ali1632

9 hours ago, CM & VY said:

APROVED! 

Got our approve today guys. NOA1 Received day Dec-8-2016

Thank Geo for daily data. 

 

Big congrats!  I've tried so hard not to watch the dates, but approvals are happening now for people just a few weeks ahead of us (NOA1=1/2/17) and it's getting so hard not to let the anticipation make me anxious!

Also don't forget - he is your FIANCÉ now, you should stop calling him your boyfriend!

I have heard (anecdotally) of cases that got denied in the interview because someone called their partner their boyfriend instead of fiancé, so be careful!

My received date is 1/2/2017 (just before you) and I have not received any status updates yet either. I have been following the November filers thread, where people are currently seem to be getting processed, so I expect maybe a few more weeks or a month or more before I am likely to get any update. 

One concern I see in your original post is whether you have met in person again since February 2014? Because I believe the K-1 app requires that you have met in person *within the last 2 years*. If you applied in December 2016, you should have submitted proof that you have been together in person some time after December 2014. 

Sorry, I just realized I misread the date, and you visited in Feb 2015. Carry on! 

Best luck to you, 

Ali

If your hope is to surprise her with a proposal after she arrives, I don't see how that could happen. Others have answered that you need to have the intent to marry but more specifically, BOTH of you need to prove intent. She will need to participate in the application process, and write and sign a letter that she is already planning to marry you during the 90 day K-1 visa. She will have to interview and state truthfully that you already are engaged and already plan to get married, before the visa is granted. I don't think whether you have physically given her a ring or not necessarily proves or disproves that - I don't have a ring yet myself - but I understand that some countries (consulates) are much more interested in those details because they see a higher rate of fraudulent cases. 

This doesn't mean you can't wait to make a more formal, in-person gesture of proposal when she arrives, but you both have to be on the same page that "this is definitely happening," no questions un-answered, before you start your application - so I do not think it is a good idea to include the fact that you plan to "propose" when she gets here because you are supposed to have settled that question before applying. Again, SHE also has to write a letter of intent to support the claim that you are already engaged, and that needs to have a live signature and be included in your I-129f application package. Hope this helps!

Just now, Boiler said:

Reasonable to assume it was denied on lack of merit.

I suppose, sure. I did prove a financial impact of $1281, but I expected them to disallow the portion of that represented by the plane ticket ($469). They have approved before for lost wages based on non-refundable unpaid vacation, which is what I claimed, but it seems it wasn't enough. The $$ threshhold might be a moving target, depending on the case load they have. In the example I'm noting, hers was approved for the amount of one week's pay (whatever that was), several years ago. 

I also still have a stubborn streak that leaves me feeling a bit unresolved because they would not confirm they received my documentation. Like a rock in my shoe. I agree lack of merit is more likely, but I wish they had been able to resolve that doubt. 

On 2/18/2017 at 11:08 PM, Ash.1101 said:

Curious on how this one turned out, since more and more people seem to be expediting for any reason recently.

Nevermind it was denied.

Yes, it was but without any concrete information. I didn't hear anything for weeks after I sent the requested proof, and I had to keep calling and emailing the customer service center, trying to get them to confirm that they received my faxed documentation. I got escalated a couple of times but without the right reference numbers, so it was like ping pong between 3 different levels of agents. They finally denied the request but no-one was ever able to actually confirm whether they received the documentation or not, so I don't know if they denied based on lack of merit or if they lost the stuff and closed the request as if I didn't answer the rfe. I was not super impressed with the level of transparency. How hard is it to say, yes we looked at it, or no we didn't? They simply would not answer. I just got a copy/paste form letter denial via email from an agent with a number, not a name. 

(That's the main reason I didn't come back and update the thread with a ton of info - I don't really have any specific info, and I didn't want to whine about it.)

We have settled in to wait and have made plans for me to go to Spain for the summer while things take their course. Maybe I can even be there for the interview.  

Good luck to you!

On 1/31/2017 at 10:40 PM, baconmunch said:

Add me to the December filers...

