bird&bear

Finally approved 
pd 10/17/2018
rfe received 07/15/2019
i-130 approved 07/23/2019
 

Wow, Im totally shocked on how fast things appear to be going right now.  So here is whats happening right now
 
i130 mailed December 31, 2018
NOA1 electronic notice: January 2, 2019 -                                                   2 days 
NOA1 hardcopy: January 4, 2019                                                                  4 days
NOA2 electronic notice: July 24, 2019                                                         203 days
Electronic Notice From USCIS re DOS/Visa: July 25, 2019                       1 day
NOA2 hardcopy: July 27, 2019                                                                       3 days
NVC Case number                                                                                            PENDING
 
Hoping it continues ! This is a second petition filed for my husband, 1st one was a K1 which was denied at embassy/consulate.  I am praying that all those who are waiting hear something soon !  The wait is overwhelming

Service Center : Texas Service Center Transferred? No Consulate : Morocco Marriage (if applicable): 2018-11-23 I-130 Sent : 2018-12-31 I-130 NOA1 : 2019-01-02 I-130 RFE :   I-130 RFE Sent :   I-130 Approved : 2019-07-25  
 
APPROVED ! 

Hello! We were recently approved!
 
PD 12/18/18
I 130 NOA1 12/21/18
I 130 NOA2 07/19/19 
Texas Service Center 
 
Good luck to everyone! 😊
 

I have fantastic news. I JUST GOT APPROVED!!!!! YAY

"We have received your service request and researched the status of your case. Your case is currently in line for processing and adjudication. We generally process cases in the order that we receive them. Current information on our processing times is available at WWW.USCIS.GOV."

I don't know if that is their new boilerplate for "still in normal processing time" or what because I've seen screenshots of emails that actually do say that, but either way:

Our service request was assigned today (it took 10 days from when we submitted it). I'm a little nervous about it because when my husband submitted it he couldn't remember our PD and it said to give your best guess so he put September 1st since he knew it was September. It's actually September 20th and as of today the inquiry date is only September 16th so I'm really hoping we don't just get a response of "still in normal processing time". We're at 306 days while most Texas filers are hearing around the 240 day point so even if we're not quite out of posted processing time, we're clearly out of average processing time. Hopefully whoever it was assigned to has some sympathy and we get one of those boilerplate brushing us off responses because at least then someone will have looked for our case and we'll know it isn't lost or stuck on the desk of someone who is on a very long vacation. 
 
Anyway, I know this is a pretty boring update but as part of dealing with having our case delayed I've been trying to find posts of people who have gone through the same thing because it's comforting to read their stories so I just want to add ours for anyone in the future who is in the same position. 

Did you send one all applications in one package or filed separately?
 
 
Also saw an approval at Texas for a January 2019 filer  🙌🙌🙌

I second this suggestion! A couple months back, I enquired with my broker about adding my husband to my car insurance for a temporary visit, and an NZ driving record was requested. This was in Orange County, same as OP.
 
OP, $4000/yr seems high even for OC, even for Irvine/Newport--the land of Teslas, Maseratis, Mercedes, etc lol. When/after talking to your broker, I'd check out AAA as well, as several people have recommended them to me for their reasonable pricing, within OC.  Good luck!

Got an approval letter today! PD 11/14/18, approved 7/9/19, Texas. Almost 8 months of suffering is done!🙏 Good luck to all who are still waiting! Remember, that we are luckier than poor people of Nebraska. Be patient and believe that the happy day will come! 👌

Our I-130 got approved! Received NOA2 in the mail today.

Texas Service Centre
NOA1 received on October 15, 2018
NOA2 received on July 5, 2019

No RFEs.

This is my kit for the day. Wore it to a big neighborhood-wide picnic of about 500 people.
Nobody shot me. (This is Texas, you know) 😂 🇺🇸🇬🇧

Well some people have had an I-130 processed at USCIS is 3  months and other have taken 14.  It just depends on what is in the petition and who adjudicates it.  Some service centers are faster, some adjudicators are faster.  It is like standing in a line at a grocery store.  Sometimes a shorter line takes longer.  
 
Just filing a I-129F and the I-130 gets processed  "quickly" is really just coincidence.
 
If you file for a K3 and the CR-1 is approved you get processed at the NVC the same way as I-130.
 
I have had couples for the same county file the same day at the same lockbox and none of the timeline dates are the same.   They both had interviews 3 months apart. 
 
Many have waited longer for the immigration process.  If you are in Canada you at least have the possibility to see each other more often.
 
 

Right, I think we're misunderstanding each other a bit here. If the I-129F is denied on the grounds that the I-130 has been approved, wouldn't this mean they just move onto the NVC stage? There is no K-3 visa being issued if the I-129F is denied. 

