found couples find happiness.

I'm a US Citizen, engaged to a Canadian (Quebeqois ) currently waiting for NOA2. Been dating for 2 1/2 years, engaged for 1 1/2, and I'm used to driving the 17 hours each way to go and visit, as well as transport her from there to here for 2 month stays while waiting for the petition to progress. We actually applied for the K1 ahead of when we planned due to an incident at border crossing where she was nearly denied entry. Apparently, any couple visiting the US by car who stays longer than a month and isn't a "snowbird" is flagged as suspicious. We were able to convince the officer there of our legitimacy through my accurate knowledge of the K1 visa, and how we were planning on applying shortly. She let us pass and I applied the following week to make sure that these travel woes resolve ASAP!

As many of you know, it really depends on the person you get and the mood they are in as to how smoothly you can cross the border between Quebec and US. My open question is what kind of evidence should I be bringing to make the hop between as problem free as possible. I've listed below all the ones I can think of or have been told, as well as whether or not it applies to my personal situation. Any further recommendations are greatly appreciated since I am going back up to get her in mid-July with her staying until the beginning of September.

• I129F NOA1 letter
  
• Return Tickets (only applies if she is taking the train, which is happening less and less these days)
  
• Proof of work (she is unemployed, finished school last year and unable to find a job that will hire her and allow her the 2 month stagger to visit me)
  
• Passport stamp (coming to the US from Canada by car or train, passport does not get stamped)
  
• Proof of ties (she lives with her parents, she has no car of her own yet, and her cell phone is a US number)
  

Thus far the I129F NOA1 letter has been the most effective (kind of has to be since its all I'm able to use when traveling by car now!), with the person giving us the rundown nearly flagging us until I presented it.

So anyone else have tips?