 

Met her: August 2011

Engaged: November 20, 2016

I-129F Received Date: December 21, 2016

NOA1: January 2, 2017

On 2/1/2017 at 0:10 AM, Serik said:

Hello baconmunch! we have the same NOA1 date 

Hi to both of you, I also have a received date of 12/21 and NOA1 of 1/2 as well! I have a feeling we will get to know each other well by April...  

38 minutes ago, fishe23a said:

I think Geowrian (correct me if I am wrong) had originally (the first day or two) done 20,000, but due to IP ban problems and the amount of time it took to do a workaround for such a huge number of applications, has limited the search to 5,000 daily. I think as it is the search takes quite a while and not many folks have that much time in the day to sit around and crunch those numbers!!

You are right, the limit is 5000 per search. So it took a lot of time to run enough searches of the whole database to compile 5000 k-1's from the huge numbers of other petitions. He mentioned that he's working on batching the next 5000 numbers but it is slow going.

I also noticed in getting familiar with this data today that there are about 100 duplicates in this batch, at least one of which was counted as an approval twice (on 1/3/17). At least we won't run out of fun while we are waiting!   Sorry, geowrian.. Regardless, your help is invaluable!

7 minutes ago, fishe23a said:

ali1632 - just noticed here that you're from Orono! I'm in Portland, OR now, but grew up in the Brunswick, Maine area. I've convinced my fiance that we can be in the Boston area when we relocate after the wedding...you're brave & must be mightily convincing to have someone from Spain joining you there!!

Haha, yes, I'm extremely lucky he is willing to ditch Barcelona for Bangor! ? Eventually, though, I hope we'll be spending summers here, and winters on the Mediterranean! 

I hope you do make to Boston; I lived there for a few years in my 20s and really loved it. 

3 hours ago, JimJesDuma said:

Hi I'm literally using the app as I type this.

It is the IPHONE version. the app logo is a flag with vertical stripes and the eagle/red/white blue.

Just search USCIS case tracker in the app store.

Android has one to but it is different.

Thanks for the tips, I found this same thing for my iPad.

On another note, after looking at all the data today, I realized there seems to be a huge spike in NOA1s for the month of December, and it occurred to me a lot of people likely piled up trying to get their petitions in before the fees went up. 

5 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Cases updated today: 124
Approved: 79 (Woohoo!)

Wow! That's a big difference!

28 minutes ago, JimJesDuma said:

We try not to get too political on this thread but whatever.

I understand the frustrations on both sides.

 

Jim

Sorry Jim, thanks for the reminder; I'm still getting familiar with this community and I might have gone too far in assuming my views are widely shared, even in such a community as this.

12 minutes ago, Scott P said:

Yes, LOL, ironically it was my fiance's post but it wasn't clear to me the post was responding to that.  Amye (who I'm FaceTime'ing with) has already given me a minor scolding  .  But yeah the point stands that we can address issues here without excessive political overtones. All these issues are important, and they are being discussed with ardor in many, many places already.

In my view (though you are welcome to reject it), these issues are too important not to address, anywhere and everywhere. I'm ashamed of our "elected" leadership and I want everyone to know that these nationalist/xenophobic/racist/warmongering policies are not supported by the majority of Americans. I agree, my tone might have been 'excessive,' so I'll tone it down to a respectful pitch but I feel a responsibility to not sit quietly aside in any forum. The very minute most of us "well mannered" Americans decide it's impolite to rail against the loss of our civil and human rights, that's when we've lost them for good.

8 minutes ago, ShanghaiSurfer said:

I think you are both incorrect. My understanding is all visas and petitions are being processed up to the point of scheduling an interview for those seven countries. Nor are they revoking issued visas at this time. Now this can change once they announce whatever new vetting they are going to do. My guess it's being revoked for other reasons including possible fraud. 

This is not what is actually happening on the ground, at airports all over the world. People with valid visas are still being denied boarding, or sent home if they managed to land in the US, and some are still being detained without due process. They don't have to revoke anything, they simply aren't honoring them is all. Even where federal judges have ruled this ban illegal, that is only in 4 of 50 states. It's complete chaos and that's not going to change any time soon. We can only speculate on why the one example approval was revoked; maybe someone didn't want to lose their job. Maybe someone called and asked if their approval was still valid, so they got some unwanted attention. ??? Yes, findings of fraud is maybe as likely, but what further review would uncover that after the approval is granted?

