gryphon

Wow another approval, congrats! Seems we're going to have a bang up party in this thread!

Well, I'm technically a November filer, I just crashed this party to offer some encouragement =P

I would assume it has to do with the link between a particular country and DHS' assertion of the threat from that region based upon their intelligence for whatever reason (corruption, terrorism, insurgency, fraud, etc.). If there's a correlation between gender and length of time, it's probably got something to do with statistical analysis. i.e. Males are more likely to be a threat, they are incarcerated more often, etc.

Thank you! I wilm be following this thread. I am expecting a NOA2 around June time but it is a bit too optimistic. I am now at Heathrow and headed to thr USA to visit my husband tomorrow. So I am in a good mood. Hopefully I won't have any issue at the POE.

Yay! Positive thoughts =) Have a great trip!

For the NOA2, I took the "Hope for the best, plan for the worst" approach. If you go by the service center timeline from USCIS, they're processing 9/2/2015 (as of 3/14/2016). However, my NOA1 was 11/16/15 and it got completed 3/29, so it's definitely better than their projections _for the moment_. Could get better, could get worse, just keep checking and don't be too tied to a specific date. But of course, best of luck!!!

So, my wife's I-130 was apparently approved 3/29 - I found this out on 3/30 because I checked every morning by going to the USCIS Case Tracker, and it said:

"On March 29, 2016, we approved your Form I-130, Immigrant Petition for Relative, Fiance(E), or Orphan, Receipt Number LINXXXX. We will mail your approval notice. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address."

And, of course, I was super excited. I was so excited, I was in a bit of disbelief a few hours later and checked it and it said something different:

"On March 30, 2016, we sent your case, Receipt Number LINXXXX, to the Department of State for visa processing. Please visit our website for general information on Consular Processing. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address."

So... does that mean that they've officially sent it to the NVC? Just the one day later? Or is that just boilerplate information?

Congrats!! Let's hope the NVC gets those case #'s quickly!

Apparently my wife's I-130 was approved yesterday!! So excited!!

Umm ok, well to be honest I think they sometimes randomly select cases hehe

Good luck everyone, I know it's hard to be patience but that's the only option ?

I think it's a bit of both... wish I could post a direct link, but if you search the timelines you can see that 19/40 NSC I-130's with Nov 2015 NOA1's have been approved. It seems a pretty even distribution across countries EXCEPT that the Philippines (which had the second highest number of people filing) were ALL completed in an average of 38 days between NOA1 and NOA2!! Canada has the highest number of filers with 0 approvals (which, of course, is where my wife is from!)

I tried to cut and paste the data table, but it doesn't format properly, so I added a screenshot for those who aren't sure and/or are too lazy to search for the data =P

I was thinking it has to do with the beneficiary's country as well but they don't give accurate information when you call uscis. There's only a few November filers left that haven't been touched me being one of them. It's frustrating. But I've seen this on the uscis app

I'm right there with you! Still waiting on ours too. =(

Have you watched the news lately? Seriously you have no idea why you are in AP? You are in AP because of the unrest in the Middle East. The fact that they do not know you is EXACTLY why you are in AP. How old are you? You act very young. Immigration is a difficult process, and crying that it's unfair will do you no good. Instead keep yourself busy to take you mind off of it. My friend's husband is from Egypt and he received his visa 2 days ago, after 5 years of AP. you have had 10 days and you're already falling apart.

This is true, but I'm sure many of us had great feelings of despair and depression, more especially at the beginning of the process. That's why there are all those "12 stages of ..." classes and support groups.

