Jhatch

After being approved where do you monitor the papers to the NVC. Is the status changed on the USCIS website that tells you when and where it is being forwarded to?

I am from N.W.F.Pakistan. Yes, that would be the hot zone right on the broder of Pakistan and Afghanistan where the fight is on rise between Pak Army and militants are blowing every place in the city. My fiance used to teach at Army Public College and I told her to quit going there cause the militants threatend to blow up the college since it belongs to Army, so now she is out of job. She can't step out of the house cause the city is not safe. I am really worried about her and trying to find a way to get her out of that mess as soon as possible. Can someone give me a direction if there is possibility that USCIS would understand my concerns?

USCIS has a option on its automated system that you can request an expidite. This is one option and they can tell you what you need to do. Another option is to contact you local congressman or senator and explain you situation to them and the importance and urgency of the situation and they can request an expedite on your behalf. USCIS tends to work alittle more with government officials than us. Good Luck!

we're just going for 7 days.

It should be fine. He can stay up to 90 days in a 6 month period.

I have been waiting 8 and a half months to be with my wife again and it has been become a very long wait so looked for some help from my local senator. I had told him our story consisting of losing all of our life savings and our house over the issue and for me having to be out of the US for several months just to be with my wife. We are currently having to move to a neighboring country wth my wife because my 6 month visa is going to expire in her home country. We are going to a country neither of us know or speak the language, but atleast we will be together. The senator recently got a email back from VSC and this was their respose to our requests:

A review of our computer system shows that the I-130 petition filed by JEFFREY HATCH on behalf of Petya Hatch was received at this office on 11/14/07 and we are currently processing immediate relative petitions received at this office on 7/30/07.

The I-129F K-3 petition was received on 2/21/08 and we are currently processing these case types received at this office on 12/18/07.

In reading through the attachments there does not appear to be any valid reasons given for consideration of expeidtous handling, as many Americans go through the situation described.

Tina Nichols

Vermont Service Center

Congressional Unit

Yes I am sure there are other people on VJ that have gone through this, but should we have to? Is this how Americans should be treated? Other than people dealing with immigration I do not know any american going throuh what me and my wife has.

If only I could meet miss Tina Nichols

So we are waiting for NVC to process our I-129F...its been 7 weeks now and they said they still dont have it...but thats another story =/

So my question is can my fiance go ahead and do her Police and Medical check before the Embassy gets the documents? We are filing through the Embassy in Tokyo Japan. The Embassy Info says you can do this but what documents do i need other than the NOA2? Where can i get the documents for the Medical check? Thanks for you help everyone!

I had asked the same questions and I contacted the US embassy in my wife's country (Bulgaria) and asked them. They said the police certificate could be up to six months so that I could so anytime and the medical they said no more than a month before the interview so that you should wait. Best advice is to go to Japan's US embassy page and get there email and send off that question.

I have filed at VSC and I have seen many people get both their I-130 and I-129F approved at the same time. I was wondering if it was possible to go through with the K-3 and have my wife come back to the US with me while we pursue the I-130 through the NVC and then have her go back to her home country to finish up and get her greencard. Anybody heard of this or have any info. We have waited so long that we want the K-3 but feel like abandoning the I-130 if kind of a waste.

Yes you can do that but following the AOS process is the other more common way of not abandoning the approved I-130.

But the process of adjusting status is very time consuming compared to waiting for the I-130 to make its way through the NVC.......right?

I have filed at VSC and I have seen many people get both their I-130 and I-129F approved at the same time. I was wondering if it was possible to go through with the K-3 and have my wife come back to the US with me while we pursue the I-130 through the NVC and then have her go back to her home country to finish up and get her greencard. Anybody heard of this or have any info. We have waited so long that we want the K-3 but feel like abandoning the I-130 if kind of a waste.

I live in Florida. Where do I send my K1 petition? I sent it to Vermont because that's where I was told to send it... But now that I look into things further, it looks like I was supposed to send it to Texas? They did cash my check though (5 days later) so I suppose that's a good sign? Thanks for your speedy replies!

For where you live you sent it to the right place. Texas does not do K-1s.

