TRUSTNOONE

It will happen soon! My heart did drop when I saw it... Then tears, then jumping up and down in my bedroom trying not to wake up my child. lol I have been trying to call my fiancé for the past 20 minutes but he turned his phone off while he is sleeping! lol So my momma got my call. Now, I just wait for Paul to wake up and turn his phone on so I can tell him! lol

I am sure you will be approved with what you had. Not everyone gets approved on the spot. No, it isn't a red flag to keep adding her
on everything, you will definitely need it all the more for ROC for which you will need more documentation.
Consider life insurance, a will and power of attorneys for each other.

In this day and age, I don't see that being farfetched at all. In fact, I think it's a great tactic to use. It proves the couple knows each other extremely personally, and trusts each other.

USCIS office is not an embassy - different rules. You can bring electronics to the USCIS office - I had my phone when I had my naturalization interview.

I guess that is true. Thanks for the words of encouragement.
No, it's a subscription service. But it's only 10 bucks a month... I spend more at Starbucks in a week lol. I think it's def worth it imho... At the end of the day, the small investment is worth at least checking it out.

Yes... looks like Igor's list tracks around 600-700 cases from the backlog.
ImmiFairy, on the other hand, is tracking more than 10,000 cases and shows typically 10x (or even more) approvals per day than Igor's list. It also helps you see where your petition sits on the bell curve of those waiting to be adjudicated.
As I said, I find it helpful and the community on ImmiFairy is mostly K1s from TSC, so we have a lot of good discussions that can't be infiltrated by CSC noobs that are unknowingly insulting to our struggle haha...

Sweet... will apply now and see how I like it

I though it might be useful to have a thread just for the TSC filers, especially seeing as CSC approvals are already coming in for Feb! This way those of us who are in for a looooong wait have our own place to commiserate and vent our frustrations.

Is anyone else noticing that Igor's List seems to be sporadically updating the dates at the TSC? Yesterday it showed the TSC working on December 27 and today it is December 23. My estimated Timeline dates are fluctuating almost daily as well and I don't seem to be moving up in the slots at the TSC.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could explain the logic behind the timeline, statistically or technologically speaking? I know at 35,000 how it should work, but as I've watched my possible adjudication date move up by almost two weeks over the course of the 10-14 days, I have become extremely curious and highly cautious. My petition is at the TSC so the acceleration, while welcome, has me concerned as I am sure others are as well that have petitions at the TSC for months. I realize that garbage in can generate garbage out (as in if a CSC filer puts in the TSC because they confuse the lockbox with a service center), but what is really driving the sudden movement at this point? I can hypothesize too, but someone must have a good handle on the statistical side of what is going on.
Michael

I completely understand, believe me. While I am a February filer, I've been tracking this issue since about November or so, getting increasingly stressed and angry, knowing that I was about to get in that boat. My two biggest regrets are (1) deciding to try for a B2 visa (actually for a visit, seriously) before we got engaged (2) not applying for the K1 as soon as the B2 failed. Instead, I got all fussy about either or not our "engagement story" would line up with my application date and so instead of applying in late November (after the B2 fail), I waited until after my next visit (for New Year) when we got engaged.
Then it took my fiance a whole freaking month to get his act together on the G-325a. I can't even begin to tell you how angry I was every single day for that entire month.I'm STILL angry about it and it's been 7 months!!! I have typed and deleted the details of how and why this was so hard for him and the mean things I yelled but I just don't want it out there for posterity. Just know it was awful. With the wait at TSC looming the whole time. Now that he's getting super frustrated at the long wait time (and life in general, he's leading a "temporary life", or "life on hold" and is sick of it).... it is taking every fiber of my being to not say "I told you so. We could be on the embassy stage by now except that you didn't take me seriously in January when I said that this was really, really, really, really important that we file as soon as possible". Sigh.
The positives about the longer wait that I have found are this (I'd still trade this for faster processing but you have to find positives where they are):
1. We've weathered a storm together and are still together and are stronger for it, I believe.
2. We got to have an engagement party in Costa Rica and a bunch of my friends and family came down. If we'd been on the fast track, this wouldn't have happened. So now he's met my family and a few friends and has a much better idea of the life he's moving to.
3. My fiance has had time to live with another Costa Rican who has lived in the US for 20 or so years. So he's getting a little more exposure to US culture, how we do things (like banking...boring stuff), and practicing more English. Maybe this kind of extended preparation will be good for us in the future
4. I'm finding that planning a winter wedding means that basically everywhere you look is going to have availability and be much cheaper than most other times of the year. I never wanted a winter wedding, still don't particularly want one, but this is a definite perk, especially given the short timeframe and the amble availability. You cannot plan a May-October wedding at most typical venues with 90 day's notice. Not around here.
5. Honestly, the few naysayers who were dead convinced that he's in this for a green card have shut the hell up. Especially after HE was the reason we delayed the application in the first place (lol---visa scammers don't waste time). I think that the extended period of time for them to get the heck used to the idea has been beneficial to us.

