C and J

I'm really hoping that the date on your sheet is right. My timeline estimate has slipped again It's now showing Oct 31st for the I130 and Nov 3rd for the I129F

As the subject says, should an I129F's NOA1 have a priority date?

The reason I ask is because I've finally got around to comparing both of the notices and have noticed (no pun intended) differences between the two. It may seem strange that it took so long to realise this but each time we received an NOA1 the information looked correct, however, as we received the I130's NOA1 3 months after the I129F's I'd never looked at them "together". Having a spare moment, I decided to make a start on my evidence folder and finally compared the two.

This is the data from each one:-

I130 - Received date 11th April 07 - Priority date 11th April 07 - Notice date 20th August 07

I129F - Received date 25th May 07 - Priority date "blank" - Notice date 30th May 07

I'm hoping the I130 has a priority date because it's a reprint, therefore the notice date is irrelevant. Can anyone confirm?

My hubby has only been able to afford to visit me once here. He answered honestly that he was here to visit his wife and they let him through without any issues. Unfortunately I can't really comment on visiting "too often" but, bring proof of ties to home (letter from work, proof of owning a home etc etc). It's better to have too much information and not need it, than no information and get turned away.

More than anything else, I would suggest taking your visa application information with you (NOA1 etc). As I mentioned in another thread, the fact you are applying for your fiance to immigrate to the States is the biggest proof that you are not intending to stay permanently in the UK

Is the process for I-130 more then 6 months?

Thank you so much for your answers

Amoro

The 6 month timeframe is only for USCISs part of the process, it can be shorter but it's all in the luck of the draw (CSC seems to be dragging applications out to their limit, while VSC are approving at least a month or so faster). On top of that, you have processing time at the National Visa Centre (I believe a couple of weeks for I129F and up to a couple of months for I130) and also time taken for the embassy to process your file and schedule an interview. For the UK it is about 10 months from start to receiving the visa and this is one of the faster embassy's. I'm sure that processing time will lengthen due to all the delays we're seeing at the CSC

You might want to check the Australian forum to see roughly how long it takes the embassy to schedule interviews.

Hmm... nothing good happened in the summer.

Best things around the summer months, was Josh coming over to the UK for 3 weeks in May and my 2 weeks in the US earlier this month. Summer was just some "time to wish away" to get to the next visit.

I'll be so glad when this whole process is over and I can start enjoying each day again, instead of wishing them all away.

my husbnad told me that the check still have not touched yet, that is why we worry about it, some other people's posts show that their check chashed before they receive the NOA1, we have to wait and wait....

thank you all

I don't think USCIS would send an NOA1 out before they have your money in their hands. The cheque would always be cashed first. If you look at other posts in the forum, there are lots of people still waiting for cheques and NOA1s, USCIS are really behind with all parts of the process at the moment It's very frustrating for those of us that have our NOA1 and are patiently waiting for the NOA2, but it must be worse to not even know if they have your petition

Aprils are just getting started, still some March filers waiting. It is still a little early to call.

I second that, my timeline is almost identical to the OPs and I am not expecting to hear anything from USCIS for at least another month, possibly a month and a half. CSC are dragging these out to the very last day Sad, but it's turning out to be true

Just be patient, my wife’s took about 4 months.

what I meant is that we have not got the NOA1, We dont have a case number, what can we do? is there anyway that we can contact the USCIS?

My husband and I are very worring about it

I answered this one in another post but, as you can see from my signature, it took many many months for us to receive the NOA1. That was when the CSC were having printing problems though, so I sincerely hope no one else will have to wait that long for their NOA1s at this time.

Just bare in mind that the USCIS does have a backlog as so many petitions have been sent in around the fee changes. Have a look at the other post to see my suggestions for what you are able to do

hi, all

is there anyone who sent the I-130 around 2nd Sep, but still have not got the NOA1 yet like I do?

what can my husband do if we still not got the NOA1 at the end of this month or so?

thank you

Unfortunately, there are still people from August waiting for their NOA1's, so you are not alone in waiting for the notice. If your cheque/money order has been cashed, ask for a copy from the bank/money order company and it will have your I130 reference number on it. You should be able to send off the I129F with a photocopy of both sides of the cashed item to prove that they have your I130 in the system.

Unfortunately, until USCIS cash your money, there is not much you can do as they have a back log.

Hope this helps

I have heard of others doing this recently but I don't think it's officially advised anywhere. If we were to do it again, we would file them together....we've been waiting I believe 48 days now for our NOA1! Something that should've only taken approx. 11 days! Good luck to you!

jen

Jen,

Has USCIS cashed your cheque/money order? If they have you should request a copy of it from them because it will have your I130 reference number on it. Send the I129F off to them with a photocopy of both sides of the cashed item and that should be sufficient (it's what my huby did for me!)

Cheryl

1) How / where did u get the WAC number?

2) What other pertinent doc's did u submit in place of a copy of the 130 NOA1

lastly, how do you check to findout when your file was last "touched" ?

Thanks,

I believe most people now are filing both together, so there is no delay. Unfortunately, this will not count for you as you have already filed one.

