dominika

Please update us on this (if you don’t mind).

Please update us on what they said during your interview.

Check your mailboxes everybody. Your approval might be there! Turns out we got ours two weeks ago but my fiancé haven’t checked the mailbox until today...
 
NOA1: Sept 11, 2017
NOA2: March 8, 2018

Check your mailboxes everybody. Your approval might be there! Turns out we got ours two weeks ago but my fiancé haven’t checked the mailbox until today...
 
NOA1: Sept 11, 2017
NOA2: March 8, 2018

Check your mailboxes everybody. Your approval might be there! Turns out we got ours two weeks ago but my fiancé haven’t checked the mailbox until today...
 
NOA1: Sept 11, 2017
NOA2: March 8, 2018

Check your mailboxes everybody. Your approval might be there! Turns out we got ours two weeks ago but my fiancé haven’t checked the mailbox until today...
 
NOA1: Sept 11, 2017
NOA2: March 8, 2018

Check your mailboxes everybody. Your approval might be there! Turns out we got ours two weeks ago but my fiancé haven’t checked the mailbox until today...
 
NOA1: Sept 11, 2017
NOA2: March 8, 2018

Check your mailboxes everybody. Your approval might be there! Turns out we got ours two weeks ago but my fiancé haven’t checked the mailbox until today...
 
NOA1: Sept 11, 2017
NOA2: March 8, 2018

Check your mailboxes everybody. Your approval might be there! Turns out we got ours two weeks ago but my fiancé haven’t checked the mailbox until today...
 
NOA1: Sept 11, 2017
NOA2: March 8, 2018

USCIS Update: So when I called this morning, the USCIS rep sent a request for the Officer to call me within 3 to 5 business days and she gave me a confirmation #. Surprisingly, an officer called me today from 213 area code Los Angeles CA.  He looked up my case and asked me few questions about me and my fiancé. First, he asked me if fiancé is in the US or outside United States. I responded to him to say that fiancé is not  in the US. Then he asked me if my fiancé has stayed in US. I told him that he came to United States to visit me in October. Then he asked me if my fiancé has overstayed in the United States. I responded to him that my fiancé did not overstay and that he stayed here with me for 4 months to visit. So I guess my presumption on this is that if a fiancé visits the United States while K1 is in process is that they can see the dates that your fiancé arrived to United States. He counted the months as if he was talking to himself saying it louder from October to April. If I am thinking this correctly, that the reason he started with month of October instead of September was because my Fiancé came to United States in October and the 6 months due would be in April for my fiancé to return to his country. Then, he started telling me to try calling again by 1st week of April if there is still no status on my case; otherwise he said that they can put for request to work on the case by then.  Btw, he was very pleasant to talk to. He sounded very courteous and polite. 
 
So so now I went my turn to ask him question about the business process inside USCIS on how they process visa applications. He explained to me that each random case is assigned by officer. They don't just process K1 visas but they also process different type of petitions and immigration benefits, appeals, etc. I asked him if the cases are processed in order. He said that they should be processed in order of received date but USCIS is two months delay which in fact they are still processing June and July. Then I told him now that it appears that cases are just being approved randomly with out of dates order. The only explanation he told me was that some officers tend to be faster than the others and that's the only way he can think of. But each officer processes their workload in order of priority. Once they touch the case, that's when the background and security checks come in. That's why we see cases that get approved first than the others. 
 
The reason why I had to question this because  I also work in a Government agency where we process different types of claims but we have a system of order and business process to make sure claims are processed timely. I see some of my colleagues who get behind with their workloads. And I tend to be the proactive one. I also tend to be proactive in responding to Congressional inquiries and public relations. 
 
If your case is assigned to someone who is way behind on their workload, then good luck. 
 
Now for those who is still waiting, I feel your frustration like myself. 
 
USCIS should have a program similar to Uber function, case comes in, accept, work, decide, then next. 
 
That's all for me. 

We September filers are getting so close… I'm sure we can all agree we can't wait to receive good news! I see so many posts about waiting, etc... Disclaimer: this isn't directed at any person in particular but I did want to share something my grandmother told me when she was still alive. I was complaining about long distance and she told me I should be thankful I have Skype, email, texts, etc. Back in her day, she married my grandfather and he left for war a few days after they were married. She didn't see him for 4 years… and relied solely on letters that took 4-5 weeks to arrive. Not even a phone call. Not one. To make matters worse, she didn't know if he was alive or dead or injured. Ever since she told me that, I realized I shouldn't complain. This K1 isn't taking “forever”(insert dramatic cue here), it's taking a finite amount of time, 6-9 months to be exact.  Stay positive everyone!

Good Afternoon my name is Ronise I’m not a member of VJ but by following you guys I was able to survive this journey. I write this  to encourage you and because I am a September filler. My NOA1 was September 5 today March 1 I received my NOA 2 so September fillers get ready for all your approvals.  Thank you and God bless you!

Update of the graphs comparing June and July regarding the length of time from Received to Approved one month later (as to 02/22/2018), this time including August under the same conditions.
 
