JapanResident

1 hour ago, ohcoffeeeyes said:

It's very easy to get in with an ESTA, I am currently nearing the end of my 2.5 month stay, got asked three questions and got a cautionary "Don't overstay" from the CBP officer, and I was off. 

Glad to hear it was a simple process for you, too. We had a Japanese friend who'd gotten pulled aside at Immigration and questioned for an hour. Had an ESTA and also had lived in the US for many years before. Anyway, all's well that ends well!

I might be coming to a former discussion topic (holiday travel to the US) a bit late, but I wanted to mention that my Japanese wife flew with me to the US three days ago with her ESTA in hand and got through immigration without incident. They asked us three expected questions about our trip, two of which I answered, then we were asked if we were planning to apply for an immigration visa for my wife and I told the officer that we were in-process and recently had our I-130 approved. The officer didn't even look at my wife's ESTA (said she didn't need to see it). Smiled, told us to have a good day, and waved us through. I was expecting my wife to be pulled out of line and questioned without me for an hour or so! I hope all the other holiday travelers here have the same smooth experience entering the US.

I was NOA1 12/17/2018, and I got my approval two days ago. So keep your heads up! I'm sure yours will come in just the next few days.

49 minutes ago, Andy & Val said:

 

At least you will no longer have to wait another 361 days to complete the process.

Things go faster from now on.

Congratulations!

 

Anything less than half that would seem like a success at this point, but I'm hoping things go much faster than that. Thank you for your congrats and encouragement! 😊

After 361 days (and my occasional griping about it here), we finally got our I-130 approved. A notice came via cell phone, then by the egov website, then by the myaccount website, but all within a few hours of each other. I wish everyone here the best of luck, and less of a wait than we went through!

5 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

We got our approval 4 days shy of one year, not so long ago... fingers crossed you’ll hear something very soon.. 

 

at this stage, the holidays don’t seem to be impacting on NVC 🤗 try not to worry.. 

Thanks for the kind support. That one-year mark is like crossing a desert to a giant sign advertising fresh cool water only to find it dry or with a sign saying "out of business." But yes, there's also more hope that something's waiting for us around the corner. 🥂 Hopefully... 

It seems to me that there's simply no guessing accurately based on other people's experiences. We're now 7 days short of a year waiting for our I-130 to be approved, and at 98 days waiting for our I-129F to be acted on. (Both were LINs.) What once seemed to work to shorten the waiting time (the I-129F) has apparently stalled or been fixed as a loophole. I hope it continues to work for people, but it certainly hasn't worked for us. It's just a matter of waiting and waiting and waiting, which is extremely hard to deal with. I worry that the holiday period is going to slow things down even more – not just for the stage we're in, but for the stages that follow. 😔

14 hours ago, CamChad42 said:

Everyone goods we got approved as of October 31st🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏾‍♀️ I’m so excited!!? I had to call them to check on the status and they told me. I haven’t received the letter approval yet. 

That's fantastic! Congratulations!

57 minutes ago, CamChad42 said:

Anyone been approved for November 1 2018 filers??? Still haven’t heard anything but I mailed the I129f in on yesterday 😳 this is horrible for them to drag on like this....

I really don’t think sending in the I129f will make any difference since I filed last year🤔🤔🤔🤔Any thoughts on this?????

I'm sorry to hear about the long wait! I'm an early December 2018 filer, and I also had an I129f application received in early September, but we haven't heard anything at all for our I130 or I129F. My feeling, for what it's worth, is that the I129f can expedite your case, but you have to factor in random things like who's desk your applications land on, etc. I feel like ours landed on the desk of someone who took a long vacation or entered the hospital after falling into a coma...or perhaps they're actually considering us for a K-3 visa (which would be fine). But if you filed in November, it seems like there's an excellent chance of you hearing good news very, very soon. Good luck!

12 minutes ago, Tissa said:

Those of you who think that I129K is a miracle...I don't see how you all add info on K3 to your timeline, but my case is an exception and I just want to warn those of you hoping for quick processing. You may or may not be one of the "lucky" ones like me.

So here it goes:

NOA1 for I130 - Dec 10th, 2018

Filed for K3 July 8, 2019.

Expedited I130 September 8, 2019 

Expedited I129F September 28, 2019.

I129F expedite request was denied on October 1st, 2018

 

Now we have not heard ANYTHING about our I130, the expedite request has been under review by an officer for 35 days. 

WE called USCIS 4 times about it. One spoke to Teir 2 officer with no luck or any information or updates. All they say is that there is no official timeline to review expedite requests and that all we can do is to submit another (which will cancel a previous one).

 

Our K3 expedite request was denied due to lack of evidence (they never asked for ANY evidence!) 

There is still no decision on our K3 or I130. And for our K 3 it has been 98 days...and nothing. 

Your I-130's NOA1 date is similar to ours (12/17/18), but your K3 application is several months earlier.

I wonder if having three separate forms in process (now two) has complicated your situation. My I-130's estimated approval date is still early January 2020, which I imagined yours is, too, so perhaps the best thing, even though it's difficult, is just to be patient.

From what I've seen on this forum, I-129F rejections are often followed relatively quickly by I-130 approvals. Hopefully you'll get good news this week.

I agree that there's no harm in trying, as there are plenty of people here for whom the I-129F has resulted in quick processing and approval of the I-130. I'm at day 301 since my I-130 PD and day 40 of my I-129F (and I saw someone recently at day 81 of their I-129F, which I would find really disappointing). I was hoping for a faster turnaround! To be honest, having low expectations makes the wait less stressful, and if your approvals happen for you quickly then your feelings will be that much more joyous. Good luck whatever you decide to do!

18 minutes ago, dancingorca said:

Hi VJ community,

Have been following closely but first time posting.

 

My I-130 was approved yesterday!

It couldn't have happened this early without learning about I-129F trick from this community.

Thank you so much

 

I130 NOA1 4/8/19

I129f NOA1 9/5/19

I129f denied 9/30/19

I130 approved 10/1/19

 

 

Congratulations! Interestingly, I got my I130 NOA1 on 12/17/18 and my I129f NOA1 on 9/4/19, and I applied from Japan, too. Just goes to show that there's no rhyme or reason to when an individual's applications get processed. Again, congrats!