Callina

Bravo, krisca! Heartfelt congrats! I'm not sure how long the NVC process will take, but I assume it is not going to be as lengthy as the USCIS one. Maybe 2-3 months? We'll see... The important thing is that we have been approved! Hurrayy!

question : i have already been approved, is the processing from the NVC - USE gonna take the same time as the USCIS? how long is the whole process? till this journey ends . . .

Bravo, baba27! Congratulations! As long as you have the approval e-mail/printed letter, don't worry about the website update. Sometimes they forget...

Congratulations, McManaman! Krisca, don't lose hope! I understand the petitions of the 36,000 Texas-transferees have been moved back to California. This might be the reason why your status is again at the stage of the "initial review". I believe, though, that you will be approved very soon. My petition has reached NVC today, approximately 14 days after it was forwarded to them by Texas Service Center. Everyone, stay calm! You will get a decision, too. Good luck!

Congratulations, mmunz2001 and AdoV1! McManaman, hang in there, you'll get your approval on one of these days. As for your indirect question, yes, it did take approximately 3 weeks for my approved petition to be forwarded to the NVC. I believe, however, that it will take another 2 to 3 months for the case to be processed in New Hampshire. Anyway, I'll keep you posted so you can have an idea as to how long the journey is going to be from now on until my mother gets her visa. At the same time, if you have a different type of beneficiary on your I-130, I think that the DoS might deal with your application a lot faster. Time will tell us how it's going to be, I guess. As for how unpleasant it is to have to wait for an answer, I've been there so I surely understand that.

Hi Callina - So it took about three weeks for your approved petition to be forwarded to the Department of State, is that correct? Then it would take may be another 4 weeks (may be more) to finish the process at the Visa National Center and then finally it will be sent to the US Embassy. I am not quite there yet (still waiting for approval, 5 months has passed last week) but I am already feeling that weeks are passing like months .. I hate waiting.

I got an email from USCIS this morning informing me that my approved I-130 has been forwarded to the Department of State. For all those Texas transferees with approved or re-affirmed I-130 applications, if it has been more than 14 days since your petitions were approved and you still don't have any word that they have reached NVC (no NVC case number, no NVC record of your petitions) you can send an e-mail to: NVCResearch@state.gov, placing your USCIS case number in the subject line and requesting that NVC locate your approved applications. Good luck!

Thank you, Krisca. Hang in there! I believe your will hear from USCIS by the end of this month. If not, you have all the right in the world to start an investigation into the matter.

i hope you're right Calina. . .anyway, still not losing hope. . .it's just really frustrating whats happening to us. . .i hope some good news will come up sooner. . .and goodluck to your case at the NVC. . .

It's just a supposition and it may not be of much help to the August filers who feel they've been forgotten by USCIS, but I believe TSC will approve your petitions by the end of this month so as to fix the mistake they made with the transferees. Also, I think (and other VJ members have reported this) that they usually mail batches of approved petitions to NVC, which explains why Maria's and mine have not reached the DoS yet.

Thank you so much, Maria! Krisca, hang in there! You'll also get your approval soon. If we've reached this stage, we will surely get NVC case numbers as well. Everybody, don't lose hope. Your situation will be solved in no time.

Yes, of course! I am an August filer.

So you are an August filer, right?

Yes, skynaut! I was among those transferred to TSC. My approval came approximately 4 months and a half after NOA1.

Congratulations Were you transferred to TSC? And when was your NOA1 date?

Thank you, Krisca! I'm sure you'll get your own approval these days! God bless you, too!

congrats Calina! i hope all of us gets an approval soon. . .Congrats! God Bless!

Thank you so much! I'll definitely keep in touch. Don't lose your hope!

Congrats! Callina. That's wonderful news! Good luck with the rest of the process. Please keep us informed of your case's progress.

McManaman, Krisca, and everyone else in the same situation! I woke up this morning to find an email from USCIS stating that my I-130 has been approved and that I would be getting my approval notice within a few days!!! Hurray! All my worries are gone!

All of you, please hang in there! I am absolutely convinced that you will also be getting your approvals these days. There is a God up there who sees everything and who is working so that justice will be done to each and every one of you. My petition was approved just 17 days before the expiration of the 5-month processing period.

