shikimo

So sorry you have to be away from your kid, I cant imagine how hard is that, praying you get a cc sooner so they can start the year stateside. I am waiting too, day 43, I am expecting to get a cc within 2 weeks, God willing.. god bless

Thanks for the good wishes! It really is terrible and I could get really worked up about it if I let myself, but I try to keep everything in perspective. I've got a great family, a good job, I live in the city I wanted to raise my child in, Skype exists, and this is all temporary...and our son won't even remember this time when he's older. It could be much worse.

I'm just hoping for an interview date before Christmas: that way when I leave them in France again after Christmas vacation we can know exactly how much more we have to wait. Something besides "in xxx months" will be enormously helpful to all three of us.

Doubtful unless they were able to expedite. I just had to start a new 60 day wait last week. Only 52 more days to go. I was one of the first March filers out of USCIS, April 7. But I would imagine there will be some March filers soon to get a CC from the NVC.

I haven't heard of one yet. Our case has been Mister Average so far: each step has taken exactly as long as they said it would, nearly to the day. If that continues, we'd get a CC from the NVC in mid-December and then an interview date probably late Jan-early Feb. It'll probably end up being close to an entire year...and that's for what should be an easy, easy case from a low-risk country with 8 years of marriage, solid financials, no red flags/special circumstances, and a US-citizen child...whose third year of life I am completely missing, incidentally.

It's really crazy that it could take a year...but it's happening.

Has anyone received an update from NVC? They received my docs on Sep 26th and still say no updates, they havent even reviewed them. Hoping it doesnt actually take 60 days, I was hoping for a month tops but oh well, gotta keep on waiting, I was certain long waits were over after USCIS but guess not. I really wanna be there before the holidays but at this point its like i dont even care anymore, when its time its time. Hoping for no checklists, case complete and interview date soon.

Hello Dave87

NVC is taking close to the 60 days + or - a few. It would be best to plan the 60 days. My case is still there since may, coming up on 6 months at the NVC, because of a "computer glitch" in August. And it is looking like there is a possibility they lost one of my docs. Still waiting to hear back from them.

Hang in there and I hope you all have better luck than me.

Did either of you two get the 60-day wait letter? I got it twice, both as email attachments but in completely different formats about 36 hours apart. They came within days of me mailing the docs (AOS and IV together), and basically said that the USCIS has approved too many people for them to honor the 2-4 week period posted on their website. It even apologized...

Made me sad, but it was good to know that calling in two weeks (i.e. right now) would probably be a waste of time.

Hi all.. I was seeing the screen shots of the ds261 and it was asking for "beneficiary id #" I'm confused..

I only have cas number and IIN number only..

Where cann i getthe beneficiary id #?

That freaked me out too...but at no point in the NVC process did any form (online or paper) ask me for it.

Hey everyone!

It's been a long time since I've posted--in fact my case has been progressing very generically, and just within posted deadlines, so I don't have much to add--but since some of us are talking about NVC wait times I thought this might be worthwhile:

I Fedexed my AOS and IV packs together on Monday, they signed for them Thursday, and they sent me an email this morning explaining that, due to higher-than-average volume, I can expect "a delay of at least 60 days" before they will review my documents.

One other poster had noted a similar email about five pages back in this thread, but I still thought it was worth mentioning.

While this is not great news--the "2-4 weeks" posted on the NVC website is a lot more appealing:)--I'm pleased that they sent the letter so quickly and a) confirmed receipt of the docs, and b) gave me a time frame upon which to make tentative plans. For example, Christmas in France is definitely happening!

You can send the AOS package and NVC at the same time, I didn't. The IV just won't get looked at until after it's paid for.

AOS- tax info, pay stubs

IV- certified copies + photo copies of birth and marriage certificates, 2 passport photos, police certificates and bio page from passport

If you send them together, definitely seperate them and lable them.

Thanks, TeddyB. That's probably what I'll do.

It really throws me to have one single checklist of documents that actually belong to two separate steps in the process with two sets of docs that will be evaluated separately. That's certainly not the most confusing about the i-130 process, but still.

Hey everyone,

Not to trod on the those still waiting for USCIS, but since we opened this up to NVC business I have a quick question that I'll bet someone can answer for me. I got the email Friday morning with the NVC welcome letter as an attachment, and I set up the account and filed the DS-261 as soon as I got home from work. The system says that my AOS invoice will appear in 3-5 business days, at which point I can pay it and send in the dossier when the payment posts.

This all makes sense and I have the docs ready. In the meantime, I'm making sure there's nothing on the IV list (item 3 on the document cover sheet that was attached to the welcome email) that we don't have or can't get rapidly.

