mjkelly75

Well...
Today is day 200, no NOA2.
Day 45 out of 60 for my service request on May 8.
Day 9 after getting notification from my Representative that I should receive something "Very Shortly". (Apparently not so "shortly")
Vermont Service Center Filers with Approvals that have NOA1 on 12/05/2011 or later (3 Feb filers were approved yesterday!):
Average wait time: 117 Days
Median wait time: 128 Days
Minimum wait time: 57 Days
Maximum wait time: 167 Days
And that's just Vermont! This is getting absolutely ridiculous!
Calculated from Immigration Timelines (Igor's List) - All Service Centers:
March Filers:
CSC 47% Completed (36/76) - Average wait time = 51 days (Max = 111 days, Min = 2 days)
TSC 45% Completed (09/20) - Average wait time = 45 days (Max = 105 days, Min = 2 days)
VSC 0% Completed (00/39) - Average wait time = N/A (Max = N/A, Min = N/A)
Overall 33% Completed (45/135) - Average wait time = 50 days
February Filers:
CSC 65% Completed (51/78) - Average wait time = 74 days (Max = 126 days, Min = 0 days)
TSC 50% Completed (03/06) - Average wait time = 105 days (Max = 119 days, Min = 90 days)
VSC 28% Completed (13/47) - Average wait time = 118 days (Max = 141 days, Min = 75 days)
Overall 51% Completed (67/131) - Average wait time = 83 days
January Filers:
CSC 74% Completed (69/93) - Average wait time = 93 days (Max = 156 days, Min = 1 days)
TSC 46% Completed (06/13) - Average wait time = 63 days (Max = 127 days, Min = 6 days)
VSC 43% Completed (15/35) - Average wait time = 120 days (Max = 167 days, Min = 58 days)
Overall 64% Completed (90/141) - Average wait time = 96 days
December Filers:
CSC 74% Completed (81/110) - Average wait time = 116 days (Max = 186 days, Min = 7 days)
TSC 50% Completed (05/10) - Average wait time = 115 days (Max = 140 days, Min = 65 days)
VSC 87% Completed (13/15) - Average wait time = 113 days (Max = 155 days, Min = 57 days)
Overall 73% Completed (99/135) - Average wait time = 116 days
November Filers:
CSC 80% Completed (81/101) - Average wait time = 134 days (Max = 226 days, Min = 10 days)
TSC 85% Completed (11/13) - Average wait time = 61 days (Max = 125 days, Min = 1 days)
VSC 100% Completed (10/10) - Average wait time = 89 days (Max = 164 days, Min = 16 days)
Overall 82% Completed (102/124) - Average wait time = 122 days
October Filers:
CSC 87% Completed (94/108) - Average wait time = 149 days (Max = 247 days, Min = 2 days)
TSC 89% Completed (08/09) - Average wait time = 69 days (Max = 182 days, Min = 0 days)
VSC 69% Completed (09/13) - Average wait time = 45 days (Max = 179 days, Min = 15 days)
Overall 33% Completed (111/130) - Average wait time = 135 days

Good news indeed! Congrats!

Vermont Processing Center
Time without NOA2 = 204.5 days and counting.
Latest NOA2 = June 22 - Both from India, Jan 23 filer and Feb 14 filer, 151 days and 129 days respectively.
= June 21 - Greece Feb 23 - 119 days, Austria Feb 15 127 days, Peru 141 days.
VSC has its first March filer getting NOA2, Colombia - Mar 1, 106 days (received NOA2 June 15).
This is beyond ridiculous now. We need a new person in charge of the USCIS, because whoever is in charge now completely sucks and does not know how to run a major department!
44 People filed after me, and have been granted approvals. Of those:
13 are December filers after Dec 5.
16 are January filers.
14 are February filers.
1 is a March filer.
Avg = 118 days
Max = 167 days
Min = 57 days
I really wish I could get an explanation from someone at the USCIS and the VSC for this massive disparity and unfair treatment.

Well, from what I have seen in the posts, it could, but it seems to vary as much as the NOA2 times. The good news is you have SOME control over it as far as responding to the packages sent to you. How quickly they process though...that's another matter. You might get the interview in just under 3 months if you are lucky.

NOA2 text this morning!!!!! Finally! 206 LONG days! Checked my case status online yesterday, initial review, but today is post-decision...they say they mailed it on Monday. So they don't necessarily update right away. So happy this part is over!!!! On to the NVC stage!!!
Wooooooooooo!!!!!!

Thanks! I feel so much better now that we have approval! Now I have to read up on the NVC tips and tricks on here.

