Reggie182

What a relief for you all! Congratulations! Hopefully we will be right behind you soon. My husband's medical is on the 8th and his interview on the 22nd. We must be the last ones from this group lol. It has been a LONG journey, for sure. Congrats again!

Definitely not the last ones. There are still 3 couples here (including my wife and I) that haven't even had our I-130s approved yet. We're still not past step 1. You're definitely in the lucky bunch here, trust me.

Wow it sounds like there's a lot of awesome things going on for everyone! That's fantastic to hear! I'm so glad that so many people are moving forward and getting closer and closer to putting all of this immigration hassle behind them. Best of luck to everyone!

And a special good luck to AH88 and their husband in the upcoming interview. I really hope all goes well!

Guys I got approved! I'm so happy I was about to cry at the embassy XD

Congrats Fatigo, I'm really happy for you! Enjoy Ohio for both of us until I get back!

Case completed at NVC yesterday!!! Just got off the phone with them. Wahooo!

Hey congrats Blanche! I'm really really happy for you, I know how badly you wanted to see some progress.

I woke up and saw your message and that definitely started my day off on a positive note. Then I learned about what our RFE was about, and got the document that I needed for that. My lawyer mailed it off to USCIS already, and sent me a list of documents to get together for the NVC stage. I already have most of them together, and really just need to wait for my wife's police records which we'll need to mail out for.

So I guess long story short, although there really isn't, it feels like there's a lot of fun progress on my case too. I hope things continue to go smoothly for everyone!

-Reg

Hi Reggie, like JFH said your RFE info is only on the actual document. Back in December were you able to find out at all what the problem was why you did not get the mail? I don't know if they handle it differently for RFEs but I've heard of others on this forum change their address to the address of someone they know in the US, and then have USCIS resend it to that address.

Its good you finally heard about your case, just hope you can get this mail issue fixed somehow.

The address they have for me already lists my parent's house in the US, so there shouldn't be an international mail issue. Even so, they didn't receive the NOA1 in the mail like they should have, and I called USCIS and asked about this. They simply said "well we tried to send it to whatever address was listed on your forms, so if you didn't get it, it was either lost in the mail or you put the wrong address on the forms" (which we most certainly did not do). My lawyer's office got the mail NOA1 though, so hopefully they'll get the RFE even if my parents don't.

Also, to Blanche, I want you to believe me when I say that I perfectly understand how you feel. It's almost as if you typed out my inner thoughts. I would love nothing more than to be able to move back to America and start my life with my wife again, and as much as I've thought about leaving her here and going myself, I can't bring myself to abandon her like that. She'd be crushed if I left her alone here. And USCIS certainly doesn't help at all to speed anything along. I understand how hard it must be to always pay attention to every detail of every single case and to genuinely put forth effort and energy to make everything go as quickly and smoothly as possible for each applicant; it's honestly rather unrealistic to expect that from someone. But it feels like they really take that leeway I'm willing to give a little too far at times. Half the time, it seems like they don't really care at all about your case and like they're not even trying to sort things out for you. It's really a terrible system when you think about it, but American immigration reform is rather unlikely to happen any time soon, much to the dismay of all of us in this position. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that even if nobody else understands how you feel about all of this Blanche, I definitely do, and we're hanging in there together.

Thanks for the info JFH and Looky. It's definitely not what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate knowing about it anyway. Best of luck to everyone.

-Reg

Yesterday, we finally got our first case status update after our initial NOA1. It was 7 months and 1 day after our NOA1. Unfortunately, we got an RFE, so it's going to be another month or two added on to our already asinine wait. No idea what they want from us. Does anyone know if we can check what the RFE says online? We had trouble receiving mail from USCIS back in December so I'm worried that we might not get this letter in the mail and I don't want to have to wait until August 21st to be able to submit an e-request in case we don't get anything in the mail. (The email we got said that we can submit an e-request if we don't get anything in the mail by August 21st).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Reg

Hello forum..... I did file my 130 on dec 28 2015. Nsc

NOA 1 on 01/4/2016

Up to date .. Nothing has been done on the case. Called customer service,,, they said I should call back in 2 months time if I don't get approval notification... Since its not yet 5 months.. Also seeing that people who filed same time Dec 2015 have gotten approved awhile ago, make me sad!!!!!!!!! ?

Hey Sammy. I mailed in my I-130 on December 9th, they gave me my NOA1 on December 21st. It's been over 5 months for me, and we still haven't heard anything. I've contacted my congressmen and gotten them involved and they're "looking into it" for me. No word about how that's going yet from them either.

It's extremely frustrating seeing everyone else being approved and getting their case numbers and filling out their forms and paying their fees and moving months ahead of you in the process when you both filed at the same time. I think along with SophJosh, we're the only December filers left here that haven't been approved. How many others have been in this thread? 20? 25? 30? Somewhere around there?

