nina.mb

Kada, congratulations!!!! Longest 6 months of your life are behind you...from here on out things should zoom right along : ) We're less than a month since our NOA2 and interview is in few days!!

Congrats again, so happy to hear your good news!

OMG I got approve as of April 17th . almost 6 months WOOOWWWW there is light at the end of the tunnel guys!!

Congrats to all the recent approvals - really exciting to see some movement for November TSC-ers!!!

Quick update on where we are at:

Since NOA2 (March 21, after 6 months, 1 week), the pace has seriously picked up. Our case flew through NVC in 4 days and made it to the USEM in Qatar in 2! Seeing that it had been received, I emailed the Consular Section and they emailed back with Packet 3. Took us a few days to gather the last few documents, but R. dropped it off yesterday.

He received a call within a few hours (?!) informing him that he had been scheduled for his interview next Tuesday, 22/4!!!

With the long Easter weekend (in the Middle East anyway), I'll be able to fly out tomorrow and be there for the interview next week.

Exciting, nerve-wracking, and so so hopeful that we might soon be together (and done with this process)!

Any good vibes/prayers/mojo/happy thoughts that you can send our way on Tuesday would be much appreciated

If it works anything like ours,maybe you'll get your NOA2 as soon as you're together! It was the strangest thing...we had waited 6 months, 1 week and then, the very morning I arrived in Qatar to visit my fiancé, we received that elusive NOA2 email/text Sign from the universe??

Hoping the same thing happens for you, fingers crossed!!

Hi Lisa -

My understanding is that the I-134 (Affidavit of Support from USC petitioner) is to be submitted with the Packet 3 documents (which is part of the Embassy phase of the process, not part of Stateside petition).

The order of operations goes as follows:

After you've received NOA2 (approval from USCIS) and your case is forwarded to the Embassy, you (the beneficiary) will be contacted by the Embassy with a list of required documents (Packet 3). The I-134 will be on this list, so you will turn it into the Embassy pre-interview. Once they receive this packet, you'll be assigned an interview date or instructed to select one online (procedure varies slightly between Embassies).

I would definitely make copies of everything - I-134 included - and bring it all to the interview. They should have already looked at it, but just in case!

VJers, please correct me if I'm wrong about anything above! I know there's always a lot of confusion around this particular document, especially vis-a-vis the I-864, which is the Affidavit of Support for the Adjustement of Status phase.

We just submitted our Packet 3 to the USEM in Doha and received our interview date the same day, so the above advice seemed to work, at least for us!

We got our email notification/text around 3am EST, and from what I've heard here, seems like most people get news after 10pm until the wee hours of the morning...

And not stupid at all...it helps to manage your emotional expectations for the day!

Hang in there!

I have a stupid question, if your case is going to be up dated, will the USICS site tell you, morning noon or after closing. Or can it change anytime of day?

If it's any consolation, I have done PLENTY of things throughout this process that were a "waste of time", but they made me feel better - like I was doing something!

I'd say go for it!

Ok, thanks. I'm dying to call today LOL, but I know that would be a waste of time. My sister filed a K1 visa for her fiance as well, and she said from this point on it should move pretty fast, so I'm hoping for the best. I really want my fiance here by July.

First of all, congrats on the NOA2!

We were approved about 3 weeks ago and since it's gone unbelievably quickly (a phrase I never thought I'd say with regards to this process!):

NOA2 - Shipment to NVC : 1 week

Shipment to NVC - Case # Assignment @ NVC: 8 days (6 business days)

Our file may have arrived at NVC a few days earlier but wasn't entered into the system yet. I called starting a week after we got the "shipment text", and the second day I called (after loooooooong waits on hold both times - persistence is the key it seems with NVC, and calling at off-peak hours) the representative told me that it had been entered into the system that day and gave me our case number.

I think this was definitely among the faster K-1 NVC timelines (for which we were very thankful after a 6+ month wait for our NOA2). Of course it can take up to 8 weeks (as the reps will tell you - just the party line, highly unlikely) but I would say you could start calling 2 weeks-ish after your NOA2 and then with whatever frequency strikes you as appropriate. Of course, I had pretty much lost all self-restraint by that point and called obsessively each even after the 2-week mark

Case # Assignment - Shipment to Consulate: 4 days

Shipment to Consulate - Receipt at Consulate: 2 days

Hope that gives you some idea? Congrats again!

How long did it take for you to get a case number, and when did you start calling the NVC? I've read where it can take up to 5 weeks to get a case number. Is that true?

