uniquelyd

Hello Again Everyone,

I'm sorry if I bore you guys with a long story but I have some questions and this has always been the best place to get information. So I am a part of the 2013 Feb filers and as many of you may know, it was an extremely long road for most; however, through out the process of filing (for the second time - another long story... ) and waiting for the approval with any updates from USCIS, my wife said she wanted to end every and left me around late Sept, seemingly because of all the pressure from her family and stress (it was a very bad year for me).

So, at her request and what seemed like an eternity of me trying to convince her to work on things with me, I ended up filing for divorce in Dec (the irony here being I got a letter from USICS saying that everything was approved and we should be getting an additional letter for a VISA interview date the exact same day I came from the court house - I really hate that day - Oh and that letter never came by the way, nor did I follow up). After all the pain, my divorce was finalized in March.

Last night, I received a call from my ex wife saying she applied for a student visa and was just denied because they still have her listed in the system as pending a Spouse/Fiancee visa. She said that they didn't believe her when she said she was divorced and that she can re-interview in a couple of weeks but she is afraid that the information they currently on file will still prevent her from getting the visa and I'm thinking the same.

So here is my question, what can I do, if anything, to help her fix this. Now for those of you who may be thinking that I should not be doing anything at all and that I don't owe her any favors; I am completely aware how much the bleeding still has not stopped. Nevertheless, I loved her in a way that will never be explainable to any man(woman); and given that her rejection is in part to our former life, I feel somewhat obligated to just be a good person and do the right thing.

I know calling USCIS is should probably be the first step but I thought I would check here first just in case.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

^{That's not an accurate prediction of anyone's case. It's an estimate based off of VisaJourney members from the same month...it has nothing to do with the USCIS processing your file, just a way to give you something compared to what people have posed on their timelines....sorry to bear bad news...it could be good, but I wouldn't weigh too much on what the estimate says.}

lol... IT IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY !!!

Consider that not everyone comes back to fill in their timelines. It is only as accurate as the information entered by the VJ users. It is not in any way tied to the USCIS statistics

Fun to follow, but don't buy your plane ticket according to that data... just sayin'

Trust me, I know that it is for entertainment only and we are not basing any of our plans off the estimates. However, it does add small level of hope to this seemingly never ending wait.

It just makes me feel better honestly and I would give a lot more credit to this estimate than the information I get from a Tier II rep

Mr. Craig Kindly update your Time Line.

Sorry about that. It was one thing that slipped my mind.

Estimates/Stats :

If this date range has passed or your application is past due per USCIS processing times then you should consider calling the USCIS to inquire on your petition. If you have been approved please update your timeline.

Thanks for reminding me, I hope that estimate is accurate

heyy,,,can you plz tell me how can i ask for the service request ?? whom do i have to ask ?? ( tier 2 officer ? ) and USCIS told us tht my file is at NBC...wht do u think is it true ? i m not sure where is my file .....NBC or New york local field office ( city is new york ) .....i havent done any infopass appointment yet..

Hi,

You can do a service request with a tier 2 officer (as long as your case is past the average processing time frame), but honestly I have done two service request and both of them just resulted in me getting letters back from USCIS that is obviously a standard computer generated response (both basically outlined the process for the forms filed, that my case had been received, and it was a more politically correct way to say "shut up and wait we are extremely backed up"). As for as the location of your file, I really don't think the reps we talk to truly have ill intentions but are caught between a rock and hard place about how much info they are really allowed to spill to us. I know with a high deal of "personal" certainty that the reps can see the file location, the time it was logged at the location, and if it was transferred to a local office or not. I think there customer service model and procedures for addressing our question/overall interactions with us just suck; but if your are extremely persistent you can usually get them to place you on hold and get the answer to those 3 questions. I personally got a little more piece of mind when I went on my infopass appointment and talk to someone face to face. That rep I talk to basically confirmed what two previous tier 2 reps told me over the phone (while the other 10-12+ I talked to all told me a different story). The rep at the info pass appointment was nice enough to break everything down for me and explained the reasons why I would receive several different answers from the reps on the phone. If you are like me, I would suggest requesting the infopass, it may or may not make you feel better but it could give you a little more insight as to where your papers really are.

I am a USC and have been married to my wife (Ugandan citizen) for 12 years. We have 3 children who are all USC.

She previously had permanent residency back in 2002-2006 but we have been residing in Uganda since then and basically forfeited that.