I am just wondering how reliable the USCIS website is when it comes to changing the status of your case. Is your portfolio updated consistantly or do you get a notice via mail before they are updated. Also wonder if you received an email for your approval or you got the notice in the mail first. Thanks

This thread is in response to a thread I saw requesting the Delicia add K3 filers to her spreadsheet. I understand the reasoning behind keeping CR1/IR1 and K3 separated. Therefore, I have started this spreadsheet for K3 filers, like myself, who are waiting for their NOA2. I am a numbers person and I like to see when people near my filing date are getting approved.

You can find the spreadsheet here.

So, thank you Delicia for showing us how Google Docs can be used. I have never tried this before but am always interested to learn new tools. So I figured I would give this one a shot...

1. For all the California filers, I plan to add those spreadsheets tomorrow.

2. Both California and Vermont filers can send me their updates/changes and I will be happy to update the spreadsheets.

3. Cells highlighted in GREEN refer to approvals that have occurred over the last month.

4. Cells highlighted in YELLOW refer to recent touches. (Disclaimer: We all have seen that approvals sometimes happen with or without previous touches. But this is just another indicator that I was curious to track.)

5. If anyone has any suggestions for changes to the layout of the spreadsheet or additional columns, averaging wait times, etc... I will gladly take those suggestions also.

5. Lastly, If anyone would like to volunteer to share the updating responsibility, you are always welcome to do that also.

Ok, Best of luck to everyone and wishing you all speedy approvals.

Petya and Jef had a touch on 5/5 as you can see on my signature

My finance and I are planning on getting married this month, but we've hit a snag. It will take several months to get a certified, translated copy of her Bulgarian birth certificate for the I-485, and Her F-1 visa will be expired by then. If we are married, and then her visa expires after the marriage, will she have to leave the country and obtain a spouse visa to continue the immigration process or are we safe as long as we marry while her F-1 is still current even if it expires before we are able to file the I-130 and I-485.

I had to have my wife get one translated too in Rousse. What you could do is maybe mail a birth certificate to a family member in Bulgaria and have them take it to a translation office. I had several translations done and it takes only a few days. Then they could mail it to you. Was not to expensive or time consuming. Good Luck

With all due respect, I don't understand your comment for the following quote:

I hate beating up on you folks about this all the time, but while what many of you are going through right now is unfair, most of you haven't gotten the short end of the immigration stick by any stretch of the imagination.

What would you constitute as unfair? (1) If USCIS continues to post their processing time July 30 for VSC one year, two years, or 5 years from now, they are still within their processing time and by your standard, that is still fair? (2) The fact that USCIS contradicts their own statement both on paper and on the phone system where they "process petition in the order received" but is not practicing it? The process seems so inconsistent in which people filed more recently are being approved before those who submitted prior?. (3) Substantial amount of resources [people, money] has already been invested in the organization with no result on progress.

I have no intention to contradict you, but I don't know if your statement accurately reflects the situation at hand.

Hey I totally agree with you. It just bothers me that someone says they got the short end of the stick but after looking at their timeline it seems they got approved by VSC in 15 days. Wow that is definitly the short end!

MY CONGRESSMANS AID WAS WHO I TALKED TO, SHE WAS VERY HELPFUL. SENT THE FORMS, WHICH WERE NEEDED. I RETURNED THEM BY REGISTERED MAIL AND BY FAX. TEN DAYS LATER WE WERE APPROVED!

j&J

What kind of forms did you have to give them if you dont mind me asking?

Hello Everyone!

Happy Sunday to you all!

Only recently I have noticed many people writing a letter to their congressman, in regards to their visa application. Can anyone tell me a little about that?

For example:

1. What should the content be?

2. How does it help?

3. How do you follow up on that?

As always....Have a wonderful day and THANK YOU!!!