Wonderful: however, the document cover sheet groups everything together--the AOS requirements are listed under "Financial Documents," while what I think are the IV documents under "Supporting Documents." The directions on the form clearly state "when you send in your documents..." without any mention of them being grouped into two packets.

Waiting for the IV invoice to send the AOS stuff seems wrong, but sending just the AOS stuff with half the bar-coded cover letter checklist missing (i.e. "Supporting Documents") seems like asking for trouble.

Am I missing something obvious here (again)?

Thanks!

Hi Shikimo, good stuff getting your NOA2. Just a coincidence but we have the exact same Priorty date - I'm hoping sometime this week as it's coming up 5 months. Hopefully your positive energy will rub off on to us.

Good luck for the future process.

Yeah, it's so random: I've been trying to figure out if it's related to regions of the world, high-fraud vs low-fraud countries (a knowledgable source told me that such a list does exist but she didn't have any clue how it was employed), years of marriage before applying, etc., but every time I find a pattern there's a case or two that breaks it.

I guess it doesn't matter: all that's clear is that fairness is not the guiding principle here and we have to accept that.

Anyway, good luck and I hope you get outta the USCIS soon! And you never know...the NVC seems to have as little concern for "first come first serve" as the USCIS, so maybe you'll "catch up" there.

Congrats! Good to see things moving for you

Thank you my friend!

I know you've been waiting longer than we have and I'm genuinely sorry about that. I don't have a clue how this all works...it just seems so random.

NOA2 this morning (5:45 am on a Saturday??) directly out of NSC, three days before the five-month mark.

Whew.

I don't know if that means that we got through before the alleged stoppage is background checks or what, but at least the wheels are still turning.

Good to be done with Nebraska. Best of luck to everyone who is still stuck there.

Yarrrrrrrriba!!!!

NOA2 email arrived this morning (Saturday) at 5:45 am.

I know there's still a long row to hoe (as the old farmers used to say), but I'm just so happy to be able to do something besides wait.

Best of luck to all those still stuck in USCIS: they do seem to be catching up a bit (we're exactly three days short of five months, which was the posted service time in Nebraska the last time I checked).

Approved on August 7. PD was March 5 at NSC.

Congrats!

...and good news for the rest of us! I don't know what effect the background check shutdown due to the USIS data breach will have, but at least the process hasn't completely ground to a halt.

Just found this thread...I'm in the same boat, PD 12 March.

Good luck everyone!

Hello Members,

Pleases help me thank God for this wonderful email....

On August 1, 2014, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E).....

Congrats!

If I'm not mistaken, you are the first March filer in this group waiting in Nebraska that has been approved directly out of Nebraska...if so, that is good news indeed!

@hopecinsan - which service center?

@hopecinsan - which service center?

According to his profile on the left there, looks like Texas.

Just to clean this up, today I received a status notification email from USCIS. While I'm disappointed that it wasn't an approval, it did represent an official notification that my address change was successful. So in the end, sending the letter to the street address in Lincoln was effective.

So my RFE ended up being a simple request for passport photos. Im not sure what they did with the originals but anyways, I´m happy and relieved that it was nothing major. i will overnight them and hope for an approval soon. Good luck everyone!

That is good news! What service center are you with? If you feel like it you could throw a timeline into your signature...

I watch this show too.

They are mail order brides. Only thing I can think of is that should did not clear customs before she landed in the US.

In Dublin I went through US customs so everything was sorted before I boarded my flights. there wasn't much of a queue. It only took me about 15 mins in total.

For counterpoint, the last time I came to the US I waited in line for nearly three hours...and I'm a US citizen.

The number of airplanes that land just before yours is as important as which line you go through in determining wait time. I knew I was in trouble when the line to get into the immigration/customs hall was so backed up that we couldn't all get off the plane at the same time.

I saw your timeline say 2013 and almost begun hyperventilating vj error I guess. Thanks for the words of encouragement. One way or another we are almost there.

Nah, that was a good ol fashioned shikimo error.

Fixed: thanks for pointing it out.

Oh my gentle heavens!!!! I am dying here!!! This wait is the worst form of torture in the history of EVER!!! I am loosing patience! How are you guys staying cool during this wait? We are with Nebraska. Feeling like they aren't moving tho. I've been looking at their timeline (by looking I mean stalking daily since I mailed in the I130) and its been going back and forth between December and January for atleast a month. I need my hubby RIGHT NOW!!! Nebraska why are you torturing me so????

I'm missing a good chunk of my only son's third year of life, so I hear you.