NOW...I returned to the USA 2 years ago and I would like my family to join me here but the IR-1 process of 8-12 months seems like an eternity! As an alternative I was considering that my wife tries to get a visitor visa so that my family joins me quickly and while here I can start the IR-1 process. If she is granted the visitor visa, she would not overstay but rather she would return to Kenya when necessary.

To prove ties to Kenya, she is the manager of a company we run there (employment) and she also has a small business of her own. She owns a car and rents a house. She has an active bank account but not much money in it.

So I have a few questions:

1. To what extent might the idea of coming with the children lessen her ties to Uganda? As an academic arguement, would she have a better chance at the interview and POE if our children remained in Uganda?

2. My father is suffering from Alzheimers and one of the reasons for their visit would be to spend some time with him before his condition degrades. Would a letter from a doctor (I'm not sure if this is even possible) explaining his condition have any positive effect at the interview?

3. If I do start the petition for IR-1 while she's in the US, is there any kind of risk in doing so?

I really appreciate any advice. Being away from my family for so long has been torture and I really need to be with them ASAP. But I also don't want to make a mistake.

Thanks in advance!

Don

Hi Don,

I didn't take the time to read all the responses to you and I don't know if anyone has already touched on some of the things I will cover; but the situation for my wife and I is very similar to your own. I think some of what we have been through would be beneficial to you. I am a USC and I have known my wife for 9 years and been married for 4 and we originally got her green card via the AOS route after she came to the US on a work visa as an Au pair; however, due to large number of family issues (after returning to her home country for a wedding), she could not find it within herself to leave the situation as is and decided to stay for awhile. Needless to say,the days quickly turned to months, and the "stay for awhile" ended up being more than a year. Being a novice with our new immigration issue, I contacted USCIS on several occasions for some direction and in each instance I was told to do something different and a lot of it made no sense ( I had to apply for a deferral, we will be facing immigration proceeding, only the US embassy could direct you from this stage, just have her bring her expired green card with her).

We did contact the US Embassy in her home country and they laid out two choices for us:

1) Start the process over by going the IR-1 route

2) Apply for deferment (Which I didn't think we qualified for and it didn't really make any sense to apply for the deferment because the letter specifically said it could take 3-5 months to review and the even if approved the visa process starts from the beginning.)

So in the interest to save time (so we thought), we decided to go with the IR-1 process along w/ the I-129F per there direction. THIS WAS A MISTAKE because we are still waiting with no end in sight. (At one point they couldn't even tell me where our paperwork was)

Here is what I would suggest to consider:

Think about pushing to obtain legal entry to the US for you wife first and then simply apply for an AOS once she is back in the country. There is nothing illegal or unethical about this route. It is much faster and for me personally it was less of a headache than what we are going through now.

As for your questions:

1. I really can't speak to the idea of coming with the children because it could really go either way and it really boils down to your interviewer; however, leaving the kids behind does seem to leave a strong impression of the intent to return to Uganda.

2. I think the letter can aid you guys in obtaining the visa more than it can hurt you and the depending on your fathers condition, it is possible that she could qualify for an emergency visa. I believe it just further strengthens the need for your wife to visit and the promotion of family unity.

3. As far as starting the process while your wife is in the US, one of the things you may want to consider is how hard will it be for you and your wife to direct your affairs in Uganda because once you start the process leaving the country again until the process is complete is extremely discouraged (don't do it!).

Some may argue that you are committing Immigration fraud or using unethical practices and for those I simply say "NO" it is not. As long as your wife is granted entry into the USA legally, the option to peruse an AOS is an available, legal, means of keeping your family together. Regardless of the level of incompetence we have working in our government and at USCIS, I can say with an extremely high level of certainty that if you picked up the phone and called USCIS right now - they will consistently tell you "As long as your wife is granted entry into the USA legally, the option to peruse an AOS is an available."

Now granted, this is all my opinion and at the end of the day the route you choose is your own choice for what is best for your family; but given my experiences from both sides of the process - if I could change my filing- an AOS is a lot faster (took me 3.5 months the first time) and what is ever more important is that regardless of how long it would have taken...my wife would be right there by my side vs 6200 miles away and 7+ months of waiting.

Hi everyone,

Most of the posts on the is topic seem to be done by a lot of individuals that are fairly new to the site, so I gathered a few links for you all that may help you out with gauging what is going on with your packets. The links below are for forums that have been started for individuals who have filled for each month this year, along with an interesting set of posts regarding the reason for the delays. I hope that you can find these links useful. I am a Feb Filer and staying informed, though stress, really seems to make me feel better (especially since you can't seem to get any concrete information from USCIS).