2 minutes ago, amye said:

Brutal.  Wonder why it was revoked.  How awful.

January 27 was Friday, when the Orange Blight signed a bunch of horsesh*t executive orders, throwing all visas from certain countries into the trash, effectively. Shameful. My heart truly goes out to that person and everyone else these hateful and wasteful 'proclamations' affect. 

19 minutes ago, Anthony and Bobby said:

Guys...we just got approved tonight! 

 

Application received: 11/4/2016

NOA1: 11/8/2016

NOA2: 1/30/2017

 

Sooo excited! Sending positive vibes to everyone still waiting :))

Congraaaaats!  Keep us up to date on your progress!

4 minutes ago, vogann said:

I think you're missing a couple cases... there were a few K1 petition approvals today. Here is one of them:

  Hide contents

 

This case number is listed in geowrian's scan (tonight) as still in 'received' status, untouched since its 11/1/16 noa1. So this suggests that they are sending notifications before the status is updated in the database? I'd guess it would catch up tomorrow; it makes sense after all - my NOA1 text/email notifications were received the day before the paper copy's "official" date. 

Just now, ShanghaiSurfer said:

CSC is currently working on petitions as of August 16th. There are still a lot of October petitions which haven't been touched. The good news is they have approved some early November filers. I recommend following the November filers thread. 

Per the USCIS website, that August 16th processing was last updated on November 2, so not much value in basing anything off that. Other aggregate data sources we've had posted in here (esp. in the November filers thread, where some folks are tracking USCIS case status changes on a daily basis) suggest that they are actually processing cases mostly filed in the end of October and early November. So, we still have a bit to wait, but it's not as bad as all that! 

On 1/13/2017 at 2:15 AM, JimJesDuma said:

Hello to you December filers.

I started the November I-129F K-1 thread but wanted to let you guys know some very good information.

As you know CSC has been all but dead for the entire month.

 

Well we had a total of 34 approvals today alone for cases received by CSC on 10/31

Seems like they may finally be working again tomorrow (Friday night) should give us a better idea if they will start a trend.

I'm currently at 70 plus days. People who filed 1 week before me were approved on average in 30 days then CSC just STOPPED with very little progress.

Yes the holidays had some affect but new years was over 11 days ago.

 

Anyway hang on there guys and keep collecting your NOA 1's 

Update your time lines with the "notice date" which is the date on the upper right hand corner of the NOA 1 hard copy once you get it.

 

See screen shot of my USCIS Iphone app.

Difference from one day - 34 cases approved.

Other good thing is no new RFE's 

Earlier in the month they were giving a lot of those out.

 

 

Take care

Jim

Hi Jim, 

What is this app called? I see a few in the app store but none that resemble this at first glance. Is it something you created? (You said "my app" so just a thought.)

Thanks! - Ali

1 minute ago, meredith pa said:

Hi ali1632,

Thank you for the link for the form... I get anxious when I have to fill out any form. 

Have you filled out this form before?

Yes, with every job I've ever had. Don't worry, it really is just your name and address. Nothing scary at all, and the employer will help you with it. Most of the stuff on there is for them to fill out, including the document numbers and stuff. 

Quote

 

Someone asked why I didn't get a job...Well, my husband didn't want me to work out of the house for all these years. He didn't want me to do many things.

I became completely dependent. My life is a struggle. Getting a job gives me some hope.

 

I'm really sad to hear you have been held back like that; good for you that you are finally pushing out and making some space for independence! Truly best of luck to you, and I hope it leads you to citizenship so you don't have to rely on him anymore! ?

You need the green card, OR 2 other forms of ID that establish identity and right to work, because the employer will have you fill out an I-9 and W-4, if you are hired. Don't worry, it takes 30 seconds to fill out, when they ask. (Look at the list of accepted documents for I-9 and then you will know exactly what to have with you; in your case, green card is sufficient.) Some employers use E-verify to check that you can legally work, but mostly they just have to keep an I-9 for you. W-4 form is a quick form to set up your federal/state tax withholding. 

