jadegreen

I've been waiting 107 days. It's so frustrating!

My case was received May 16th 2016. 101 days later I'm still waiting. I've put in a service request, contacted ombudsman and contacted my senator. Now its time to wait I guess. It took 348 days for me to get my NOA2 for my K1 so yet another delay from USCIS is just so frustrating!

We were stuck in background checks too, I’m from the UK. I have no idea why it happens to some cases. Neither of us have criminal records. We tried everything from calling USCIS multiple times, to speaking to a senator who made inquiries on our behalf. The senator said that we would hear from USCIS at the end of October 2015 and it wasn’t until 24 November 2015 that we were actually approved. We applied 11 December 2014 – that’s 348 days for our NOA2 and it was hell. Try a senator and try OMBUDSMAN. We gave up hope and were actually going to apply for a UK fiancé visa when it finally came through. If you ever want to talk just let me know, I understand how hard it is to have to wait and not have a clue what you can do about it.

You don't need a lawyer. Here are example forms that you'll need to assemble your packet: http://www.visajourney.com/content/examples

I think the process is quicker now as many cases go to California. Ours went to Texas on December 11 2014 and only got approved on November 24 2015 It was the worst process ever and I still haven't had my interview. But in terms of assembling the packet it was pretty straight forward there's a step by step guide somewhere on Visajourney and it was invaluable!

We're day 307 (received our NOA1 on December 11 2014) - we have tried speaking to tier 2, speaking with a senator, raising an inquiry and we're still getting the 'wait 30 days' line again and again. :/ Texas sucks!

yeah we're day 307

our senator said that our case is with an adjudicating officer so maybe we will hear soon...I'm not holding my breath though

Anybody else still waiting? We're day 299 in Texas

Oh wow! That's just ridiculous.

We haven't tried the INFOPASS or Ombudsman, I wonder if we should :/

No, nothing. We filed Nov 13 and nothing. We had been put into background checks, but were told the results of that are now back (as of Sept 10th) and we are back at USCIS for processing. So frustrating I can't even explain! It's good to know others are in the same boat. We have tried everything... USCIS inquiries, calling them, congressman's office, INFOPASS appointment and now the Ombudsman. We are waiting to hear back from them.

I hope everyone else still waiting is doing ok

Hey hrussell23, Have you received your NOA2 or an RFE from USCIS yet?

We've been waiting since December 11

Thank you! I hope that is the case for us too. It really helps to know others have been/are going through a similar ordeal.

Thanks for replying! This gives me hope. I'm praying that we hear back from them this week with an approval. It's been with the adjudicating officer for at least a week now.

Good luck with your interview and your move!

Your situtaion sounds pretty similar to ours - we were October 2014 filers and got out NOA2 after 306 days, also with the whole background checks, with-adjudicator thing beforehand. I am crossing my fingers for you, I know just how hard it is to wait this long for a single step to finish. Good luck!

Thanks for your response. This gives me hope I'm praying that we hear something soon

I had a similar experience and about a month later, I got NO2, so it may not be a long time before you hear something. you can try to call USCIS as well and ask to talk to a tier 2 supervisor, they may be able to tell you if someone is currently working on your case. I'm sorry this is happening to you, Hopefully you hear something very soon

I believe that was an RFE (Request For Evidence) and they will not tell you until you have the actual notice in hand. It may be something simple,like mine was. Good luck and I hope this notice find its way to you soon.

I wish there was something that we could do to bring this incompetence to light. We've been waiting 299 days!! It's crazy how they control your life like this.

Anybody else still waiting? We're day 299 in Texas

Thanks for the reply! Our senator finally got back to us saying that our case was now with an adjudicating officer (on October 3rd). If we don’t hear by the end of the week then we will contact the Ombudsman like you suggest. J

We were in the same dilemma. Filed in Dec 2014. Background checks after RFE response in March 2015.

I did contact the Congressman's Office (not much help) and wrote to the USCIS Ombudsman (their office emailed me half a day before actual approval, so I'm thinking they had something to do with it).

