Teachers

Congratulations! I hope the rest of your process is smooth, and that you're together forever, SOON!

Please update your timeline. With all the recent approvals, good data matters more than ever. Thanks.

Tom

Congratulations. May you be together forever very soon.

Thanks for updating your timeline. With all the approvals, I want to update my stats. But they are only as good as the updated timelines I have to work with. Thanks for doing your part.

Tom

Congratulations. I hope you can be together permanently very soon.

Tom

Isn't it great when approvals come so fast that we can't keep track of them all without a computer.

Oh, wait.

We do have computers.

Congratulations.

Tom

Congratulations!

The rest of you March and April folks must be close behind.

I look forward to seeing the last March person approved in the next couple of weeks (I hope).

Tom

Don't worry - you've done all you can for now unless they send you a request for something more (which should not happen unless you forgot to sign something or send something).

CSC is very backlogged - that's why you see March 8 as the processing date. Plan at 6 months for processing in the US + however long it takes in her country. That way, if it happens faster, you'll just be happy instead of disappointed at having to wait 6 months!

I believe that the March 8 date shown by CSC no longer has ANYTHING to do with which files they are processing. Instead, it is the 6 months they give themselves before they consider themselves late.

Right now CSC is working off a big backlog from a change in the law and forms in the spring. They should have March, April and May processed in September, and June and most of July processed in October. You will probably get your NOA2 in late November or early December. After that, it seems to be taking another 5 months until the interview in the Phillipines. But individual results can vary widely.

Keep reading here and you'll be well informed, and make some friends. Misery loves company. But you'll have plenty of time to relax, read, learn a foreign language, etc.

Tom

Congratulations!

I hope the rest of your journey is speedy.

Tom

I think you did absolutely the right thing.

Most members of Congress will be back in their districts campaigning for the next 2 months. If we could each get time with them, we might have FAR more impact then sending emails or calling.

Tom

YEEEEEHHHHAAAHHHHH!

I get to be the first to congratulate you!

It's about time (and then some).

Congratulations!

Tom

Congratulations!

Tom

Go Wolf!

Go Icey!

Go Michelle!

Go JABREE!

I want to see NOA2's for ALL of you THIS WEEK! No excuses (from CSC)!

Tom

I WOULD THINK A CHAT ROOM ISNT A MARRAIGE BROKER IF THATS THE CASE IF YOU GO TO A MALL AND MEET A GIRL THERE IS THAT MALL A MARRIAGE BROKER.I MET MY GIRL ON YAHOO VIETNAM CHAT UNDER THE LAUGAGE CATAGORY ,AS MANY PEOPLE THERE THEY ARE JUST LLOOKING FOR PASS THE TIME AND WE WAS ONLY FRIEND WITH NO INTENTIONS FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHES I TALKED TO MEN AND WOMAN ALIKE WITH NO INTENT .SO I SAY IF I DIDNT SIGN UP AND PAY TO MEET SOME ONE TO MARRY ITS NOT A MARRAGE BROKER

I agree - in your case. But there are personals web sites, often paid, where there are several possible purposes, one of which is to meet someone for a relationship. Then the answer is far from clear.

Does anyone know if the fees structure for something like Yahoo Personals is similar (in dollar terms or relative to average income) across different countries?

Tom

Congratulations!!!

And more than a month BEFORE the VJ estimate!

I hope all of us can be AT LEAST this fortunate!

Now on to ALL the waiting March and April VJ'ers!

Tom

What Rebeccajo said above. Pay particular attention to the "exceptions." I used AsiaEuro. They do not consider their site as a marriage broker. A marriage broker is some company or someone who charges you money (quite a lot) to hook you up with a potential spouse. Most dating/personal sites do not do that. Usually you pay a fee, but you are free to choose or write to whomever you wish.

I really appreciate all the feedback. The precise definition was particularly welcome.

I don't consider a Personals web site, including one where one has the option of not paying, a "Marriage Broker". However, I can imagine someone out on a crusade taking a different view.

Again, thanks to all for the information and informative discussion.

Tom

The Processing time for I-129F's at CSC has been bumped back up to March 8th.

That processing time no longer means anything. It is only the date 6 months before the date the message was posted, their supposed maximum processing time. So far they have cleared VJers from March (10), April (11), May (2) and June (5). That is a MUCH better indicator of who is being cleared, and how long the wait it likely to be.

