Me&Her

Hello everyone,

I am reviewing our P4 paperwork, and I am just wondering, what does it mean where it says "Two copies of the DS-156 form in English and Chinese..."

Does it mean we got to fill one out in English, and the other in Chinese? If so, for the Chinese one, how do I translate my address in the US into Chinese?

Hi,

She is scheduled to be interviewed at GUZ on 2/2/2010, wondering if anyone else is scheduled for the same date, and maybe we could form a support group for each other?

Hello,

According to this website, http://www.nbi.gov.ph/faq.htm, the Fingerprint Card can be obtained by visit the nearest Philippine Consulate Office. However, I have called all locations in China and all told me that they don't have it. Rather, my love either has to go to the Philippines herself, or have someone mail her one (I have not try US ones because they are all closed). Is this true? What was your experiecing in obtaining this certification while you are oversea?

Thanks!

Well she spent two years studying in the Philippines, she is not longer there, and she needs a police report before going to the interview at GUZ. How does she obtain such Philippines police certification, without physically going to the Philippines? Thanks!

Greetings from the other side of the world!

I am with Helen since Sunday night in Hong Kong, after my 24-hour trip from Washington. DHL confirms that my paperwork has been delivered to Guangzhou today around 10:46AM. While we are together for the time, we realized that there is still a long way to go and we wish all those still in the process best of luck, as a matter of time, all of us, best of luck!

Also my understanding. A case number that starts with GUZ is not being processed electronically.

My new case number assigned by the NVC does start with GUZ.

When I called NVC, I was told my case was being sent to Guangzhou both electronically and by DHL. While the "case" was also sent electronically, the forms/documents are being submitted to the consulate in hard copy.

I had previously read on this site that while the case may be transmitted to the consulate electronically, no action will probably be taken until the hard copy file is received and opened. I am not sure that is true now since I have found that my case was "sent" to Guangzhou on November 16th and the "Packet 3 Instructions" were "mailed" to my fiancee on November 18th. My fiancee has already returned the "P3" (hard copy) to Guz. Mailed on Sunday and delivered on Monday. Pretty good EMS in that part of China.

Hi George,

Glad that you are making progress and I finally jointed the "Post NOV2" club. I wonder if you have taken Darnell's "P3 shortcut" (http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/GUZ_P3_Shortcut). If you did, what was your experience?

I guess you are calling DoS daily, if not more now, and trying to get your interview date huh? Oh before I forget, I am leaving for HK this weekend to see her, and will stay in Guangzhou for two days. We plan to stay @ the apartment I mentioned on the other thread. I will keep you updated, hope you do the same!

So, my NVC case starts with GUZ. What does it mean? According to http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/nv...etitions2.html:

If your case is not being processed electronically, your case number should begin with GUZ.

I understand that I am applying for a K-1 visa, not a K-3, and only some K-1 are processed electronically, but I just want to compare notes. So, what is your NVC number starts with? Thanks!

Wait so we're getting new case numbers once it leaves VSC? Are we going to get new ones for every leg of the process?

Hi Bacon,

Yes once the case left VSC you will be assigned a new case number, for me it starts with GUZ, which is short for the Guangzhou consulate. However, your USCIS case number, which for me starts with EAC, still works and it was the only number I used when I called NVC to get my case status and receive the new NVC numbers.

So, my NVC case starts with GUZ. What does it mean? According to http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/nv...etitions2.html:

If your case is not being processed electronically, your case number should begin with GUZ.

I understand that I am applying for a K-1 visa, not a K-3, and only some K-1 are processed electronically, but I just want to compare notes. So, what is your NVC number starts with? Thanks!

Best early B-day gift so far!

I was awaken at 6:45 this morning, as usual, the radio was blasting news and traffic reports. I grabbed my Blackberry and start checking emails received overnight and now being delivered. Nothing new, except a message about a failed hard drive on a server. Oh great, I thought, another tough day ahead. Nothing else, as usual. I put back the Blackberry and promised myself, a few more minutes. Then came 7AM, my Blackberry vibrated 4 times, two new emails, I assumed. I grabbed it, entered my password and, holy, there was one new email and one new text message! The only times I have seen this is when my options are opened, modified or executed, so I know this is something about my I-129.

I decided to open the text message first, it only said my case is updated. F***, I said, this is bad because should it say it has been approved?

Then I opened the email, thinking about the worst, searching for that "RFE" wording. Nothing. I opened my sleepy eyes, and found it, there it is, 5 lines down, "Current Status: Approval notice sent."

I jumped out of bed and call her with the great news. The rest is now history...

Best early B-day gift so far!

Anyone know what happened? My time line jumped backward from January 6th to December 31st. That's the first time it's ever moved closer.

Don't know why yours moved forward, mine had move from 11/16 to 11/25, the earliest. But again, this time line is not the official time line of USCIS, they are merely based on the time line reported by VJ members, so if a few members report their timelines incorrectly, intentional or not (like those reporting filling in future dates), the acuracy of this time line fell apart from the reality, which is not much to begin with.

