CB & FM

Hey CB &FM,
 
I say do not worry since they cashed their check and received their NOA1 but I am wondering about your case: you really have no way to check if they received your waiver? I ask because, if I do remember well, you are almost at the end of your open-window for ROC, no?

That's the spirit. LOL

My NOA1 is dated from 07/03 and I only received my bio apt 7/20 (15 days later) !
 
Don't be to worried, VSC is a little bit (more) slower than CSC

True on the don't worry.  I've turned mine into a betting game.
 
Will my wife's appointment be on one of the only 2 days in August we are out of state?
Will my wife's appointment be on one of the only 2 days in September we are out of state?
Will my wife's appointment be on her birthday?
 
The over unders are quite favorable due to Murphy's law     Granted we'll do an early walk in if needed lol

Hello everyone, I'm from Washington, DC and my fiance is from Goiania, Brazil. We met in August 2010 and waited patiently for the end of DOMA so that we could finally begin the immigration process like any other bi-national couple. Happily, we mailed our I-129F petition on July 3, 2013, and received an NOA1 dated July 10, 2013. The petition is now in process at the Vermont Service Center. If all goes well, we will be dealing down the road with the U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro, and the consulate-specific information on this site has been invaluable in understading the process and what to expect. We'd love to hear form other same-sex couples who are going through the fiance visa process in Brazil, as one would think that there would be a number of such applications over the next few months. Thanks to everyone for the excellent information that has been compiled on this site.

In regards to Trumps immigration announcements today, I think we should all just take a deep breath and see how this all shakes out.  Immigration paperwork can be extremely stressful.  Waiting for over a  year to get approved can be extremely stressful as well.  I can remember when I filed the K-1 petition for my wife there was a government shutdown immediately afterwards.  I panicked.  And in the end, she still got approved, in a decent amount of time.  We had a 6 month delay (even received a letter) when having to wait on the 2 year green card as well.  Applied in October 2014, got the delayed letter in Feb of 2015 due to the back log, got the green card in September of 2015.
 
I had kneejerk reactions then on the government shutdown, and the 6 month delays.  Caused myself a lot of heart burn and probably premature grey hairs in worrying.  And in the end, it didn't matter.  We were patient, she got approved, and we're fine.  
 
Leo is right that potentially services from USCIS might be delayed a bit, but at this point it's in proposal stage.  It will have to be agreed upon by the House and the Senate.  And it will probably have to be properly drafted and many procedures wrote.  This isn't something that can change immediately, even if approved.  And let's be honest, almost all of Trumps proposals have been shot down.  USCIS should not be affected by this until the actual procedural changes are created, ratified in both House and Senate, etc etc.  Which takes time.  Could future generations be affected?  Yes of course.   If my wife's mother ever decided to want to live with us (ha no...but you get my drift) I might face challenges that way.  But spouses and children shouldn't be affected per all the articles I've seen about this today.  And until they actually MAKE a change, USCIS will be just as slow as usual, but shouldn't be any slower.
 
I'm not trying to stir anything here, I'm just hoping to offer some advice to all of us.  Let's not kneejerk react just yet and panic.  Let's all remember to breath, we are still with our loved ones, we're following all procedures, we're filling in the paperwork, and we'll wait.  Yes it's a long wait, but as long as you follow all the rules while waiting, you're not at risk of having your loved one deported.  And everything Trump does takes time to implement, if even approved.  Time that hell we may all have our green cards by then.  Don't panic just yet, breath.  Sure, stay informed, and know in the back of your minds that maybe this might delay us a bit, but don't panic.  It will work out in the end.

Why is it that no one is contacting their congressional representatives at the 90 day mark after NOA1? 
 
According to the document you linked, it says, "The director must either waive the requirement for an interview and adjudicate the petition or arrange for an interview within 90 days of the date on which the petition was properly filed."
 
Perhaps you may want to visit your senator sooner?
 
I used my representative during my K1 petition and got an answer within one week of their involvement. I am sure that this involvement was instrumental to the decision coming as it did.

Yes. I agree. It is long but I am sure we are not the only country where this process is long. Bureaucracy is bureaucracy, plain and simple.

