joseph22

OK .. here goes ... i'm wondering if everyone out there got this email after USCIS recieved the recent IMBRA RFE .. ??

On June 27, 2006, we received your response to our request for evidence or information. However because preliminary processing was complete, the remaining processing time will be less than the maximum stated in this message. You will receive a written decision on this case. You can use our processing dates to estimate when this case will be done. Follow the the link below for current processing dates.

" However because preliminary processing was complete " I have to wonder if that means had the delay not come our case would have possibly been approved already ? @ any rate it's not helpful ... considering there is no maximum time stated in the message .. and as we all know the pesky March 6th Vermont centre date hasn't changed .. But if any of you got the same message it would be great to know ! Thx

Robin ~

Yes..most people who have sent back the RFE have recieved this status change.

I never recieved an email for it, but DID have this message posted on the USCIS login site for our case.

My only guess is that what they are referring to is the original processing dates they had posted in the same "case status" area that this message appears. In our case it said "It is currently taking between 90 and 120 days to process these types of petitions"....so my assumption is they mean, it'll be less than 120 days now, since the have finished preliminary processing and only have the RFE to go. That being said, that'd be great news as we'll hit 120 days in just a few weeks.

Its bizarre the way these things get updated, because our RFE was actually recieved days before the message indicated, and sent days AFTER the RFE sent notice was made. They still havent emailed us anything..just updated on the website. Seems actual processing dates and timelines cant really be trusted at all....all we care about now is that NOA2 coming!

I overnighted mine on Wednesday. Hope that's okay! Definitely no envelope with mine either!

Just to share.....I phoned USCIS yesterday to ask about which mailing address to use, either the P.O. box one on the RFE or the overnight one. The lady, who was very nice, said that it should be sent back to the address listed on the RFE. Also according the USCIS website, it says to mail it in the envelope provided with the RFE or it could delay processing, well there wasn't one provided with mine, is that the case with everyone???? In regards to that, the woman checked with someone and told me to include a letter stating that an envelope was not provided for the return mail. Seems ridiculous but I did it, don't want anything to delay this.

No evelope in mine either.

Safe to assume she didnt really know what she was talking about???

There is a barcode on the cover sheet thought..the one they say to return on the top. I think thats key.

I got my RFE today. My NOA1 was May 5. transferred to Cali from Nebraska in June. I'm in Ohio.

I am in Illinois, so maybe mine will be there when I get home. Oh, I think I will leave work early today...

What are people's thoughts about adding a sheet to explain why we did not answer the questions that should have a "none" box? I have been going back and forth on it. Sometimes I think anything that is out of the ordinary can cause a delay, so I am not sure what to think.

My thoughts are...do it if you want, but I cant see the reason.

Hey, I mean I know we all are skeptical about everything, but do you really believe that because there is no check box for something we think we should check that it is some sort of massive oversite that is going to cause everything to stop again? This is the first draft of documents for this law, and they will no doubt be modified as time goes on and USCIS sees things they would like to ammend. But I dont think its realistic to believe that the lack of a NONE box is a problem.

If you read the sheet, it asks to check any that apply.

If you dont check any, that is NONE right?

So there is no box to reiterate that point.

Not a big deal.

...personally, I'd rather not confuse the person doing our petition. Yes, I believe adding supplements to this one off sheet could potentially confuse them...perhaps even make them skeptical. They have the right to formally check the background on you for any of these answers regardless of what you check. An un called for supplement?....a good starting point for doing so I belive. Who knows how long THAT'd take.

Just my thoughts.

The logical thing to do would be to keep processing them in order of NOA1, but AS the RFE's come in.

Meaning...everyone on March 7th wouldnt have to wait for EVERY single person from March 6th to submit an RFE back. But if there was a March 6th with an RFE in, they'd go before a March 7th with an RFE in. Make sense? I mean, you have to consider that there may be people not quite as diligent as us, who will take months to respond to the RFE. USCIS is not going to wait for that person. Its entirely impractical.

Just my thoughts

The problem with this is that they are SENDING RFE'S OUT TO PPL WITH NOA1'S IN APRIL AND MAY BEFORE THOSE FROM MARCH! (sorry had to get that off my chest) Other than that tidbit of info your theory makes sense.....

Thats not entirely true.

Our NOA date is in March and we recieved the RFE from CSC yesterday. Might be good to note that we originally filed in CSC as well.