Tom

In the recent thread on IMBRA,

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31286

there is a definition of a marriage broker:

(4) INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKER

.—

(A) IN GENERAL .—The term ‘‘international marriage broker’’ means a corporation, partnership, business, individual, or other legal entity, whether or not organized under any law of the United States, that charges fees for providing dating, matrimonial, matchmaking services, or social referrals between United States citizens or nationals or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States as permanent residents and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals.

( EXCEPTIONS

.—Such term does not include—

(i) a traditional matchmaking organization of a cultural or religious nature that operates on a nonprofit

basis and otherwise operates in compliance with the laws of the countries in which it operates, including

the laws of the United States; or

(ii) an entity that provides dating services if its principal business is not to provide international dating

services between United States citizens or United States residents and foreign nationals and it charges

comparable rates and offers comparable services to all individuals it serves regardless of the individual’s

gender or country of citizenship.

---

By this definition, it seems to me that anyone who met on a personals website, including in a chat room, used an International Marriage Broker.

I would welcome other opinions.

Tom

Thanks for the encouragement!! I wish for a speedy approval for all of us.

I am hoping to see action on my case this week...otherwise I will contact my senators.

gugu, your baby does make me smile everytime I see her.

Your time is probably coming soon. So far in September CSC has approved 11 April applications from VJ'ers, leaving 20. With luck, you'll hear within a few weeks. (I don't know how much impact your RFE delay will have.)

I am sorry for the health problems, but so thankful that you could weather them together.

Tom

Has anyone ever contacted their senator or representative in relation to the slow processing times for CSC or any of the other Service Centers?

On principal, I think letting Members of Congress know when one gets awful service from the US Governement is a good thing.

For September, CSC has cleared:

March 10

April 11

May 2

June 5.

Remaining VJ cases for CSC:

March 24

April 20

May 29

June 44

July 68.

If they continue at their rate (over the last 6-7 weeks) of 25/week, and if they go in order (HA!), then by the end of the month they will clear about 75 more cases - all of March, April and May, with a couple of June ones too. Then in October they would likely clear almost all the June and July ones.

Thus by the time you hear from your Member of Congress, you may well have your NOA2.

Tom

Hi there, I priciate your help, but my point is still in blurry.

I am concern that will it be take 4 to 6 months just to get start on my petition or that time will be done the processing, I am really concerd about it, what is the overall process time going rite now for the petition to be approved?

It's hard to know how long it will take right now as USCIS is still cleaning up the mess from IMBRA. Your VJ estimate is December and the USCIS posted processing time right now is 6 months. It's a good idea to plan on 6 months for the processing in the US - meaning from filing date until approval.

Good luck.

After you get your NOA2, then you go through NVC (in Washington, DC), the packet gets sent to India, you fill out P3 and P4 packages, and have the interview. I just reviewed the statistics for India. The time from NoA2 to interview is usually 2-4 months. Thus your whole process may be as much as 10 months after your NOA1.

Are you going to be interviewed in India or Armenia? India is typcially 2-4 months; Armenia is typically 3-5 months.

Good luck. This process tries our patience.

Tom

It took WAY too long. But I'm glad you finally got it. Congratulations. I hope the rest goes so fast that you "catch up" to where you should have been on a reasonable timeline.

Tom

Gurdip,

Your Nebraskan file will be sent to California (CSC). CSC is currently processing files from March due to the IMBRA law delays. We hope that this backlog will clear and the original 90-120 day processing time will return shortly. Having said that, USCIS is currently advising their service levels state 6 months and anything sooner than 6 months should be considered a bonus.

I would estimate 4 months for you, but only time will tell.

Good luck.

Tomyu,

I have been following the CSC March cases and in the last 2 weeks the approvals have gone from 50% to 65%. However 35% un-approved cases is still too many as far as I'm concerned. I hope next week is just as exciting as the week just gone.

I STRONGLY agree with your comment. I think any wait over 60 days is WAY too long.

Perhaps CSC could send the June ones to VSC. That way by early October, we would have all March, April, May and June ones done.

I hope you get your NOA2 in the next few days. ALL of you March and April people are WAY overdue.