If that's the case, then there is no AOS because there is no visa that is being issued (no K-3). So, then this person just moves straight to the NVC stage after 3 months rather than the 11-13 months that people who don't try to file the I-129F are waiting. Am I understanding this all right?

Thanks. No my case started with LIN

Hi, I have been searching online for a place to share my experience in hopes that others can help me feel somewhat normal or give me some advice. I moved to the US in March and I'm just finding it so hard to adjust to my new life. I'd spent at least 6 months of holiday here in the US over a few years before actually moving here, but I didn't realise how much it would hit me, actually moving here. Before I begin, I should let you know that my husband is so supportive, loving and caring, I just needed to express myself somewhere where other people may be able to give me advice or relate.
 
When I moved here things started to change. My in-laws actually started to get on my nerve, almost as if their true selves have come out at me now that I'm living here and am family, which is expected. But a few of them have started saying incredibly racist things in front of me (half of my family are darker skinned, I'm the lightest skinned person in my family so I think at times they forget about my family). I decided that although I don't agree with racism, I can't change their minds so I should just ignore it. I said something once like, "Hey, you do realise that half of my family is darker skinned and they wouldn't hurt a fly, please don't generalise an entire race based on what you've seen on the media today" and it didn't go too well. 
 
The other week my husband asked his mother if the certain people in the family could please refrain from the language they use and stories they tell when my family come to visit. My family are only visiting for 2 weeks and they would be staying at mine and my husband's house anyway - so truly, it'd be refraining from the language for a few hours of their lives. I didn't ask him to say this, but it was obviously a concern of his too. Later, at the dinner table my mother in law and my husband's grandmother started slaughtering ME for my husband's suggestion (this was dinner in a public place). They started going off at me calling me disrespectful, saying that he only asked them that because I forced him to say it (totally untrue). I sat in silence because I was unable to even get a word in over the finger pointing and yelling at me. I got up, went to the bathroom to take some deep breaths and went back to the dinner table and planned to just pretend this never happened. I couldn't, the second I sat down I had fingers pointed at me again. They just needed to criticize me for anything and everything. I was humiliated, I actually started to cry so I left with my husband before the main courses even came out. When I left I even did that with respect (I seriously show everyone in my life respect) I told everyone I loved them but it was just too much for me.
 
I couldn't understand what happened, or what I did wrong. I was upset for a while and I still am. But a few days later I got a phone call from my husband's grandmother, I thought maybe she was going to apologise. Instead, she told me that I should have apologised. I asked her why and she couldn't give me an answer. I finally stood up for myself in that phone call, I'd rather be lonely than treated badly. Before all of this, I really got along with my husband's family as much as I could, with just ignoring the racism from that handful of family members. I'd relate some of the things they say to Hitler, honestly. His mother has started being nicer to me lately, and I converse back politely but it just doesn't feel the same.
 
My husband is lovely company and has been a great support. He's fully aware that I'm very unhappy with his family and he agrees that what they did was awful, but he works 6 days a week, 11 hours a day. I don't have other family here (probably like many of you). To keep my mind off of the negatives I focus on group fitness classes I attend and I am enrolling in a college. I already have a degree but I want to take some classes while I can't work, so that I can meet some people and learn something new. I have met some people I really like but it's going to take some time to build close relationships. I guess for now, all these positives don't feel like positives. I want to travel a bit when I get my AP, maybe that'll make me feel a bit better.
 
What's your advice? Can you relate? I'm feeling quite upset with how things are. It's hard to adjust enough, but with this issue its made it much harder. I thought I had it in me to keep the peace in this situation, but it all came tumbling down even when I kept my mouth shut. I'm not looking for sympathy, more so just to feel normal and possibly to have some suggestions on how I could handle this. I'm still not comfortable with his family and I don't know if I'm being overly sensitive.
 
Thank you if you read this giant post.

Hey Captain Chickpea, I'm really surprised your lawyer said it would only take two weeks. Perhaps they were thinking of the London office where this is often the case. For Auckland it looks like it almost always takes a month and more often now two months to hear of a date. I get how stressful it is, I started this process in the beginning of 2018 so it's been a long wait. For me it's actually my work applying but my boyfriend is back in San Francisco so it's been tough spending so much time apart. I'm also contracting for my company but it really sucks working remotely especially when trying to manage people, I can't wait to just get back and get into the swing of things. 
 
On a positive note though I really think you'll hear next month about an interview in August and that's just round the corner. I wouldn't worry about anything being wrong as your case seems very typical, people just get excited and want to hear earlier. The NVC states they typically book interviews within 60 days of your case being confirmed/documents qualified so there's lots of variation for everyone 

February filer stuck in NSC here... I totally understand where you are coming from. My husband and I have been going back and forth the same way, and while I feel like the most ungrateful person in the world complaining when I’m so lucky to have a job that allows so much flexibility, I’m also just really overwhelmed and frustrated by this broken system. It’s a hard way to spend the first couple years of your life together. If it weren’t for you all in this forum going through it at the same time, I’d be a wreck. Hugs!

