essysita

Just checking in. Waiting for the anticipated 2 weeks before we start calling NVC.

Got a mail yesterday afternoon saying that our petition filed with USCIS Johannesburg has been approved!

"Your petition you filed with USCIS Johannesburg has been approved. An approval notice has been mailed to your address on record. You do not need the USCIS approval notice in order to continue processing with the Department of State’s Immigrant Visa Section at the U.S. Consulate General in Johannesburg."

This concludes all USCIS action on the matter. You should receive a notice from the Immigrant Visa section explaining the next steps in the process within the next few weeks. If you do not receive any correspondence from them, you can contact them via......

11/23/2012 - Married in South Africa

01/01/2014 - Decided we wanted to live in the US

02/17/2014 - Filed for I-130

02/27/2014 - Petition approved and sent to Department of States Immigrant Visa Section

Congratulations RyanDS! We haven't received any emails from the USCIS that our petition got approved but based on their site our status is:

On February 25, 2014, we shipped this approved or re-affirmed case to the Department of State for visa processing. For more information, please contact them directly.

I really hope this is an approval as well. I'm really worried because we don't have email or snail mail confirming our NOA2.

Hi essysita and mai_02

Congrats! Wishing for a quick reponse for our I-130 as well... That was really quick!

Btw, where is your service center at?

Hi Icee14, Thanks! I'm not sure if it's just me but I think I need to see an actual email or snail mail NOA2 to be totally convinced.

And to answer your question, our petition got sent to Nebraska Service Center.

I didn't recieve any email also, i just check the status in uscis website, and thats what i read. I think you have to sign up for email updates. I justnade an accnt and sign up for emai notification. Im the petitioner by the way. Let's keep our fingers cross.. ckz i was surprised it was very fast!

We just also checked the status on the USCIS website and created the account after we saw that too. We are so surprised. I's just to good to be true but hey, no complains here! I'm keeping all my fingers crossed. Good luck to us!

Can you please keep me updated when you get any updates? Thank you!

I'm happy to deliver that optimism (as long as supplies last). I also had to read your response to my husband cause he seems to think I always have a very negative outlook on these thing; it shut him up!

Anyway, it seems like you're already approved. Any updates?

I don't think they do anything more than skim the cover letter. Are you the petitioner or beneficiary? In any case, I would say call them rather than do it online.

Well keep that optimism coming!

I'm hoping that we are approved, if that what the message means but I'm worried because my husband haven't received any emails yet about the said approval.

Hi guys,

I just checked our current case status for our I-130 petition at the USCIS website. It says there that it is on Post Decision Activity.

On February 25, 2014, we shipped this approved or re-affirmed case to the Department of State for visa processing. For more information, please contact them directly.

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 was wondering what this means because my husband said that he has not received any other email from USCIS aside from our NOA1. Thank you very much in advance!

Rey

Hi VJ,

I just checked our current case status for our I-130 petition at the USCIS website. It says there that it is on Post Decision Activity. I was wondering what this means because my husband said that he has not received any other email from USCIS aside from our NOA1. Thank you very much in advance!

Rey

where was your case transferred to. California, Texas, Vermont or nebraska

Hi osmosesnew, our petition got sent in Nebraska Service Center.

Maybe it's my desperate optimism speaking, but I highly doubt we'll be waiting ~8 months. From what I've gathered, ~March filers waited 9 months for approval whereas ~July/August filers waited an average of 6 months. I don't think we'll be waiting longer than they have, considering we're post-Oct/Nov filers (i.e. after they implemented the new system in an attempt to speed things up). Also taking into account that they're planning to meet a goal of 5 months by May, I'd say we'll get updates in July (even if they're a month or two off in meeting that goal). Now whether the NVC will have picked up the slack by then is a whole other story, but we at least have a slightly shorter NOA interval to look forward to.

(at least that's what I tell myself. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it )

Wow I'm really hoping you're right. I really like your perspective on this. I think we all need that kind of optimism.

Since you are in the Philippines, you might get fast tracked. Some people in the forum getting approvals in a couple months, a few even faster. The rest of us will be waiting ~8 months for USCIS.

Oh wow. I hope you are right. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. I wish they make it fast for everyone else too. Being away from your loved ones is such a huge struggle everyday.

Too early for February updates..lol

Hi! I was just wondering how much longer do we have to wait before having updates? Thanks!

Hi! I have a question. My hubby is from Seattle, Wa. He's planning to file our petition by next week and he will send it to

USCIS Phoenix Lockbox

PO Box 21700

Phoenix, AZ 85036

Is this the right address? Do u know where can we send the petition which is not a P.O. Box Address?

Thanks

Hi purpleblush,

The PO box address is if you're using US Postal Services or USPS. You can opt for Express mail and courier deliveries, such as FedEx or UPS and sent to this address.:

Got our hard copy of NOA1 the other day. Priority date is Feb. 6, 2014. Got a question though, what does priority date stands for?

Sent I-130 January 24,2014

Received January 31,2014

NOA1 February 3,2014

Now case is under initial review so now the wait starts.. Sent it to Phoenix and got immediately transferred to Nebraska for processing

So I'm not too far behind you! Good luck!

We got our NOA1 via email today. Hooray! We sent it to Phoenix lockbox and was routed to Nebraska Service Center as well. Hoping for the best for all of us!

We've sent ours on the 3rd of February. Anxiously waiting for NOA1. I hope that this will be a smooth journey for all of us.

Hi! First of all where did you get married? If you got married in the Philippines your file or the copy of your marriage certificate should be in NSO and just got to the main office to find your file.

If you got married in the US, did you file a Report of Marriage in the Philippine Embassy in the US? After filing for that your certificate will then be forwarded to The Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines which will then be forwarded to NSO.

If you have not done so, please see link to report your marriage if you're already in the Philippines. They said the processing time is approximately 2-4 months.

https://www.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/requirements-for-delayed-registration-of-report-of-marriage

Best regards and I hope I helped you with your question.

Hi VJ community! We just submitted our I-130 packet out to USCIS a few days ago. I was tracking it through the UPS tracking system and it was delivered today. Hooray! However, I'm confused on where the packet was sent. The address we sent it to was the Phoenix lockbox but then the location where it was delivered to and signed was in Tempe, AZ. Hope you can enlighten me on this one. Thank you.

Hi VJ community! We just submitted our I-130 packet out to USCIS a few days ago. I was tracking it through the UPS tracking system and it was delivered today. Hooray! However, I'm confused on where the packet was sent. The address we sent it to was the Phoenix lockbox but then the location where it was delivered to and signed was in Tempe, AZ. Hope you can enlighten me on this one. Thank you.

Good luck and enjoy the journey! God bless!

Thank you.

Our I-130 has been sent off to the USCIS lockbox today. Yay! We are very thankful to the VJ community. The forums really helped us a lot in assembling our I-130 packet and hopefully the community will guide us all throughout the process as well. Now the waiting part begins. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it will be a smooth sailing and fast process. Thanks again VJ community!