I had spoken to an immigration lawyer who was well known to me about it. The way he said it, any time your name (or similar likeness) strikes a hit in their database, someone has to manually go in there and verify that this does not pertain to you. And frankly, you are not a priority to the FBI. They have other important things to do. So he advised 'just be patient. They will do it in their own convenient time.'

I was finally approved on Aug 31, 2015. So my advice is to keep the faith, be patient, email the ombudsman most importantly (if not done already), try the congressman and hopefully you will be approved shortly too.

Hello,

We’re December filers (day 299 of waiting today). USCIS told us that our case was in background checks at the beginning of September and our senator came back to us a week ago saying that it was with an adjusting officer (finally!) I still don’t know what that means in terms of how much longer we have to wait though. It’s so frustrating and heart-breaking to just be strung along like this L

Hello,

We’re December filers (day 299 of waiting today). USCIS told us that our case was in background checks at the beginning of September and our senator came back to us a week ago saying that it was with an adjusting officer (finally!) I still don’t know what that means in terms of how much longer we have to wait though…rom the look of this forum we still have a while. It’s very frustrating L

Hello,

While I don’t know the answer to your question, we’re in the same boat as you. We received our NOA1 on December 1. At the beginning of September USCIS told us we were in background checks and our senator got back to us on October 03 to say that USCIS have said that we are now out of background checks and with an adjudicating officer. From what I’ve seen online, some people get lucky and are approved within days and others months. Some get RFE’s at this point and others are just approved. Have you found out anything else from anywhere else? I feel like USCIS just have standard responses and the ‘with an adjudicating officer’ is just one of them.

Thanks,

Jade

hello,

It's been 11 months since my fiance and I started the K1 visa procress. Our application is being processed at TSC. We still haven't received our NOA2. Our lawyer sent a "case outside normal processing time" inquiry to USCIS. They sent us a letter notifying us that our case is with an adjudicating officer. Does anybody know how long does it take for the officer to look at our case and give us an answer?

Thank you!

Hello, thanks for your response. Apologies that I have only just seen it. To be honest I'm not sure how long we've been in background checks for. We could try calling and asking but I always find the agents on the phone (no matter what tier they are) to be so reluctant to give us any information. I know someone who filed in October 2014 and is still stuck in these illusive background checks.

Thank you - I really hope that it comes through soon too!

We filed October 2014, made a fuss and inquiries and got senator envolved June/ July, moved out of "official processing times" in Mid-July and were told in late July 2015 that we were currently going through background checks. Got our NOA2 in mid-August.

And we also went through a spot of "ups, we put the petitioners name into the system the wrong way around, we should fix it" before our NOA2.

Some people have to wait way longer than anybody else and they will never let you know why. Did you ask since when you are in background checks?

My personal take on our own petition was that we werent even put into background checks until we got the senator involved and that it never even got worked on before. That theory fits with all the answers we got before and after. Of course, I will never know for sure.

Good luck! I hope you get your soon! It sucks to be waiting this long.

Hello - We have been waiting 290 days and I was just wondering if you had any advice for us? Should we just sit and wait it out? We've contacted a senator, spoken to tier 2, raised inquiries...is there anything else that we can do?

Congratulations on finally getting it approved.

Thanks,
Jade

Hello All,

Just wanted to share our experience with applying for a K1 Visa (I-129F).

My Fiancé and I are now at 300 days and counting for an NOA2.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=days+since+July+3rd+2014

Received our NOA1 on July 3rd, 2014.

Received an email stating that a 'recent processing action has been taken on your case' on December 9th, 2014.

Filed a General Inquiry via phone with USCIS on February 17th, 2015. This inquiry still has not been assigned for processing as of today.

Emailed Texas Service Center 'TSC.NCSCfollowup@uscis.dhs.gov' on March 17th, 2015. Still no response to this email as of today.

Submitted an 'Outside Normal Processing Time' Online Case Inquiry on April 9th, 2015. This inquiry still has not been assigned for processing as of today.

Emailed USCIS Headquarters 'scopsscata@dhs.gov' on April 20th, 2015. Still no response to this email as of today.