Thank you so much for your response @bird&bear. I’ll be checking the timelines to see what you are referring to. I wish you the best and hopefully not only the IOE’s but all of our cases get approved fast! One am only keep their hopes up!!!

My husband just sent me a photo of his passport with the CR-1 visa in it!  It took one week from the interview to be issued and sent to him, so now we can make travel arrangements for him to come here to California so that we can finally live together, nearly two years since we first met.  He has to give 40 days' notice at his job and then he wants some time to wrap up his financial and personal affairs, so we are making plans for his trip here on August 18.  I will fly down to Brazil to accompany him on the trip and to say goodbye to his family who have been very supportive, although they will be sad to see him go.  I'm so excited I can barely type this...  We have been waiting 11 long and stressful months for this day!  The reason I'm posting this is because I wanted to say a big "THANK YOU" to all the amazing people here on Visa Journey who have posted their stories, questions, advice, and suggestions.  This is an amazing community and your encouragement, knowledge, and willingness to share your thoughts and experiences made all the difference in our journey.  It isn't over yet with ROC yet to come in two years, but this is the biggest milestone yet and I just wanted to say that you're all awesome and we couldn't have done this so smoothly with you.  Thank you again and good luck to all of you!

Haha!
My online status changed yesterday to Sent to department of state, so one week after the approval. 

Thanks everyone for your kind words of congratulations--it really helps to know of your support and to not feel so alone.  This community has been so positive and that made a big difference, especially during the long wait for petition approval--I will continue to post and comment as our journey continues, in hopes of helping others the way you have all helped us.  I love how this community of strangers shares information and emotional support so freely.  It makes the long, complicated, frustrating, and confusing process so much easier to go through.  Good luck to all of you!  

My husband and I just finished the CR-1 process, and it was 11 months from filing to visa issuance, I just wanted to post our experience for the benefit of others.  This site has been so useful in the last year, I read relevant threads almost every day and the experiences of others were very informative in our process so I feel like it's time to post what we learned and our experience in getting approved.  I am the USC, older by 27 years, with other big differences like culture, language, education, income, many "red flags," so based on everything we read here we got married in Brazil and filed for a CR-1 spousal visa in July of 2018.  My husband wanted to work right away on arrival without the long wait for EAD which would have driven him crazy.  The entire process went smoothly, with no RFEs or other delays, we got assigned to TSC and the petition was approved after 7 months, then another 4 months to visa issuance for NVC and consulate stages.  Because of the big age gap we front-loaded with evidence of four visits and financial co-mingling, also a sample of our daily communications, email log, Facebook friendship, receipts, boarding passes, a few visit and wedding photos...  Then at the NVC stage we side-loaded more evidence of our three additional trips together since filing the petition.  I was concerned that because of the age gap, we would get more questions at the visa interview (I traveled to Brazil to be with my husband for his interview), but it was clear from the quick interview and very basic questions (when did you meet, how many visits to spend time together) that the CO had made a decision to approve his visa before the interview based on all the evidence submitted at both USCIS and NVC stages.  So the lesson learned that I would like to pass on to others who have concerns about an age gap or red flags in general, is to front-load and side-load lots of evidence of visits in person--we had a total of nine visits in an 18-month period, an average of one visit of about a week long every two months.  I was also concerned that the CO might ask about our language difference--I have learned a lot of Portuguese since we first met in November of 2017 but I'm far from fluent.  My husband's English is not good at all.  This was not even an issue at the interview.  The CO asked my husband questions in Portuguese and me in English, but the questions were not difficult, very easy.  So good luck to all of the other couples here on VJ who have a big age gap like ours--you can do it with no unusual delays and get approved in less than a year with evidence of visits to spend time together, at least it worked for us.  I'm not sure if Brazil is considered a high-fraud country like some are, but our experience overall was very positive.  The hardest part was the 7 month wait for the petition to be approved, and we made it work with visits to be together every two months.  Good luck everyone--whatever your situation I hope you will be together soon.  All the best to the Visa Journey family!  Reading your threads has been very very helpful.

Same with me and my wife. My NOA1 was the 24/12/2018, I'm hoping I don't get any RFEs -- we sent a lot of stuff, I just hope none of it was lost -- just waiting now as I see other approvals. It's hard not to feel resentful about people who happen to  have got Potomac who with similar NOA1s are at the end of the NVC stage, or those doing Direct Consular Filing or LPR/Greencard holders for some bizarre reason having lower estimates.

Those are only Potomac petitions, Texas is starting to approve November 2018 and Nebraska is still in June 2018.