MK2017

At 8am this morning, while sound asleep, incessant loud banging on the door as if the house was on fire woke me up.
Sleepily I stumbled to the door in my night gown and in front of me were a man and a lady announcing they were from immigration.
Knowing all about home visits I responded as calm as a cucumber : "Sure come on in have a seat, I need to put some clothes on."
Nothing rattles me anymore on this journey.
I said to my husband honey get up, immigration is here.
He quickly threw some clothes on and came into the living room where the man started asking questions.
Meanwhile our 4 dogs were barking like they were out of their minds drowning out the questions we no longer could hear
and I said excuse me and like the true alpha told them to shuuuut uuuup. Silence at last. Proceed.
It was truly like a scene out of Chevy Chase National Lampoon movie,
Endless Bummer, Animal House, Barely Legal, Threshhold of Hell, pick any title.
(They should make one about immigration it would be a hoot).

Questions asked were about travel together, our work schedules, how long I owned my business, etc.
He took pictures of several things in the house, my African culture decor, photos in frames of us together,
of my husband's mom, of him as a baby, a photo I had sitting in my
bedroom of my naturalization ceremony from almost 20 years ago tucked into a forgotten corner of the dresser,
(I immigrated here over 40 years ago). He recognized that it was from a naturalization ceremony with eagle eyes, must have
been doing this job for a while. I was impressed.
Yes, we were all in the bedroom by now, they wanted a
tour of the house...meaning checking closets, seeing if we really lived together, slept in the same unmade bed and so on.

Now I always pictured the perfect home visit with a clean sparkling house, having coffee with the investigators
and exchanging niceties. No, it was just like they prefer it, a total surprise. The house was a mess and so was I with
a big shiner on my forehead because I ran into a sharp fence post bracket the day before.
I did point to the beautiful bouquet of flowers he bought me a few days ago though.
In the kitchen they took pics I had on the fridge with magnets of my family and they took pics of joint bills, joint bank account
 and CC's we had laying around on the table. I asked if they would like to see our AOS "evidence box". They said no.
They seemed to be only interested in what their eyes randomly caught and peeked their interest.

Fun aside, they were very nice and the whole experience lasted 20 minutes.
I was glad they came so now we can move forward from being stuck in the abyss.
We filed AOS in May 2015, had each a one hour stokes interview Sept. 2016 and now  8 months later after
 numerous service requests, EAD/AP renewal twice, senator contacts, Ombudsman contact it came to this visit.

He said you will have no problems, everything checked out fine and you are obviously legit as a couple as we see you here like this.
He said they came all the way from Texas because my filed office is so backlogged.
He said he didn't know why all the scrutiny when I asked what's up with the checks.
 Again I want to mention the whole thing was like a friendly chit chat,
relaxed, respectful. Don't let that fool you though, they get exactly what they want to know by friendly chit chat.
The worst was the loud banging on the door which freaked me out but I wouldn't have
 heard just a normal  knock because we were sleeping and they would have probably left, leaving us marinade
even longer in the AOS background check sauce of despair.

So why the constant hurdles for us you may wonder. I don't know.
It took us 5 years to come together, first K1 refused after 16 months in AP, second one approved.
I had petitioned someone else in 2005 which was also refused after long AP and he did not make it here because
I stopped it due to his fraudulent motive I discovered in my own investigations. The louse was a liar.
Interestingly, lots of questions were asked during the AOS interview about that.
Other flags may be that we had several trips to Turkey, a somewhat flagish country to visit these days and Cyprus being close to
Syria, him having a Muslim name (he has been an active Christian all his life) and being originally from a high fraud
West African country.

I will update when he receives the green card. We have been a couple since 2009.
Almost 3 years married.
Long story short, no sweat if you have a real relationship and abide by the requirements then eventually
you will be approved. If at first you don't succeed, try again, is my motto.
Never give up, keep your cool and be patient. Be yourself, try not to open the door in a night gown though
and throw the robe on before you open the door.
If we can't mention the funny parts of this and laugh at ourselves then we are taking ourselves way too serious.
So relax and chill and I wish you all  speedy approvals for visas and AOS, ROC and naturalization.
There is always a silver lining for a long drawn out AOS, we qualify for a 10 year green card now because we are married
over 2 years and don't have to ROC. Yay !
 

Haha.. This thread is pretty great.
 
I wanted a 20 person wedding... In the end and a couple of arguments with my mother we had 50 people at the wedding.
 
It really was an amazing day. We rented a house on the water, which we had the wedding at. We had my husbands family stay in the house for the week leading up to the wedding, so the families could meet and get to know one and another. We got married about 20 minutes from where I grew up and my family still lives.
 