Sometimes, sambecka17, it helps to know you're not alone in the process. It's a long, difficult process, and sometimes it feels personal, but mimolicious is right that it's the country and location of the World and not you specifically. It is also true that crying won't really help, but really, nothing's going to really help! That is, nothing's going to change how long it will take, but other things could help you or your wife. Grieving can be part of it, but don't get caught up in the desperation of the situation and (like mimolicious says) try to keep your mind off of it. Find something you both can do together online to have fun or watch a show on Netflix together or start a new "online" tradition - anything can help! Maybe keep a journal to write down your feelings each day and see how they change over time - and know that you WILL adapt to the situation. You both will survive. It's painful, but you'll get through! =)

I think I've also seen something about contacting a Senator for help with AP, but don't quote me on that, I've only seen it in passing.

Best of luck. My wife and I are on Skype whenever we can be and that's helped a bit, but it's still difficult, of course. I do hope it goes quickly and efficiently for you!

My noa1 was for November 4th and I still have yet to receive noa2....

From the timeline search, it looks like less than half of Nov I-130 NSC filers have received their NOA2, with the median average by beneficiary's country being around 120-130 days. Nov 16th NOA1 here with no NOA2 yet either. Keep those fingers crossed, candles lit, rabbit's feet handy and anything else you can think of to bring good luck/blessings =)

Well, what that means is that they're currently processing I-130's dated from September 2, 2015 (or so they say). Other service centers say (explicitly) 5 months for the I-130.

So, I was sitting getting ready for work this morning when I received an e-mail notification on my phone. I just glanced at it and then grabbed my phone when I saw it was from USCIS. It was the e-mail I had been waiting for ! We were approved !!!!!!!

I am so thankful that this part is over ! On to the NVC and praying that the rest of the process will be over quickly.

Good luck to everyone still waiting for their approval. Keep the faith !

Congratulations!!! I can't wait for the day I get that email =P I hope the rest of the process goes smoothly for you both as well - keep us posted!

My wife's petition was received Nov 16th and sent to the NSC. Checking the estimated times on a regular basis, and (if my calculations are correct), it should be approved by late May and everything else approved by the end of August. So long to keep going, but yay bureaucracy.

EDIT - I just saw from your original post that you were sent to the NSC as well. But on the estimate of times, as of 2/11 they were still processing August I-130's. Did yours get expedited?

Lots of things in the US make no sense. It is the way the system works.

Somebody I know trained to be an AC Navigator. So he printed the documents off, 8000 pages.

He said you could see how it started off and how it had been amended to suit the needs of special interest groups.

Still not quite sure what you are seeking to achieve. Faster processing? Obviously if all this took a month then all the other issues go away.

So let's not try to fix anything because that's the way it's done now?

Directly from the petition: " I'm not asking for anyone's permanent residence to be fast tracked,"

"I created this petition to call upon President Obama to issue an Executive Order to the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol, allowing temporary reprieve, in the form of non-immigrant visitor visas, to the immediate family members of US Citizens who are currently petitioning to become permanent residents. These visas should be similar to those allowed under the Visa Waiver Plan, which do not allow for a change of status during the visit."

Which additional elements should be clarified?

Wow, uhm, nevermind I guess. Please close this thread. It appears that even when I say things, people aren't reading them and I'm encountering more resistance from people who are going/have gone through the immigration process than from USCIS.

My mistake.

Yea, I can't really argue with that - though really it (the petition) isn't about just my wife's situation, as it would be HIGHLY likely that even if anything changed it would be too late to make any difference. Also the overstay and never issue again would be for the visa issued while the processing was occurring. We had never initiated immigration procedures before the overstay. It doesn't make much difference either way, but just clarifying =)

I also don't think it's terribly inconceivable that I'd be upset about the situation and want to look for alternatives. As I've said before, the question shouldn't JUST be "What are you doing that you need to change the way things are?" but also "Does it make sense to have things the way they are?".

Yes. I get your point.

For some reason it was stuck in my head that the affidavit of support was part of that step. Regardless, if financial support needs to be proven before granting a "family visitor visa", that could be part of the process.

If you can't financially sponsor your relative, then the I-130 is moot. Yes, technically it's the I-864, sorry.