Re: "what's being done to fix it". USCIS thinks it already solved this problem.
They're never going to find out the cause of the backlog. Or, at least, they'll never really admit to it. I'm sorry, you are really fighting a losing battle on that front, partially because this battle has already been fought, lost, but the "war" has been won (see point #4 for clarification on this). There's many reasons for this.
1: The district offices that do the constituent service requests and the political offices in DC are two different entities, and really don't work together much because their missions really don't overlap all too much (I have worked for both types of offices before, you have to trust me on this). So, your personal problem is a district office issue, the mis-management of USCIS is a political office issue. You're simply not going to get both issues handled by the same person, or even the same office.
2: Congress has almost no "teeth" with USCIS. This is because the main way that Congress (the legislative branch) gets to boss around the federal agencies (which are the executive branch) is by controling their funding (Congress is the branch of government that allocates funds and makes the budget). But, USCIS is not funded by federal money. It's funded by our fees. So Congress really has very little leverage over this particular agency.
3. If Congress DID have leverage over this agency, with the way politics are now, they would not use it to help applicats. They would use it to dismantle DACA and prevent DAPA from going through. (Many of them have as much as said this).
4. USCIS considers that it has properly addressed this backlog already. For months, as long as I've been here (started lurking in Oct 2014), the TSC filers here on Visajourny were trying to fight this same battle. There were petitions galore. I think there's still a letter out to the President with thousands of signatures that has gone un-responded to (I'm not sure about this, I wasn't working on the letter, just watched all of this go down). USCIS DID finally get the message somehow and made the March 27 change (the change where now the Lockbox sends all new petitions to CSC. Either it's because only CSC will deal with them from now on or because the Lockbox is sending to the office with the shortest "line". No one knows).
If you're interested, I am 90% sure that it was through the efforts of VJ members who managed to contact Senate committee staff the morning that this hearing happened:
http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/oversight-of-us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-ensuring-agency-priorities-comply-with-the-law
One of the men testifying to the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest is Donald Neufeld, the Associate Director of Service Center Operations for USCIS. The guy in charge of the service centers. The group reported (I can't find the thread now) that they got in touch with the committee staff and presented this case about the backlog. While it was NOT addressed by the Senators in the hearing, it seems possible, if not very likely, that the proof of the backlog got through to him. Because 3 weeks later, they announced the March 27 change. The change that made it so that the Lockbox routes new petitions to the service center with the shortest "line" (or maybe CSC will handle 100% of petitions from now on so if they ever get a backlog, at least there will be an EQUAL backlog). They consider that "the fix". If you were already in line at TSC before March 27, you aren't being moved. You are still stuck in this unfair timeline situation. You're, basically, screw3d. But, the root issue (that the two offices were processing at such vastly different speeds) is considered solved. The rest of us are collateral damage. In a couple of months, none of us 6+ monthers will be left at TSC and we go away. If they thought about those of us left behind "in line" at TSC at all, they probably did a quick mental calculation that said "we'll only have to listen to b!tching from those guys from April through August or so...easier than trying to figure out how to balance the workload". That's quite often how decisions like that get made, both in private industry and government.
5. What other change could they make at this stage? They can't rewind time and even things out earlier. They can't expedite all the rest of us left at TSC (and all of the rest of us are in for a 6+ month long wait. If we all are entitle to "expedites", none of us are really expedited). We don't want to get transferred to CSC anymore because that will just add time at this stage. They have (in their opinion at least), made a change that will prevent such timeline discrepancies from happening again.... So what change is left to be made? To just expedite you yourself? Even if they could (USCIS manipulates those dates so that almost no one is outside normal processing time and almost no one is eligible for congressional inquiry)....that doesn't solve the problem of the backlog either. Just solves your problem.
If you want to know the reason this all happened in the first place---lots of theories about that, some more politically charged than others. I personally don't care or have an opinion, but I will tell you what the prevailing opinion on VJ seems to be: a new program that opened the door for millions of new applications (DACA) was made, and not enough (if any) additional staff was hired. It slowed everything down. It seems like no one with enough oversight authority was looking out for discrepancies between the service centers, and it ballooned to the point this winter that some people got through CSC in 4 days (no joke), while others were at TSC for 8.5 months. True, false? Who knows. Doesn't really matter anyway. But clearly, someone somewhere was asleep at the wheel that the processing time discrepancy got that bad without anyone acting.

