Texasav8r

Dude, not cool. There are positions within the federal government where you work like a dog and have to be extremely good at what you do to survive. Given the number of cases and the backlog, I'm thinking USCIS is a production environment where the employees there also have to work really hard.

R

I speak from experience and not off an emotional cuff. I worked with several federal agencies over many years and was married to a department head at yet another government agency so I know what I am talking about. I have no doubt that some work very hard, but I also know that many do not and it basically takes an act of Congress to fire dead weight within the government. They know this and take advantage of it, so my comment stands.

Well just the supervisor gives more clearer update based on my fiance.

I am just curious but since you were approved in only 23 days, what kind of information was he trying to get at such an early stage?

Texasav8r

Spasibo bol'shoe!

pozhaluysta

• NOA1

What is NOA1 and NOA2 stand for

Notice of Action

They are the Form I-797C's that you receive at the applicable stages of processing.

NOA1 = Notice the Petition was received and accepted

NOA2 = Notice of petition approval.

Our check has been cashed! 6 days after the petition was received!

Congrats, you are officially on your way. NOA1 should be on its way if not already received .

Only to find out our petition was sent to the Tevas Service Center ! Why do they keep sending them there when they are so far behind and you here of people griping NOA2 after 20'days at California. Good news to bad news real fast. What a bummer. Now the waiting game starts.

We feel your pain. I understand why they continue to send petitions to TSC as they are regional. What I do not understand is why they do not send their 1800-2200 oldest petitions (which would include 2013 filers) to California and put them at the head of the line to help balance the load. The VSC should have split the load they sent to TSC in half originally. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20 and us armchair quarterbacks win every Superbowl

Puerto Rico?!

Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands - TSC

Guam - CSC

Sorry, I forgot to include a note about that on the map.

Are you sure yours wasn't CSC? That just doesn't even seem like TSC's processing time at all unless there was an expedite requested/approved.

Hers was CSC.

You see that person in the corner of the room, gently rocking backwards and forwards? Yep, that's me

You don't have a red stapler and a book of matches by any chance do you?

Filed ours. Received NOA1 by email on June 5th.

Routed to TSC.

Does anyone know when/how they determine to do transfers to CSC ?

Transfers are extremely rare. The only reason I can think of would be if the lock box accidentally routed a petition to TSC that is from a region that CSC normally handles. You will see a lot of people's timelines that indicate they were transferred but they are incorrect which really screws up the timeline estimates and Igor's list.

I understand why you ask and sympathize but I am afraid you are probably stuck like the rest of us.

Look at Igor's list. Neatly sorted by type of visa and service center. http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?cfl=

...and full of inaccuracies...but it is sorted nicely.

I am assuming your update on the 31st was the Alien number change? I would not expect to see anything change for another 2-3 months unfortunately.

The 7, 13 and 17 I saw would probably send you completely over the edge then . Yep, best not to look.

Vermont is not doing I-129f petitions any longer. That is why Texas is slow now. Vermont sent all their petitions to Texas so their workload doubled. California did not get any of those to help so they continue to move quickly. Texas now has a backlog of 8000 petitions. You can thank the idiot that made the decision to send all the VSC petitions to TSC rather than splitting them between both CSC and TSC.

On Monday, May 9th, it will be exactly 5 months since my NOA1. I am frustrated beyond belief along with others, that we have had to wait so long. I truly thought the 5 months was a statement saying "you will find out within the 5 months". Apparently not! I have watched California fly through applications like they are on a mission, and I admit...I'm jealous of all of them. Furthermore, I am absolutely LIVID at those who have applied wayyy after us January filers and only had to wait at maximum a month for BOTH NOA1 and NOA2! It's not fair! Why do certain people get to cut ahead while the patient ones are fighting for justice? I am going to call the USCIS on Monday and put in a service request. When I asked last week if they could tell me what application dates they were working on, they said they didn't have that information. WHAT IS UP WITH TEXAS? Can we please put a center in the Northeast? NOT VERMONT....but maybe a fast moving state like New York or Massachusetts.....or one in the south like Florida??? Just saying....maybe those states would move faster than Texas.

It is not a matter of where the center is located. Texas has nothing to do with the fact that the center is slow. What matters is that Vermont center sent ALL of their 129f petitions to Texas rather than splitting them up between California and Texas. As a result, Texas was swamped and now has a backlog of more than 8000 whereas California only has 4000. Texas received double the amount of work all at once and California just kept on cruising like normal.

Blame the idiot that made that decision rather than the state it is located in. Your suggestion to open another center is moot as they stopped processing in VT for a reason. My guess is funding. For that reason alone, I doubt they would open another center. Besides, by the time it was opened and staffed with trained agents, your Visa would be a thing of the past.

Texas needs to send their oldest 2000 petitions to California and have California work on those as a priority to get both centers on an even pace. But don't hold your breath as the government is not staffed with the brightest of individuals nor those that possess much of a work ethic.

Thanks. We've been counting every minute...