Physically went to an InfoPass Appointment at the USCIS Center in Houston, Texas on April 24th, 2015. The officer said that "I see that you have been waiting for a while, but unfortunately your case is still pending." "There doesn't appear to be any negatives or red flags on your case." "There is a serious backlog." He could not provide any more information. He then said that he would send a message to the Texas Service Center regarding our case.

Only other options left to explore are contacting a Senator / Congressman or http://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance.

Very frustrated.

Hi all, we received our NOA1 on December 11 and since then haven’t heard anything from USCIS. We’ve called them multiple times and contacted a senator and we have finally had the below response from USCIS saying:

Our system indicates that the required background investigation for your pending application is still open. We cannot move forward with your case until the background investigation is completed. If you do not receive a decision or other notice of action from us within 6 months of this letter, please contact us by calling our customer service number provided below.

Has anyone had a similar response or have been through this and then had theirs approved? The thought of having to wait until March 2016 is crazy – I’m from England by the way.

Thanks so much - we'll give that a go.

Best of luck with your case!

Hello

Yes, all he needs to do is google who is the congressman/senator in his area and contact them. there should be information on their website about how to go for them to put inquiries on his behalf. Good luck.

I am still waiting for my No2 as well, from Dec 1.

How frustrating!

nope, filipino visas are not expedited. there are several of us still waiting. i have had both of my state senators look into the visa. they both say exactly the same as USCIS. they are within normal processing times. nothing they can do.

Have you thought about getting a congressman involved? I've seen a few people recommend it, I'm thinking about. Also is your fiancé from the Philippines? I'm pretty sure all Filipino cases should be expedited...

dec 15th here. they told us basically the same. zero info...

dec 15th here. they told us basically the same. zero info...

Congrats! How did you find the right congressman to contact? My fiancé is from VA. Is it just a case of googling the ones in his area and sending them emails?

Thank you! (We've been waiting since Dec 11 and its hard thinking we are getting nowhere)

Everyone,

We have just received an email notifying us that our NOA2 was approved - literally 5 minutes ago. We are on skype together and as my fiance opened the email and read it aloud I just started crying. We are overjoyed after having waited for almost 7 months. Our date was December 22nd.

We do believe that the congressman we contacted helped us. My fiance called him earlier today to follow up, and he told us that he had sent in an inquiry on July 7th, and that he would send them a follow up email this afternoon. So yes - we do believe this helped and for any of you still waiting - do not lose hope!! It will happen!!

Wow that's so much more information that we got when we called. (We've been waiting 238 days for our NOA2).

We called USCIS a week ago and spoke to a tier 2 and all they said was our case is still processing 'normally' and just because people are getting approved after us doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with our case... so helpful...

Hello! - THANK YOU for your time and for your comment/answer about my post/question.

Our I-129F petition was received on December 18, 2014 and it is being processed by the Texas Service Center.

A couple of weeks ago a Tier 2 officer said the case had been in the background unit since April 10, 2015 and that it had not left the background unit as of the day of that call. TODAY (July 31, 2015), I called again and another tier 2 officer said the case had been pending the results of either a background, name or security check and that´s why the long wait, and confirmed that the background, name or security check had been completed already and the case is back to normal processing.

Should I be any hopeful to get our NOA2 soon, given that the one thing that was holding the decision was now completed?

I have both senators from my state (MA) inquire on our behalf, but they haven´t gotten a response yet.

The tier 2 officer today was EXTREMELY nice and understanding (judged by the common standards). She provided a lot of information, such as ¨I see that someone called and is working on your case¨ (I´m thinking maybe the senator´s office staff...) She didn´t say WHEN the case left the background unit, but CONFIRMED it was already OUT OF THERE AND BACK TO NORMAL PROCESSING. She said, ¨give it at least 60 more days and if not call again, but hopefully there would be a decision by Monday, which could be.¨

ALL COMMENTS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED. (I was hoping to post something short... then I found myself overly excited...)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your time and comment.

CA and VA

After 238 days of waiting for our NOA2 it feels like I'm never going to be able to join in this group. Fingers crossed for soon though!

Congrats all