That seems pretty "guilty until proven innocent" =) If the financial support is proven (via the I-130), it really shouldn't be an issue. I can understand that it could be abused, although I think any employer that's going to abuse that isn't going to care if you have to travel back and forth and it strikes me as rather a spurious way to enforce employment laws. Lack of enforcement with regards to employers themselves and the sledgehammer against immigrants themselves is probably why we have such a prevalent illegal immigration problem. That being said, I think something similar to the 90-day VWP could be a compromise - again, with no allowance for status change. Even a 60-day with 30-day gap is much more fair, although the logistics (of going back and forth) are still just painful. If it's the work issue that's the real problem, the gov't needs to be going after the employers more and stop making the immigrants jump through so many hoops just to "make sure" they're not going to work. But DHS spends a billion just to get 1 USCIS form online after eleven years, so I doubt anything like that will happen anytime soon.

Just FYI, I've updated some of the language in the petition based on suggestions here.

I guess I still don't understand what's so bad about 'camping out'. If you've let them in the country, then what is the time limit supposed to prevent that's actually bad - if they've got financial support (which can be VERY quickly checked from the US sponsor's tax returns)? The only difference to the US now that my wife is in Canada is that half of our money contributes to Canada's economy instead of the US'. They've still got to return to their home country for the interview process.

I'm not sure I follow your last part about adjudication and so on. Perhaps there was something in the news I missed.

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I do concur with some elements of the B3-type.. if only our do-nothing politicians could get their act together. Sadly, any immi or visa reforms are way down on Washington's bucket list.

I think that last part is something we can definitely all agree on =)

Sounds like she was living in the US on a Visitor Visa.

You will need details of the visits for your immigrant applications. She flew? So should be easy.

Yes, that's all detailed on the I-130, but it's too lengthy to list here at the risk of causing myself and others to go cross-eyed =) She was here quite often, that's definitely true. We didn't think it was an issue, and we've put it out there for USCIS to see. If they say it's a big issue, oh well - Canada here I come.

I definitely would be elated to have that as a solution.

However, I have to ask, in terms of the bigger picture, why would there be a time limit at all - especially for spouses/children who have no wait time for a green card besides the processing time. Why should the individual be penalized for the sluggishness of the government? What is the real reason behind having that kind of restriction besides "that's the way it's always been done"?

That being said if HFM181818's proposal was a "take-it-or-leave-it" solution, I'd definitely be all for it XD

She's visited quite often - so often we've lost count. But I can assure you the overstay was definitely unintentional. Definitely careless, but not intentional. We'd gotten so used to her flying back to Canada to see her Mom that when her Mom got better last year and she came and visited in May, we simply didn't remember that my wife hadn't been out of the country as she should've been. In any event, I don't disagree. if you do break the rules (intentionally or unintentionally), I don't think nothing should happen. That said, sometimes you have to look at why rules are rules in the first place, and if they're really of any benefit or not.

We're a one-income family, and that's what we'd been doing for the past six years before they told my wife she had to get her IR1. Of course, the guy at the border also said she could apply for Advanced Parole, so I'm not sure he knew exactly how things work (or maybe I don't) and I'm not sure what they recorded in the system. We're both a bit worried about what to say or do because we don't want to mess anything up. I guess worst case, I could always just move to Canada. Her getting a job would really just preclude her from being able to stay for any extended period of time because of work (instead of just not being able to come into the US). I'll probably just go ahead and continue going up there.

Thanks for sharing your stories - we've also done the "leave Skype on all night" thing =) Hopefully you can understand what I'm getting at with the petition, but if you have wording suggestions or any other advice, I'm more than open to hearing it. I know I'll need to change the goal a bit.

For the time being I've been visiting her, as it is a much easier process. But less than ten days together at a time still isn't what I'd consider to be keeping a family together.

Did CBP know you were undergoing the immigration process when you would cross?

At this point, i don't even know what to say or not do say to them. She has an apt but not a job. All her family is there as well.