As a reminder, in the graphs below I try to compare what happened within the next 177 days after that last day of June, July and August 29th (last day with approvals) received cases.
 
In that time, with a total of 715, 357 and 582 approved cases (after removing some outliers) respectively:
 
June had a global mean of 182.49 days from Received to Approval date, with a standard deviation of 7.89 days. July had a global mean of 195.03 days from Received to Approval date, with a standard deviation of 3.89 days. August had a global mean of 189.33 days from Received to Approval date, with a standard deviation of 6.47 days.  
As you guys can see, July (starting approvals at 185+ days) was significantly worse than June (160+ days), but in August (175+ days), we can clearly see the turning point for average processing times finally starting to go down again. This is looking much better than in previous months!
 
Please, note that ONLY updated approved cases were considered, and that the purpose of this graphs is just merely informative, not predictive.
 
 

Update of the graphs comparing May and June regarding the length of time from Received to Approved one month later (as to 01/20/2018), this time including July under the same conditions.
 
As a reminder, in the graphs below I try to compare what happened within the next 190 days after that last day of May, June and July 14th (last day with approvals) received cases. In order to see them clearer I put them together in pairs.
 
In that time, with a total of 1877, 818 and 243 approved cases (after removing some outliers) respectively:
 
May had a global mean of 175.25 days from Received to Approval date, with a standard deviation of 14.06 days. June had a global mean of 186.05 days from Received to Approval date, with a standard deviation of 9.16 days. July had a global mean of 193.91 days from Received to Approval date, with a standard deviation of 3.28 days.  
Even if it doesn't look very good (way less approvals in the same period of time for July and also starting from 185+ days) just remember that, because of the holidays, they haven't worked the same number of days, and more importantly, haven't been very consistent updating approvals, which is why these results only apply to the information it comes from, the unreliable information updated by USCIS.
 
If they keep the rate of approvals seen in the last days, I believe we'll start seeing a clear improvement in the next one or two months. Let's hope!
 
 

Lastly, the trend line for the average processing time of all cases received every considered day and approved within the next 204 days, as to 01/20/2018.
 
This time I have added some extra data in case you're interested (number of approved cases, number of received cases and percentage of approved cases (out of received)). As before, note that only updated cases could be considered.
 
As expected it's still too soon for a downward trend, but hopefully we'll start seeing some change by next month!
 
 

 
 

It is the date that is advertised on their website.  I'm a June 6 filer on day 224 and the site still shows June 1.  I cannot easily talk to Tier II until after the date on the website passes my received date.  As of today, "normal processing time" is 229 days.  They only change that date once or twice a month.
 
I have talked to USCIS 5 times and even got my Congressman involved.  We just need to relax...

I agree with geowrian. If I remember correctly though police certificates in Italian embassy in Naples have validity of six months so yes, everybody have to check on their embassy’s website to be sure you have all the paper work required 

Thanks for sharing. That said, please note that all off the above is embassy specific. While many items are required for every embassy, some require items not on this list and others don't require some item on it.
 
For instance, India is really strict on the I-134. They want detailed tax returns for the past 3 years. Other embassies only want 1 year or even none in some cases. Others yet don't even request the I-134 (except maybe in rare cases). Another example is that some embassies require proof of being free to marry (i.e. a CENOMAR in Philippines). Some medical facilities send the results to the embassy on their own, and others use a sealed packet that can be hand delivered by the applicant.
 
Police certificates have a 1 year validity, but will still be accepted later if one has not returned to the country since the previous ones were issued.
 
The bank statements and such would only be if using assets to supplement income...otherwise it's optional.

I don't mind the wait, it's a very small blip in the grand scheme of things, but it just baffles me how they cannot give anyone a direct answer for anything. Where is the translucency? We shouldn't have to be writing in a forum about all the possible reasons we now have so long to wait. It should be something that's just a given to us all in a direct answer.

Approvals of fiancé visas dropped by 35% comparing to last year???? Interesting article buuuuut I think all of us are already so disappointed with the whole process, I don’t need to be reading such information 😩😩😩. Put a trigger warning or something next time you decide to post this kind of stuff

My case finally hit 111 days today. Still waiting on more news of my expedite request.
I've had to stop checking this forum and my timeline because it's just making me more anxious.
 
Happy 2018 all! May we all get our NOA2 soon.

The timeline on here seems to be getting later and later, now it’s almost the end of March!! Let’s hope and pray things will pick up after the holidays because it’s getting ridiculous  🙏🏻

In japan when you have your case number you call the medical place (hospital or clinic whichever you're going) and schedule it. Usually at least 10 days before he interview just in case you need titer test. Etc.. and so the results can reach to you before the interview.
 
it differs in every country.
 
 
for police certificate, it also depends on the country; some go with 6 months some with 12. Some normally goes with 6 but says it's ok if it is for immigration purposes. (This depends on the country you're going to receive the certificate from)

Hello!
If I'm not mistaken, police certificate validity depends on the embassy. The USA embassy in Russia says that it Is valid for 1 year since the date of issue  so you probably should check the website of your embassy