Some of these replies are a bit lengthy, so I'm going to refrain from quoting them directly.
CatherineA --
I definitely believe it's a cultural difference. In the US, we tend to prioritize business over pleasure (speciflcally, personal relationships, such as friendships, etc.) and place a significant amount of emphasis on being timely to the second, but in many (if not all) Latin American countries, this is reversed: being "on time" isn't important (the number of times we've had a close call at the airport has made this perfectly clear), while personal relationships have much greater priority over business issues--including, it appears, immigration paperwork.
Harel was practically the same as your fiance with the G-325A. I had to pry all the information out of him, and with his parents in the room, make him confirm their birthdates and places of birth. Even then, we still had to approximate his beginning and ending dates for almost all of his jobs (unfortunately, he's had a lot), and almost all of them lack specific street addresses, because he just couldn't remember (and apparently Google wouldn't help him? *sigh*). He started a new job in April, and it literally wasn't until I sat down with him last week and begged him to give me the employer information that I finally got it, despite asking as soon as he started.
Definitely a cultural issue.
I also understand the Level 5 Meltdowns. We've had a few of those, but they've not been in regards to immigration issues (although, at our worst in arguments, bringing up immigration issues tends to be the most hurtful things we say to each other... *sigh*). I was also frustrated with Skype when things started, but after experiencing the weak internet connections firsthand when we met in person, I gained a touch of compassion for what he's going through. We've also developed excellent communication skills, and while they don't always sidestep arguments, they have allowed us to discuss things calmly afterwards, which has been very helpful. But even so, he still can't fathom the sense of urgency I have about visa issues, that quite frankly, he needs, too. So if I'm able to figure out how to get through to him about this, I'll let you know. Hell, I'll even write a manual that can be added to VJ's FAQ section! "How To Overcome US-Latin Cultural Differences!" Hahaha!
yuna628 --
In our case the passport issue was a complete oversight on my part and (ignorance? lack of focus? insufficient knowledge?) on his. He had previously visited the US in 2012 or 2013 (I'm being too lazy to look it up), so I knew he had a passport, but what I didn't know is that in Mexico passports have varying lengths of validity, at 3, 5, or 10 years, so I thought, hey, I got my passport in 2008, and it's valid until 2018, so this mustn't be an issue. Then we filed and he told me his passport had expired. If I had known it sooner, I would've insisted it was renewed before filing, but we missed the mark, and now we're waiting. He's told me he's going to get it renewed on the fourteenth when he visits his parents next (apparently passports are processed fasted in Queretaro, his hometown, than in Mexico City), and trust me, if it's not done, it won't be pretty.
After hearing about the birth certificate...fiasco you went through, I think I'm going to make a list of things he needs to do, in addition to the passport, when he's at home. There's just too much at stake, and I really wish he'll finally realize this, but I honestly can't say if he'll ever realize how intense this is on us, the petitioners!
This. OMG. THIS.
Every time I'm down here, I go through this, and he knows it bothers me, he knows I'm really introverted and I have social anxieties and it drives me freaking crazy every time I'm like, "What's the plan, so I can mentally prepare myself?" and he's just like "Well...there isn't a plan." For goodness sake, half the arguments we've had--and I mean those Level 5 Meltdowns--have been because we're out with his friends and it pushes me to my limits, and he just can't understand why I'm not comfortable--because I needed a plan to psych myself out.
Thankfully, after this last time when we were literally arguing for three hours outside his friend's apartment, I think it finally sunk in how serious I am when I say I need to know what's happening or I can't handle it. He even voluntarily turned down an offer to go out so it wouldn't be two nights in a row, and after the next time he even checked in to make sure I was comfortable out with his friends. That is genuinely important progress. (=

