bck86

I got a notice of case creation from NVC a few hours ago (Dec 20). My USCIS approval was Dec 14. I was able to log in right away and pay the fees, now I’m just waiting for the fees to show PAID before I submit my docs.

AHH got our approval today! PD: Jan 17, 2023 Approval: Dec 14, 2023 Almost 11 months exactly, which was our very original estimate when we submitted! No email, just logged in and saw the "actively reviewing" date was updated to today. The myProgress tab still says "taking longer than expected" but approval was in the Documents section. 😄

I’m also Jan 17 PD and taking longer than expected (for the second time) for the past month. Happy 10 months to us. 🥲

Update: 4 weeks passed faithfully counting down like clock work... only to turn back to "longer than expected" again. 🫠

Yeah, mine just went backwards, too. Was at “longer than expected” since July 9 and now it’s at 4 weeks. Honestly, I’ll take 4 weeks if it’s accurate compared to the nothingness of “longer than expected.” Here’s to hoping! 🤞🏼

If you scroll up, someone was approved a few weeks ago but is still waiting on another approval before moving forward. I'm in the same boat as you—been stuck at "taking longer than expected" since July 9. ☹️

Thank you for confirming. With your emphasis on NVC, I have to ask: is it also not needed during the interview?

At the risk of sounding really obtuse because it appears pretty clear, the DOS website states the following on Step 7 about collecting civil documents: I have searched the forums and am mostly finding questions related to translation certification. What I’m trying to find out is if a translation is even needed. We didn’t submit any translations with our I-130 because our marriage certificate is in English. I’m trying to prepare for the NVC stage and am wondering if my husband’s police certificate and birth certificate need to be translated. They are not written in English, but they are written in the official language of his country (Cambodia, the country from which he is applying). Does this mean that we don’t need the translations? I’m confused because I see people mentioning translation all the time (even when documents are in the language of their country), or that they brought the translated copies/certificates to their interview… but was that a precautionary measure or a requirement? Thanks in advance!

To be fair, this is one of the main reasons I would like if our marriage could be registered in his country, so I understand. But the other reasons for marrying via Utah outweighed this particular reason. If you're absolutely leaning on joint ownership of that property to make your case, then I think you have your answer. But if you have an otherwise strong enough petition, it doesn't seem worth the effort, in my opinion. Just go for the easier route.

I, too, initially filed an I-129F (November 2022), then decided to switch to I-130 (January 2023). Lost a couple months, but feeling so much better about all of it. Getting married via Utah was easy and now there are no questions as to whether we are "too married" or "not enough engaged" to be approved for a fiancé visa. I sent a withdrawal letter for the K-1 in February and about a month later, I got an "acknowledgement of withdrawal" notice. We haven't been approved yet but so far everything seems to be going smoothly and I feel so much better about our situation. I wouldn't want to spend the next 12+ months being anxious about it.

For me, getting married in Utah was quicker, easier, and significantly less expensive. To get married in my husband's country, I would have had to get an FBI report from here, go to the US Embassy there to get a copy of my passport notarized, go to the Ministry of Interior/Foreign Affairs so he can apply for marriage to a foreigner, wait for the approval (sometimes months, but if you have $$$ it can be faster), submit it to the village chief, wait for a 30 day "announcement" period, etc. Then when I called my local county clerk's recording office to ask if my international marriage license would be registered/accepted here in the states, first she said I would just get "re-married" here (which I think was wrong) but then backtracked and said that I would need to file something like a "recognition of marriage," I can't recall the exact name. It was way too much hassle, time, money, and uncertainty. With the Utah ceremony, we had our license and ceremony in a matter of a week for a little over $100, and it's fully and automatically recognized in the US, which was the most important factor for us since this is where we will be living. We were both physically together for the ceremony, which meant that within days after our wedding, we were able to file our I-130 with our digital marriage certificate that was emailed to us.

So is the advice here to simply wait until it's time for the medical exam to get any needed shots?

Ours dropped again, this time from 2 months (May 31) to 5 weeks (today, Jun 10). Previously it went from 7 months (May 22) to 2 months (May 31).

