andreea

so dont laugh now, but I couldnt help but try a roughly calculation of the amount of work they have to handle, to see if all these delays r understandable. I mean they say they receive 6 milion petitions every year, and that sounds like a huge amount of work and is meant to shut anyone's mouth, if u think to complain. but... lets say the 6 mil petitions r split between the 4 service centers. vsc and csc would take like 2 mil each, and the other 2, who dont handle family based immiigration, like 1 mil each. we care about vsc and csc, so we stick with those 2. i calculated for 200 working days,as a minimum. 260 would be if i only cut off weekends, and i cut off 60 more days for holidays, which i know is way too much, but lets keep it at minimum. so if we give 2 mil petitions to 200 working days in vsc, we get 10 000 petitions daily to process. if a work day is 8 hours, and a file to be looked at needs 30 mins (which again i think is too much, considering is just first step, where they only see if u have all papers needed to go forward. tis step only says if u r acomplish all conditions required to ask for a visa). so this would mean 1 worker can handle 16 files daily. now if one worker would handle 16 files, and they have to handle 10 000 in a day, they would need 600 workers to have no delays, and be up to date. and honestly i think they have more than that, if i think that uscis hired 1500 more just one time. ofc is for all centers, but gives u an idea about the number of employeees they already have-many. so in these conditions, id just say they r not overworked, id say would be possible to work with some delay in busy times of the year, but in general with lil delay or no delay. my conclusion, they r just very lazy. probably get a bunch of files on their desk and play solitare all day.

ofc this is roughly aproximated, and i might be deeply wrong, but is how it looks to me

and more thing to add. i am afraid that immigration ppl wont see his decision as a result of missing u (if theyd care about that, wouldnt make this process so long), but as a sign of being irresponsable, therefore maybe not fit to bring a spouse in us and support her. is not my thinking, is what i suspect would be their thinking.

kirstg,u have already waited for so long... a few more months and will be over. everyone feels the same as u feel. after this will be over, ull have a life time to spend together. how I see it, might be better to not risk anything. ofc u can have his parents as co-sponsor, but co-sponsor implies a main sponsor, which would be yr husband. if he loses his job, this might not work in yr advantage. besides, look at whats going on in the world right now. wouldnt be only risky, but not very wise either. is difficult to live apart, but at least like this u know when u finaly get there, u r settled and safe. maybe a better idea would be for him to visit u. upcoming holidays would give him this oportunity without missing too much from work. is how i see it, anyways. best of luck, and be curageous.

I think theyll flip a coin if to post early march or late march. and I cant predict what the coin will decide.

Desi, u interrupted my conversation with svetlana. as a punishment, u shall get approved this week. punished to get the NOA2 ticket out of waiters party.

Svetlana, I dont reall know what to answer. as I think now, I would go with the I130, if they get approved same time. not to deal with waitings again. but who knows what impulse ill have then? this process damaged my thinking logic skills. forced me to adapt to chaos. maybe i just go to interview and say ty for yr visa, but u can keep it, my husband moved to europe. wouldnt be so surprising, as it seems they give us a lot of time to put order in our lives and consider all options. even the crazy ones, because who is really sane after dealing with our beloved VSC?

Tommy and Noy, wish u good luck in the process, but if u look around, ull discover that the 6 months promised at the beginning usualy turn in 8-9. there r march-april filers not being sure will get the NOA2 this year. february still waiting.

u are all ungrateful. as for me, I know VSC changed my life. what was I before VSC? the kind of normal person, working mon-fri, running errands, waiting for the weekend to come, enjoying weekends, hating mondays, hoping for short fridays. not much fun. but since crossing path with VSC, I am changed. my whole view changed. I love mondays, when I imagine the VSC engine starting to move, I wish for long fridays, I hate weekends when nothing moves. I am not wasting weekends having fun anymore. no, I am counting the hours for monday to come. I dont let any day pass without spiritualy evolving either. I developed new ways to pray, hope, curse, read fortune, my bag of superstitions increased, i almost invented spells, I watch for signs, I keep all my lucky items with me all the time... thinking to get a voodoo kit soon. just if now VSC wouldnt screw up and end this enlightening phase in my life, in 2-3 months I am sure Id develop a teleporting machine too. I d get there, Id get rich. the way I see it, if Id get approved now, would be just VSC in the way of my spiritual evolving and inventions. and Id be forced to go back to the small routine of enjoying life. and whats worse, I might get normal again.