Hey everyone,
I know it seems there was some success with them now routing new cases to CSC, but obviously a bunch of us are still stuck in TSC purgatory for the foreseeable future. That being said, I'm open to coordinating a request for in-person meetings with our Congressmen. I'm not sure if this has been offered or done already, but I figured if I could get anyone to go with me, it may be more impactful.
I live in Houston, Texas Congressional District 2, Congressman Ted Poe.
Anyone else interested in trying to organize by location?

I've done the same thing and tracking about 30 numbers before and after mine.
I also signed up for a subscription to Immifairy and get a daily report that shows the progress, or lack thereof, at TSC.

Yes. The white house contact has seen and read my letter to the president. He was lied to when they came back and told him that nothing was wrong. He knew that and told them about it. But they denied it, choosing instead to go by what the USCIS told them, which of course that all centers are processing the I-129F in 5 months.
Reportedly he was angry that they lied about it and so he has taken up the cause to do something. What that will entail is TBD.
Thanks

This is a congressional contact? And so how many times has USCIS lied to congressional staff about this (that we know of)? Have you shown our data to these people?

That's BS.

Hurricane hit in November 2013. No more expedites
Philippines just always moves faster than most other countries, has been that way for many many years now......

Wow that was a lot. Why don't we contact the president while we are at it. I think President Obama needs to do something about it. I just submitted mine on the 12th and I'm disappointed in the wait that is in store. We all pay the same amount of money and if your FIANCE is from the Philippines you luck up and are automatically expedited. Csc are even faster. There is a significance difference in approvals for CSC vs TSC. I hate this process!

Hi All,

There's been various information scattered over these forums in complaining to the government/agencies about the TSC backlog.

Now before we begin (as unfortunately there are some people who like to flame on forums), if you are happy with patiently waiting for the TSC to reach your application or a CSC applicant who won't support people in the TSC backlog please don't write any counter-productive messages here, they are not welcome or necessary. We should remember that this new chapter in our lives that should be a happy and exciting one that involves huge life changes and we are in it together!

Note: if you are of Filipino birth then this is not relevant to you as your case will be expedited.

This post is for people whom are in the 7-8 month and growing backlog of TSC compared to the CSC processing I-129f forms in 3 or so weeks. The effect of such a long wait for TSC has put us under financial burden (we have to pay for more flights to see our family of which, especially entering summer, is very expensive, rolling rental agreements etc), emotional stress (never knowing when you'll be together), job insecurity (knowing we'll leave but not being able to tell anyone), family stress (when things go wrong and your partner is not there, especially when there are children) and a number of other stresses.

As individuals there is very little we can do or where we would have any impact. As a community we can shout a bit louder, chance of success is still low but in my view when your family happiness is at stake and of course the "you don't know unless you try" we might as well try something/anything.