Our processing time dropped yesterday, too! Was 7 months just the other day, 2 months since yesterday. The note on the USCIS website sounds promising! USCIS service centers are now prioritizing the processing of Form I-130 preference petitions for which an the Department of State Visa Bulletin shows that an immigrant visa is available. The visa bulletin, published monthly, lists available immigrant visas by priority date. USCIS uses the visa bulletin to determine the current visa categories and priority dates before processing a Form I-130 preference petition. Service centers have prioritized our adjudication efforts so that we can focus on those cases that have visas available.

I asked Emma which service center my case was at. She told me Texas but my Receipt Notice said Nebraska, so I just surmised the phantom "action on my cases" a day after I submitted was a service center transfer.

I'm sorry I don't have an answer to your question, but I just want to say WOW at the fact that your estimated time was given as 5 months since you filed so recently. I have heard many anecdotes that the estimated time is not accurate at all, but it probably still feels good to see it. My guess is that no status change for 6 weeks is pretty normal, as many people don't see a status change for many months.

If it was officially withdrawn, you should see "Withdrawal Acknowledgement Notice Was Sent" when you check the status on the website (as seen in the screenshot I attached). I recently withdrew my I-129F. I mailed the withdrawal request on January 19 and the status updated online on February 15. I received a paper copy in the mail several days later. But as everyone else mentioned, you don't have to be so concerned with whether it was officially withdrawn or not. It will eventually expire if you guys don't go through with it.

I decided to go this route. Filed for K1 in November 2022 but ended up getting married via Utah while I was with my husband earlier this month. I filed the I-130 the day after I returned to the US (about a week after our marriage). I feel good about our decision, but obviously I haven't made it far enough into the process to know if it was truly the better option. I'm hoping so!

Hi everyone! I'm a USC, my husband is in Cambodia. We're currently living separately because of my job 😓 but I visit him every ~3 months. Here's our timeline: 1/17/2023: Filed I-130 online. Case moved to actively reviewing after a few hours. Receipt Notice indicates Nebraska. 1/18/2023: Received a "We have taken an action on your case" email, but upon login, there were no apparent changes. 1/19/2023: Received another "We have taken an action on your case" email, but upon login, there were no apparent changes (again). I have not yet reached out to Emma to ask if maybe my case was transferred to another SC. I'll reach out on Monday (1/23). I also plan on sending a request to withdraw my I-129F for K-1 that I submitted in Nov 2022 and, separately, a new I-129F for K-3.

Thanks for the clarification!

Thank you for the details! I asked because I recently got married in Utah via remote appearance, my husband and I were physically together during the ceremony. I'm glad you got it ironed it, though it sounds like an awful experience. I hope CBP has seen enough of these now that they better understand the rules!

Can you elaborate on "did something similar to this" and "stopped by CBP and refused entry"? Did you get married in Utah via remote appearance? And you had proof that the marriage was consummated? Then you tried to enter the US and were denied entry? What was the reason they gave for the refusal of entry, and how did you eventually iron it all out?

Reviving this post, apologies if maybe I should start my own post, but I'm planning on doing a Zoom wedding with my Cambodian fiancé next month. I'm nervous at the lack of anecdotes around the Zoom marriage in Cambodia specifically... I have read many success stories, but knowing that it may be more strict in Cambodia is giving me a little bit of pause.

ANOTHER QUESTION: On Form I-130, Part 5 (Other Information) it asks, "Have you EVER previously filed a petition for this beneficiary or any other alien?" Because I filed I-129F (which I'm withdrawing), I checked the box for yes. It then says, "If you answered Yes, provide the name, place, date of filing, and the result." I put my soon-to-be husband's name (beneficiary), but what do I put for city/state of filing? The city I live in? I sent the petition in the mail from my city... or do I put the place I sent it to (Dallas lockbox??)... finally, with date filed, do I use the NOA1 date? For the result, I put "withdrawn" (since they give the examples of approved, denied, withdrawn).

I haven't written it yet, I've been combing through the forums to try and get an idea. I think what I gathered is to say that I am writing to withdraw my I-129F. And then I'll make sure to include my full name, address, and the receipt number from my NOA1. I'm not sure what else needs to go in there. I also gathered that I'll be able to just submit it with my I-130 filing rather than needing to send it separately. Hopefully someone with experience can confirm this for us.