I understand. Udachi

So next monday is my 5 Month mark. I'm trying to decide how to proceed. I may call the congressperson I contacted before via email, or call the USCIS and demand a service request, and try to get around the 30 day wait. I would wait patiently but I just find it so unfair that they publish 5 months when what they really mean is wait 6 before complaining, and that people who filed with the CSC have their loved ones already in the country.

Also on that note, congratulations to everyone who got their NOA2 recently!

You do what you feel is best for you and your situation.

The check hasn't been cashed yet... It's been 2 days already...

It takes 5 - 7 days on average to get to the service center and check cashed from what I have seen.

I agree that TSC has slowed down drastically. CSC was always ahead. VSC was behind TSC but has caught up. We got our NOA1 on February 26th 2014 from TSC. We're still waiting for our NOA2 and it's now June 6th 2014. My fiance called to ask for a RFE and the explanation given for the delay is that the background check is still pending. I think this may have something to do with me having gone to grad school in New York and CA and so this could be taking a while, I think...

Sure hope that we get transfered to either CSC or VSC. This is taking so much longer than expected / hoped.

Being from Hawaii, I am curious why yours went to TSC. Did you file while in New York at school? Hawaii goes to CSC.

hello all.we got our NOA1 on march 31,vermont servise center,since then we got nothing,its now june 3,i ve read about getting alien reg number,what is that is everybody supposed to get it,i dont understand,over 2 months wait for NOA2 seems really long time,i read people usually get in in 2 months or less,thank u all

You are at the Texas Service Center and the average wait is ~5 months unless expedited. The ones you see getting approved in 2 months or less are at the California Service Center.

Feb 28th filer, received my NOA1 on March 8th, and in limbo in TSC. Texasav8r, we have idential dates . Been in stealth mode but making my first post.

Does anyone know which month TSC is processing right now? Last I heard it was November and December of 2013, but I'm hoping that has changed.

Also, in reading several posts about TSC, it seems to be notorious for being slow and not really giving a damn. Why hasn't anyone started a petition for all the members who are overdue on their wait time to sign and submit it as a group? I definitely think there is strength in numbers and by us being silent, this broken system will continue on and on..

Would you guys be interested in doing a group petition for those who are past the five month wait? Since folks on here are relatively close in their submission dates, I think we can get something going when the time comes.

Thanks and good luck to all of us!

Hi Chuhyongyi,

Welcome aboard. I am not sure what month they are processing but I am pretty sure they are about 4 months behind CSC and have 2x the backlog (8000 vs 4000).

I believe there was a forum post with a link to a WH petition a week or so ago. I was number 45 to sign it.

You should fill out your timeline so we can follow your progress. When you get a chance of course .

Good luck to you!

I'm not sure why poster's keep asking/saying a particular month that TSC is processing. I don't think they are processing any certain month. My friend sent his petition paperwork in February and was approved in 20 days. I sent mine in March and am still waiting. If you look at people's time lines there have been approvals all over the span of several months at TSC. Some are fast some are slow. Could just mean you ended up on the wrong person's desk, or maybe certain country's just take longer - red flag countries... I've seen timelines from TSC where people have gotten 11 day approvals and the whole thing completed in 95 days. I've seen other's still waiting for NAO2 approval for many months. Just my 2 cents... While I wait LOL

While I agre with you on the asking about dates, I have to disagree with your assessment of TSC approvals being all over the place. They are very consistent and that would be on the slow end of the spectrum. I have only seen one, maybe two, quick approvals from the TSC. One was Russian and that was probably because the agent saw similar flag colors to the Philippines and expedited it by mistake lol. Kidding of course. Seriously though, the only fast approvals are those expedites from the Philippines. Everyone else is more than 4 months. You suggested that you look at timelines and see them all over. The unfortunate part of that is over 40% of the timelines are incorrect regarding where they were processed. Many people put TSC simply because they mailed to the Texas lock box and never bothered to change it to CSC when they were routed there. The last 7 of the last 15 TSC approvals were wrong. That should tell you something.

If you have time and want to check it out for yourself, look at Igor's list at the TSC approvals over the past couple of months and look at the petitioner's state of residence. Then look at the attached map and if their state is red, they should have CSC on their timeline. You will also see many transfers to CSC which is also incorrect. You will see what I mean.

Enjoy

Yesterday was my Fiance's birthday, tomorrow will be my birthday, and today June 4th, 2014 just one day shy of six months since NOA1 we received our NOA2 approval!!!!!!!!!! They did not email or text, we had to see the update on the USCIS website. I am so happy and my heart goes out to those of you still waiting. I hope that you have an answer soon.

Congrats!! Another one I am happy to see especially due to the long wait. These are the ones that bring a smile to my face. Enjoy the rest of your downhill journey

These are the ones I like to see!! Congrats. Not that I like to see anyone wait so long, but these are the ones we need to see approved. Good luck on the rest of your journey and may it go much faster and smoother than the first phase