It doesn't help that VJ's "currently processing dates" have said that our case was only 2-5 days away for the past 3 months; I don't trust those at all since it's obviously so horrendously inaccurate. It seems like the California Service Center has basically just shut down completely over the past 3 months, they're approving about half of the petitions per day that they used to, if even that many, based on VJ's statistics. And it really stinks that there is nothing you can do but sit and wait and hope and watch the world go by around you while you're stuck in place. It really sucks, and I wouldn't wish this truly awful feeling of hopelessness on anyone.

It really stinks Sammy, but at least know that there are still a few of us here that are in the same position as you are. Best of luck, and I hope you get approved soon. The fewer of us stuck on this portion of things, the better.

Best wishes,

-Reg

That's awesome Dub and Mac, really happy for you guys!

What was your NOA1 date?

Also you had to be living in Ireland for a while when you filed the petition. Maybe that's why you didn't get the DCF?

I had been living here in Ireland since August when my wife and I got married. My NOA1 date is December 21. I came back home to America to drop off forms at my lawyer's office and they mailed our stuff out on the 9th. We didn't get the NOA1 until the 21st though, so we're coming up on the 5 month mark in about 2 weeks here...

Yeah Reggie, that's another reason VJ is so popular, it gives people some hope and company with others in the same situation. If any of us were waiting at home just sitting around alone for 5+ months not knowing anything of what's going on we'd go crazy. The USCIS guys wouldn't tell you anything.

So when you first came on I thought your case would be one of those DCF type cases, which would get NOA2 in a month. Aren't you and your wife both living abroad?

Yes, my wife and I are both living here in Ireland with my in-laws. I thought we'd get approved quickly too, and yet...

Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait some more. If this goes on until the 5 month mark, I'll call up USCIS and even NVC and see if they heard anything about our case.

Sometimes it's hard to be on this thread, seeing everyone else getting approved while you're still waiting. It is really frustrating some days. But I'm really glad that I get to be a part of this group, that I know people are being approved, and that I can see everyone else getting really excited and really happy at times. It's very encouraging to know that there are other people out there in the same position as my wife and I.

Without this thread, I'd probably be losing my mind about now, wondering why it's taking so long to approve our case, especially since CSC seemed to be taking about 2 months to process cases a few months ago, and now it's taking longer than the other service centers.I'd be sat here questioning if I filled out some incorrect information, or if my lawyer messed up with the paperwork he did, and if we had somehow slipped through the crack between a couple desks and have been passed up or forgotten, or some other crazy thing. It's really encouraging to know that others have been waiting as long as we have, or even longer in some cases, and that we're not the only ones wondering when we're ever going to be approved.

I'm glad to be a part of this group. Thanks for being a small family and for being here supporting each other, it's really great to see, and I love that we're all hoping for the same thing and travelling down the same path together. Best of luck to everyone in whatever part of the process you're on. Speedy wishes to everyone. Good luck!

Yeah, I was about to say, we still haven't been approved yet. This has been the longest and most miserable honeymoon ever... Good luck to SophJosh and Daylight, I hope we all get approved in the next couple days! (Today or tomorrow?)

And congrats Ms F Brown! I know you were worried and it's great to see that you were approved!

Also congrats to RSDP!

And to anyone and everyone else I might have missed! Good luck with the NVC part of things!

I think me and you are the only 2 left that's waiting for an approval lol.

I'm also still waiting for an approval. I believe a couple others as well. Didn't someone also get an RFE unfortunately a week or so ago? There are still a few of us, so don't feel like you guys are the only ones still waiting. It's unfortunate, but there are still a few of us yet to hear any good news on our cases.

Well this is weird and very good news! I received our NOA2 in the mail! Case Status has always only said Case Received. The NOA2 notice date is April 18th.

Wow what a surprise for being a Texas filer got it a month earlier than expected.

Wow! Congrats Looky! I'm really happy for you. And you got the lucky jackpot #777 post in this thread! Good for you, you're definitely the most active one here, so I kinda feel like you deserve it for getting this thread together and keeping it active. Thanks and congrats again!

Im dec.22 filer I got an email today Fr. USCIS and its Approval notice..Almost 4 months and thank you lord

Congrats Neragail! We're really happy for you!

On April 19, 2016, we approved your Form I-130, Immigrant Petition for Relative, Fiance(E), or Orphan, Receipt Number LINXXXXXXX. We will mail your approval notice. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you move, go towww.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

our case was approved just now

does this mean its being sent to the NVC ?

Congrats Sanil! And thanks for the link to the phone app, I've downloaded it already. It's really awesome and encouraging to see so many other December filers getting approved!