January Filers

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/407523-january-2013-i-130-filers/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/412591-february-2013-i-130-filers/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/454000-i-130-march-2013-filers-nbc/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/424498-april-2013-i-130-filers/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/429769-may-2013-i-130-filers/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/433643-june-2013-i-130-filers-merged/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/441102-july-2013-i-130-filers/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/447361-aug-2013-i-130-filers/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/452116-september-2013-i-130-filers/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/452116-september-2013-i-130-filers/

whrere was ur case first ?? Do the NBC transfer all cases to local office ?? they told me my case is still at NBC .....wait till october ....

how do u know they r working on january cases......any link can u post,,,so i can see,,,,

Well i'm not sure about others, but our case was transferred to my local office in Dallas, TX around April 02 and the Dallas office sent it back to NBC less than a week later. Once NBC got it they re logged it in the system as being sent back to Dallas on April 10 and yes I was very confused and mad, because no one could give me a strait answer when I called and I only found out the above information when I went on my infopac appointment in August. When I questioned the IO why Dallas would send the forms back when they should be adjudicating it, he couldn't really give me an answer. His best guess was it was either going to be processed at NBC or rerouted to a new field office. I never received a single notification saying that my case was transferred and it has not made any movement since. The only thing I have received was a notification of my address update (and had never been so excited in my life to see that my file was updated - only to be so disappointed in a matter of seconds because it was just an address updated).

In all honesty, I know we don't really want to accept this but all we can truly do is cross our fingers and wait.

what number do u call? I called the number that they gave on the NOA1.. and after I follow the instructions I speak to a customer service representative and they say they have no idea when the case will be processed or wha-t the processing times are.. and My PD is feb 28. NBC.... In about a few days its going to be 7 months...

I am assuming you called (800) 375 - 5283, which is the correct number to get to someone; however, you need to make sure as soon as you get someone on the phone that you ask to speak to a Tier 2 rep (also called an IO - Immigration Officer). The first rep you speak with is normally as about as helpful as the automated system. They can only answer questions that appear in there script and they usually read it word for word. Once you get to a tier 2 rep, I would suggest to have these three questions ready for them:

1. What date was my case file transferred to a local field office for processing.

2. What date did my case file show up as logged in at the local office.

3. At which local office is my case file.

I was given this information from another VisaJourney user, Darnell, and it was extremely helpful. I would also suggest to stand your ground, because a lot of the time you will end up with a tier 2 rep that is either incompetent, lazy, or just having a bad day and they will tell you that they can't see that information when fact they can.

I hope this helps

NOA1 February 26, 2013 still waiting. I called last week and they told me 2 -4 weeks. I called again this morning and a totally different answer. They cannot give me a concrete answer. I spoke with supervisor and he told me the next time tier 2 promises me something get thier name. No telling when my petition will be approved. I just wish I could just move to the Philippine s and forget this nonsense this country is putting me thru. Good luck to everyone.

"I just wish I could just move...and forget this nonsense." I just want to say I love this statement because it really reflects the exact same sentiment I have. We received our NOA1 on February 22 and talking to USCIS has just been a nightmare. I have done an infopass appointment, I call and talk to tier 2 reps a minimum of once every 3 weeks (never get the same info), and I have contacted 3 congressmen and the only one that saw fit to respond didn't get me any useful information, just a standard letter from the USCIS Congressional Contact that said they are 12 months behind please wait (although I am grateful for his help - it just makes me even more frustrated). I can understand that USCIS is extremely busy and have been completely backlogged because of the DAs they are processing but its no excuse for the poor level of regard they have for our lives and families with their terrible customer service and inconsistent information.

NOA1 February 26, 2013 still waiting. I called last week and they told me 2 -4 weeks. I called again this morning and a totally different answer. They cannot give me a concrete answer. I spoke with supervisor and he told me the next time tier 2 promises me something get thier name. No telling when my petition will be approved. I just wish I could just move to the Philippine s and forget this nonsense this country is putting me thru. Good luck to everyone.