You have to remember that not everyone who is in the K1 pool is on or responding to this site. The sheer number of visas petitons out there versus the number of members in this forum that read and post regularly is drastically disproportionate.

I think we dont necessarily know the pattern yet, but we should be hopeful that expediting and release of the backlog is beginning to happen!

Got ours from CSC yesterday.

NOA1, March 26th, live in California.

The logical thing to do would be to keep processing them in order of NOA1, but AS the RFE's come in.

Meaning...everyone on March 7th wouldnt have to wait for EVERY single person from March 6th to submit an RFE back. But if there was a March 6th with an RFE in, they'd go before a March 7th with an RFE in. Make sense? I mean, you have to consider that there may be people not quite as diligent as us, who will take months to respond to the RFE. USCIS is not going to wait for that person. Its entirely impractical.

Just my thoughts

The senator's office here said CSC's plan is to process in order of NOA but that is based on RFE response. Meaning exactly what you said is right - they can't not process someone from March 15, for example, just because someone from March 6 hasn't sent back their RFE yet.

She also said that transfers from NSC to CSC are supposedly being handled in a specialized manner - presumably based on original NOA date as well as when they return the RFE. But there is, of course, no proof that this is what is actually going to happen.

It would be nice if they provided us with some information and direction to ease our fears and worries but clearly that is never gonna happen.

Yeah..makes sense.

No, we can never expect USCIS to give us exact information or timelines or expectations.

But it is safe to assume that they will do this atleast somewhat practically and quickly, as they absolutely, from a beaurocratic standpoint, need to get this off their shelves.

The logical thing to do would be to keep processing them in order of NOA1, but AS the RFE's come in.

Meaning...everyone on March 7th wouldnt have to wait for EVERY single person from March 6th to submit an RFE back. But if there was a March 6th with an RFE in, they'd go before a March 7th with an RFE in. Make sense? I mean, you have to consider that there may be people not quite as diligent as us, who will take months to respond to the RFE. USCIS is not going to wait for that person. Its entirely impractical.

Just my thoughts

Frankly, I dont care about any numbers anymore.

Until I see some actual progress (our NOA1 date is mid March) then all of this heresay and 'senators' response is meaningless. We all know that what CSC says in regards to what they are doing and when they are doing it is complete bulls**t.

We are so completely tired of wearing ourselves out by stressing over expectations that cant be practically demonstrated. No, USCIS does NOT care about the time frames they give or how long this costs us. We should make them. I'm going to continue to overwhelm CSC with emails and phone calls until they ACTUALLY PRODUCE RESULTS! Please join me.

Didn't want to hijack Gary's thread - I spoke to Senator O'Bama's office today. They called CSC and were told that RFEs were sent out on Friday June 23. Why they didn't update the online status or send us emails is unclear.

I also asked about the processing order for petitions that were transferred from Nebraska to California - she said they are being handled in some specialized manner - I believe set aside into a separate group and processed as the RFEs come in. She wasn't 100% sure on what they are doing but they say they are going by NOA1 date.

So fingers crossed that it arrives BEFORE I leave on Friday!

Argh... I hope this is accurate.

*crossing everything I can cross*

Seems strange that they wouldnt send any emails out to notify us....considering the amount of inquiries they must be getting....

Perhaps they are just trying to make some proactive moves first and follow them up with red tape?

Here's hoping!!!!!!

In certain circumstances, USCIS may need to issue a second RFE to some petitioners

Just keep in mind that it wont necessary stop a second RFE once they begin the actual processing of the petition if it is found that the petition is not complete in other areas or there is documents missing etc, or they require further evidence of having met in person within the required two year period. This is something that could happen even pre IMBRA. The intitial RFE is only to bring the I-129F into compliance with the IMBRA, for no other reason.

Yes, I read this to mean bascially that just because you KNOW you'll be getting an RFE for IMBRA, does not mean its the last you'll get, as they havent necessarily covered the rest of your petition for all required documents and fields. I read it to basically say that this RFE stands independently of the general RFE process, and to not make an assumption that your petition is finished after its return.

Although I do definately think its each and every petitioner's right to include anything they like/feel/want is important to their case, I personally will not go beyond the initial fullfillment of the RFE as God knows they are wanting to undo this backlog, and frankly wont care. I'm going to have to assume they want my March NOA'd papers out of there, and not give any extra reasons for looking at it!