I called USCIS on Friday to enquire about my petition and got the same answer as most of you: that I should wait for 180 days before starting an investigation... However, the agent I talked to seemed very surprised that I hadn't received a decision on my case. I asked if I should make a local Infopass appointment so I could discuss this situation with an immigration officer. She said "yes". So, that is what I'm going to do at the end of this month, when I'm theoretically outside of the 5-month processing timeframe. That is, of course, if I don't get anything from USCIS by then. I'll keep you posted. Take care, everyone!

Any news in your case, Krisca?

Thank you so much for the update, Maria! This is fantastic news! I can't wait to get my letter! Take care!

my gosh. . .congrats! thats really a good news for you and for all of us. . .i hope the rest of us gets an approval the following days to come! congrats again! Happy New Year and God Bless!

Hello, everyone! So far I haven't received anything from USCIS. Yes, according to their website, the timeframe for adjudicating I-130 petitions is 5 months. I will be waiting for these 5 months to pass in my case before I start any official inquiry. I did contact NVC, however, and got a pretty fast reply. They say they do not have a record of my petition, so I believe that my application is still with Texas Service Center and that the messages we got from USCIS are all part of a big mistake, as aviatorbill mentioned above. Anyway, I'll let you know as soon as I get something from the Immigration Service. In the meantime, may you all have a happy holiday season! Merry Christmas, everyone!

HoustonApollo, I'm sorry to hear that. It's a very strange thing that has happened to all of us. I, for one, will give USCIS some time to fix the situation. If I don't hear anything by the 15th of January, I'll probably take milimelo's suggestion.

yes, i've called them and emailed them almost daily. i am 100% sure that it was returned. just dont know where. or why.

HoustonApollo,

Have you called the US Embassy in Paris? Are you absolutely sure your file is not with them right now? It may not even have been returned...

sorry for the delayed response. i have received neither an email response nor a hardcopy for the moment. my case is (presumably) sitting in the mailroom of either the NVC or the USCIS waiting for them to enter it into their system and send me a notice. mine should take a bit longer for them to receive since it was sent by the embassy in Paris.

the more i look around the more i think that this has to be some sort of error or theres something going on that theyre just not telling us (a link to wikileaks perhaps?) the point is, even if we're all at "different" stages of the process, we all received the same notice around the same time. it cant be just coincidence.

i just hope they fix it quickly, whatever it is. ive been in contact with my senator and congressman. nothing they can do until my case is received somewhere.

anyone else have updates on their cases?..

God bless you, too, krisca! Hang in there! We'll eventually get a response from USCIS... I'll let you know when I do...

I think that you're right. . .it's the USCIS fault. . .and I think there's nothing to worry about. . .they probably send our I130's to DOS without approving it first. . .If there is anything wrong I'm sure they will notify the petitioner. . .We're almost there,,just 1 more month and the wait from USCIS will be over. . .God Bless y'all

Have you called USIS yet? What kind of notice did you receive? Was it in the shape of an email or was it a hardcopy? Did both messages state the same thing, that your file had been returned to USCIS? Your case is one of the strangest I have read about so far, because you were so advanced in the process of getting the visa, but it - once again - promts me to believe somebody at USCIS has mistakenly sent out these e-mails/notices...

hi,

i, too, am a victim of this

our case was approved at the CSC on Sept 30th. from there it was sent to the NVC. i paid the fees and sent the packets. On Nov 19th I requested an expedite. it was approved and our case was sent to the embassy in paris for review and interview on the 26th of Nov. It arrived in Paris on the 30th. On Dec 1st I found out that it is being sent back to the USCIS for review requested by the DoS!!!!! My case still hasnt arrived at either the NVC or the USCIS yet and I'm freaking out. Neither my husband or I have ever had any problems in the past, i.e, criminal record, overstay, deportation, etc.. and theres nothing wrong with our case to my knowledge. i dont know whats going on!

Very good news, Y's_habibitk! Congratulations on having regained your peace of mind! We hope to get our answers soon so we can focus on our families this holiday season and not on scary USCIS e-mails. Take care!

I believe we got ours...

We got a notice from NVC saying that they received notice that Y became a legal perm resident and as a result they were sending the petition back to DOS's USCIS. Im sure thats what prompted our email/NOA. Its not that they are reviewing it again, but instead NVC sent it back to them since NVC was done with the 130(the AOS was approved).