When my husband filed my I129F, he managed to get the reference number off the back of the cashed money order (also applicable to cheques). He sent off the I129F with a photocopy of both sides of it. Just ask the bank/money order company for a copy of the item and it should be there.

I'm not sure what length of delay USCIS have with cashing cheques at the moment (due to the backlog), so there still may be a delay, maybe someone else has a different idea

It is standard procedure at this point for VSC to retain your I-130 (IR1/CR1) and send the I-129F (K3) to NVC. If you want the I-130 to continue it cost another $200 in fees and may take up to three months. The normal time for a I-129F at VSC is 5 to 10 days and normal time for the I-130 is 3 to 6 months. There is also more processing to be completed at the Embassy/Consolate for an I-130.

The I-130 is definately a better visa because your spouse will be a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) upon arrival.

I think edp333 means NVC (National Visa Centre) for the highlighted part Because the I129F definitely doesn't take 5-10 days at the service centre.

And, yes, you should research in the countries forum to see what turnaround times the visa's have at the embassy. I know that for some countries the I130 interview times are 10-12 months, with only a 2-3 month wait for the I129F interview. Those are 2 things you really need to bare in mind

I found something which might give a light into why people seem to want CSC to get their petitions... Quoting my post in another thread:-

One thing I had noticed when looking through the timelines is that the average for CSC has really been skewed by the "out of the ordinary" I129Fs being approved (where the I130 was sent in many many months before the I129F, yet they get approved together). That might explain why we are seeing so many people actually wanting to get their petition sent to the CSC It gives a false hope

TSC is shown as 142 days

NSC is shown as 142 days

VSC is shown as 158 days

We need to get a few more approvals that are at their full term to show how badly CSC is actually processing our petitions

The 96 days average is not correct and there is a reason for it... CSC had printing issues which lasted 2 months (see in my signature how long it took me to get the NOA1, vs the time I managed to get my receipt number from the back of the money order) because of this, some people were waiting for their printed NOA1 before sending off their K3 petition. This resulted in their cases being processed as I130 and, by luck, their I129F was paired with it JUST as they were approving it. Thus approving both and giving a "false" approval time on the I129F.

An example of this is a person who sent their I130 in April but only sent their I129F about a month ago, both were approved together and "skewed" the average of the I129F in CSCs favour. CSC are currently still processing a few petitions from March and early April. If only it really was a 96 day. turnaround.

Unfortunately I think we should add three weeks or a month to the projected dates on the graph.. we still have some march and april filers that haven't been approved yet. And we're definitely not at may yet. It's starting to look like a five month wait rather than four... i think you and i are going to get our noa2s sometime in november rather than october. i hope i'm wrong...

Mid-November is still an open possibility in my mind, I haven't ruled it out and won't be mentally-unprepared if approval is still a month and a half away. Any later than that would be soul-destroying though. Having to psych myself up for each step of the process takes so much. I'm still praying for my completed visa by February and, sadly, the longer USCIS takes, even that estimate is beginning to look shady

I started this process in April hoping we would be together by Christmas, then pushed my estimated date back to February when I did some research on here. Christmas is what I class as my "uneducated guess" because we started the process before I came across this site and I honestly thought that the USCIS "6 months" was the beginning to the end. I'm lucky because the consulate processing time for the UK is about 2 months from receipt, add to that a month for the NVC (including the time the USCIS take to mail it, and the NVC to mail it to the consulate) and we still might make it. It brings the reality home and makes me realise (even with USCIS blunders) how fortunate Josh and I are. Our consulate wait is a lot less than many other countries.

The thing which gives me a small bit of hope is that USCIS have stopped giving a separate K3 processing time (I really hope it is positive, rather than USCIS trying to hide it's bad turnaround's). So maybe they are working to the I130 dates instead. After all, if it is a separate processing time, then they've failed to mention it for the last 3 months.

One thing I had noticed when looking through the timelines is that the average for CSC has really been skewed by the "out of the ordinary" I129Fs being approved (where the I130 was sent in many many months before the I129F, yet they get approved together). That might explain why we are seeing so many people actually wanting to get their petition sent to the CSC It gives a false hope

TSC is shown as 142 days

NSC is shown as 142 days

VSC is shown as 158 days

We need to get a few more approvals that are at their full term to show how badly CSC is actually processing our petitions

Yes, you should definitely be hoping not to get CSC.

In the May/June filers thread, VSC are continuously approving applications at least a month before their CSC counterparts. If we had the luck of ending up with VSC (which we should have done for the area my hubby lives in) then we'd have our approval by now and not be stuck waiting

It feels so good to see more and more green appearing in G&As table

G&A,

Thanks so much for keeping it up to date for us I just hope that the estimate for ours is close because it would mean that our approval will be just a little over 2 weeks away. Just to get the CSC out of the way would be a huge weight of our shoulders. It's been such a hard, stumbling block and it seems to be never-ending. I don't want to have to get to the point where a senator becomes involved because that will mean it's gone on far too long

I'm not sure if anyone has asked this before, but is there any way for you to keep the estimate column and add a fresh column for the actual approval date? It would make for interesting viewing when comparing the 2, especially when we start to see many more green highlights

If I remember correctly, Sammy (beautiful baby by the way!) is from up north somewhere (Manchester?) which probably would compare favorably to CA.