CSC is trying to be safe with their answers and not raise too much expectation... too bad they are already known to be one of the SLOWEST service centers and funny (sarcastic) how most paperwork from tsc and nsc are being processed by them right now. i dont get it.... it doenst make sense to do that... oh well.

but let's all be positive about it. maybe and i hope we get at LEAST an EMAIL from CSC telling us that our RFE's have been sent out and then NEXT week around wed or thurs, we receive the actual paperwork.

goodluck to us all... we can get thru this

I agree. We couldnt expect the email responses to be anything than vague and disclaiming. They probably have staff answering all the email inquiries who are not even involved in actual petition processing...ie...they know nothing about the actual timelines/specifics.

I too would like to believe that Senator responses should be more accurate and they can speak to those who would be held responsible, but again, not holding my breath until something tangible actually happens.

Just got am email reply regarding the timing...RFEs will be sent out in the next three weeks. Just FYI for everyone.

What agency sent that email? My Senator's office spoke to CSC & they told her by Friday....

Yes...that sounds strange to me too. I have recieved many email replies directly from CSC and they have never given a specific time frame...

CSC states that “All of these petitions will not be adjudicated, and will remain pending until Headquarters USCIS issues quidance regarding processing under this new law”. And VSC started to send out RFEs several days ago. CSC and VSC are under the same Congress, why they are doing differently. I am confused.

....Because CSC has never had their act together.

It doesnt hurt to keep at them with emails/phone calls/Senator involvement...and directly referencing the information we have about VSC actually doing what CSC cannot. Although we have understand that in the long run, they dont necessarily care about OUR timelines, they will, as human laborors, respond to pressure from their 'clients', superiors, etc.

CSC-XII.129f@dhs.gov

Write to them every day! Overwhelm them with demands to see PRODUCTIVE ACTIONS!!!

Perhaps they are working very hard, but they need to prove it or they shouldnt get a break.

The email address that will get you a response (of some kind) is:

CSC-XII.129f@dhs.gov

They will respond from this address, but more likely than not, with a very disclaimer, information-free answer.

I think though, it doesnt hurt to just keep on them with "WHEN ARE YOU SENDING MY RFE"...and quoting the public notice on USCIS site that says they'd be sent out immediately.

We wouldnt ever want them to think we were getting complacent.

Hell, send the same question every day until you get an answer!

However, all I-129F petitions received on or after 03/01/2006 fall under the umbrella of the new International Marriage Brokers Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA). All of these petitions will not be adjudicated, and will remain pending until Headquarters USCIS issues quidance regarding processing under this new law. This petition was received 03/13/06, and falls under this new law.

Please reference information found on the uscis website regarding I-129F petitions and IMBRA

This seems complete condradictory garbage to me.

On the USCIS website, they posted the damn public notices themselves that state that the effective date is March 6th, and that they had approved the document to be used as an RFE for all petitions affected by IMBRA.

Where do they get off stating that they still dont know what to do???

CSC has some serious organizational problems. I understand they are probably just disclaiming themselvves left and right, but until some action comes out of them, we need to assume they simply arent working. Now that everyone who originally filed there is lumped up with cases from other service centers, we really need to keep hounding them so they dont take much longer getting their WORK DONE and PRODUCING RESULTS!

So there was atleast one post yesterday that stated that someone's Senator had spoken to CSC and all RFE's would be out by the end of the week...which would be wonderful but...

..I've been emailing them steadily inquiring when my RFE for IMBRA compliance would arrive, and I did actually get a response from them today that said:

The RFE has not been processed yet. I cannot give you a time for this

action. Please allow 45 days for this action to occur.

This was a direct reply to an email sent probably one week ago. I DO think they use the disclaimer of 45 days on almost all inquiries, as of course, they could never give some exact info unless the action has happened. However, you'd certainly think that with all the pressure that 'should' be on them to get this done, the fact that VSC is already sending out RFE's, and all the people such as myself constantly hounding them, that they'd be doing something much sooner than 45 days!

I'll be very curious to see if anyone from CSC gets there RFE within the week seeing how its now wednesday.

My God, could that place be any more screwed up?????!!!!

Anyone else get something similar at all???

Wow...well done!

This is wonderful news.

Your post has brightened my day!!!!!

I know this is probably an extraneous thread....

....I'm assuming noone has gotten notices of RFE's let alone recieved them from CSC, but has anyone been speaking to them? Heard anything about what they are up to?