It is true. You get a one year extension with the NOA letter. A lot of people, I think, want to be able to go on with the process of applying for citizenship which is the next step. You have to have an unconditional green card to be approved for Naturalization and most people will be eligible to apply for Natualizaton at 2yrs 9 months after conditional green card became valid which is one year after you became eligible to apply to lift the conditions. I think that some do not realize that it is possible to submit the I-400 even though the I-751 is still pending. I have heard that sometimes submitting this I-400 actually may cause a decision to the I-751 to be expedited. But I think the main reason for the worry is that the extension is for one year and they don't want that to pass before the I-751 is approved and they may also be worried about traveling outside the US with an expired green card and the extension letter but I have read that many people have had no problems doing this. 

Her is the "steps" how I've reached a Ttier 2 .. or at least someone "alive" to speak with
 
1. Call 1 800-375-5283
2. Yes, press 1 for English.
3. DO NOT press 2. You don't have your NOA1, plus - even if you had, the system wouldn't not recognize that anyway. It needs to be your ASC Notice Recipe # . So, listen to the end. There will be an option, the last one before "repeat "  - for any other questions press star key. This IS your option.
3. After "long robot speech"  press 4 "to reach services for LPR"
4. then 1 - again  "to reach services for LPR"
5. press 3, then 2..
 
Usually after that "a human" picks up the phone. They are contractors and don't have a real access to your case. Just let them know that you didn't receive anything, and the only way to check if there is something scheduled for you - to use your A#.. e.  After that,  if you are lucky enough, you can ask them to transfer you to a Tier 2 Immigration Officer due to your certain circumstances... Sometimes it works and you get transferred, sometimes  - does't. Very often it works after numerous calls - depends on a person who answers you first... 
 
It's so frustrating to not know what's going on and where you are AT....  
 
Wish you all the best!!!
 

You can try to call this National Customer Service Line
800-375-5283
but people you will get on hold first won't be really helpful, especially when there is no Receipt # which is the case.. So try to reach a Tier 2 IO (which is really a pain), who could check something, using your A#... Other than that  - there is really nothing you can do for now.. 
 
Also, they have 30 days from the date the package was received. But I remember your story,...   so if everything is fine - they have 30 days.  If it's meant to be returned - it can take about 3-4 weeks (month)  as well before you get it back..
So technically you are just on hold until Aug.11... Sorry about that.. 

Ho wow THAT was very close... and I thought I was good for procrastinating, I found my master here !
 
Did they cashed your check yet?

One month? Wow. We are cutting ours close. Just filed last week Tuesday, 18 July. Sent priority and tracking has it arriving 20 Jul. Conditionla Greencard expires 21 Jul. Whew!!! Just in time. I think sometimes we are crazy especially considering our country"s current immigration climate. But it is in. Yayyyy.

There is a receipt number on the MO, call the number and it lets you know if the MO is still outstanding or if it was cashed.

Note that on the Google Spreadsheet there are actually two pages.  Look at the bottom:  CSC and VSC.
This is not easily noticeable, so one member has already posted under wrong service center.
Probably best to post under the applicable service center because, as has been the past experience, the VSC is much, much, much slower than the CSC.
By having all the CSC on one sheet and VSC on a separate sheet, we will be comparing our individual progresses with relevant others, not with those who are being processed much faster or slower.

That was my situation as well. My window opened up at the end of May but we were away for a month and I didn't want to risk it. I sent it within 10 minutes of getting back home though and it did feel sooo good to finally have that package out of my house!! 
 
It was my understanding from the other threads I've read that it has to be USPS and that I should not ask for a signature since it is a P.O. Box. I did send it insured Priority Mail with tracking which from what I've read seems to be the right way to go. I remember someone saying somewhere that you could send by courier but that you needed to locate the physical address seeing as they can't courier to to a P.O. I didn't want to chance that as the I-751 instructions page only mentions the box address so I figured better to just follow their instructions explicitly.

You should also have noticed that it changed from Immigrant to nonimmigrant. This is typical for K1 visa because we are a nonimmigrant visa being handled by immigrant visa section. You should get two more status updates, one "administrative process" when they are working on your visa to issue it and one "issued" when your visa has been issued. After that it is a matter iof how you receuve your passport with visa and sealed documents. Here in Brazil we got each of those status updates on consecutive days, Fri, Mon, Tues, then the visa was sent to visa application service center from which we received an email and then a call on the next Fri to come that day to pickup the package.

Would you guys say that expecting your fiance(e) to be here by July a long shot? :/ I was expecting my fiance to be here by April/May when I started the process which of course isn't possible. The average just keeps getting longer and longer :'(