I can tell you from my experience, three months is less than half the time we waited for approval from the USCIS. They received our case on December 5 last year and we didn't get approval until June 25, 2012. She interviewed November 7, 2012...a year and three days after we got married. She is coming December 17, 2012 for good.
That said, it's luck of the draw with the USCIS processors. You may get a good one, or you may get a lazy one. There were plenty of January, February, and even March filers getting approved from the VSC before we did. It's infuriating and unfair, but that's the way it goes with the USCIS. And they don't even want to hear from you in less than 5 months. The NVC stage takes time also, but at least there's more communication with them and some of the time it takes depends on how quickly you act in paying and submitting the proper documents. It's not months and months of nothingness like with the USCIS.
I wish you luck! Check out the links the others above have posted for the average processing times and similar timelines to your own. Look for the September 2012 filers forum to share your experiences.

The VSC is terrible. We had them for the I-130 process. We were one of the last ones on this site from Dec 2011 filers that were approved (with no RFEs). Now we have them for the I-751 process. Filed on 09/26/14. Biometrics was on 11/10/2014.
Since then....nothing.
If we look up our case status, it just says we should watch the mail for Biometrics. I remember the "My Case Status" on the USCIS site being equally useless while waiting for approval on the I-130.

It's been a while, so I'm not 100% positive, but, I believe they'd send you a RFE. The worst part of it is the even longer delay. Others here should correct me if I'm wrong.
I'd check the USCIS website for what they call "normal processing time" and see if you can't start a case for this to be expedited. Family members take longer than spouses...but almost 2 years without word seems a bit overkill. You can contact your senators and/or representatives about this and they may be able to help, even if just some advice. They typically have staff that deal solely with immigration.

This is what I found:
"Young Offenders
You may have been convicted of an offense during your youth. Generally, if you were convicted of an offense when you were under eighteen years old, you will likely be admissible and can enter Canada.
Offenses committed when you were under eighteen years old are equivalent to offenses under the Youth Criminal Justice Act in Canada.
You can not be prevented from entering Canada for foreign offenses equivalent to an offense under the Canadian Youth Criminal Justice Act."
Hope that helps.

On the CA Website it states:
If you are a visitor in California over 18 and have a valid driver license from your home state or country, you may drive in this state without getting a California driver license as long as your home state license remains valid.
If you become a California resident, you must get a California driver license within 10 days. Residency is established by voting in a California election, paying resident tuition, filing for a homeowner's property tax exemption, or any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents.
If your foreign license is still valid, then that last sentence is what matters. If you are still unsure or worried, go to a courthouse/town hall doing traffic court, speak to the clerk stating you'd like to talk to the judge, if possible, after his/her cases are completed and ask them about it. These are subjective questions, open to interpretation. Having a conversation with someone that makes those interpretations every day certainly won't hurt.
Also, when you do go for your CA license, find out if you have to surrender your foreign license...in NY you do, see below:
When you pass your road test, you will be required to surrender your foreign driver license to the DMV road test examiner. The local DMV office will destroy your foreign driver license after 60 days. If you plan to return to your home country and will need your foreign driver license, ask the road test examiner how to make sure that your foreign driver license is not destroyed.
Again, that's for NY, but, it is something you should inquire about in CA, if you'll need that foreign license again.

Just got the text yesterday that my wife's case was updated...a new card is on order! Next step...Filing for Citizenship this fall.

Thanks so much! The card just arrived in the mail today! Good luck to you and all the others patiently waiting!

What can you do with a corrupt government, still have a son stuck down there with two grandsons, extremely dangerous for me to go down with a US passport and now a visa is required.  Wife was able do visit about five years ago, but flew to Bogota first, than to Caracas, but she has a Colombian passport.
 
Now its no longer safe almost as bad as traveling to Germany in 1942 with a Jewish last name.
 
We were able to give her son a US credit card so her son can buy food for our two young grandsons,  US credit cards are like gold down there.  And we just prayer that crooked socialistic government will come to end.
 
Can get 15 million bucks if you capture Maduro and turn him in.  But with no 2nd amendments rights in Venezuela only will have a water gun against AK-47's.

I think that Bogota has been handling most Venezolano visa issues, so you might contact that consulate.  I'll see if I can rustle up some better advice for you.

No we haven't gone that route yet.  The phone number listed is in NJ, but comes up as a scam number.  My wife figured something out on the registration website apparently, where she somehow was able to overwrite the information / record and properly assign it to her mother.   So, just need to print out  the docs and we should be fine.   Thank you for your responses!   

Well, we haven't traveled there.  Trying to get through with no luck via telephone and email.

That's good to know TBone.  Maybe we can get a phone number that actually gets answered there.  Thank you.
 
Hi milimelo, my mother-in-law is here in the US living with us.  My wife just wants her to have her passport valid, and current via the extension being offered.  They ("We", by extension) still have a condo in Valencia with items there.  A friend that lives upstairs monitors it to make sure nobody has broken in.   Her mother has now been officially living with us as a green card holder since April (?) 2018. 
 