I bet on 3 approvals and I really hope none of those will be mine.

and to share from my useful set of superstitions, we think nothing that starts in a tuesday has a happy ending. no monday approvals, so I hope nothing will happen today either.

CONGRATZ!. try use the NVC shortcuts, and have a smooth journey!

Oh, that sounds bad. sorry to hear that, Narina. but since the beginning u have been one of those who have patience, faith, humor, and bring smiles to cheer up the dust colectors. u cant give up now going through this horrible process with chin up. dont let the fact that they r incapable and thoughtless change yr way to be. u r a positive optimistic person, and would be a pitty to allow this process and what happens during it to change u. if u lose yr ability to smile and make jokes when life isnt cute, things will start being even harder for u. i felt the same when I had to move 2 months ago, and everything felt so meaningless. like moving from an waiting room to another. and why? for few months later to pack again. and moving everything, changing the daily routine, the neighborhoud, the stores, neighbours, etc, wasnt easy for me and cats. but well, this is life. not always fair. search for a reason to smile and keep going. and being afraid home alone i understand it very well. id didnt get over the childish fear of darkness, so I cant wait to hear my husband snoring in my bed every night, as loud as he can, to keep the wild beasts and monsters away.

also advice from a citizeen of dracula's country. do not curse. curses always come back like a boomerang. just wish yrself and those u care about to be happy, and the ppl u hate leave them in god's hands. hell know when and how to punish without u requesting it. good thoughts attract good karma, bad thoughts r distructive.

and to keep up with the topic, u can also go to karate classes to learn selfdefense and thank VSC for inspiring u to do so. is a once in a life time epiphany.

I very much agree with cindi. is how I made my husband do somth too. is a war of nerves. who gives in first. is true men have their pride that stops them from doing the right thing at some point, but there is no space for such a pride in love. if he loves u, the love will eclipse the pride and hell do the right thing. u know, I think u have ppl how u educate them from the beginning. ppl r different, but in a couple they have to grow in eachother. is the only way. so u have to teach him yr likes and dislikes, and learn his. at first everyone is in that phase deeply in love, head in clouds (we call it the blind week) and ud do anything for yr lover, accept anything, and if u do that u might never get back from it. because ud offer yr partner a false image of yrself, as one who is overly tolerable and flexible. and if u change and start making yr point and expressing yr disagreement, might b yr partner feels he doesnt recognize u anymore. thats why from the beginning partners should present exactly how they feel about things, and not think theyll change their partner's views in time, later. is now time for u to let him discover his mistakes onhis own, not throw them in his face. that would only lead to more arguments. sometimes silence speaks more than words. if u have patience with him, and show love, hell repent and be sorry he hurted u. if u act all crazy, he might feel he was right in what he said. u can get more with love than with biterness.

then is another thing when u r hurt. and is happening to u now, u see it. when u r hurt, u expect the other one to fix it in some extraordinary way, to really really prove u he repents and loves u and so on. but ask yrself this. what could he possibly do from over the ocean, other than say I'msorry? he says it once or 5 times, is same line. and means same thing. he is sorry. i was thinking the same when i was mad. this time he really has to convince me. but ive got to this conclusion. forgiving is up to me, not to him. only thing he can do is say i am sorry and mean it. forgivness isnt an easy thing to do, but is essensial. both for u and for him. and for yr relationship too. if u dont forgive it hurts u, because u r left with hard feelings, and will show up again in any future arguments. also it hurts him, because ull keep waiting from him to do somth really convincing to make u change yr mind, and that puts him under pressure and can get frustrating, and lead to more arguments. and for yr relationship because if u dont forgive and really move on, yr whole relationship will keep spining around some words said at anger, instead than moving forward and evolve.

I talk too much, i know. but ive been there, learned from it,and i try to share, maybe someone can learn from it too.

Mahitab, did ever, anyone, in yr entire life tell u marriages r easy? long distance marriages r even worse. we all know it. ppl willing to break up isnt surprising to anyone. last time ive got mad i didnt even care to cancell any petition, i was so mad my first interest was to cancel the marriage itself. cut off internet, phone line (realy cut, not stop answering)spent my bday in anger, inspecting myself if there is any emotional change, i miss him more or i am mad more, and all the 5 phases of pain process. i was thinking of him and see red. id see comp and feel like throwing off the window. my husband at first thought is the usual twice a month forever breakup, then he realized is serious, came here to regain territory (aka wife aka me). thing isnt that this convinced me that he loves me. convinced me that all the phone, internet or whatever other comunnication fight or argument is dust in the wind. it just doesnt compare to a face to face discussion. ended up disscusing in bedroom (because even if none of u mentions it, lets face it. we all lack "bedroom" and that gets yr nerves) and i honestly forgot why i was so mad about. we all get frustrated and whos there to take it? the other person involved, aka spouse. even if is not guilty.