Congrats to all these approvals coming in! Inspiring : )

I'm inclined to agree with ashleyphilly...believe me, I know the waiting is excruciating (I am September filer who waited 6 months, 1 week for our NOA2), but I would refrain from contacting a Senator well before the 5-month mark. If you play your most promising card too early, you won't have any recourse later if your petition is legitimately overdue. I don't know about you all, but for me, knowing that I'd exhausted all my options would make me more nervous than letting it play out!

Also, bear in mind that if you call now, the Congressman's staffer may ask you what other steps you've taken (Tier 2, Ombudsman's Office, Service Requests, etc.). If you haven't tried everything else, I wonder if that might weaken your request, give you less of a leg to stand on, especially since the estimated processing time isn't up yet?

And, I hate to say it (and I know I would have hated to hear it while still waiting), but isn't calling before the deadline going to encourage the most frustrating aspect of the visa process - the seemingly random order of review??! When Congressmen start calling special attention to petitions before they've even surpassed the estimated timeline, earlier filers still waiting for adjudication are left confused and disheartened as they watch more recent filers approved ahead of them : (

Anyway, just a couple of thoughts as someone who wrestled with the same issues just a few short weeks ago (FYI, I ended up contacting my Senator about 1 week after the 5-mo mark). Of course everyone's case is different, with different pressures and constraints, so do whatever you feel is best for you and your loved one!

Good luck, fingers crossed for all of you that NOA2s hit the inboxes soon and Congressmen become a moot point!!

Guys do you think its a good idea to contact your congressman before the 5 month deadline? What if you contact them before the deadline, cant get help, your deadline passes and you need to contact them again then? Do you think their office would help you 2 times in such a short duration?

Hi again!

Thanks for clarifying...the original status display (i.e. from NVC to In-Transit) didn't look like what you described. But then, lo and behold, when I got up this morning, dates had appeared AND the status had changed to "Ready"!

Click on your case number at the bottom of the page. It might show your case number twice. Click on the bottom one.

Also, New Hampshire to Doha in 2 days flat?!? Gotta love DHL!! Or diplo courrier, do they use those?? So wonderfully speedy!

Thanks for the detailed explanation, Roadrunner, very much appreciated!

I've been using the CEAC website since I got my case number from NVC last week. But the strange thing is that I don't see a date anywhere on my status page, just the status. Where exactly is it on the page?

I suppose it doesn't matter all that much as I check it everyday anyway and would know pretty precisely when things changed. But I've become a little obsessed with making sure I glean every little ounce of info I can from this opaque process

Thanks again!

WWW.ceac.gov is the website SparkePony referred me to where I can can the status of our case once it went to the NVC. I select immigrant and then put in my case number. Let me explain why the dates change; when the NVC assigned a case number it had a date, when it shipped, the date was changed to the shipping date, when the embassy received the package, the date changed, when they mailed packet three to my fiancé the date changed. She mailed packet three on march 27 I think and on April 1 the date changed. Now the date says April 9. I hope I explained that ok. Basically if you go to that website once you receive your NOA2 you can kind of know what's going on.

Roadrunner, you could explain a bit more...?

Our file was just sent to the USEM, so I'm trying to get my brain around the next steps (which I know vary slightly between countries, but at least to get an idea). When you say "CEAC", is that, at this point, it's being updated by the local embassy? When you say "our date" does this mean interview date, or what? Also, "Packet 4" is the hardcopy confirmation of this interview date?

Thanks so much for the clarifications, very much appreciated!

Good luck in the coming weeks - it sounds like you're getting really close to the end of the journey!

CEAC changed out date again to April 9! I assume our packet 4 is now in the mail. We should have that by Saturday. We are excited to say the least. Good luck to all those waiting.

I think it must be ours!!

Looking at the Doha USEM's case load, they seem to only have a few dozen cases, so I can't imagine that more than one package would leave NVC to go to Qatar on the very same day!!

Thanks again for tracking it down...it's quite possible that I was a little too gung ho, hahah ! Just so excited to see our case finally heading towards the final round of adjudication!

Found this waybill: 8842649373

I hope it's yours

Thanks!

Still not showing anything - technically it's 4/9, but I'm 7 hours ahead of EST, so I'm assuming that's probably why.

I should just hold my horses and check during normal business hours, yes? You don't think it indicates problem that nothing's showing up?

Gah, this process has made me truly neurotic. Thanks for indulging me with your wisdom (seems like you've become the resident DHL tracking expert!)!

Thanks again!

Hi, You can go to www.dhl.com tomorrow 4/9 and in the shippers reference box write EXP 08 APR 2014A and it should show shipments sent out today.

