h&y

That is pretty much all they do.  They also give bad advice.  

At this point, I am asking myself that same question.  I don't think they are a bad service but they certainly aren't required.  I used them and still had an RFE.  I know I am not going to pay and extra $1500 for them to do the AOS.  I will do that on my own with a lot of help from people here.

I requested 2014-2017 at the IRS website - https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript
 
Each year is a separate request.  Took about a week to receive them.  I filed my 2017 taxes the third week of February and was able to request the transcript 2 weeks later.
 
Jason

I have decided to take up kickboxing to distract from this waiting period! I’m thinking Netflix and 🍷habit is not helping my mental state 😩Day 202 

Hopefully Helpful information For K1 Filers who are still waiting?  :-)
 
1)  The current August 30th "processing" date that USCIS states DOES NOT mean they have not touched petitions that were received after August 30th.   We all know that is not true and should not be interpreted that way.  What it is does mean is that if your petition was received after August 30th, it is considered to be with in normal processing times.   The USCIS does not want you to inquire asking for case status if your I129F was received after this date (August 30th) and likely they will not be helpful to you.  The UCSIS processing time page explicitly states :
 
"We have posted a Case Inquiry Date in the table below to show when you can inquire about your case. If your receipt date is before the Case Inquiry Date, you can submit an “outside normal processing time” service request"  https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/
 
2) Please try not to stress out or become depressed if you see other petitions approved before yours, even if they were received by the USCIS after yours.   The reality is that some cases take 90 days (or more) after the first one for a given date is approved.   Try hard to set this expectation for yourself and your fiance(e).   Try to remember patience is important to survive the K1 Visa process and also for a successful marriage.  You will need to learn to be patient, if you are not already able to be. 
 
There are sill folks receiving approvals who filed in August, July, and June.  In fact, a July filer who has run the July scans just received his approval this week.  Set your expectations correctly and you will do ok.  (and do not listen to the Lawyers.  ;-) . 
 
Why some petitions are processed faster than others is for many possible reasons.   But ask yourself these questions that might help explain why yours is taking longer than someone with a simpler case.
 
1) Have you or your finance(e) been married before.  If so, they need to confirm you are currently able be married.
2) Do you or your finance(e) have prior arrest records.  If so, they need to be reviewed to ensure the candidates are eligible for a K1 Visa.
3) Do you have a common name like John Smith or Karen Jones, or have multiple aliases.  If so, they need to be sure they are looking at the correct bio background data for you.
4) Have you or your finance(e) traveled frequently and where to.  Some locations my be under travel advisory and there may be need determine the travel was for legitimate purposes and visa conditions were honored.
5) Are there K2 (children) applicants attached to the K1.
6) Were 50+ pages of supporting relationship evidence submitted that need to be reviewed.
 
It is my belief that the simpler the case, the quicker the initial approval.  More complicated cases will reasonably take longer amounts of time.
It is not strictly a matter that cases are not processed in order.  Many cases are being processed in parallel.  Some may take a day to approve, some may take 90 days to approve.  If processing were handled strictly in sequence, they would probably still be working on year 2003.   
 
Time or a "Computer Nerd" analogy.  One reason computers today are much quicker than computers from 30 years ago is the advent of parallel processing.   Some tasks can be completed in parallel with other tasks and they do not need to wait for a slower task to complete before they can begin.  In some cases a newer task will complete before an older task.
 
One last thought.   We are all in this together and if everything is legitimate with your application, you will eventually get your petition approved.  :-)
 
 

HEY GUYS...
WE GOT APPROVED!! 🎉🎉
(old website)
I awake up from my sleep and just update like a daily of my day. 
I can’t believe it!!! 
My fiancé called the USCIS today and got the appointment with tier 2. 
THEY SAID “ Your case just approved.”
We got the news together. 
208 day!!!! 9/1 received. 
 

What a good day! Just got an email approval (Old email / site, new isnt updated interestingly enough). 
 
NOA1 - Sep 25
NOA2 - March 28

We were listed as "READY" yesterday but I have a K-1 and two K-2s.  Only 2 were listed as "READY" so far.  They may need some time to update in their system but this is Holy Week and I'm not sure if the Embassy is closed on Thursday and Friday like the medical facility there.  I will reach out to NVC to see why only 2 of the 3 are listed but we still have 20 days until the interview.
 
For other Filipino beneficiaries, we booked the interview and pre-registered for medical only using the number that was given over the phone.  At medical Rose just showed the interview confirmation and there were no questions asked.  We are listed as "READY" and I have never received an email or snail mail from NVC at all.

Congrats and welcome!!
 