I wasn't much into the wedding planning but my husband and I were blown away by all the love shown by our family and friends on that day. I hope everyone on here has just as an amazing experience on their day 
 
We hope to have our families reunite one day for a Holiday and now our families send cards and emails back and forth. It warms my heart how everything worked out <3 

Very nice trend!!!
 
First we weren't planning to do anything but both moms got the puppy eyes on us and got to be very persuasive that in the end we shouldn't let this hole process take off the beauty of this next step of our lives. 
 
The plan is get married as soon as we can when I get in the US at the courthouse and later 2-3 months have the hole ceremony and reception stuff (as someone point out it will keep me busy as I wait for the WP and Parole).  I know that we can find things really easy in US but here i knew where and how to find it, there will make a hole new world for me to get supplies and caters and all that. 
Pinterest will be my closest friend, I presume as my search is really getting focused on simple and on a budget wedding.

Hi, everyone!

This thread is for everyone who got their NOA2 during the month of February 2018 - and all of those who are around to cheer us on and offer helpful input!
 
I am also copying and pasting important links from my signature into this post just in case anyone needs them for reference:
 
 
There are lots of NOA2s coming in mail without an update on case tracker.
Please register for informed delivery if it is applicable in your region
USPS INFORMED DELIVERY - https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action
 
NVC - (603)-334-0700
What to do after NOA2 Approval? How to contact NVC? Click here for info - https://goo.gl/KggThF
If you cannot get NVC on the phone try this - https://secureforms.travel.state.gov/ask-nvc.php
 
USCIS - 800-375-5283
How to talk to a live person at USCIS? https://goo.gl/54z5bZ
 
I-129F NOA2 to NVC Receive Time Tracker - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k57PdywNRpUqytomJxMzz6_7DsMqpi52DgnaYt9FyC8/edit?usp=sharing 

We need a official VJ Approval Dance 
 

After 191 days we are approved!!!!! 

In case anyone needs a laugh right now. From the K1- group on facebook:
"Question, I have seen that if the person is young and healthy that you don't have to have Affidavit of Support. They will do an "eyeball test", just look at you, see that your young and healthy and able to work and will just pass you. Is this correct?"
😂😂😂

@Ranim&Corey - first of all I wanna send you lots and lots of virtual hugs, sweetheart. You are one tough girl to be able to endure his current behavior towards you and the process. I feel saddened by your story and I know that everyone in here would want to give you pieces of advice. We aren't in the position to judge your significant other right now because we don't know how he really feels. I just wish that he'd talk to you without throwing tantrums and be a man not a child. I admire your bravery to face this kind of situation and to be able to tell him that you understand him with his affair with another girl. That is not easy, I am sure everyone will agree on me. You let your love for him overcome your anger. Now, when everything is calm and he's not crying or shouting, talk to him once more and calmly ask him of what he wants to do. Will he give you up and be with that girl or he'll face this journey with you without hurting you? You said that he doesn't want to cancel the visa after he broke up with you twice and want to see what will happen after you get approved? That confuses me. 
Anyway, we're here for you, sweetie. Hoping you'll get your approval soon.

Thank you for your support ! But I think he is giving up on me after he met a girl who's working with him and he sees her everyday for 8 hours. He was honest with me and told that he likes her because she hears him when he talks and there are a lot of common things they share.  He said he felt connected to her because he has touched her and whenever they are together, he feels happy and not worried about his life. He started dating her for only 3 days ago but they have seen each other at work 2 weeks ago ( btw he just got this new job in two weeks ago)
Everytime I call him now , all he does is crying and sabbing , breaking things and keeps saying that he is so tired and not okay. He said that he feels miserable , sad and disappointed for a while ago . He has been like that for 2 days now. Im in pain and he has said a lot of things that hurt me and broke my heart. Im in a situation where I don't know how to make a decision whether I leave or stay? Whether I give him time to heal himself  or just leave him ? We have been arguing a lot this month before all this happened because we are missing each other a lot and not being able to manage time to talk . He is tired of the feelings he get whenever we argue. Told me that I am the only person who could hurt him. I think he's making wrong decisions right now because of the way he feels.  Running a way  from the bad feeling that he feels by going out with this girl. He doesn't have a lot of friends , he doesn't go out and do things because he said I don't allow him to do things that he likes which is not true or that I didn't mean to make him feel this way, and that I let him fly under my own conditions  
He always at home and spending his day on a political forum called "Conspiracy outpost " and all he does is  posting things there and talking to people online. I really I do feel him and I know why he is like that. It's been almost 10 months that we haven't been together physically. I had to leave back after I finished my school in May 2017 and sent our petition in August.
All I said to him that Im not going to take him serious because its clear that he is confused and emotional. Making a quick decision and being misled by his emotions. 
We are still talking and texting each other but it hurts me every day when I know he is with her. Her being in his life now was a choice for him. And the only reason why Im still with him because I do believe that we are happy whenever we are together physically. I understand what made to this situation and that because of the longing and distance. 
He does not want to cancel the visa and said that lets see what god can do for us and he doesn't know what will happen after he tried to brake up with me 2 times whenever he was crying and upset. 
I really Im confused don't know what to do. My heart is telling to be with him because I love him but his heart is telling him to continue getting to know this girl. 