Shipment Reference: EXP 08 APR 2014A

Date range for shipment - From : 08 - 04 - 2014

Date range for shipment - To: 09 - 04 - 2014

Good Luck

Congratulations, really happy for you two!! Things start cruising along much fast once you have that NOA2

Hi all -

First of all, whoever figured out how to do this...amazing, thank you!

I'm clearly not as clever, can't seem to get the entry right and keep coming up with "no results for your query".

Would a DHL-tracking vet be able to lend a hand, see if we can find it?

My DOS status literally just changed a few hours ago from "At NVC" to "In-Transit", so I'm assuming that means it was shipped today.

Assumed Ship Date: April 8th, 2014

Destination: Qatar

I would be so excited if someone can track it down. Give me something new to check obsessively

Thanks!

Zhivago,

No problem, I know that, throughout, I've been so thankful to hear about where others VJ-ers are at in the process and the bits of wisdom they pick up along the way!

And yes, it is possible to interview at an embassy other than beneficiary's home country, but not sure where in the process you would have to request. My fiancé works in Doha and it would have been really complicated for him to fly back for the interview (finances, vacation time, etc. etc.); we put a letter with our requesting that the application be processed in Doha instead and provided some support documentation.

Not sure if you wanted to change it now if that would be possible. Was told by the folks at NVC that, request or no request, it goes by the beneficiary's address listed in the petition. If you do want to change embassy's, you could try to catch your file while it's still at NVC (which apparently for K-1s is usually very brief, 2-7 days-ish so you'd have to time it just right!) and request directly with the rep. Not sure they'd do it but worth a shot.

Also, I've heard that it can be transferred between embassies as well, though not sure of the process or time drain it would involve.

Hope that helps??

Wow, thank you for the info, nina, and that is great news!! May I ask about "our request to process outside of the beneficiary's home country"? What does this refer to? Does this mean one can go to another embassy or consulate for the interview? Thanks...

Hi all -

September filer here, crashing the November thread since we're at the same phase of the process as many of you. You all have been such fantastic sources of information, advice, and support, so wanted to give a quick update...

Per your suggestions, I've been calling NVC every night this week to see if I could get my hands on our case number. And finally, after a LOT of holding, I was informed that our file arrived at the NVC! Exactly 2 weeks after receiving our NOA2 (6 months, 1 week after NOA1 and congressional intervention), 1 week and 1 day after having been shipped from TSC. (Just to give an idea of current timelines for those of you waiting on the same thing).

The rep gave me our case number, beneficiary ID, and invoice number for the Embassy phase Also, they are honoring our request to process outside of the beneficiary's home country. Good news all around, and so quickly compared to the excruciating wait for the NOA2!!

For those of you anxious to get your case numbers from NVC, it seems that persistence is the key. Wait time to talk to an NVC rep seems to be pretty consistently 20 minutes - it was for me, regardless of what time I called (peak or off). If you're having trouble getting past the busy signal initially, just keep redialing and you'll snag an opening after a couple (or a dozen) tries.

Good luck, and for those of you still waiting on NOA2s, hang in there - fingers crossed for you! - it'll happen!

Hi all -

Just a quick update on one of the slowest of the slow poke September petitions...

Exactly 2 weeks after receiving our NOA2, our file arrived at the NVC! The rep gave me our case number, beneficiary ID, and invoice number for the Embassy phase

Also, they are honoring our request to process outside of the beneficiary's home country. Good news all around, and so quickly compared to the excruciating wait for the NOA2!!

Jens prodigy -

Just wanted to check in and see if you'd seen any movement on your petition? Thoughts are with you - that wait is gutwrenching, but it will absolutely happen and for sure soon. Have you gotten the Congressional ball rolling yet?

Take solice in the fact that the pace drastically picks up once you get over this hurdle...hang in there!

Congratulations! This must officially make us the LAST couple who filed in September to still be waiting on an approval. Today was the deadline on our SECOND service request. My fiancée will call tomorrow to see if they can tell us anything new but I doubt it, just more run-around and then they'll probably give us a THIRD service request date. I guess it's now time to get our congressman on it. Can anyone tell me what exactly that entails? I'm not an American citizen so I don't even truly know what a congressman does. Something has got to give! It's been over 200 days since we received our NOA1 and about 166 days since we last saw each other. Thank goodness she came to visit me in October! We almost decided not to go through with that trip thinking we'd be approved soon and could save the money for our wedding. Boy, I'm glad we didn't listen to ourselves!! Well, congrats again. Please, everyone, say a prayer for us. Thanks.