"I just wish I could just move...and forget this nonsense." I just want to say I love this statement because it really reflects the exact same sentiment I have. We received our NOA1 on February 22 and talking to USCIS has just been a nightmare. I have done an infopass appointment, I call and talk to tier 2 reps minimum of 1 every 3 weeks (never get the same info), and I have contacted 3 congressmen and the only one that saw fit to respond didn't get me any useful information, just a standard letter from the USCIS Congressional Contact that said they are 12 months behind please wait (although I am grateful for his help - it just makes me even more frustrated). I can understand that USCIS is extremely busy and have been completely backlogged because of the DAs they are processing but its no excuse for the poor level of regard they have for our lives and families with their terrible customer service and inconsistent information.

I'm just confused. The USCIS received our IR-/CR-1 I-130 Petition document on June 18, 2013. They said they forwarded it to the NBC (National Benefits Center). If I have to check our status online (which is still/always on "Initial Review"), the only service center selection is Vermont Service Center nothing about NBC. But they did not send any email to my husband about transferring our case.

I know exactly how you feel. They actually sent my file to the local field office in Dallas on April 04 for processing and Dallas sent it back to NBC less than a week later. I did not receive any notifications and I only found out about it this because I called and talk to several confused USCIS IOs. When I went on my infopass appointment last month, the rep confirmed that Dallas did have the files at one time but sent them back and he could not explain to my why. His best guess was that it was to be redirected to a new field office (which made no sense).

I know they are extremely backed up with at the moment but the strategy they implemented was a major fail and it is upsetting to me that they are and have giving an unbalanced amount of attention to individuals seeking DAs than those who are going through the process legally.

I definitely do not mean any disrespect to the May and June filers, but that truly sucks for us. What happen to first come first served, and as for the illegal immigrants, I am for giving them a path to citizenship but not at the cost of those who are following the processes the correct way. (I really want to give a certain someone a swift kick in the seeds!)

I never really grasped this phrase in military career but I guess we (the Jan – April filers) should just “hurry up and wait.”

oh gosh a feb filer so sorry for that

again this is only an opinion and a guess based on what happened over the last year with daca mess

the new facility will start approving petitions they have on file.. this will mean you will see a flood of the may-june filers go through

then the local office transfers will begin unless your file is on a desk already. these files will transfer to the new facility and get processed for approval.

have you gone for an infopass or anything? you are really overdue

So I am a Feb filer and every time I read an update about the I-130s, I can't help but feel a little a screwed over. I visit this site every morning and I know I should most likely know this, but what is the problem with the Feb filers? Are we going to be the group that falls through the cracks while other applications filed after Feb are sent to the new facility or are we still going to be sitting the eternal limbo that is the dusty box in the NBC storage closet that's labeled do not touch?

Thanks for the advice Darnell.

I actually want to come out in the open and say that I owe the CSR from the Dallas Field Office an apology, because he just left a voice mail for me. He stated that the individual that he contacted has confirmed that all of our documents are at NBC and there is usually a 9/1 turn around for documents they received in March so they are not behind schedule according to there process. He also said that the only way that they will expedite the request is if I can send them documented proof of a medical, financial, or emotional emergency. This really isn't the best news that I could hope for but it is somewhat comforting to know that our forms aren't sitting in some dusty corner forgotten. I know patience is the key to this process but I feel like if I don't make enough noise about our case another 2-3 months can easily go by with no results, especially since we are close to 6 months. So keeping our fingers crossed for Sept .

So, I went to my infoPass appointment this morning, and it turns out that our casefile is truly sitting in some unknown limbo. According to the CSR I talked to, our case file was indeed transferred to the Dallas field office in April, and the Dallas field office sent it back to NBC. When I questioned why, he said that it was sent back for a final review and from there NBC will issue an interview date or send it off to NVC. I told him that didn't make any sense, why would you send it back to be adjudicated by NBC when it should have been done by you guys (he couldn't provide an answer for me). He followed up by telling me that the system was shows incorrect logs for the case file. He said that NBC showed that the case file was sent to another field office in late April but they did not list which field office they were sending it to. He also told me that in May, an audit should that the case file was in fact still at NBC and that he would send an email to the auditor to determine where it is. He took my phone number and told me that he would call me as soon as the auditor responded to him;but I had very little confidence in that and still do. When I asked to speak with a supervisor he said this is the best they can do and once they determine where the case file is they will have it expedited. He stated that he was sorry, he would do his best, and try to have a good day - at this point, my frustration was becoming unbearable, so I thought it would be best to not let it get the best of me - express the weight of the importance of the matter and we ended the interview.

