Treva

Hello Treva ,

I can't close my mouth cos i just don't know what to say, you mean up till now they haven't touch any petitions, they must really be crazy, please we will be waiting for the scan copy of the Inquiry application form and please which address are we going to send the letter to ?

Close your mouth, lol, and think of a lot to say about why you think the Atlanta Field Office should be obliged to go ahead and start processing our case files. Send your well-written letter to

Denise Frazier, District Director

USCIS

2150 Parklake Drive

Atlanta, Georgia 30345

and also send to

Paul Onyango, Atlanta Field Office Director

USCIS

2150 Parklake Drive

Atlanta, Georgia 30345

also, see my attachment for their official inquiry form. Print it out, use some white out to clean it up, make a clean photocopy, fill out your own personal information, and send it with your letters.

To summarize what I was told this morning... my case is indeed there. It has not been assigned to anyone. It has not been given an "A" number. They haven't bothered with the shipment of I-130's that were transferred because they have not received any protocol from upstairs with regards to what to do about them. And since their focus is on the AOS applications and Citizenship applications, those I-130's get put on the back burner. They have no processing time goal for them whatsoever. Clerk #1 gave me an inquiry form to fill out, and said they respond to these forms by mail within 30 days. When I explained that other field offices have been processing the transferred files within three months or even two months, he gave me a couple extra blank sheets of paper to attach to the inquiry form and said I should write everything down, explain why they need to hurry up with my case, and he will give the letter to the director as well. He was actually very nice and tried his best to be helpful.

When I asked for someone in the I-130 unit, clerk #1 said they all adjudicate I-130's, he can adjudicate an I-130. At first he said all I-130's at ATL field office require interview, then after going to confer with a colleague, he told me they realize some of the casefiles received due to the workload transfer will not require an interview. Several times, due to my pestering, he did go back and ask a colleague or supervisor, but I personally did not get to speak to any one else other than the first clerk.

What else... I asked about the beneficiary BC and could not get a straight answer even after he went back and talked to some people. He basically said, if they need it, they'll send us an RFE.

I'm imploring everyone to write in as soon as possible! Denise Frazier is over USCIS District 8 which covers Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. If I understand correctly, Charleston has started processing a long time ago, so why can't Atlanta? Both offices are under her watch. Let her know the adjudicators downstairs from her are slacking! Maybe it's Paul telling them to hold off on our cases, so write him, too!

I could cry right now. I was still hoping that my husband could be here by the end of May, but now I have lost almost all that hope. I also wrote our senators but I don't know if they can do anything. Feeling depressed right now...

Don't cry Mrs Aloto! I plan to go up to that office every week until they get tired of me. I will be happy to hand carry any letters from you guys or maybe we can all even sign a petition.

Apologies for not seeing your question sooner. No worries, thanks for your reply all the same!

1. ask for the I-130 unit supervisor. Be firm, and polite. I was very polite, but perhaps not firm enough, lol.

2. once you have the I-130 unit supervisor: I did not get past first clerk

a. has an adjudicator been assigned to my case? yes? as of what date? "No" and "none" to questions a through e, per first clerk

b. how many I-130s did your office approve for December 2012?

c. how many I-130s did your office approve for January 2013 ?

d. Did the FBI namecheck come back already, or no?

e. Was the FBI namecheck submitted yet?

f. How many casefiles are ahead of mine, as of yesterday? "Well, at this office the focus is on Adjustment of Status and citizenship applications."

g. When do you think my casefile will be assigned to an adjudicator? "Whenever we get the go ahead from the District Director to start working on those files, don't worry they'll be processed quickly. We'll all be happy to put in overtime."

h. How many more days till my casefile is adjudicated? ha ha ha

i. How often and with what frequency do you send off the approved I-130s to the National Visa Center? not happening!

---

That's it, for now.

Good Luck !

If I had read this before going, maybe I would have been more insistent on speaking to the supervisor. I plan to go back on Mon morning Feb 11th if I haven't had an approval by then. Going on a Friday may have been a mistake. I should have remembered from living in DC for fifteen years, government workers with their flex schedules like to take off Fridays. The place was a ghost town! There probably was not even a real supervisor around!

So I went this morning to the infopass... and just like we thought, they have NOT BEGUN PROCESSING ANY OF THE I-130's transferred from Missouri. I filled out an inquiry application thingy and attached two pages of handwritten letter.

ALL OF US PETITIONERS need to write letters to the field office director asap. Sorry for the caps, but this is insane!