The "magic" time benchmark seems to be 5 months (6 months stated on USCIS complaint site),this being the objective service centers time in processing the I-129f. There are some statistics here showing the clear backlog of TSC for "normal" as in non-expedited I-129fs:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/536429-texas-service-center-processing-time-2015/page-6#entry7487871

The objective of all the complaints has been to raise awareness around the poor management of handling backlogs in service centers and service centers not being able to share workloads. This then causing unfairness for the visa application community into a state lottery where the service center that handles your case depends on what state the petitioner lives in. If you are unlucky and get a TSC state then you are in for a long long wait. The best we could hope for by the community raising awareness of the TSC problem is the hope it'll initiate the sharing of workloads between service centers, we can at least try to push for this mandate.

Kudos should go to Stef and Kristin whom have been putting a lot of work in the below linked posts. I wanted to collate all of this in one location for new people entering the K1 process under TSC.

What service center are you? It will say on the NOA1 the address of the Service Center, also you can put your zip in here: https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=offices.type&OfficeLocator.office_type=SC
NOTE: The Texas lockbox where you send your I-129f does not mean you are at TSC! Check above link.

Check your case status and sign up for "touch" (when your I-129f is handled by an agent) alerts: https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

You are supposed to first contact National Customer Service Center (1-800-375-5283) but you'll just get a load of blah. Then apparently if 15 days have past without appropriate response you can contact the USCIS Service Center (again, likely blah blah reply) California Service Center: csc-ncsc-followup@dhs.gov Vermont Service Center: vsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov Nebraska Service Center: ncscfollowup.nsc@dhs.gov Texas Service Center: tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov. Then again after 21 days you can contact USCIS Headquarters Office of Service Center Operations, email: SCOPSSCATA@dhs.gov.
http://www.uscis.gov/archive/archive-news/uscis-update-case-status-inquiries-service-centers

Fill in an online form if you are past six months (probably no harm in submitting past 5 months): https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/displayONPTForm.do?entryPoint=init&sroPageType=onpt

Contact CIS Ombudsman whom are "dedicated to improving the quality of citizenship and immigration services": http://www.dhs.gov/topic/cis-ombudsman
email at: cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov
Note: a quote from them - "You must first attempt to resolve any concerns with USCIS before coming to this office."

Contact your senator, example of letters by Kristin and Stef here (and plenty others on the forums): http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/525507-november-2014-filers-texas-service-center/page-10#entry7442979
Who's your senator/representative? https://www.opencongress.org/people/zipcodelookup

Complain to Department of Homeland Security: http://www.oig.dhs.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=177%3Ahotlineformnstructions-&catid=1&Itemid=133
See examples by Stef:http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/516802-k-1-october-20014-filers/page-44#entry7486304

Sign the change.org petition by Kristin: https://www.change.org/p/uscis-distribute-the-current-caseload-between-tsc-csc-vsc-and-nsc
Kristin is also following up with a news article on New York Times -http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/536174-ny-times-article-about-processing-times-need-info-by-monday/
Contribute your story on tumblr: http://helptsc.tumblr.com/by stef - email your story to helptscnow@gmail.com - either use different names or specify change them

I wish everyone and their partners good luck in your applications and thanks to the VJ community for being able to share the stress with this frustrating wait in TSC backlog. I'm sure when we look back at it, it will be a blip in history, just a painful blip of what is meant to be an exciting change for us all.

Forgo what waiting period exactly ? You have an easy RFE and could be approved in a matter of a few weeks. Marry and start over and wait
for 12-14 more months ? Why ? That's adding not subtracting time.

The information given is correct. You are VERY close to the end of this process if it continues to go smoothly. Those are easy RFE's to respond to. If you get married, as stated, the USC will have to file a spousal visa which can take a year or longer. You will be waiting less time if you continue the process you're on.

There is no immigration without extensive scrutiny from American government. If you get married, you will need to formally withdraw your fiance visa, and then file for a CR1.

Probably better not to though it's kind of silly since a lot of interviewers seem to ask questions about wedding plans!!!