so i agree with all the other opinions. give it time. at least to see if u miss him. decisions made in anger r never real, they r impulses. but shouldnt cancel the petition even if u r mad for 2 reasons. if u love him, and u know u r not visiting him because is dangerous, u want him out of there too, no? regardless to the fact u want to spend rest of yr life with him or not. and if u r so hurt that u stopped loving him, then why just cancel the petition? if u get it approved, and he gets there, u have a life time to revenge. (the last one was a joke, ofc)

haha, yes, my husband took some of my things too. back in summer, june-july, when we were naive and happy, and faithful enough to believe what they say about the 6 months NOA2, and if u r lucky maybe even faster, I thought wont catch winter here. so he took my coats, boots, heavy winter stuff in general. now hell bring it back when hes coming for christmas. funny, no? and will take summer clothes. hopefuly wont have to come bring them back too. also I have a toothbrush there, didnt even se it yet, he bought it with his. and made it look like is my home too, just i am in a trip now

oh oh, I have more reason to hope I wont get my NOA2 anytime soon. decided with my husband when hell come visit for holidays he'll take my cat with him. I have 2 that will have to go with me because they r part of the family, and we decided is better he takes them one at a time, because a cat would only complicate my very far in the future POE. so, I hope he can visit me at least 2 times before I get approved and go on with this process. and I am so happy to get rid of these balls of fur who were taking my home and my bed over. when they r gone, I am finally all alone. and whole place will be mine. really, VSC, dont take my lonly solitary freedom away from me too soon. let me enjoy at least until summer.

and DL, yes, we all know what u feel. been there, r there, I sometimes feel like a mouse in that running wheel. going and going and getting nowhere. but u know what? when I feel that , I say isnt bad, is training, and when Ill get free from the whell, Ill be stronger, and with such a desire for life, that will be happy only with sunrises and coffee with my lover. u know, ppl who have that from the beginning forget to enjoy it at some point. now is bad, very bad, but at the end well be blessed with enjoying things other ppl consider daily trivialities. and at the end thats happyness. is same as ud never know how lovely summer can be, if u r never cold in winter. or how u dont love rain if u didnt live in the desert. my parents in law live in california, and when they visited here, e took a trip around. and first day as spoiled by rain. uly rain for me, i was mad it ruins our trip. but they were so happy. to them rain was better than anything else weve seen that day, because back home didnt have rain since a long time. and exactly then i had this comforting idea. is like my waiting. ill be so happy when will be over. because ill know how to enjoy it. might be thinking this way doesnt help much, but is still way better than looking only at the bad sides of it.

there were questions in the forms about yr kids, and if they will join u at this time or at a later date. did u mention them there, as possible immigrants? i am sorry to say, but might be yr kids process will take as long as yrs. fact that a pregnant woman or with a new born is waiting for months to be approved doesnt make the visa to come faster, so I am afraid that u leaving yr minor kids home alone wont impress them either. or maybe they dont even know whats the case until it gets on their desk, and thats is in months from the aplication. i wish u all good luck and patiece, seems yr journey will still a while.

This name thing is totaly wierd to me. Ive seen other cases here with the same problem. having similar name with someone on a watch list...I think here for example (and I think is same in every place) there r some very common family names, that many many people have them. if u add to that the fact that many parents name their kids with a saint name, and those used are not many, at the end there r many ppl having the same name in their papers. so if one would be on a watch list, all the others would suffer? what about the rest of the data in their documents? the birth date, the birth place, names of their parents, the number of registration of their documents? those dont matter? lets say the person on the watch list has never been fingerprinted, photographed, an so on. still they must have some other data about them, no? otherwise why would put a name on a watchlist if u dont have any other information about the person,no? maybe i am wrong, but they must know more about a person than only the name to get on a watch list on the first place. besides, if ud be on a watch list only with yr name, wouldnt u change it? i mean, lets get serious here, sounds to me like this name on watch list is more like an excuse for them when they mess up some file, and this is the easiest unquestionable explanation to give. why arent u solving my file? u have a suspicious name. yeah, right. but truth is when u hear some non sense like that, u dont know where to go from there. and they r aware of that. is just my opinion.

we included proof of trips my husband took to visit me, and affidavits from my room-mate (who witnessed our relationship from the beginning, both over internet and during his visits, because he was my guest) and from his boss (who knows all my husband went through to get free days in order to visit me, also knows my husband spends all the coffee/lunch breaks at work skype-ing me, because the time zone difference). every case is different, of course. we didnt include leters from parents, because i havent met his at that time, and they live on the other coast so was obvious they dont keep an eye on my husband or his daily life, and my parents dont speak english, and we avoided translations and so on.