Clarification re: my last post, Butterflies. That zen approach is most applicable either BEFORE you've reached the 5-mo mark (when, as you've been told, not much you can do) or AFTER you've exhausted all of your post-5-mo action points.

Since you're coming up on the 5-mo mark next week, however, I'd suggest working your way through this list. You can put in service requests simultaneously, but follow up actively with the following:

1) Starting with calling customer service: 1-800-375-5283 ( sounds like you've already done it). When you call, don't press anything (even when it gives instructions) and it will kick you over to a live person. This person doesn't have a ton of information, but they can file a service request for you. The service request will provide information within 30 days, though, so that's a lot of waiting again.

2) You can also ask for a Tier 2 representative (if you say those magic words I think that have to oblige). They have a bit more information from your file and can tell you what dates the service center is currently processing (though in my experience, these dates aren't very helpful since everything seems to go randomly out of order anyway).

These are the normal recourses for information on an overdue petition.

3) If you STILL don't get any information. you can crank it up a notch and file an inquiry with the Ombudsman's Office (http://www.dhs.gov/topic/cis-ombudsman). That also takes up to 45 business days for a response.

4) After that, it's your Senator or Congressional Representative. This is what made the difference for us. Don't be afraid to push. Now you've got a leg to stand on, so don't be shy!

Thank you, and to you as well! I'm going to try to take a 2 week break, and not check my case status online or call in. It's too much of an emotional up and down.

Once your Senator's staffers are on it (if it comes to that), THEN employ zen approach mentioned in previous post

Good luck, keep us posted!!

Thank you, and to you as well! I'm going to try to take a 2 week break, and not check my case status online or call in. It's too much of an emotional up and down.

I completely hear that. I was the same way waiting for our overdue NOA2 and it's exhausting. But when I did as you suggest here, and got away from that toxic daily cycle of hope-disappointment, it helped chill me out a little bit.

The further into this process we get, the more I'm convinced that it's like most other things in life: things happen when you're least looking for it. Our NOA2 arrived a few weeks after I stopped clicking refresh on VJ/USCIS every 3 minutes; I'm sure yours will be the same!

Hang in there, it'll definitely happen...in the meantime, try to take a step back and let things roll. Easier said than done, of course, but sending happy, calming thoughts your way!

Hi all,

Not sure if someone answered you already but, yes, you can tell which center your petition was sent to from the receipt number. I was at TSC - which is prefix SRC - so that's the only one I know. I think if you do a VJ search of service center receipt codes you should find the others.

Hope that helps.

Good luck to all of you as you wait for NOA2s...it's a long process but it will happen!

Congrats! Very exciting day...crossing my fingers that many more approvals are not far behind

our petition was mailed on March 11, 2014 to NVC from Texas service center. I called them everyday after two weeks. Finally on 3/27/2014 they received and gave us our case number. After a couple of days of "administrative processing", on Friday, 28 it was forwarded to the embassy..... My suggestion is just wait 2 weeks and then call them everyday..They are a little short with you sometimes, but they will get over it.

Mark&Syrell, thanks for relaying your experience with the TSC to NVC shipment. Your strategy sounds good to me. 12 days from NOA2 today, close enough let the calling marathon begin!

Out of curiosity, did you deal only with NVC or did you call DOS as well? I'm currently abroad and the free calling app I'm using doesn't like NVC's number (it's definitely correct but I think whatever call answering service they haven't isn't compatible or something) but DOS is ok...would calling DOS yield the same information?

Also, I may have done the math for March NOA2s wait time between approval and NVC receiving the file (bordering on obsessive, I know): 10.5 days. Hoping that trend continues!

Thanks again for all of the continuing support and advice!

Hi all -

Hoping that hearing all of your experiences might help calibrate my expectations for the next few weeks/months as we head into the post-NOA2 phase (wohooo!)

Those of you (specifically K-1s at TSC) who have recently received notifications that your case had been shipped to NVC on such or such a date, how long did the case take to show up at NVC?

1) Do you all have the impression that they actually put it in the mail on that date? Or did the case languish for a bit longer on an
anonymous desk at TSC?

2) I called the NVC and got the standard "up to 8 weeks" response. What have recent timelines looked like, from NOTIFICATION
OF SHIPMENT to NVC? (I know the stats are available on VJ for NOA2 to NVC, but specifically curious about from alleged date
of shipment)

Also, is DOS able to give the same updates as NVC? Confused about the relationship between the two entities. Any experiences with one being more helpful/responsive than the other?

Thanks in advance for your insight and advice!