I will add more details later this evening or tomorrow, and I'll try to attach a scan of their inquiry application form so you guys can print it out and send in with your letters.

I had some result with a local office infopass.

See, I too, filed an expedite request based on medical stuff, WITH the I-130 submittal.

No one was aware of it at the local office. I brought in an exact copy of the expedite request and the front desk supervisor got the I-130 unit supervisor, and my expedite request copy was added to the casefile and an adjudicator assigned that afternoon.

Of course, I was adamant about the expedite request - I have to have corrective surgery (not elective) on my knee, and we are holding off on it till my wife arrives in the USA. The case worker is not the one that handles I-130s, is never part of the I-130 Unit - so she had to talk with her supervisor, and her supervisor got the I-130 unit supervisor involved.

So, IMO, getting in to a local office when yer casefile is there, is useful.

In hindsight, I am really p|ssed about the expedite request, as if the casefile had gone to CSC or VSC, the expedite request would have been reviewed within 3 weeks of the casefile arriving there. It was ignored at the lockbox, ignored at MSC, ignored at the local office. I even put in a service request late October to have the casefile pulled and the expedite request reviewed. Nothing happened with that. Going in to the local office and raising a stink is the thing that worked, for me.

Suggestions for you:

1. bring an exact copy of your expedite request, including all medical stuff, letters signed by doctors, etc.

2. the case worker you will speak with has no direct input with the I-130 unit, so bear that in mind. You'll need to convince that human to get to the I-130 unit Supervisor and review the expedite request.

3. Wait as long as possible, as talking with the I-130 unit Supervisor is the thing you want to happen. You'll need to go through 2 to 4 people to make that happen.

4. I know this seems repetitive, but bear in mind that the first human you talk to won't know anything about your casefile and expedite request. You'll need to spend time educating that human, and somehow co-ercing that human to 'get on your side' and pull the casefile from the I-130 unit and get his/her boss engaged with your casefile and the I-130 unit Supervisor engaged with your casefile. They don't care - you are the one that cares about your casefile.

Good Luck !

Hi Darnell,

I have a infopass scheduled for tomorrow in Atlanta. Do you have any advice on how I can get to the I130 supervisor? I don't have an expedite request. It's just that, as far as I can tell, no one who was transferred to the Atlanta field office has received their NOA2, and we just want to know what the heck is going on. I'm afraid that I won't be able to get anything more than "you're case is here, you just have to wait, goodbye" from the first human. Shouldn't they at least be obliged to give us a real estimated processing time for their office for stand-alone I-130's?

Thanks,

Treva

Sounds like you got a bit of a dipstick over there.

Keep in mind, Atlanta, DOES have SOME I-130s from prior to August.

There were petitions sent there when they DID need interviews.

But still sitting from May? Highly doubtful IMO.

USCIS website shows a processing date of July 19th for I-485's in Atlanta field office. All the I-130's that Atlanta got prior to the August workload transfer, wouldn't they all have been in conjunction with I-485's?

I’m not an Atlanta filer but in Charleston but the May 28 date is what VSC is currently working on. That’s what hubby was quoted on when he asked for a service request on our NOID (which is outside NOID processing time). His request was denied because we have an EAC# and we are within Vermont’s processing time. Sigh…

I think hubby should go back to the Charleston office to see what's up, and bring proof of delivery with him. It doesn't seem right that reviewing the BC should take longer than the initial review.

If you write a Senator, I'd think it would be more helpful. Not real sure though.

Working on May 28 I-130s? Uhhhhhh...lol thats silly! I dont believe that at all one bit! Let us know how the infopass appointment goes though! I would love to join but im busy Friday with work! USCIS is not very helpful at all lol

Yep, the more I think about it, the more I believe he must have got that date by plugging in my receipt number (EAC # -> VSC processing date). The only way to try to understand Atlanta's true processing time is to talk to the I130 supervisor there.

Ok I definitely will ask those questions last time she just gave me CSC time and thats no help at all I am going to try and call today before I go to work hopefully I will get someone on the line before then. I will keep everyone updated once I know something.

Hi Arabianprincess, did you speak to a USCIS officer? I'm curious to know if they told you anything different.

Thanks,

Treva

Hi y'all,

Just wanted to post on my call to USCIS.... spoke to Officer Mencia who was very pleasant. He said that Atlanta does not have a set processing time as in 5 months or 6 months, but that for I-130's they are on now working on May 28.

(What does that tell you, when NBC didn't start routing stand-alones until late August at the earliest?)

