av8or1

Ok I've become entirely too tired and annoyed with all of this criticism of the VJ data. I too am an engineer and I live in the stats world. Although the amount of data contained in the VJ space represents a small amount of the entire body of data, it cannot be so easily dismissed with a mere wave of the hand. In the stats world, you don't often use the entire data body when making an argument regarding a particular position on a subject. Rather, you sample the data, discover the trends and try to form some type of conclusion based on those numbers. So long as the sample is representative of the data as a whole, then the argument is valid. The only argument that can be made against the point I'm trying to make is that we don't know what the entire data body looks like. However, that too isn't always necessary when examining trends. Often times, trend data is used to make a reasonable hypothesis about what the entire data body looks like.
But I digress, I don't want to get off into theorems and such, I'd be here all day. This is just a one-and-done post to say "back off of the VJ data criticism" ... his has validity and is supported by commentary in the many posts in the respective threads that report on experiences by real-life folk who have filed petitions in the respective service centers.
So no, your comments don't ease my mind, because I don't agree with you, but thanks for the attempt anyway. I won't sit back and relax and just accept the suppository that the USCIS is handing us, at least not without a fight.
But I digress again.
Flame away, I won't be reading the replies, as this subject is just too much of a pain point for me.

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

Well said, well said. Personally I have long since grown tired of such arguments as "it's way worse in other countries, not even permitted". This is America dag-nabbit!
Personally I recall feeling quite disillusioned with our process towards the beginning of our engagement. That was because Elena's mother knew a woman who married a man from Germany. All they had to do was get married (in Russia), go to the local embassy, file the documents and then they went home together. Elena's mother couldn't understand why we weren't able to do the same. Frustrating.
Ok course we do have the DCF thing, but unfortunately the rules don't allow those of us who live stateside to utilize it. There was a day and age when you could, but that was discontinued long ago now.
But I digress.

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

Ok all of you wonderfully gifted individuals, I am backing out of my driveway now, headed for Houston. I'll think about the packet letter during the trip. I began writing it last night. See you there! Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

Well said, well said. Personally I have long since grown tired of such arguments as "it's way worse in other countries, not even permitted". This is America dag-nabbit!
Personally I recall feeling quite disillusioned with our process towards the beginning of our engagement. That was because Elena's mother knew a woman who married a man from Germany. All they had to do was get married (in Russia), go to the local embassy, file the documents and then they went home together. Elena's mother couldn't understand why we weren't able to do the same. Frustrating.
Ok course we do have the DCF thing, but unfortunately the rules don't allow those of us who live stateside to utilize it. There was a day and age when you could, but that was discontinued long ago now.
But I digress.

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

Sorry baron555, but this hacks me off. Your profile says that your other half is from Russia, so you should know better. There are a VERY INCREDIBLY UNBELIEVABLY REMARKABLY ASTOUNDINGLY AMAZINGLY LARGE **LARGE** **GIGANTIC** NUMBER of people in this world who DO **NOT** want to live in the USA.
Every time I hear someone say that everyone wants to live in America I am stunned at their arrogance and ignorance. Especially in the context of "just wanting a green card". How laughable.
Ok I'm gonna stop right there. I'm out.

We're in complete agreement. Well pretty much. I still think transfers would help, but we're not likely to see them based on the feedback I received today.

No, you don't send the I-134 with the original I-129F packet. Only for the interview.

UPDATE:
I called and spoke with congressman Carter's office this morning. Our letter requesting a transfer was sent last week. She said it would take about two weeks before we hear anything. I also mentioned that April and other VJers have written to their reps and mentioned congressman Carter's initiative. She told me that this is a very good thing because with more reps behind such an initiative, the stronger message we will send.
Therefore I ask all of you who read this to find your local rep, write to them, make your complaint regarding the processing time difference known, and mention the action that my congressman has taken. Hopefully with enough awareness that would be brought forward by your letters, maybe we can get something done.
Thanks. I'll let y'all know when I know more.

Ok so I received a pretty lame-azz reply from Senator John Cornyn's office today. They basically just accepted the answer that they were given when they inquired with the USCIS. And that answer is that each service center is responsible for determining its own adjudication priorities, and sometimes one service center (due to having different priorities) will process a given petition faster than another. You're in the slow center right now, so just suck on it...that's basically what they said. All of that is a load of BS because it is the USCIS who determines which petitions get sent to which service center. And they could do something about the difference in processing times by switching to a workload-based priority scheme. But they won't do that, for any of a number of reasons. Ah don't get me started...so, April and msbau764 and any other TEXAS filers, don't waste your time writing to senator Cornyn's office. They're full of horseapples.
Here's the remarkably poor letter:
Dear Mr. Adair:

In response to your recent request, I have contacted the appropriate officials at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). They have informed me that while the Service Centers are organized along similar lines, workload at each Service Center must be locally managed in an endeavor to maintain balance, based on case volume and priorities. The goal of each Service Center is to continually reduce the processing time on all petitions; however, there are times when adjudication priorities require a Service Center to shift their limited resources to other petition priorities. All Service Centers attempt to ensure petitions are adjudicated in an expeditious manner, but there will always be times when one Center is able to adjudicate a petition type more quickly.

Unfortunately, there are no provisions under the law to modify or change legal requirements to benefit a particular case. If your case was filed at a USCIS Service Center you may wish to check your status online at:

http://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do

I appreciate the opportunity to represent you in the United States Senate. If I can be of assistance to you with other matters, please contact me.
And that's it. The last section was particularly angering because it seems like they think that telling me to just eat it and check my status online is an acceptable way to satisfy my complaint.
I dunno, I'm just quite hacked off at the moment. So I think it best to end the post with a big UP YOURS to senator John Cornyn's office for their horribly weak attempt at addressing the issue that I raised with them.
Ok I'm gonna stop now.