Yvette

I sent letters to a senator and congressman in Maine. Both pretty much told me that their was nothing that they could do unless it qualified for an expidite, which for USCIS is life or death. They tried to explain my case but to no avail. So I found it not much help, but still worth the try.

i see this date 06/17/2008 this mean them touched ???? and i was recive my NOA1 at 06/12/2008 ..... im confused

When you file your petitions your documents are put into a file with an attached bar code. Everywhere your file goes the bar code is scanned and this shows up as a touch on your portfolio. They scan the bar code to keep track of where your file is at all times. A touch could be them filing your file in a stack of folders awaiting adjudication or someone picking up your file to process it. Most files are touched many times before approval. Since you just filed the touch that you got was maybe them putting your info into a folder and them filing it in the waiting piles. Any other questions just let me know.... good luck.

Thanks for the info. Such an obvious thing that I completely missed! I called and of course got the standard run around. The lady was very nice but said I can only tell you what's on the website, nothing more, go by the posted processing dates, unfortunately we're back logged, BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! When I explained to her I was frustrated because people that filed after us were getting approved she said, "well I can't believe that's true because applications are processed based on receipt date and in the order in which they were received. Just because people are posting that they've been approved doesn't mean it's true". OKEEEDOKEEE. Thanks alot for nothin'!

UGH!!!

They must have that speech written out cause thats the same thing I hear every time I call...

i'm a morrocan married to an american in december 2007, the emmigration received our papers in May 29th we have I130 K-3 can someone tell me how long it takes to get the call for the interview ,i miss my husband so much and i cant wait to be with him

Some of that depends on where you filed your papers.....Vermont or California. It is never possible to say how long it will be but I can tell you my case and maybe that will help. I filed on Nov 14th 2007 with Vermont. I filed a I-130 K-3 and the I-129F. I am currently being processed but have not heard anything for some time and no end in sight. So for me it has been 7 months and still maybe 1 to 2 months left before I see the end. If you have any questions feel free to write.

Hello VJ members,

I need some recommendations or advice, Which phone company do you use to call your significant other?

I'm trying to save some cash if u know what i mean, spending at least $110.00 a week right now is not on my budget plan.

I'm trying to find a good company or service that has good rates and also keeps a good record of calls made.

I don't mind calling through the internet either. I'm been using lowrate voip, rebtel, pennytel and some others but they keep

changing rates on me and taking to long to deduct payments from from my bank. I would love to pay 0.20 cent or less to

call Sierra Leone mobile. So any feedback of companies i can try would be great.

What I have used to keep in contact with my wife is Skype if you have the internet. It is downloaded at Skype.com. It is free to call computer to computer and have web cam available at a click of a button if you have a cam.

Hi everyone. I apologize if this is a duplicate post. I followed the instructions that were posted on how to call and get to an officer at VSC. HOWEVER, when I get to the point where I have to enter my 10 digit case number, I enter it and it says "I'm sorry you haven't entered enough digits" So I try again, I get the same message and then it thanks me for calling USCIS and hangs up on me. Anyone else having this issue?

Thank you!

Jen

You have to enter in the whole number including letters. For example the EAC at the begining, just punch in the numbers that go with the letters.

Hello All,

About 10 calendar days after submitting my I-129F package, I saw that my check was cashed. Do you typically receive the 1st NOA before or after this happens?

Thanks!

Lydia

You will probably receive the NOA1 in a few days to a week usually....

I think I can shed some light on part of your question. I also had my mother file an affidavit of support. She two had the question if she had to get information for my step-father. My lawyer informed her that she only need to fill out the forms and did not want information concerning my step-father. I hope this helps. Good luck with the interview.

Hey guys,

Here is my new dilemma:

My fiance has her interview on July 7th, and my mother who is my co-sponsor just informed me that she files taxes jointly with my dad.

My mom is the co-sponsor, but because they file taxes together, does that mean I need to have an affidavit of support from my mom, my dad, and me, for a total of THREE affidavits that need to be provided to the embassy?

Also, does that mean I also need to provide financial information from my dad as well, such as letter from employer, w2's, tax returns, etc?

I just don't understand why that would be necessary as my mother is the co-sponsor, not my dad.

Also, they filed for an extension for their 2007 taxes, however I am able to provide my mother's tax returns, etc. for 2004, 2005 and 2006, as well as her W2's from this current year. Does the embassy expect returns from this current year or only last year with this years w2's?

Thanks guys, and basically I am sort of flipping out because the interview is in less than 3 weeks.

Thanks again.