nj27

When are you planning on hosting this meet and greet? Fiancee and I are thinking of going out to Hawaii in mid-late Oct for honeymoon (not sure how the weather is at that time, but hoping for the best)

I was hoping to book a flight one-way through Expedia, and hoping to not have any problems for the fiancee as well. Please keep us updated on how yours go!

Hello! I have my visa on hand and I had been planning to book my flight through Orbitz or Pricline.

I had once booked my flight with them, from Memphis, USA -Philippines and didn't encounter any problem.

Anyone of you here booked through them? esp. Philippines-USA route, please share your experiences/thoughts/insights.

Thank you very much in advance

Call USCIS and open a service request, which can take up to 2 weeks for a response. If they lost your file (never forwarded to NVC for any reason) they will have to get a copy back from the archive and re-send it. If thats the case, waiting wont do you any good unfortunately!

NOA2 Aug 13 too, i called NVC every 2days and yesterday i called DOS and said that my docs will be forwarded at NVC then i called NVC but file is not there yet =(

My fiancee went in on the 26th and got approved. I posted it on the other thread talking about the USEM being closed on Monday. She also said there was a lot of people there.

She also went in last Thurs (22nd) and got in, but was asked to come back on Monday because our file didnt arrive from the NVC yet due to the storm. She met several people in line on Thurs who she said got interviews and were approved, which I cant confirm because i dont know them, but it sounds like they were doing interviews last Thursday too when they said the USEM was closed.

It sounds like theres a large disconnect between the embassy people posting messages on the website, and the people in the embassy seeing the applicants.

Oh okay, sorry I read that wrong. I thought you were saying she messaged you and said she went in on the 26th and got approved. Who went in on the 26th?

Hi JayAnn and Jay,

Interviews are on today. My fiancee just got approved. I think its good to just show up on the day of your interview, regardless of the website, unless the embassy is underwater.

LUCKY YOU! More waiting for most of us again Dhalia. Our interviews for Aug 26 have been cancelled again

I think the closures are just to reduce traffic by applicants to the Embassy. We were originally scheduled for Aug 22 (Thurs), where the US Embassy website says they were closed. My fiancee went (because I didnt read that info in time), and was let in but our packet didnt arrive yet due to the storm (per DLH tracking they tried to deliver monday, but USEM closed) and was only delivered that day which was too late, so she was asked to come back. However per my fiancee, she met several people in line who were later approved that day. I wasnt sure if this was true and I thought they would only get finger printed but I didnt think much of it.

Today the US embassy says it is closed again, and again I didnt read it until after my fiancee went to the Embassy. Well, now shes done and approved, after the full interview and all, and she even got one of my original documents that I submitted by mistake back from the consul.

This is probably a little late for those of you who didnt go today because of the message on the USEM site, but they are doing interviews today for K1 visas at least. Sounds like the website says one thing but the Embassy does whatever they want regardless of the weather/holidays, or official message. I am of course very grateful for this fact that the Embassy decides to soldier on and keep the interviews going through difficult times. Our taxes are well spent in this embassy!

####### you may be right.. thats also what the US embassy website says, to not go to todays interviews and just call later... but my fiancee has been in there for a few hrs now with another girl who also has an interview today so not sure whats going on. My fiancee was also in line by 4 am. Maybe they are waiting to be rescheduled... no idea

I think the embassy is open today... my fiancee went in a few hours ago for an Aug 22nd interview and hasnt come out yet...

Hi all,

I've scheduled my fiance's appointment for a Thursday in Manila, and was thinking of flying her in Sunday night, to do the Medical on Monday and Tuesday, CFO Wednesday, and the Embassy interview on Thursday. Is this enough time for the medical results to get to the US Embassy? Anyone else have experience working with these tight timelines?

NOA2 approval on June 20th

Shipped to NVC on August 6

Case number on Aug 12

Thats almost 8 weeks

h_m I just wanted to thank you for your help!!