Anyhow, having a difficult time reaching anyone with Venezuelan authority to both straighten out the ID theft and get the extension.  I must admit, I am a bit ignorant when it comes to these procedures...because Venezuela's version of "customer service" is drastically different to anything I've ever encountered before...it's like the joy of going to the DMV times a thousand.   I told my wife, "Well, if the criminal activated the ID extension, shouldn't the passport be valid then...by the passport number?    She wasn't convinced.   I doubt my mother-in-law will ever use it again anyhow, but...that's not something my wife will ever let stand.  So, whatever it takes.  Happy wife...happy life.
 
UPDATE:  My wife just informed me...it's not the passport # that got hijacked as I understood it.  It is her actual Venezuelan National ID, which for the Americans here, is like the equivalent to US Social Security #.   
 
It's messed up, because when my wife checks her own ID number, it is still attached to her name, except the contact phone number is a 201 area code here in the States (our area code is 716)   This 201 area code also is attached to the thief's name that stole her mother's ID#.   Looks like they're trying to sell a block of ID #s.  Probably the Castro Cubans that Maduro imports into the country and gives government jobs to.  She, my wife, is going to check on her brother and his family next while trying to get this sorted.
 

That's good to know TBone.  Maybe we can get a phone number that actually gets answered there.  Thank you.
 
Hi milimelo, my mother-in-law is here in the US living with us.  My wife juts wants her to have her passport valid, and current via the extension being offered.  They ("We", by extension) still have a condo in Valencia with items there.  A friend that lives upstairs monitors it to make sure nobody has broken in.   Her mother has now been officially living with us as a green card holder since April (?) 2018. 
 
Anyhow, having a difficult time reaching anyone with Venezuelan authority to both straighten out the ID theft and get the extension.  I must admit, I am a bit ignorant when it comes to these procedures...because Venezuela's version of "customer service" is drastically different to anything I've ever encountered before...it's like the joy of going to the DMV times a thousand.   I told my wife, "Well, if the criminal activated the ID extension, shouldn't the passport be valid then...by the passport number?    She wasn't convinced.   I doubt my mother-in-law will ever use it again anyhow, but...that's not something my wife will ever let stand.  So, whatever it takes.  Happy wife...happy life.

Hi.  My mother-in-law is a green card holder.  Her passport is from Venezuela and expires in September.  There is an extension you can apply for online for 5 years, however, the crooked Maduro government has allowed her passport number to be stolen by a Colombian woman.  My mother-in-law is 90 years old, and they probably assumed she passed away.  Anyhow, can't renew online because her passport ID# was stolen/hijacked.  None of the Venezuelan embassies' phone numbers actually work.   Does anyone on here from Venezuela have any suggestions?  Any contact info for the Venezuelan embassy to get this straightened out?   I realize nothing is simple with Venezuelan embassies in the best of circumstances, and this will likely be a long drawn out battle, but if anyone has any info whatsoever that will help, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Awesome! Congrats! I apparently wasn't on the last page in the forums when I responded earlier...I am apparently a bit careless and absent minded when I am replying from work.

Oh, just FYI for anyone watching the Immigration Timelines (Igor's List), be aware that the "Stats page" is not accurate / up to date. I always calculated my own stats by copying the people's timelines and pasting "special" in unicode to MS Excel and performed the calculations. (I used the statistics when reaching out to my politicians.)
I know the "stats" page here is wrong because it does not include Venezuela in the list and their are two couples, including my wife and I, that the beneficiary is from Venezuela since November 30, 2011.
Also, if anyone is from New York that is still waiting and is looking to contact a politician , I recommend contacting Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to assist with your case. Her office was very receptive and helpful, vs. Charles Schumer outright ignoring us. And my local Representative, Brian Higgins, was less than helpful.

Well, to give you some hope, our NOA1 was December 5, 2011, and we received our NOA2 on June 25, 2012. Well...they didn't update the status or notify me until June 28, but technically the approval was June 25....203 days (6 months and 3 weeks).
We were at the VSC.
We just received the NOA2 for the I-129F on July 6 also (NOA1 was Dec 14, 2011), which is strange because I thought they automatically cancel that petition when the I-130 is approved first...
I think I'll go to my local office to clarify some things prior to the NVC contacting me. I have questions on the name change for my wife anyhow...we may have a problem due to her home country's policies preventing her passport from matching the name we filed under...

Are all the December Filers all approved now? I hope.
Waiting for the package containing my wife's police certificate and the signed IV package, then I can forward it on ASAP to get the interview scheduled.

Awesome! Congrats! The NVC stage is so much better than the waiting for the USCIS. (in my opinion). There is more interaction and it goes much quicker. In fact, they were actually waiting on us, as my wife's Police Certificate took two weeks to obtain and also took another 10 days to make it up here into the States via FedEx.
The NVC just processed our IV package and assigned the interview date yesterday. They sent email confirmation at 1:18am EST this morning. November 7 in Caracas for us!!!
It's so nice to see the light at the end of this LONGGG tunnel!