Good luck you guys who are awaiting approvals

While visiting a legal website earlier today, I found some interesting replies to someone who filed a I-130 in August and who, herself, just got that "weird message" from USCIS stating that their petition had been sent back to the respective service center. The case applies to persons with pending I-130 applications. So, the question was: "Why did DoS return the petition to USCIS?" and the answers were:

1. "This occasionally happens with USCIS. They will sometimes mistakenly forward the application to DOS without actually approving it, or with incomplete information. As a result, DOS has to send it back to USCIS for them to fill in the missing information or complete the process on their end. USCIS should finish their part and issue a decision on the I-130 before sending it on to DOS again. Once the I-130 gets to DOS (the National Visa Center), DOS will contact you for the next part of the process." (author: Regina Marie Jefferies)

2. "This is an error on the part of the uscis.

They will have to make a decision on the I-130 petition by either approving or denying the petition.

Hopefully this will be rectified.

Goodluck." (author: Ekaette Patty-Anne Eddings)

I hope the above opinions will make our wait a little less stressful. As for the ones with approved petitions, again, I believe it could be a plain mistake. Good luck, everyone!

While visiting this legal website earlier today, I found some interesting replies to someone who filed a I-130 in August and who, herself, just got that "weird message" from USCIS stating that their petition had been sent back to the respective service center. The case applies to persons with pending I-130 applications. So, the question was: "Why did DoS return the petition to USCIS?" and the answers were:

1. "This occasionally happens with USCIS. They will sometimes mistakenly forward the application to DOS without actually approving it, or with incomplete information. As a result, DOS has to send it back to USCIS for them to fill in the missing information or complete the process on their end. USCIS should finish their part and issue a decision on the I-130 before sending it on to DOS again. Once the I-130 gets to DOS (the National Visa Center), DOS will contact you for the next part of the process." (author: Regina Marie Jefferies)

2. "This is an error on the part of the uscis.

They will have to make a decision on the I-130 petition by either approving or denying the petition.

Hopefully this will be rectified.

Goodluck." (author: Ekaette Patty-Anne Eddings)

I hope the above opinions will make our wait a little less stressful. As for the ones with approved petitions, again, I believe it could be a plain mistake. Good luck, everyone!

Yes, that's what I meant when I said USCIS-approved petitions cannot simply be returned by the NVC: they must generally go through the visa interview process and be rejected at that particular stage. This is unless some kind of huge, significant USCIS error causes NVC to ask that those cases be looked into more thoroughly. It could be that TSC did make such a terrible procedure mistake that NVC had to return batches of petitions back to them. We'll see...

I am sorry you are going through a stressful situation. It is frustrating for us, too, not to understand what is happening. Yet, I am convinced we will find out in the following weeks. Best of luck to you, too, and let us keep in touch via this forum. Maybe we can help each other, at least from the perspective of sharing the information we will receive from USCIS. Take care!

Thanks. I know all of the steps in the process but I think what I was driving at is that our case HAS been approved(at multiple levels) and so it did go to the DOS...

Our situation seems to be the only one(that anyone is posting about) that received the letter where our case in NOT pending approval by USCIS.

Well, its probably the same issue/error that you guys are experiencing too but its a little alarming that our case has been approved, so it "could" be sent back to USCIS from DOS.

Just an FYI, petitions can be sent back by DOS at any stage after approval if they think that USCIS approved in error. Im not sure what you mean by "At the same time, approved petitions cannot be returned to USCIS" Maybe I misunderstood what you meant but just so you know..approved cases are returned all the time to USCIS after they are "denied" at the consulate level. They go to DOS/NVC and then they go back to USCIS for review. That means they were approved by USCIS, cleared NVC and then once interviewed the consul did not issue a visa and they sent it back to DOS with recomendation for review/denial. It then goes to USCIS and you have a chance to "prove your case" again.

Your research and deduction makes sense for you. I get what you are saying about YOUR case because you havent received an approval from the service center yet so it doesnt make sense that your case would have reached NVC or DOS but that doesnt apply to our sitch. I'd love to find someone else who does not have a pending case who recieved the email/NOA

thanks though and good luck!

Hi, guys! I'm in the same situation regarding my I-130 petition for my mother. I, myself, believe we should stay positive, as we will eventually find out what has happened.