Then again...when we filed the projection was 5+ months to NOA2 at the NSC. I hoped to get lucky or have the pace pick up or some such unlikely event, but I've always kept that Aug/Sept target in my head to keep some perspective.

I don't let myself log in to USCIS more than once per week. I work a lot, exercise, and Skype with my wife and kid whenever possible. I try to enjoy the things I can do that I won't be able/won't want to do as much once my family is here, like sneak out for twilight golf, go for really long bike rides, or go out with colleagues after work and stay late if it's fun. I build stuff for my son's room, and have my wife scour Craigslist for furniture she likes.

That's about all i got. Hang in there.

Did any March, 2014 filers from NSC got approved? My PD is 3 March, 2014 and case status on USCIS website said my Alien Registration number was changed on 13, March but since then I have not received any update and it still says initial Review.

If there have been any, no one on this thread knows about it.

That'll be a big day, the first time an un-expedited March filer at the NSC gets his/her NOA2!! No saying it will become a trend, but I'd feel better if it seemed possible.

And this bit about filing from abroad isn't especially reliable. It was systematic for a chunk of 2012 and then seemed to disappear altogether...but then it seems to have reappeared sporadically in the last couple months. I filed from abroad...hasn't helped so far.

Come on Nebraska!

Heh, that's what I'm saying. I'm thrilled for the Texas and Vermont filers, I really am, but I'll start feeling a little less desperate when someone from a non-expedited country gets through the NSC.

I miss my family...

The change of address, AR-11, is for when the foreign spouse becomes a LPR and receive their GC. They then have 10 days to notify the USCIS of an address change and can do so on-line. If there is a pending petition or application, they must also complete on additional step. Any USC sponsor must file for a change of address using the I-865 form within 30 days as long as the I-864 is enforceable. You situation does not include either of these. You do not have to inform the USCIS of your new address, but you may want to so that you can receive the NOA2. The USPS will not forward anything from the USCIS. As long as you have e-notification, you will receive a text and/or e-mail telling you the item was returned. You can then call the USCIS and get a Tier Two Human (that's not the first person you talk to as you found out when you called the first time) you can request to have it resent. However, the person whose name is on the letter is the one that must be on the phone or at least talk to the Tier Two Human to give permission for someone else to act as their representative.

I hope the letter you sent works, but that would then only be for NSC.

Good luck,

Dave

Thanks for the detailed response, Dave. Everything you wrote rhymes exactly with everything I dug up except for one little detail: the email alert system for the NOA2 isn't foolproof, and I didn't want to take the risk of losing any time if the email doesn't come (which has happened to many people). That's the main reason I wanted the USCIS to have my US address.

In any case, yesterday I got the proof of delivery for my change of address letter. I poked around in my online USCIS account to see if there was any evidence of an address change and there isn't. However, I did notice that I wasn't signed up for mobile alerts: when I went through the process to add a US mobile number (IIRC it was by following "change of status" links), there was a series of changeable fields that included city, state, and country as well as mobile number (but not street address). These were still populated with my data from France, so I was able to update them.

In conclusion, I don't think there's any way to know if my letter did any good without calling again (wheeze), but I figure that turning on mobile alerts made it one degree less likely that NOA2 will arrive without my knowledge.

Hehe, apparently that was too good of a question because nobody answered.

I decided to follow the advice of the USCIS "customs officer" that I spoke with on the telephone. I sent a registered letter to the street address in Lincoln that she gave me with all the relevant information. When I get the proof of receipt back, I'll log into my USCIS account and see what it says. When that happens (if not tomorrow it should be early next week), I'll post back here so at least others in our situation will have some point of reference.

That's the plan, I just didn't know if it was enough time to establish a credit history.

Two years is optimal (especially for a mortgage), but one stable year of regular, on-time payments is a very good start and certainly enough for a good car loan.

Even though the system sucks in many ways, it's fair in the sense that no credit is still better than bad credit: you start at zero and go up relatively quickly, rather than having to over-write and/or outlast negative information that can hang around for many years. IME other countries have their own (effective) ways of deciding creditworthiness: they're just not as mysterious and legendary as the American system. The score itself seems particularly arcane, especially since no one seems to know the exact equation and all four credit bureaus often have different numbers for the same person (when I got my car last month there was a 35-point spread between the highest and lowest reported scores, all based on the same information).

One more thing: don't forget to monitor your credit once you get it going! At the very least, an annual review of your credit statement (which is available for free) is a very good idea. It's way cooler to have that information before applying for credit than to be surprised about any fraud or oversights or other bad news later.