Here's some detailed info about the I-9: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9

3 hours ago, geowrian said:

I have to disagree here. As you noted, we don't know what "severe" means to USCIS. Does it require a financial hardship? Does it require a minimum dollar amount or percentage of income? We don't know...and as such, I don't think it's correct to say that it does NOT have any such requirement. It's likely up to the officer's discretion after taking into account all of the data. Yes, somebody got one for a vacation. We don't know the exact circumstances for that person. Anyway, I don't think it's just about meeting the burden of proof to document a loss. Yes, I think that is necessary. But the loss still needs to be severe. As I stated previously, I wish you luck, but I doubt your loss would be considered severe in most people's eyes.

Point taken - it's true that if there are additional criteria that fall under a judgment call, we don't know about them. 

3 hours ago, geowrian said:

Just as an FYI - front loading you petition has pros and cons. Generally, unless there is a particular issue you want to address in your case beforehand (i.e. addressing flags or from very high-fraud countries), front loading is probably not to your benefit.

This is scary and confusing. If the instructions ask for evidence of this and that, and you provide it all at once, instead of waiting to be asked for it, why should that hurt my case? I didn't include anything superfluous, just personal affidavits, a few photos, evidence of meeting, and evidence of relationship, plus the identity docs and divorce documentation. This is the minimum, right? 

5 minutes ago, Unidentified said:

Because you do realize that if everyone sends in ridiculous requests like yours the whole system will get bogged down and then people with real emergencies like dying future spouses etc will not get a reply from USCIS before it is too late. 

I don't think that is true, it's mostly an automated process. A 5 minute phone call to customer service, and an automated email is triggered. Then your faxed response gets routed to a specialist who can probably review in 2 minutes. That's why it all comes down to documentation: they will decide whether proof is established or not very quickly. Someone who is actually experiencing a medical emergency will certainly get the same consideration. 

I would expect that people sending incomplete petitions and triggering RFEs later in the process take far more precious time away from the rest of applicants than a simple expedite request, which is not even handled by the same customer service team.

Maybe the month I spent organizing my 65 page petition like a legal brief, to the very letter of the guidelines (right down to the kind of fasteners and tabs to be used) to make it easier and faster to process will earn back the 5 minutes you think I am taking out of your day? 

7 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

You are not required to travel to Spain for him to get an immigration visa.  You choose to travel, then it's on you.

One would think, but the example of the girl who got expedited because she'd lose her vacation time was doing the exact same thing. She was not required to go to Jamaica to retrieve her fiancé, but they approved her request.

1 minute ago, Unidentified said:

So you're saying that everyone should request to have their case expedited? LOL, you're funny. Just accept that nothing in this process is short and sweet. Deal with it. 

If they can produce proof that one of the criteria applies, of course they should, yes. Not everyone will have that. Lots of things make a financial impact, but it is often really difficult to document that in advance of it happening. 

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I would have thought it was fairly easy for every applicant to show some sort of financial loss, just a question of how much.

 

So the logic of this thread is that every applicant should request an expedite based on financial hardship, should be a standard part of the process.

NOOOOOOO Not at all!!!! Please stop making it about financial hardship, it has NOTHING to do with that!

The logic is that every applicant (or everyone who cares about how long it's going to take) should start the process by working out whether they can document that one of the expedience criteria applies to them.

AND it very well may be that it could be fairly easy for any applicant to do so. That is going to depend on their situation and their ability to produce proof. I hope more people try, and we can start learning about what documentation carries and what doesn't. 

Just now, aaron2020 said:

You've done enough research to know that the US Government advises not to make ANY travel arrangement until the visa is in hand.  You ignored that advice and bought a non-refundable ticket.

 

The cost of moving your stuff is a cost that is normally incurred when immigrating.  Everyone would like to ship for as little as possible.  You don't get an expedite because you would like to get to move your stuff in the cheapest means possible.

 

Best of luck with your expedite request.

These two points offer a lot more reasonable scrutiny than most of the other comments I've gotten. The adjudicator may potentially say the same thing. 

But I'm hoping that the inflexibility of my schedule precluding travel at any other time justifies the ticket purchase in advance, as it did for the Jamaican example with the vacation time, and that the rule is more about documentation of an expense than it is about what that expense is for. If those hopes are unfounded, we'll know soon enough.