Officer Mencia also said that my petition was transferred to Atlanta on October 3rd. Lol, when I called USCIS in December, a not very pleasant officer Taylor said my petition was still in Missouri, so what does that tell you? (Do ISO's know what they are talking about??)

Officer Mencia said, of course, that one of the reasons our I-130's are routed to the field offices are because we're supposed to be scheduled for an interview there, and that Atlanta should schedule the interview within 60 days of getting my file. Since they haven't done that he suggested I can either call back every 20 days to find out if there is an interview scheduled yet or find out by Infopass.

I do have an Infopass appointment already set for this Friday at 8:00am, and if anyone wants to join me, you are welcome!! Any tips, Darnell, on how to get to the I130 supervisor?

Oh, just one thing about that May 28 date... May 28th is the filing date that USCIS shows VSC is currently working I-130's. I have an EAC number. I couldn't file a e-request online a couple weeks ago because it's reading my EAC number to mean my file is in Vermont, and so since I did not file prior to May 28th, the e-request was denied. I'm wondering if Mencia maybe pulled out that May 28th date the same way?

Alright, I have to work now! Later!

Honestly I didnt call for service request, I was asking too many question to ISO and he was kind of in hurry and said I am going to put a service request for you. But I never asked for service request.

OK, thanks, I'm going to call again tomorrow and try the bunch-a-questions method, lol! Maybe I'll get the same nice ISO that you got!

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you guys know that I received text message from USCIS. I check online and saw case approved today. I received my service requestt answer on 19th of this month was saying that they are working on my case, If I didnt hear or receive any letter with in 6 months of this letter call back. I am not saying that my service request has to do anything with this approvel or make fast action on my file.

I do think ISO not tell you the truth even they can see whats going on, I was told meybe my local office will call for interview when slot available, nothing was true what was told by ISO. At end Thanks to God and I am happy.

Please keep hope alive and you will have your approvel soon with grace of God.

Congratulations!!! ...but how were you able to do a service request?? The last time I called and spoke to an ISO, he was pissed off because I was still within processing times, told me I can't do anything but wait.

congratulations!!

Just when I'd finally resigned myself to not seeing anything for another month or two...

"On January 26, 2013, your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN was approved."

(squealing in delight)

Now on to harassing my husband to get his stuff together for NVC...

congratulations!!

I can imagine how much it hurts to see others who filed much later get approved so quickly. I know when I saw people who were being approved in less than 1-2 months, I felt a little broken, but I knew that I shouldn't be. Because normally the process is much longer, and due to the whole NBC transfer thing, I know some of us got lucky getting approved faster. I know I felt bad that here I was over 120 days waiting while some people were approved in only 30-60 days who got transferred to NBC. But alas, I was approved and I am very grateful that I was approved in 4 months which is still faster than normal processing time. I am wishing you the best and I hope your turn will come quickly.

Thanks a lot for Mina your kind words. Me, too, when I filed I was expecting a five to six month wait, so I have tried not to feel let down. I'm truly happy for all the filers who lucked out with speedy approvals. It's just now, since I've passed the five month mark, I'm starting to feel the anxiety and frustration really creep up. However, I know I'm not alone, and that helps! Wishing you smooth sailing through NVC and that you see your husband soon.

You are mistaken on this. Green card holders wouldn't need a visa when entering Canada. They merely need to bring their passport and green card. See here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=593&t=16

Thanks for expanding my knowledge on that! I should have double checked before saying that bit about Canada. bsd058 is absolutely right. A USA green card will get you into some countries over here like Canada and Mexico without a visa, but it won't exempt you from visa requirements for France, Italy, or the UK

Hello fellow VJ members!

I know many had wanted to know where our I-130 was adjudicated (and approved), so I did get the official mail today. It actually never went to my local USCIS office. It was approved at the NBC (National Benefits Center). Well, there's the mystery solved. So, many of you who have been transferred to NBC, it could be a possibility that they will approve it there without ever transferring it to the local office.

Hi Mina! Wow, thanks for the info, but it's hard to believe my file is sitting in NBC all this time, getting passed over while later arrivals get processed.

While it's true that you will probably get no more info than if the case was transferred to a local office, the way to do it is call the number and sit on the line. It will transfer you to a human speaking Spanish. Just say "English please" or something like it. After that you can ask them to talk to an "ISO" or "Tier 2 ISO", etc. They will confirm that this is what you want to do and put you on hold. For.. ages. Like have a book, put it on speakerphone, paint your nails, paint the Sistine Chapel kind of on hold.

Then tah-dah! You have an ISO on the phone.

