Rachellenativ

Forgot to add that my lawyer was an absolute expert when it came to compiling evidence for proof of hardship. He really made the case for me. 

The I-601 waiver can take longer for certain people due to whatever reason. Mine took a little over 13 months. Filled (through a lawyer) on August 2016 got an approval on December 21 2017. And I can tell you this my case was by far not an easy one. I went into this whole process EXPECTING THE WORST and kinda hoping for the best. And in the end worked out for the best. It is expected that certain applications will be put through additional scrutiny by the immigration officials for one reason or another and thats okay.....it does not necessarily mean a refusal. Just be patient and hope for the best. 

It all depends on the immigration officer and what is submitted as the hardship/s........ As long as you meet the criteria it will be approved or an RFE will be requested to clarify any unclear issues. You should be fine.  

Hi I have i601 filed as well Jan 2017. It's been 16 months since they have it. With the new system they no longer give u updates like what month year they working on. Now it's averaged month which for mine is 14 to 18 months with date of inquiry Dec 2016. So as far I can tell I'm in the range of the processing time but they don't give u what month or year. From what I read I do not have to restart the process just wait to be approved and finish my interview at the embassy. I've been away from my wife and kids for 8 years now.

Nice, very lucky you had that extreme hardship coming up at the right time.
When i was unemployed about 2yrs ago we haven't gotten to the waiver filing stage but now I have a job and no major financial issues or major medical issues was the response i got from USCIS the two times i tried this year to expedite the process.
Well, in about 1 to 3 months i should have the approval notice in the mail and the long wait will be over. 

You don't need to pay for an expedite. Mine was completely free and informal. My lawyer old me it was a waste of time so I did it myself.
My reason : that my employment was ending I wanted my husband here to help pay the bills. That's it. 
We filed I601 waiver end of Aug. Expedite approved mid Oct. Husband entered U.S. January 18th.
 

Yes, you do not have to start all over again and yes if any document is needed you will be notified. 

In your case you do not have to worry about filing all over because you were denied during your first interview and you are filing the waiver now. 
 
In my spouse case, she was not denied visa at her first interview. She was asked to bring more supporting document to our claim and when we submitted more they kept asking for more and we were tired and just asked them deny her the visa so we can start next stage which is waiver. if they do not deny her the visa and it gets to one year from first visa interview then we will have to start the whole process all over. But thank God they denied her few months to the one year anniversary after much emails back and forth.

Sure i will post an update here as soon as i get my approval notice......
 
Since you have a son who is a USC and leaving apart from his father, i think you should have your spouse get a lawyer that can help you expedite your waiver. I have tried to expedite my case twice but got denied saying i do not financial, medical or personal issues that needs immediate attention.
 
If your letter states Phoenix Arizona, than your case might be at the Arizona office. To the best of my knowledge Phoenix Arizona is a field office and not a service center, so they receive applications and forward the applications to the service center in charge of each case.
 
The best way to find out is to call USCIS and ask. 

The excuse they use is further security checks...our I130 took 11 months. The last5 months they gave us the additional security check excuse. I had the senators office checking once a week the last 6 weeks. 
The state dept only took 30 days because I followed the guide on this site. The waiver only took 4 months..I got sick of these people and asked for an expedite. It was approved. So it went fast from there..
 
I was told that all processing has been slowed down recently since the new administration took over. My friend now works in the state dept processing passports .
Nobody knows when it will pick up ... 
 

Hi,
I have a similar case like yours for my spouse who i am filing for and have been apart from her since 2011 when she voluntarily returned home so we can follow the law and file the I-601. But while she was overseas the last administration approved the I-601a in 2013 which is same thing as I-601 but now you do not have to leave the United States to file.... But to cut the long story short, we were approved to file the I-601 waiver in September 2016 and sent the documents in December 2016. The main issue why it takes longer now is the I-601a filers who did not leave like you and my spouse who did the right thing and left to file from home country. So since 2014/2015 when USCIS started receiving a lot of I-601a applications they tend to work on those quicker since they are already here so they do not get deported, which to me should not be the case as they are already here in the United States. I think they should help those who are apart quicker to come together as a family.
 
Below is also how you track your case specific date to know how close they are getting to your case date. which is the date they received your waiver application. Use this explanation below and follow the link to check processing times.....
 
Hope this helps make you understand the processing updates a little better.
 
Bottom Right Date:- Means the last date they updated the website on all cases (January 5, 2018).
Top Processing Date:- Means the last date they got this update from for all cases (October 31, 2017).
Case Specific Date:- Means the date the cases were submitted to that office for processing (October 12, 2016 for I-601 cases).
 
All this means is that as of close of business on October 31, 2017 they were working on I-601 cases that were submitted on October 12, 2016. 
Which means that from the previous update as of September 30, 2017 they were working on cases submitted on October 1, 2016 they only moved 11 days by the time it was October 31, 2017.
 
This has happened three time last year when they moved just a week or two instead of their usual monthly case movements.
 
I called USCIS earlier this year to know what happened and this was the explanation they gave me:
-They get behind in some months due to number of cases submitted in a given day or month they are working on (High or Low Volume of case submitted)
-They also go back to work on cases reviewed and kept on ice due to they requested the applicant to submit additional documents and when they receive the additional documents, they put on hold new applications to work on that passed case with new documents submitted.
-The verification process of the documents are tedious especially documents created outside of the United States.
-Lastly they are short staffed. 
 
Keep the hope alive and be patient it will all end one day...... I have been waiting for my case approval since December 2016 and hope i get an answer in February or March as it is not taking about 14-15months now to process. I know someone on one of the forums that i follow here who submitted on November 20, 2016 and still no reply as of today...... i am using that person as my guide, so when she post her approval date i know mine is getting closer. 
Good Luck to you!!!!
 
https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do
 
Select Nebraska as service center and click service center processing date then scroll to I-601 to see the current date they are working on.

I'd say the administration has slowed processing down on everything. I read something online about it. Sorry I can't Remember where.. Just the other day actually.  Depending on what the DACA deal turns out to be and the chain migration decision.  
I think I read it on www.dmldaily.com ..you'll have to search through the articles.