Sharon & Duncan

Hey guys. My fiance (beneficiary) and I are currently waiting for our application to arrive at the American embassy in Johannesburg. We have only a week or so and really want to hit the ground running when it gets there.

What should we expect Packet 3 to ask us for? I saw an old thread where it's supposedly one, large online form now? But I also heard I'll need to send him an updated "intent to marry" letter. Is that still true? Does it need to be fresh ink signature and I snail mail it over (because booooo, if so)?

Can anyone give any insight as to what we can prepare before we get packet 3? And is there a packet 4?

Thanks!

Just an update for anyone else furiously scanning these forums in a panic:

After we fixed our address and got our NOA1, we had to wait about 3 more months until our NOA2 (4/14/17.) This was an absurdly long time, but that could have been due to the HUGE surge in applications at the time we applied, the address correction, or the fact that our application weighed enough to send a child into orbit if dropped on the other side of a seesaw.

And No! Our online status did not change from "Document was Returned to USCIS" until after our NOA2, where it changed to "Case was Approved." I read somewhere it was the norm for it to not change until after the NOA2 and that was our situation, as well.

8 hours ago, hy2016 said:

Congrats! We have similar timelines, this gives me hope that next week will bring better news!!!

It WILL come! Just keep swimming  Good luck!

123 days for us and still no NOA2

Was hoping to get it on my trip with him last week, but no luck. It was the hardest goodbye.

Hang in there, fellow late-NOA2ers. It's gotta happen eventually, right?

We're in the same boat  They received ours by Dec 5th, and still nothing. Our application was HUGE, and I'm wondering if that was part of the problem.

I've called the hotline a few times and they are just telling us it's not out of range for the processing times, yet, so there's not much more any of us can do but sit and wait.

I'm sure yours (and hopefully ours, too) will come soon! Just a waiting game :/

Did either of your online statuses stay on "Document was Returned to USCIS" long after you changed your address and received your hard copy NOA1? 

Im dealing with this now and worrying.

12/5/2016: Submitted I-129F

12/9/2016: Email it's been received

12/22/2016: Online status updates to "Document was Returned to USCIS" (assuming the NOA1 got lost)

1/21/2016: Finally manage to submit a change of address with USCIS

1/23/2016: NOA1 hardcopy

We haven't gotten any news since and the online status still reads, "Document was Returned to USCIS."

Did anyone else's NOA1 get lost in the mail? We originally filed on Dec 5th and had an NOA1 sent out on the 9th, but it got lost. We've since rectified it, but now have no idea if/when to expect our NOA2.

We got an update from Dec. 22, 2016 that stated our NOA1 was returned to the USCIS by the post office. We applied from the country we met and lived together in, South Korea, rather than either of our home countries. Our friends have done so in the past with no issues, but we just got really unlucky.

Anyway, we managed to change our Korean address to my family's address in America on Jan 20th. My family received our NOA1 at the new, American address on with a new "Notice Date" of Jan 23rd. But now... nothing. The online status still says "Document was Returned to USCIS." 

We called the customer service line about 100 times and got no firm answers as to our status. They claim our original NOA1 date of Dec 9th (when it later got lost) is still our NOA1 date, but everyone else has already gotten their NOA2s, but we have no answers.

Does anyone else have a similar issue?