I've been emailing them daily...very politely of course, asking "if they had sent out my RFE for compliance with IMBRA" but so far no info. I did get touched on the 13th of June, my first since our NOA1 on 3/22.

I havent gotten them on the phone, but I just wanted to see what everyone else had on their minds.

There are a lot of posts about the VSC sending RFE's along with all the transfers to CSC from other centers and whats going on there, but not much regarding those of us who actually sent to CSC and are waiting for news. Anything you could share would be very much obliged!

btw...yes, filling out my timeline really soon.!!!!!

Thanks very much everyone! Its very helpful information.

My finace is going through an embassy outside of her native country (UK) because she is studying, so this information will be very helpful for her to get the records she needs sent over well ahead of time!

Thanks again!

So, even though we havent yet been approved, my fiance is being proactive about the rest of the process before interview and was hoping to get a jumpstart.

Is there any way to know, or does anyone have specifics on what exactly you need done at the medical?

Can we prepare ahead of time with specific vaccination records from personal doctors to simply show the embassy doctor?

I wasnt really sure what to tell her, so I thought I'd post here.

From my understanding, she'll still have to go to one prior to the interview as outlined in the packets, but hoping that we can get any actual exams and such out of the way prior to that.

THANKS!

Also got a touch on June 13th.

Our NOA1 date was March 28th.

I had sent a bunch of emails to CSC and the response as of June 14th was:

We have not received guidelines concerning our new processing

requirements. We have been informed that a request for additional

information maybe necessary once we continue the processing of these

petitions. No time has been given when the processing will occur.

I'm hoping that since the official website news post stated that they would issue RFE's immediately, that the touch means they are being sent out. I'm sure the staff at CSC is still trying to disclaim all their processing times, but I cant imagine that once the RFE's are returned, that they'd have any choice but to get to work pretty hard on finishing them!

...I hope we all get our RFE's for IMBRA soon and can start watching the NOA2's roll out!!!!

Should this law only affect couples that met through an agency or Internet? We met a regular way on my trip to Russia. Please let me know someone who knows.

It affects everyone, regardless of how you met.

I agree the law was created to cut down on the Mail order bride issue. However everyone is effected, no matter how they met or whether the male or female is the USC. We all are going to have to give them permission for background check and answer the questions "Did we use a marriage broker? and Does the USC have a criminal conviction?" If you have to answer yes to either of those questions you are going to have to answer a lot of questions and I expect that your time line will lengthen accordingly.

Understandable...but what does this mean??? that they are going to RFE EVERYONE who submitted after March 6th to get this permission/statement? Or only those who submit with the new application when it is released? I dont understand why the application of this law is so vague to all of us...

not that it will probably help, but I emailed CSC to see if there was anything THEY would tell me to expect.

I'll post IF i get an answer.

I just went to USCIS site and they havent changed the petition form.

They are still using the same downloadable PDF that we used back in February.

I have no problem submitting any police records or whatever that might be needed or having them do a security check on us. It seems crazy that they would send out a gigantic RFE to everyone after March 6th to have them fill out another form that they havent made available...

On a side note, we stated very clearly in our petition how we met, which was not through a marriage broker, so I'm not sure if this is an issue either. So strange that it could be so far after the IMBRA effect date yet there noone seems to know how we should comply...

I've been burning through the latest postings on the forum as fast as I can to try to understand this....

I was hoping someone could give me a simple answer.

So....I understand that the new IMBRA law means an additional security check on petitions, and that things have been tied up, shuffled around between service centers. I understand that some petitions were recalled after approved to do this check because of the date in which the law went to effect, and that a new draft of the petition will be released "sometime" in the relative future.

What I dont quite get yet is what this means for those of us who filed with the existing I-129F application available from the USCIS site (we recieved our NOA1 3.24 from CSC - yes I'll update my timeline soon though nothing to really update Anyway, does this mean simply that an additional security check will be performed on our petition once they get to it, or does it mean that they are going to send some sort of form/ info request to me, the petitioner before they'd approve?

Obviously I hope they start picking up and moving the backlog out, and we have no choice but to comply with additional checks and processing time, but I just am still so confused as to whether or not anything is going to be asked from me before my NOA2 as a result.

Could someone be so kind as to just explain simply what it means? I know noone has a hard answer for waiting time yet, but I'm just looking to know if I should be waiting for a request for info from me because of this or simply be waiting for my petition to be picked up......

THANKS!!!!!!!