I wrote her on Friday afternoon (Aug 2) and got a similar message as yours that she would look into it and get back to me on Monday (Aug 5). She didnt get back to me on Monday, but my case was shipped to NVC on Tuesday (Aug 6), and got my number today Monday (Aug12). I also feel like maybe there was a note on my file to get me my case number ASAP when my case arrived at the NVC, because when I called the morning it arrived (I call every morning) and they had just received it, they said they are working on getting the case number now and call back later today which I did. I too feel like this was too good to be a coincidence and Angela is like an angel that helped us get through this USCIS hell I may not be at this stage now if you hadn't given that advice!!!!

Score! Angela Barrows just wrote back to me. She said to give her until Monday to determine the status of my case! Fingers crossed...

Here's her e-mail to me:

Thanks so much for the contact info!! I've reached out to all of them now.

However when I called the TSC directly they told me to call the standard USCIS number, which I've already been calling frequently. Were you able to get any help from the TSC line?

Aw, thanks Just trying to do everything I can to get this moving along.

You've been waiting a whole two weeks more than we have...sorry to hear that, we really shouldn't have to go through this at this point!

Here's the phone number I used to reach TSC directly: (214) 962-2626

And the deputy director (as of this document from December 2012: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/88027.pdf) is Angela Barrows, her e-mail address is Angela.Barrows@dhs.gov.

I also sent an e-mail to SCOPSSCATA@dhs.gov last night. I know I'm not supposed to yet based on their timeframes for who to contact, but I couldn't care less about those. It's easy for them to say 30 days one place, 21 days another, 10 days another, but that adds up!

We can do this!

Hah, agreed! That's incredibly rude of them. It's funny how their staff can be so uncaring when Congressmen are more directly influenced by you than the Senators are. I realize they probably have smaller staff, but this is a voting constituent you're talking about!

My Congressman is Rodney Frelinghuysen. His office is maybe half a mile away from where I live.

Also emailed, sent a completed privacy form, and left a voicemail for Senator Robert Menendez's immigration office but got no response at all

I really wish I had a nice one who is willing to help. This process is so frustrating. I'm already approved, but have to fight each step of the way for the very simple step of having my file sent to the NVC

oh wow - that stinks! sorry you are still waiting too! Do you mind me asking who is your Congressman? My congressman is Lance from NJ and the woman from his office has been phenomenal...sorry to hear yours is so rude. grumble, grumble.

Also, I second your comment regarding the Congressman. I called them today, and they were incredibly mean and interrogated me on why I'm calling them again after the first time, and that to not call again for at least 30 days. And that was just after politely saying hi, my name, and that I wanted to give a brief update on my case. I thought it was ok just to give a quick status update after 2 weeks and to tell them what I learned from a tier 2 rep today, so maybe they can use it to push my case forward, but no.. they gave the clear impression that they dont care and dont want to be bothered.

Time to vote for the other guy/gal haha

You are amazing. Period.

I hope you dont mind but Ill be copying your steps below as well. NOA2 June 20th and not sent to NVC either. I've all but given up hope but with that new To-Do List from you I've been reinvigorated

Thanks Jeannie & Al. It doesn't make sense to me either and it's beyond frustration to worry now.

At this point I've:

1) Contacted the caseworker the Senator assigned to me when I asked them to check in prior to approval; they have sent an inquiry and have not yet heard back

2) Submitted one of those forms for the Ombudsman

3) Had customer service file a service request

4) Magically, despite the previous, been able to and filed a service request online in addition to the previous one

In addition to those, last night and today I have:

5) Sent an e-mail to tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov

6) Called the Texas Service Center directly after finding their phone number off a PDF on the DOS's website; the person who answered said they would figure out who to forward my inquiry to

7) E-mailed the Deputy Director at TSC - Angela Barrows - about the situation and asked her for her help; seems like she was somewhat helpful when the CSC-TSC transfer happened a couple of years ago (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/295136-california-to-texas-texas-to-california-part-2/page-3)

I'm really hoping the last 3 that I've done will help. I had no success with the Congressman's office last time around (in fact, the caseworker has yet to tell me I've been approved!). I'm not planning on asking them for help at this point because they, quite frankly, were useless.