Average time is 8-20 days. I would start calling a week from the date of your approval and every day after. (At least that's what I'm doing) 

I just saw in my email that today I checked the new website 64 times (64 one time password emails )

Dear Berries
 
Seriously! The mood is so down here!!
 
A few facts for everyone! especially who did not follow other months.
 
Of course they started October....It went all the way to September 29 and obviously after that the next date is October 2....
 It is not like they finish a month to start the next one... I don't even think they work in "months" but only "dates"
They never did, and never will.
 
How far do you think August was when September started. I already wrote this 3 times this week.. 
As everyone can see from the huge graph they are not even halfway in September yet. Nobody is alone (seriously especially late September filers... )
 
I mean sure whine and everything but isn't it tiresome?
Does the negativity makes us gain anything??
 
Unless USCIS website says it is past your date, I don't see any reason to panic (or even an outcome from it!)
Please go read August, July and support each other,not in whining but in reassuring...
 
 
yes it is normal no worries, your received date is still 09/29. 10/3 is your submitted day, the date you will need if you want to put an inquiry in the future when their processing times pass 10/3

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know that we got approved! I got an email from USCIS stating that they have taken an action on our case. I signed in the new website and the first thing I saw was that our case was approved! No update on the old website or the app.
 
Received Date: Sept. 19
Submitted Date: Sept. 21
NOA2: March 27. 
 
My fiancé and I are on our way to celebrate in our favorite restaurant called Chino in Hong Kong. We've been staying in HK for a year and a half so far and are really looking forward to moving back to the Bay Area.  
 

They old website and the app both say approved the new website says recieved im so confused and overly joyed i hope not for nothing because ive already called my fiance and family 

You can start it now!  But you have to wait for your case number (and embassy received possibly?) before you can finish it. It’s possible to save the progress though, just write down the unique number they give you.

@h&y yesssssss, thank you!!!!! This is so unreal and surreal and crazy and super crazy 😂😂 ... I’m here at work and knowing we got approved, I’m walking around like a boss 😂😂 👯‍♂️👯‍♂️

You know what, why not. My fiancé is probably not going want to do it again today (he called first thing in the morning today) but guess what - my company phone plan includes free calls to the US! (Thank you for suggesting I double check that @Swissmiss82 😄⭐️) My fiancé was by the way not thrilled that only now did I discover I can call him for free when we’ve struggled on wifi a million times... 😇 oops

NOA1 date 14 September 
NOA2 date 19 March 
 
Only received our paper notification today the 27th of March although it was dated 19 March approved! Online still not updated! 
 
So excited, was getting worried as I saw so many approvals on and around our date. 
 
Those still waiting hang on there I bet yours in the mail, ours took over a week to get to us! 

Berrriessssssss, 
we are approveddddddddd!!!! Wooot woot! In the middle of the night they updated our status. I didn’t get any action change email but my fiancé did but still I found out first while she was sleeping in US. I woke her up and I was shaking, crying and everything. It took exactly 180 days.
 
noa1 - 09/28
noa2 - 03/26
 
hang on other berries. It’s coming soon!! 
Praise Jesus for giving us the fruit of our patience 👆🙏

No, I think it's very easy to run into these tourist trap places in the city, or places where people don't put any love into the food. I also prefer making my own, where I can add all the love and garlic that I want!  
You will LOVE all the Mexican food (and there's even variations between Northern and Southern Cali Mexican food).  We should do a NorCal VJ dinner once we get settled!  The activities will be 1) eating and 2) celebrating 

I got my NVC number on Friday (after it was assigned on Thursday), and I'm ALREADY going crazy waiting for CEAC to say "Ready."
It's funny that after 6 months (to the day) of waiting for NOA2, I'm impatient as f after 5 days.  
Matt keeps telling me "MADELINE, PATIENCE." But I don't waaaaaaant to be patient anymore!

Me too!! Now doing the same for the interview.. 
 
im a romantic so I have all of mine... well he is... a he... so even though I told him he barely has whatever left in his wallet 🤦🏻‍♀️

I filled it out for Rose and the kids for the same reasons.  At the end it asks if someone helped them, just say yes and there is a pulldown menu.  Select fiancee.  It is actually pretty straight forward once you get through one.  I did three and by the last one it was quick and easy.

passport stamps are really important, just put whichever you can find of those.
 
Did you send boarding passes? 
plane tickets are not always considered hard evidence, but a boarding pass is.

We requested a full refund for our flight and also eligible for a $600 compensation. So we bought a completely different flight for $1000 instead. So Michelle is flying today and I pick her up tomorrow morning <3 <3 

We were approved in the middle night!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Noa1 received Sep 25th
Submitted Sep 27th 
Noa2 approved Mar 26th