I meant that it's easier to get a green card through the lottery than through other means. I mean, what would the point of the lottery be if it weren't easier to qualify for than other methods. You just sign up and hope to win, and you don't have a whole lot else you need to do. No preparing marriage evidence like mad or trying to get a company to hire you from abroad, which is a nightmare to do without connections. And you don't have to keep anything going after you get into the country, like keeping the same job on a work visa, or keeping the marriage alive on a family visa, it's mostly just get in and don't get into trouble. Much less of a hassle than the other methods. I wasn't aware of the country limit because my wife was in a qualifying country and I guess it just wasn't that important to us at the time. Like I said, I read up on this ages ago and didn't really remember a lot of specifics.

Also, it seems that entry into the lottery is free. The entry period runs from October 1st, through a few days into November each year. I wouldn't recommend anyone here doing this next October, because you won't get the results back until 2018, and I don't figure that you want to wait 2 more years for a slim chance at a free green card, so perhaps it would have been best if I hadn't brought this up in the first place. Sorry! >,<

Ok thank you very much for the info. I will have to must definitely look into that lottery.

Do, though I think that you need to enter at a certain time of the year in order to be in it. I believe it starts in October and ends in December if I'm not mistaken? Or perhaps that was something else, I could be very wrong on that, haha. I don't really remember much else, my wife entered this a long time ago. After a quick search though, it seems like we might have entered a year too late, and that the drawing that will be announced this year might be for people who entered in 2014, not 2015. So unfortunately, it seems that our entry was a waste and that we will already be living in America (hopefully, fingers crossed!) by the time our drawing comes around. Oh well.

Anyway, good luck to everyone still waiting to get approved. There are a lot of us in that boat, so let's keep heart and stay strong for however long it takes to finally get through this process!

If you don't mind me asking. But what is the Diversity Lottery??

Basically, if you're an intending immigrant to America, you can pay a small fee to have your name entered into a large collection of names from people all over the world who have also paid to have their names in this pool. Every year, there is a drawing of 55,000 names (or so, I'm not sure exactly how many), and if your name gets drawn, you're instantly awarded a green card, no interview, no strings attached, no questions asked. This is for "diversity purposes", to make America a more diverse country. So if you enter and you get really lucky, then you'll get a green card for free, but considering how there are millions and millions of hopeful immigrants that apply every year, the chances of winning are almost as bad as your chances of winning the lottery.

My wife entered the lottery last year, so maybe she'll get chosen if we're very lucky. Anyway, if anyone else here might have entered, then maybe they'll get lucky and get chosen. Who knows? That's about all the info I have about this lottery.

Good day everyone, we're off to a new week and hopefully some of us will be getting approved this week. If not me hopefully one of you other patient members. #FingersCrossed lol

Yeah, good luck to everyone! Hopefully the time has come for some of us this week. It has been a long journey, and there is still a good deal left, but hopefully some of us can take that next big step this week. Good luck everyone!

Also, this is roughly around the time that the Diversity Lottery announces winners. I think I remember reading that it was between March and May. Maybe someone here that entered will get lucky!

Hey everyone, have anybody tried to get on the USCIS website this morning. My app isn't working and the website is saying that it can't be reached. Is anyone else having this problem as well.

Yes, I'm also having the same issue. It appears that the website is down currently. Will probably be back up soon, I think I've seen this happen before and it came back in a few hours.

Hey, congrats PonJor! Sophjosh, my wife and I also are at CSC and we haven't been approved yet either. Dec 21 was the date they received our petition. Hopefully we'll all get some good news soon. Good luck to everyone still waiting! It's been a long time and hopefully we're almost at the end of it.

Hey Dub42, congrats on your approval. I'm in a similar boat myself. I live in Shannon, Ireland with my wife and we filed our I-130 in December. We haven't been approved yet though, still waiting. We're at the California processing center though so it shouldn't be much longer (hopefully). Glad to hear you got approved so fast. Congrats again on your case number and invoice number, that's another big step.

Anyway, just wanted to say welcome. Hi from Shannon.

As a Clevelander, Go BUCKS!

-Reg

There's only one number: 1-800-375-5283. They'll keep you on hold forever and then tell you to wait 5 months. They won't care or deal with whether a service center is faster than another, just that the average is 5 months.

Agreed. I called this number today to inquire about my case and to ask about my NOA1 not coming in the mail. The robotic answering service told me that my case was still being processed and was received on December 21. Then I got through to a customer service rep. The first thing he did after I gave him my receipt number was tell me that my case was received on December 21 and was still being processed. Then I asked about the mail thing, dealt with that, and finally, I asked if that's all he could tell me about my case, he said it was, and then we said our goodbyes and ended the call.

Long story short, I doubt anyone calling this number in hopes of an update on their case is going to get a satisfying answer. We just have to be patient.

Best of luck to us all!

-Reg