Hello revered Augustines,
 
I'm a July filer but just lurking here as the number of people waiting for approvals in July is rapidly dwindling.  I have to lurk here now and than I'll follow @Naes to September so I can see her approval lol.
 
I hope you are all getting lots of approvals.  I can confirm that they aren't updating the app.  I was approved in January but mine still says "Received".  I never got that thrilling phone buzz to say that I was on to the next step.
 
Remember to get your stuff in order for the next stage after approval.  Once you get your NOA2 things can go really fast!!  Last thing you want is to slow things down even further by not having your information ready.

HELLO ALL! I just wanted to thank you guys so much for encouraging me. I loved hearing about the approvals and it made me have hope that I would hear soon! Yesterday my fiance and I came back from a weekend trip and I felt that I needed to check my mail and WE RECEIVED OUR NOA2 YESTERDAY!!!!
 
We filed August 15th, 2017 and we were approved on February 13th, 2018!
 
MORE APPROVALS WILL BE COMING!!! KEEP UP YOUR HIGH SPIRITS <3

I forgot to check the mail yesterday and couldn't believe what I found this morning.. an approval in hand; despite the website and app still both showing no update since the NOA1.
 
NOA1 - August 2nd.
NOA2 - February 13th (received in the mail today, 2/19/2018).
 
Stay strong everyone; even if it feels like stalemate just waiting..

Hi! NOA1 08/10/17 approval 02/16/18. Thank you VJ community (especially @Naes) for the technical and moral support! We received email and app notification. For all of you who are still waiting, hang on! Your day will also come. 

Hi guys 
 
just an update from my end. Received my NOA2 in the post had nothing on the Apps or USCIS website. 
 
NOA1 - August 14th 2017 
NOA2 - February 12th 2018 
 
finalllly some light at the end of that lonnng wait. 
 
Keeping my hopes up for everyone still waiting keep going guys xx 

Hi everyone!!! 
 
I'm also a longtime lurker and today I finally decided to sign up. I know that happy feeling when I see people post their approval and it makes me feel so hopeful!
 
So today, I'd just like to share that after 193 days of waiting! We are finally approved!!! 😊😊😊😊
 
NOA1 August 9, 2017
NOA2 Approval February 10, 2018
Received letter by mail February 18, 2018
No updates on USCIS or App. 
Fiance is from Netherlands 
 
Thank you everyone who contributes to this trend! I wish everyone good luck! I know yours is just around the corner! stay positive and stay hopeful! 😊😊😊

I'd like to propose a new case checking system to USCIS where they check cases for a particular day according to how many times you visit the USCIS case status page. Then we could refresh as if it were a game and feel like we were making some progress to an approval. Each receipt day would have a leaderboard!
 
Thoughts to pass the time when USCIS is closed tomorrow and I'm almost at 185 days 😂

Dear Augustines;
 
I updated May and June too, both to give our long time waiting friends some piece of mind that their months are still having cases moving, and they are not alone; and to see the full movement as far as I can.
 
Please stay positive! They are moving strong in August  
-------
This week's updates - May to August
 
Overall movement:
 
      May    June     July      Aug    Total 02/12/18 40 95 147 106 388 02/13/18 13 18 35 59 125 02/14/18 7 13 14 29 63 02/15/18 11 42 101 132 286 02/16/18 17 41 50 118 226 Total 88 209 347 444 1088  
 
Only Approvals:
 
We already have approvals both from the dates with updated approvals, and with no approvals -
meaning lots of Approvals apart from these are coming in the mail... (Also on that 1 approval on 2/14 is a weirdo update as it was double approved...)
 
      May    June     July      Aug    Total 02/12/18 17 44 29 56 146 02/13/18 9 11 7 20 47 02/14/18     1   1 02/15/18 6 27 75 97 205 02/16/18 11 18 44 117 190 Total 43 100 156 290 589  
 
Let's see what next week will bring but at least it was a week with good movement every where  
 
Good Luck!!! (we really need it)

Hi there my friends!!!
 