But yes, don't hope for more answers than you might already have

I tried this before, lol, pressed no buttons and got a rep who spoke Spanish. When I asked for an English speaking rep, she got pissed and said she's not capable of tranferring calls from her phone, lol. Then she did the "I can't hear you, I can't hear you, I can't hear you <<CLICK>> and I had to call back all over again! Ha ha ha!

Just enter your case number, wait for the human who can only read what's on the website same as you, then ask that person a question that's not on the website, like which local office is my petition at anyway? They will transfer you to an officer. Be prepared for the fact that sometimes the tier two officers don't have all the answers. This is especially true if your petition is at a local field office which is doing their own thing, following their own rules.

Hi folks finally I received a email saying that I-130 was approved.... What is the next step please share your experiences i appreciated...

Congratulations to you!!!! For next steps, there are some great guides on this site. If you click on wiki (blue bar on top of this page), enter "Loto" in the wiki search box to get Loto's IR1/CR1 guide, enter "LingChe" to get Ling Che's NVC shortcut guide.

Less than two months since you filed? Congratulations! You are really lucky

Don't wait for any packet if you want things to move quickly. Follow the guides (like the one Darnell linked) to prepare your own packet, and stay ahead of the game.

Hi everybody it been a while I just been busy looking for job and start my life with my wife and after everything is good now me and my wife thinking about travel to France and Italy and England we want to visit each country one time every year because we love traveling and my question is .

I have a green card for 10 years and a Moroccan passport can i travel with my wife to the countries above easy without a visa or I need a visa because my wife she is an citizen American she will use only her passport but I don’t know what to do about me can you all help us

Yes, a Moroccan national needs a visa to enter schengen territory. France and Italy are part of Schengen territory, so they both would be covered with one schengen visa. England is not part of schengen, and so you would need a separate UK visa for England. You can visit Ireland from the UK without another visa. The good news is that having a USA green card will mean much higher likelihood of having those visa applications approved and not denied.

You would need a visa to enter Canada, but when I was growing up in central New York State, we drove to Canada countless times, and no one asked for any papers.... probably things have changed now, so get a visa to be on the safe side. The only place I know you can enter based on your green card without a visa is Mexico. Any citizen of any country can enter Mexico without a Mexico visa as long as they have a valid USA visa or green card.

Treva,

Choose the option that says you need more information or services, instead of the option for cases that have already been filed. Then you will be able to fill out your information and schedule an appt. I just checked. Unfortunately, since I am far away, I am unable to schedule an appt for myself at this time. Hope this helps.

Ah ha! That works, lol. Thanks, mrsaloto!

OK guys, I think first thing in the morning is best, but the first time slot is actually 6:45am! Maybenot quite that early... Pick a date. Bismarck? Abezyo? any preference? The calendar shows slots are pretty wide open. I think, for me, it makes more sense to go after my 5.5 months is up at the end of January.

Thanks for the reply. She has a Ecuadorian Passport and a valid green card. Is that enough for her to travel to Mexico?

Yes, her Ecuadorian passport is fine as long as it's valid, meaning it will not expire before/during her stay in Mexico.

Valid Ecuadorian passport + valid USA visa/ green card = no Mexico visa required

Have a great time in Cancun!

Hi, my wife is from Ecuador and we should be notified any day now that we have been approved for lifting of conditions. We have been through the whole process and we are in the home stretch. MY question is we want to travel to Cancun Mexico for a 7 days vacation. My wife has an Ecuadorian Passport and hopefully she will be approved for the lifting of conditions and she will be issued a Green Card for 10 years. What other documents are required for her to travel to Mexico? Since she is Ecuadorian does she have to obtain a VISA from Ecuador to travel to Mexico? We are ready to book our trip and don't want any surprises. Thanks for your help in this matter.

No visa is required for Mexico if holding any valid USA visa (including valid green card).

All she needs is valid passport and valid green card. It doesn't matter if the green card is a 2-year or 10-year.

Truth...that also could help! We all just need to do something honestly!

Does anyone know the normal processing times for right now? Since I have a WAC number I would go by the CSC processing time correct? I dont see it at all! And Atlanta doesnt have I-130 processing times! Ahhhhhh this sucks!

Hmmm... good point. We can put in a service request if we're beyond normal processing time. However, there

is no normal processing time listed under Atlanta nor listed under NBC for I-130's. So then maybe a tier 2 can put in a service request? The officer can't tell us that we haven't yet waited a specified amount of time if there is no specified amount of time. That said, there is a national average, which right now shows 5.5 months