Aisha, u might try to ask for an expedite due to yr condition. it seems they only approve expedites in realy extreme cases, but doesnt hurt to try. maybe u get lucky and can convince them to speed up yr process. u can do that without a lawyer too. all a lawyer does is teling u exactly the steps u have to take in the process, filling the papers and send them for u. but still u have to send them all the info, put them together for lawyer to forward them, in case yr case gets too slow is u who calls to ask about it, is the 2 of u messing with interviews and everything. besides, i think no one would do things better than u, because no one is as interested in it as u r. I know is very difficult, depressing and frustrating to go through this, but a way to fight pessimism is to prepare for the visa journey yrself. so rather than wait for news from lawyer and get depressed, u better stay busy with the process yrself. u can read the guides here, the wiki, search for cases similar to yrs and so on. u can find enough info to get through the process without lawyer. rather than paying a lawyer, u can use the money to visit yr husband. is how my husband and I looked at the lawyer option, at least. meeting yr husband would charge yr batteries and give u energy to go through the process and help more than a lawyer. even if is only for few days.good luck to u, and really wish u theyd accept yr expedite if u ask for one.

I dont have the I130 form in front of me. I think u would get more help if ud type the whole question in here. many of us filed I130, but months ago. so question 17 doesnt ring a bell.

we didnt get the NOA2 yet, but already prepared papers for future steps. i didnt change my name after marriage, so we didnt fill my name once again there (it asks other name, aliases, or if married woman, maiden name). for me being the same, we just filled N/A. u think I should write my name once again there even if is the same? I was thinking that if yr wife name didnt change, u shouldnt put anything in there either. if she took yr name, should put there her name before marriage, as it appears on her papers (BC, previous passport, any records she might have with her name before marriage)

and I have to admit i had to google to see why u laugh at those examples. sonia gandhi ive got it, but had no idea who this sonia singh is. eh, romanian lost in indian name jokes trying to get it.tell more, maybe it brings more smiles. lets say happy NVC ppl cheering up a still waiting USCIS person.

I think is also important to give short concrete answers. do not elaborate if is no need. that might just get the interviewr ask more or get suspicious.

(our piece of resistance-we like to joke around this- is my husband's baptism. I assume no one would thik someone would get baptized in order to marry for a fake marriage).

u can also look at this link, maybe will help if u forgot somth.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...rview_Questions

I might not be correct, but here's how I see things. if u file the I129F right after the I130, they get approved the same time in general, so u can pick then which route u take. CR1 or K3. depending on how u deal with the long waiting, if u can have a lil more patience to go through NVC with CR1, that has more advantages. most of those who file both I130 and I129F and have them approved together, pick the Cr1 route, unless they really cant wait 1-2 months more. but I tell u, after u wait 8-9 months for USCIS NOA2, u preffer to wait a lil longer and get done with it. the K3 is fatser, but u have to deal with immigration again after. but if u dont file the I129F soon after I130, might just slow u down. because they seem to wait on eachother. not sure ,but from what ive seen, seems to be the patern. for example cases with february I130 and may I129F r still waiting their NOA2, while cases with both I130 and I129F in march or april are already approved. so if isnt too long since u filed the I130, u can submit I129F too, and u decide later what route to take. if has been a while, u might just count on yr CR1. not to mention that I130 alone had been transfered to CSC and got a faster process sometimes too

CONGRATZ! if it was an expedite, sounds like u r in a hurry. wish u a speedy NVC

CONGRATZ! and u december approved guys, start the december approvals thread for next step-NVC. hope to join u soon

This week, this month or this year u say, Narina? to be honest, my secret wish is VSC blows up or somth, and all our files burn, vanish, get lost. so we can go through the fun of submitting and waiting once again. all this journey has been so fu, and I want it to never never end! I want to do it again and again and aiagn. these had been the happiest months of my life, waiting for NOA2 (sounds almost like a novel title). and making friends in this boat that we all share, and we sail so delicious slow!