Even if it could work out favourably with house prices, I still see that as a hard move, at least until you get on your feet.

The main thing for me, is what the move would do to any savings you have... Almost doubling them when you enter the US, halving them when you enter the UK. It makes getting a foothold back in the UK that much harder. Plus, with the recent Northern Rock bank fiasco, I wonder if banks will be as willing to loan people such high wage-to-mortgage ratios.

For me, house prices are greatly in our favour when comparing where I live (south of England) to where Josh lives in Iowa:

The very large (compared to what I am used to) 3 bedroom house owned by hubby's parents has a $160,000 price tag.

A 3 bedroom home (of half the size) here in Berkshire with a £250-280,000 price tag.

For a reasonably-sized house (somewhere between the 2 stated above, still 3 bedroom) we are looking at around $90-100,000. Heck, if I bring that down to a UK house-size, it could be as low as $65-75,000. Of course, Josh wouldn't dream of living in something as cramped as a UK house, hehe

With the US market apparently on the decline and the UK market continuing to grow, the difference in value will just continue to grow.

Thank you for the clarification, it's most helpful

As others have said, the standard and the cost of living is just so much better in the US. Also, I am another person who is not on the property ladder in the UK and I know that Josh and I would probably never be able to afford a house here.

The pace of life is better. I feel rushed all the time here but everything seems much slower in Iowa. No one seems to be in a great rush to get anywhere and it's like stepping into the past, where people don't have to lock doors when they leave the house. A far cry from the crime that we see all over the UK.

When you weigh up what the future looks like in each location, waiting those extra few months is definitely worth it But who knows what the future holds... we might return to the UK in the future

As an extra piece of information. When USCIS cash your cheque or money order, they will write the case number on the back on the cashed item. Once it's cashed you can then ask your bank or the money order company to give you a copy of it and, voila, you have your case number It can be a lot quicker and saves worrying while you're waiting for an NOA1 to come through in the mail

This is not accurate. The PR must have been married to a USC for a period of 3 years in order to qualify for expedited naturalisation, 3 years rather than the mandated 5 years for all aliens. See Section 316 versus Section 319 of the INA.

Apologies if I gave incorrect information I did not mean to do so. However, could you clarify this for me further because I am rather confused by your statement? It may be because I am looking at it through the eyes of a CR1/K3 applicant who is married to her husband but not residing in the same country.

I believed that 316 required that the couple met the "lived together in marital union" criteria i.e not just married for at least 3 years but LIVING together for those 3 years IN the US. Is this not correct?

From my understanding, in my case, we will be married for almost 4 years and living together for 3 of them when I start considering/am eligible for naturalisation.

For a K1 visa, the date of living together will start up to 3 months before the marriage

For a K3 visa, the marriage will start before living together in the US

The IR1/CR1 visa would be married before living together in the US

So would it be correct to say that the date is the day when both begin happening? How do you prove a date like that? You can prove the day you marry with a marriage certificate but how do you prove the day you start living together? Would it not be the day you enter the US on whatever VISA you arrive on?

I have my doubts about this.

I agree with URGE.

And plus....the representatives in Uscis are crazy.

If you call ten times, in the same day, with the same question, you will heard 10 different answer!!

People...i am almost buying a Valium: 20 days without one ''touched''!

Each day, i am more far from my wish to have CHRISTMAS with my husband!

The information quoted was given during a face-to-face meeting (infopass?). I had thought this was more knowledgable than the mis-information line. Maybe the officer just said a few things to placate this particular person... but it seems strange just to pull the second excuse out of thin air. It doesn't sound like the normal USCIS spiel.

This is the original post:- http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry1200778

Both Josh and I still have all of our MSN logs (I think we're on 14 archives and still going strong) I have Skype history from back in January (lost the previous history due to new laptop) but I know I can't use that as evidence because we can have Skype on for days at a time... strange habit we've picked up over time (we just like to be able to pick up the headset at any time and talk to the other person.

I also keep the emails and text-emails he sends. It's nice that he texts my email address when he's out-and-about and I email his mobile phone in response. I haven't checked recently but it must be somewhere near the 6000-8000 text mark.

He always tells me I'm a hoarder and it's completely true. Luckily I have kept every airline ticket, receipt (restaurants, purchases etc), pictures and other assorted bumphf that I was given during our visits together. Should make putting the evidence together nice and easy

what does that mean when they say on their N-400 instrucion: who may file this form: you have been married to and living with the same US citizen for the LAST three years.

Thanks!

The date the 3 years is based on is the date of your green card, not the date of your marriage. They also want to ensure the marriage is bonafide... after all, they (USCIS) see it as, if you are not living in the same house with your spouse, then the marriage isn't legitimate.

It's there to apparently stop people abusing the process by getting married and then living separate lives for the 3 years needed to naturalise.