"Based on time line data, your I129f may be adjudicated between November 25, 2009 and December 16, 2009*."

When I file my petition earlier October, based on the reports here at VJ, I thought and nerversly expecting my petition would be approved in about a month, but 43 days and counting, good thing is I am not desperate yet.

I hope everyone to have a safe, joyful holiday and that USCIS, CSC and VSC get their acts together and put more stimulus into action!

OK all Octoberians,

I am just writing to see how's everybody doing?

I think the stimulus we have seen for the past few weeks is finally wearing off, and yes, it was nothing more than what its name suggested, a stimulus--apparently UCCIS pulled the support back much quickly, and left most of our Octoberians hanging dry.

Since filing I-129F, I found myself kept a very close eye to my Blackberry, and my heart rate jump when there is a red LED indicator for a new text message, or even any new email. Too bad that my Blackberry receives both text messages and emails at about the same time, so I had great expectations, but that very quickly turned into disappointment, time after time, just like a roller-coaster ride.

I used to check USCIS.gov site more than three times a day, when I found out there was no changes to my case, I usually inquire the cases before and after mine, by subtracting or adding 1s to my case number. No any more, I don't even check any more. I mean, I have a life to go on and quite frankly, I would be freaked out if I got my NOA2 today -- Happy? Yes! Excitement? Yes! Don't know what to do next? You bet ya!

But then again I have this false hope that, somehow USCIS did not update my case online when they approved my petition, decided not to send me a text message or email because their IT guy screwed up something, and I very unexpectedly found a letter from USCIS in my mailbox... Yadayada, and when I use my shaking hands to open up that letter because I don't know if it is a RFE or approval... Yadayada... Unfortunately, most of the mails are junk...

Anyway, I felt much better after I let these out of my mind, I hope you guys do the same and don't keep all of this to yourself, we are here to support each other, and learn from each other. And, I consider myself lucky, because I made myself financially possible to spend 6 weeks with my love very soon. And then I plan to spend our first Valentine's day, which will coincide with the Chinese New Year, together in China. By then we should have some idea what is USCIS doing to my NOA2.

OK USCIS, do you know what are you doing to me? You happy now? You see???

Darnell, Thanks for the tips. They are very much appreciated. Called NVC as you suggested and was able to find out the date they received my case and the date they sent it to GUZ. They told me they sent it yesterday, November 16th, both electronically and by DHL. I guess I'll wait a few days before attempting to call DOS and see if there is any status.

Thanks for the update George, I never thought of they will send it both electronically and DHL, which means, GUZ is going to have to wait for the physical file before they can send you P4 right? I understand you can do a P3 ahead of time. Anyway, please let us know any updates!

The more time passes, more I start to envy guys who applied to VSC... The irony of the situation is that when I started to fill out petition package, I was very happy that I shouldn't send it to VSC - it was so slow at that time. Now VSC is a month ahead of us. *sigh*

Don't worry, CSC is going to catch up with VSC in no time--at current speed, this is going to happen tomorrow...

VSC has slowed down drastically in recent weeks, while CSC is also slowing down albeit slower deceleration. I was hoping it was because the holiday last week, but now it seems the slow down is broadbase, all I-129F. My NOA1 is 10/7 and I have not hear anything since. A few 10/6 NOA1 advanced to NVC.

Oh well...

NOA1s for 9/21

138 were 129F petitions

- 66 Approved

- 30 RFE'd/RFE response received

- 1 Withdrawn

- 1 Notice undeliverable

- 4 Denied (ack!)

- 36 still in initial review

NOA1s for 9/22

118 were 129F petitions

- 66 Approved

- 41 RFE'd/RFE response received

- 3 Denied (ack!)

- 8 still in initial review

NOA1s for 9/23

25 were 129F petitions

- 17 Approved

- 7 RFE'd/RFE response received

- 1 still in initial review

NOA1s for 9/24

55 were 129F petitions

- 30 Approved

- 17 RFE'd/RFE response received

- 1 Withdrawn

- 1 Denied (ack!)

- 5 still in initial review

NOA1s for 9/25

72 were 129F petitions

- 40 Approved

- 16 RFE'd/RFE response received

- 2 Denied (ack!)

- 14 still in initial review

btw if uscis is reading this - sorry!! didn't mean to "spam" your server with queries! just trying to understand how the process is working...

OK "paciencia y fe", thank you very much for your hard work, if you don't mind, can you please tell me how do you make sense of an EAC number? With that, I can probably, I mean, probably write some scripts to do this trick without getting my IP banned (long story). Unless, you are doing this by hand to count how many fall under which category. Thanks!

Hello all VJers,

I was looking for hotels within walking distance from the consulate (which one do you recommend by the way?), and I found this one:

http://www.tianyuju.cn/fjfj.asp

This apartment building seems extremely cheap and make me think that it is too good to be true, but its location is hard to beat, i mean, it is right above the consulate where we are going to have the interview. I don't mind pay more, but would like to hear your feedback. Thanks!