I have no doubt in my mind that nothing will happen with this unless I stay on top of it and I have already reached out to Senator John Cornyn's office regarding the matter, but do you guys have any suggestions for me? I

Your right about that. When I called last week I was told my file was sent to Dallas on 04/10 and Dallas never logged it in. I called again a few days later and was told Dallas sent it back to NBC on 04/09, which makes no sense to me at all. I even had a tier 2 hang up on my after waiting 2 hours to talk to them. I gve her my receipt number and before i could explain anything she basically said "cases are taking 8-10 months to process, I will enter an inquiry" and just hung up. I did call right back but got a completely different answer than what I was previously told.

I have comgressinal inquiry pending but the liaison I spoke with said that they confirm that our case was still at NBC. He told me they were getting more details an will have a definite answer for me soon. I'm really hoping that between the congressional inquiry, the USCIS inquiry, and my info pass apointment, that some useful - rather truthful- information will be given to me.

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear that you final got approved. We filed our case just days after yours and we know the Dallas office is busy; but we hope to have some good news in the next few weeks. Congrats again!

We were approved 2 days ago. Exactly 5 months and 14 days for approval. By the way Info. Pass appointments are NOT going to speed things up. I would only make one if you have obviously gone way beyond normal waiting period. Or some oddball situation.

So I just talked to an ISO and I ask the three questions I found from one of Darnell's posts:

What date was the case file transferred to the local office?

What date did the case file show up as logged in at the local office?

Which local office is the case file?

And it turns out that my case file shows as transferred from NBC to the local office in Dallas on 04/10/2013 but Dallas doesn't show the file as logged in. In his own little subtle way, the ISO just told me that they either lost my case file or lost pieces of it. According to USCIS, once the file is scanned in and sent to the local office, the local office conducts an audit and if it is missing information they will not process it. So I asked why would they just let the a case sit for 3 months and not request the need scans and he responded with information regarding how backed up they are. He went on to, say that I would get more information during my infopass appointment and that I shouldn't let them brush me off.

I was really holding off on contacting my congressman until after the appointment but now I think I will do that today. Hopefully they can intervene prior to my appointment or go with me.

I don't know about the other Feb. filers but if you are not on top of your paperwork, I would suggest to do so. Otherwise your file could be sitting in limbo like mine.

Any news coming out of Dallas office?????

I'm a Feb (20, 2013) filer as well and I have not heard a single thing. It really does suck how much time this takes away from you and your spouse. My wife and I have had previous experience with this process through an adjustment of status but due to family events back home that did not meet the criteria for a deferment, her green card was considered abandoned and we couldn't neglect the responsibility on her shoulders. Because of how things went the first time around, I even helped a friend from work with his case and they were approved in 4 months so I assumed it would be just as smooth this time for us as it was the first, but I was wrong.

I have no clue where our case is in the process and calling USCIS for information over the past two months has gotten me no where. I have been reading up on all the post here and I plan to use this information on my call tomorrow with USCIS, hopefully I can get them to break and finally tell me what office the case is logged at. I also have an info pass appointment on the 6th and I plan to contact my congressman after I call USCIS. I will post the results here for all of us in the local area and those dealing with the Dallas Field Office.

I hope the information that I find is good news and best of luck to everyone with this struggle.

Thank you very much Darnell. You have given me more information in one day than I have ever gotten from USCIS and I can't thank you enough.

Thank you NLR. I can't express how much your help means.

Thank you NLR, that helps a lot.

Signed. Thanks for this link it is very appreciated.

Hi Guys,

We are back again and the day really is a stressful one. Just a little background, as the title states my wife and I got married-went through the process-got approved, and lost the green card due to family issues that did not qualify for a deferment. So today marks 5 and half months of waiting on the I-130 and 5 months waiting on the I-129F, and I can't not help but be frustrated as calling USCIS gets me no where. I have been reading the posts about the extreme 8 months + delay and I was wondering if you guys could offer some suggestions so I can at least try to get the ball moving better on our paper work. I read a post earlier which stated that already having a# can completely screw USCIS up; and in addition to that, it seems that filing the I-129F was completely useless and it too is most-likely delaying the process even more. So I am sure you all can imagine my frustration so far after following the directions of the US Embassy in Ankara and USCIS. I have requested an infopass appointment at the Dallas, Tx office but I was wonder if you guys could provide some suggestions to help me get better results when I go. My wife has been out of the country for over two years now and this distance has really been taking its toll on us, so any suggestions anyone can offer are greatly welcomed and appreciated.