I was a mess this couple days, happy to see a bunch of people getting their approvals and knowing that the process was finally moving forward but sad that mine wasn't at the approval gig. And today I decided that I was not going to look at anything related to K1, even did some meditation, cleaned my room and my soul and in the afternoon my love send what i have being expecting for freaking 192 days!! We finally got our NOA2
NOA1- August 8
NOA2 - Feb 16
 
Best of luck for all the fillers that are still waiting
Now the NVC waits begins...
p.s. I already updated my timeline, people update your timeline, pleaseeee

Yea same.  We will have to do the ceremony later due to the stress and financial drain of this process so far.
 
Lovely dress 😍😍😍

Very nice trend!!!
 
First we weren't planning to do anything but both moms got the puppy eyes on us and got to be very persuasive that in the end we shouldn't let this hole process take off the beauty of this next step of our lives. 
 
The plan is get married as soon as we can when I get in the US at the courthouse and later 2-3 months have the hole ceremony and reception stuff (as someone point out it will keep me busy as I wait for the WP and Parole).  I know that we can find things really easy in US but here i knew where and how to find it, there will make a hole new world for me to get supplies and caters and all that. 
Pinterest will be my closest friend, I presume as my search is really getting focused on simple and on a budget wedding.

Very nice trend!!!
 
First we weren't planning to do anything but both moms got the puppy eyes on us and got to be very persuasive that in the end we shouldn't let this hole process take off the beauty of this next step of our lives. 
 
The plan is get married as soon as we can when I get in the US at the courthouse and later 2-3 months have the hole ceremony and reception stuff (as someone point out it will keep me busy as I wait for the WP and Parole).  I know that we can find things really easy in US but here i knew where and how to find it, there will make a hole new world for me to get supplies and caters and all that. 
Pinterest will be my closest friend, I presume as my search is really getting focused on simple and on a budget wedding.

I know! How many nights I spend thinking about that...
 
however after going through every single situation here in vj and some not here, I learnt that there is a reason behind every denial, even if it was written with anger blaming only uscis once you get to read you see the obvious reason behind it.
 
what I gather so far if it will give anyone any ease:
1) not meeting in person - yes there are people who think they can get away from it... and get angry when they're denied...
2) not being single - yes some people are so smart to even get married while waiting for a fiancé visa.
3) lying in the forms or omitting information and not reply to rfe on time.
4) divorce decrees (again not being able to show they're single.
 
never once I've seen anything related to country.
 
and on interview:
 
1) not being single enough - seriously people should stop having mock weddings
2) not having a bona fide relationship - this is what we should be proving - some cases even after reading doesn't sound bonafide to me to tell the truth, and in some cases this saved people from weird fiances too...
3) not being able to prove sponsorship (very rarely)
 
I want to add i-129f extremely rarely gets a denial without rfe or at least a NOID that gives you a little bit more time and chance to prove your petition. So I'm not getting scared till I see my NOID, an rfe doesn't even scare me as they seem to give it to anything these days.

I just got our NOA2 in the mail!!! Still no update online. It's dated 12 February. I'm an August 8th filer. Such a huge relief to finally have it! I hope speedy approvals for everyone still waiting!

Very nice trend!!!
 
First we weren't planning to do anything but both moms got the puppy eyes on us and got to be very persuasive that in the end we shouldn't let this hole process take off the beauty of this next step of our lives. 
 
The plan is get married as soon as we can when I get in the US at the courthouse and later 2-3 months have the hole ceremony and reception stuff (as someone point out it will keep me busy as I wait for the WP and Parole).  I know that we can find things really easy in US but here i knew where and how to find it, there will make a hole new world for me to get supplies and caters and all that. 
Pinterest will be my closest friend, I presume as my search is really getting focused on simple and on a budget wedding.

I like this topic 💗💗💗talk about wedding is way more fun than waiting for NOA2!
We plan to do the courthouse and party separately, as everyone mentions it’s not possible to plan a wedding without a date... 
So for us basically courthouse is planned on 5/4(yay yay Star Wars😁 ) with very few witness like family/best friends. I really hope I could get my VISA by then...
Party will be in ~2 months later so that we could plan it a bit, but I guess it’s me to plan it mostly cuz it takes up to 3 months to get EAD, so I have nothing more important to do compared with planning the party....
Havent really start to look for wedding dress, I’m still on diet😋
Have a cool/special idea of the engagement ring: my fiancée plans to buy a couple of engagement rings with different diamonds like Ruby/emerald etc., so that the engagement ring could match with my daily dressing style, but those diamonds are expensive so we will start with a few, and maybe buy more as our anniversary gift
Hmmmm sounds like a new chapter of life will start soon!