Tom

I sent my application in July 6 and got an NOA1 date of July 31. My VJ estimate is Dec. 1. I'm not sure why there is so big a difference in estimated processing time. Perhaps the VJ estimates are still based on NSC vx. TSC vx. CSC. My expectation is that all three will converge as the backlog is worked off.

Could it have to do with the old vs new IMBRA form? I believe the new form came out shortly after you sent yours in? The estimation may include time for the RFE? I doubt the VJ timeline is that sophisticated to allow for such variables. Maybe.

I'm pretty sure I used the current form. It's the same one that comes up when I go on the USCIS site to look at forms today.

VJ does track each service center separately. If you go to their statistics area, you will see a graph of average processing times for each of the 4 service centers.

Tom

I've seen the VJ of my estimated processing date extend out about a month recently. I believe what VJ does is take recent average wait data, and apply it to all those waiting. Tom

You may be right, but my VJ timeline is shortening. I mailed the petion 2 weeks ago to TSC and the time estimated at that time an approval date of Dec 23. Now it estimates approval by Dec 11.

When I want to view timelines similar to mine, it seems to connect me to only TSC petitioners with Morocco as the consulate. The consulate shouldn't make a difference at the USCIS level should it? And since all TSC and NSC K-1 petitions are forwarded to California, shouldn't CSC times impact my VJ estimation?

I am curious how VJ calculates the timeline. Maybe Capt Ewok will come to the rescue?

Meanwhile today is day 11 of USCIS having possession of the petition (15 days since mailing) and I am still waiting for the check to be cashed. Based on VJ estimations the average wait for NOA1 is approx. 14 days...so hoping any day now --maybe the end of next week?????

I sent my application in July 6 and got an NOA1 date of July 31. My VJ estimate is Dec. 1. I'm not sure why there is so big a difference in estimated processing time. Perhaps the VJ estimates are still based on NSC vx. TSC vx. CSC. My expectation is that all three will converge as the backlog is worked off.

Tom

You may be right but I don't believe the VJ calculation can factor in clearing backlogs.

My original NOA1 stated 90-120 days with CSC. It has been nearly 180 (obviously due to IMBRA), but they are now stating 6 months on their website.

Your 80 days prediction may be a little optimistic, but I hope time proves me wrong.

Given what has happen to you, I would have my doubts too. Let me explain how I got my 80 day number. I looked at the current (last 6-7) weeks of approval data - about 25/week. I then applied it to the number of applications waiting in line. I then assumed (BIG assumptions) that the processing rate would stay stable, and that applications would be processed in order. In Sept., Oct. and Nov. 25 x 13 = 325.

Waiting in line (at 8/31) were 274 applicatons (March-August). If they're working on September applications by the second half of Nov., then the wait time would be under 90 days.

Also, I agree with Aussiewench that processing is individual, with wide variability, so that no estimate, including mine, should be given too much weight.

Tom

I've seen the VJ of my estimated processing date extend out about a month recently. I believe what VJ does is take recent average wait data, and apply it to all those waiting. I don't think this is very accurate because of the big backlog of people who have been waiting 150+ days. Once this backlog is worked off (this month), then the average should drop sharply.

For the last 6-7 weeks, CSC has been processing about 25 cases/week. If they keep up at this rate, then approvals will look more like this:

September approvals:

Most/all March, April and May applications (96 as of 8/31), and a few of the 47 remaining June ones.

October approvals:

The bulk of June applications (47) and most of July (68).

November approvals:

The remaining few of July (68), most/all of August (58); and a good start on September.

Tom

Last weekend I sorted the VJ data base, and found these open, active (timeline update since 6/30) CSC cases as of 8/31:

March 34

April 31

May 31

June 51

Less: Cases cleared 9/1-9/8 (5 work days):

March 9

April 11

May 2

June 4

Total VJers cleared: 26 (I hope this number goes up today, as folks check their email and update their time lines.)

If noone jumped into or out of the pool, then we still have waiting:

March 25

April 20

May 29

June 47

July 68

Aug. 58.

At this rate, we should see virtually all March, April and May cleared this month.

If I were at VSC and filed in March, April, May, June or even July, I'd be asking questions. Most of their AUGUST filers have already gotten their NOA2's.

Tom