Yeah, I'd agree. If that was the case, lots of people would be using relatives or friend's addresses that are in some state served by the CSC and getting the transfer. But it doesn't work that way. Heck if that was the outcome, I and many other TSC filers would have done it by now. But once you're in a service center, you most always stay there.
Sorry OP, but there isn't an easy way out of it. Mind you, if you had used your parent's address when you originally filed, that would have been a different matter. But you'd need a time machine for that now, unfortunately.

Yeah, I'd agree. If that was the case, lots of people would be using relatives or friend's addresses that are in some state served by the CSC and getting the transfer. But it doesn't work that way. Heck if that was the outcome, I and many other TSC filers would have done it by now. But once you're in a service center, you most always stay there.
Sorry OP, but there isn't an easy way out of it. Mind you, if you had used your parent's address when you originally filed, that would have been a different matter. But you'd need a time machine for that now, unfortunately.

Yeah, I'd agree. If that was the case, lots of people would be using relatives or friend's addresses that are in some state served by the CSC and getting the transfer. But it doesn't work that way. Heck if that was the outcome, I and many other TSC filers would have done it by now. But once you're in a service center, you most always stay there.
Sorry OP, but there isn't an easy way out of it. Mind you, if you had used your parent's address when you originally filed, that would have been a different matter. But you'd need a time machine for that now, unfortunately.

Option A is dicey for a couple of reasons. First, resubmitting the same petition under a different address could raise a flag, RFE if nothing else. Secondly, cancellation of an I-129F isn't as straightforward as you might think. The biggest problem is time. It will take time to cancel your petition and until it's officially cancelled, you won't be able to file another. So it kinda defeats the purpose.
The only real option you have is option B really. But that's just my $.02. Others may have a different opinion.
Let us know how it goes!

Boy. That's a tough one. As much as we'd like to reassure you of your hope, I think we'd be doing you a disservice. As things stand now and as they're predicted toin develop in the coming months, July would be an excellent result for you, being a non-filipino, late December filer in the TSC. But ya never know what can happen.
Finally, don't forget to include the following time factors when making your plans:
1) time for your petition to travel from the TSC to the NVC
2) your wait time while your petition is in the NVC
3) travel time from the NVC to the embassy in your beneficiary's country (Netherlands)
4) time that you'll have to wait until your interview date at the embassy
5) wait time after the interview for the actual visa to be placed into your beneficiary's passport, if any. That depends on a few things.
And that doesn't include other complications like RFEs, etc. The above assumes that your petition makes it through the process uneventfully.
But it sounds like you did your homework, so you're probably aware of that. Just sayin'...
Good luck with your journey! We're here to help.

Yeah, I'd agree. If that was the case, lots of people would be using relatives or friend's addresses that are in some state served by the CSC and getting the transfer. But it doesn't work that way. Heck if that was the outcome, I and many other TSC filers would have done it by now. But once you're in a service center, you most always stay there.
Sorry OP, but there isn't an easy way out of it. Mind you, if you had used your parent's address when you originally filed, that would have been a different matter. But you'd need a time machine for that now, unfortunately.

Boy. That's a tough one. As much as we'd like to reassure you of your hope, I think we'd be doing you a disservice. As things stand now and as they're predicted toin develop in the coming months, July would be an excellent result for you, being a non-filipino, late December filer in the TSC. But ya never know what can happen.
Finally, don't forget to include the following time factors when making your plans:
1) time for your petition to travel from the TSC to the NVC
2) your wait time while your petition is in the NVC
3) travel time from the NVC to the embassy in your beneficiary's country (Netherlands)
4) time that you'll have to wait until your interview date at the embassy
5) wait time after the interview for the actual visa to be placed into your beneficiary's passport, if any. That depends on a few things.
And that doesn't include other complications like RFEs, etc. The above assumes that your petition makes it through the process uneventfully.
But it sounds like you did your homework, so you're probably aware of that. Just sayin'...
Good luck with your journey! We're here to help.

Yeah, I'd agree. If that was the case, lots of people would be using relatives or friend's addresses that are in some state served by the CSC and getting the transfer. But it doesn't work that way. Heck if that was the outcome, I and many other TSC filers would have done it by now. But once you're in a service center, you most always stay there.
Sorry OP, but there isn't an easy way out of it. Mind you, if you had used your parent's address when you originally filed, that would have been a different matter. But you'd need a time machine for that now, unfortunately.

Boy. That's a tough one. As much as we'd like to reassure you of your hope, I think we'd be doing you a disservice. As things stand now and as they're predicted toin develop in the coming months, July would be an excellent result for you, being a non-filipino, late December filer in the TSC. But ya never know what can happen.
Finally, don't forget to include the following time factors when making your plans:
1) time for your petition to travel from the TSC to the NVC
2) your wait time while your petition is in the NVC
3) travel time from the NVC to the embassy in your beneficiary's country (Netherlands)
4) time that you'll have to wait until your interview date at the embassy
5) wait time after the interview for the actual visa to be placed into your beneficiary's passport, if any. That depends on a few things.
And that doesn't include other complications like RFEs, etc. The above assumes that your petition makes it through the process uneventfully.
But it sounds like you did your homework, so you're probably aware of that. Just sayin'...
Good luck with your journey! We're here to help.