Lots of TSC transfers have been approved and received case numbers. There's 2 other large threads talking about it. However some of us are having some serious problems

I was a VSC to TSC transfer on May 29. I had my NOA2 approval on June 20th. Its now Aug 2 and my case still has not been sent to the NVC. In fact, they dont even know where it is. I called a tier 2 rep at USCIS today and he was completely a douchebag, but he gave some interesting information. Basically, they have no idea why my case hasnt reached the NVC. Since I put in 2 service requests an a congressional inquiry 2 weeks ago, and they have no idea where my case is, they have to get a copy of my files from their archive center (where they put the files for storage), which takes time, and then try to send to the NVC again (and hopefully not get lost again this time). He said to allow 60 days for my case to reach the NVC after they have initiated this process, which they did on July 25.

This may or may not be accurate information (since USCIS always gives people the runaround), but it makes sense to me. They didnt admit losing my file, but I can read between the lines when he said they had to get another copy from archive to send to NVC.

I highly recommend putting in a service request, asking your congressman, etc. Do what you can to expedite, because USCIS does not give 2 cents about you or your file and will not do anything unless you push them to. No matter what happens, DO NOT JUST SIT AND WAIT. If your file was lost like mine, you will be waiting forever because USCIS thought they had already sent my file.

Sorry for the rant, I just got off the phone with them.

I've waited 4 weeks and still havent been forwarded to NVC

NOA2 June 20th

Hi Dustin,

Did you pay your visa fee before you got the MNL number? Is that possible? Id like to do the same if so

Yes, I just scheduled interview and made the travel plans for medical next week. We paid our Visa fee already, so didn't have to wait on that. We are very ready for this. I already mailed her all the requirements.

All NOA2 say they are forwarded to listed consulate, but no consulate is listed. It is true, but it makes a stop at the NVC first (a few exceptions). I was told this same line by a tier 1, so I emailed the Manila Embassy and they told me in no situation would a K1 case skip NVC on it's way there.

Oh #######, i wonder what happened to my file then

Anyone with an NOA2 of June 20th received a notice of being forwarded to the NVC yet? Im still waiting and seeing people with NOA2s a week after mine being sent. I hope they didnt lose the June 20th box!

Hey we have the same NOA2 date. I've been looking around at the people who's cases were sent to the DOS/NVC. So far I havent seen someone with a NOA2 date of June 20th. I'm hoping it will be tonight or tomorrow that we get that notification.

I just got of the phone too - Same answer - it takes up to 8 weeks!!! bummer - there is nothing else I can do anymore. I have everything ready to be send out, I had my medical done and paid the fee - so now I just wait for them to give me this "awesome" number and then send it to the consulate so I can finally send in all the documents I had already ready when I got the notice for my NOA2. If they take much more longer I might have to get a new passport.

NOA2 June 20th and still not sent to NVC. Hoping for this week.

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience having their visa delivered by 2Go to their home address, which is nowhere near a 2Go center? I looked at the 2Go website and the nearest 2Go center is approximately 3-4 hours away (bus). Will they hold the visa and have someone pick it up at the center, or will they try to deliver, or will they give to Phil Post to delivery (worst possible thing to happen).

I'm trying to see what the options are. I'm also considering a MOA pick up, but since its Manila (a plane ride away), I am concerned they will have only a few days time window to allow pick up before they send it back to the US Embassy.

Thanks in advance.

I dont think they would think that far ahead, or at all.

I'm just glad that we only have to go through this mess once.

I wonder if our files instead had stayed at Vermont, would we have to go through this VSC to TSC then TSC to VSC then VSC to TSC again and then TSC to NVC? This is just ridiculous. Is no one at USCIS Service Centers sane enough to realize this is a mess? Really ?

Nothing to do with Manila until it actually gets there. You realize that this is happening to a lot of people with fiancees from a lot of different countries right? This is due to the USCIS.

Dec 18 filing in VCS

Transferred to TCS

Approved 6/25

Called NVC again today...our file is not there yet...she said 8 weeks...and I told her it was a I129F

After pressing her...she said maybe 6 weeks

Does anyone know when the closest openings are in Manila right now??

Govt bureaucracy!!!.........I truly believe that everything here in the states that seems delayed is not due to issues here. I think it's all about the workload in Manila

I think THAT governs how many and when they process our files here