OK, I think we are officially dead in water, for now. Hopefully we will get some better luck next week, before the VSC people burn down the house for Black Friday. Come on VSC, let's get our game face together and...

Give me a N... "N"!

Give me an O... "O"!

Give me an A... "A"!

And what's that number again? "2"!

Well, just want to say "hi" before I go to bed, looks like us Octoberians are dead in the water since two weeks ago...

Depends on the clearance and where your other half is from. It has little affect on some . is an annoyance for others and causes you to lose others.

OK, thanks for the reply, but have you gone through this before, assuming you have a security clearance? I don't think I understand what you are trying to say, so let's use this example:

Petitioner has TS SSBI, and the other half is from China. Thanks again!

Hello all fellow VJers,

I am wondering, if any of you out there with an active security clearance been through this process. I mean, the potential impact of marring a foreign national to your active security clearance? Thank you very much for your insights. Thanks!

I like kjenkins thought of NOA2's coming out in bulk. I just hope it happens by Friday, so everyone still waiting can start getting thier interview dates.

I like the "coming out in bulk" thinking, but my thinking is, even if they don't send out the hard copy (because they want to hold off until it is "bulk", whatever that means), shouldn't USCIS change online status already? Or better yet, shouldn't the email and text message come as well?

Sorry I am still holding my dreaded NOA1, crying myself to sleep every night and watch everyone else moving forward in the process. Wish all of us best of luck!

Looks like things are slowing down at Vermont, my timeline has changed for the worse by about 5 days, darn!

It is Vet's day tomorrow, so there is going to be a slow down as we head into a holiday season, and I am certain that some people at the Vermont center is going to take more than a day off this week. Here in Washington DC, the road has been much less traffic during rush hour. I know, it is a dreaded wait for some unknown, but what else can you do? Wish all of us luck!

Thank you for both of your quick responds, that eased me a bit. I read somewhere on this board (forgot which post) that a naturalized citizen's petition take more time because USCIS needs to pull the paperwork of the naturalization process from somewhere before continuing the petition.

Thanks again!

Hello, I have a question for all of your seasoned VJers here: is there any difference, if any, in terms of processing time, between a petition filed by citizen by birth and a petition filed by a citizen by naturalization? I mean, is there additional steps for citizens by naturalization?

Beside the processing time, what else, if any, is different down the road?

Thank you very much for your insights and best wishes for all of us!

Okay, so I received my RFE letter today. The text and email claims it went out on the 3rd of Novemeber, but I'm just receiving it on the 9th. I guess even the mail moves more slowly when it's official government business. Alas. So back to the RFE. I feel really stupid. Apparently I forgot to answer Page 3 Part C. Other Information Question 2 of Form I-129F. All I had to do was indicate "no" and sign it. Wow. I checked my copy and sure enough - I didn't mark it. If they are able to end texts and emails I wish they'd sent me this letter as an attachment. I could've printed it out and mailed it the same day as opposed to having to wait a full week to get it in the mail. In other kick-myself-in-the-#### news, if I'd checked that box I would probably be receiving my NOA2 in the mail today instead of a freaking RFE. I did it to myself. I guess it's possible to be so caught up in the details that you actually miss one. At least it was an easy fix. I've updated my timeline to show that I mailed my RFE back today. The letter says I can expect to wait 14 days AFTER they receive it. Perhaps as long as 60 days. That doesn't seem to be the trend, but I am not known for my luck. ONWARD AND HOPEFULLY UPWARD!

Thanks for the update, though you have a RFE, but you are still much luckier than me, at least you heard something from them, I am still holding the dreaded NOA1 and cry myself to sleep every night. Keep us updated and wish all of us luck!

Hey JRSmooth

It is possible you are right but I hope not. I prefer to look at it from the other direction. The historical processing time now shows 186 days from the filing of the I-129F to the K-1 visa interview. It has been slightly higher over the past 14 months. In the last few months it too has decreased. When I was preparing my I-129F the "historical processing time" was showing 140 days between NOA1 and NOA2. But it looks like that number is the highest it has been in the past 12 months.

So the direction I prefer is that the lesser time from NOA1 to NOA2 will ultimately result in overall less time between NOA1 and Interview. I sure you like this side of the possiblities also, so let's hope for a quick interview.

BTW, my Xiyun was raised in the northeast. Now resides in Xiamen. I hope you got your approval today or very soon. I'd like to be able to compare notes about Guangzhou.

Hi George,

Glad to hear your insight, yes I am sure hope my thinking was wrong as I am still waiting for my NOA2. Guangzhou is about 2 hours from my hometown so I know Guangzhou fairly well, we got our visa there years ago. I have never thought that I will be on this visa journey once again. Anyway, wish us best of luck for the rest of our journey!