Nile_Romance

Yes, we definitely were hosed. I feel for you my friend.
Hang in there and a very Merry Christmast to you too.

New Information for Filers transferred from CSC to TSC and then to "USCIS Office"
Hey everyone, we were one of those couples who's petition moved to TSC and then got the notice that our case had been moved to a "USCIS Office". I just called USCIS to inquire where my petition was and the "officer" told me it was still at TSC and is being processed there. It never went anywhere.
I think these TSC agents haven't been processing I-130's for a while and are a little green on how to update the system correctly.
PS - This was my first time calling USCIS. I got through right away, the first guy was very nice and helpful, he escalated my call, it went right through and then the 2nd guy was very nice and helpful too. For this part, it must be my lucky day. I don't know if my nerves could have taken the long waits and the negative responses from USCIS personnel that some of you have experienced.

I too got the message about moving to a "USCIS Office" yesterday (11/24). I was really nervous and upset at first. Based on past postings from others, this seemed to mean that they were transferring it to a local office because they wanted to meet with you in person (i.e. maybe something wrong). Now, when I see so many others got the same change, I am taking a positive position and considering it a good thing.
I do believe they (USCIS) are behind in their processing and trying to "catch up". As such, I am hoping that they tapped into the local offices for extra manpower and the process might actually speed up as a result. Maybe the local offices aren't so busy and so they will have time to work these cases.
Of course, as always, this is what I'm choosing to assume until I know anything better. I once learned a very good lesson on assumptions that has served me well. Assumptions are simply something we make up in our mind. We can choose to assume the best or we can choose to assume ther worst. Since we won't know the real truth until "we get there", it is better to assume the best and make life a lot easier and more pleasant along the way.
Happy Thankgsvining Everyone. I wish you all the best.

Hi all - Our case was transferred to Texas and of course we are anxious to receive our NOA2
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I am an Accountant (by trade) and tend to look at things analytically. I did so with this TSC move and, it appears that it is good for everyone. No one looses. Following are my personal thoughts, observations and analysis. Please treat them as such.
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The Jun/Jul/Aug cases that remained at the CSC will complete the process "as usual". With all of cases sent to TX, these CSC could possibly complete these a little earlier than they otherwise would have.
On average, it appears that the CSC kept about 1 month's worth of Jun/Jul/Aug cases and sent about 1 month of Jul/Aug cases to TSC. The TSC cases will be processed quicker than they would have been at the CSC. They sort of "jumped the line" and cut a month off of processing time (from the date they otherwise would have been processed).
All cases filed in Aug/Sep/Oct... that stayed at CSC will also be completed more quickly than they otherwise would have been. The case load in front of these petitions at CSC was decreased by approx 1 month of cases. The CSC has that many less petitions to process so again, the time line moves up.
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On a different note, each case is different and takes a different amount of time to complete. There will ALWAYS be petitions filed after yours that get approved before yours and petitions filed before yours that get approved after yours.
My husband is from Egypt and (it appears to me that) in Egypt, government processing times depend on who you know and how much you are willing to pay to bribe them. I don't like our slow U.S. system any more than the rest of you but IT IS the system. It appears that the USCIS processes applications in the order they are received and, with the move to TSC, they are at least acknowledging there is a problem and are trying to improve it.
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I look forward to hearing about the rest of your journey's and wish you all well in the process. Peace to you all.

Our case was also transferred from CSC to TSC. When it first happened a few days ago before I started reading this thread, I sent an email to a friend of mine that specialized in immigration law. Here was her response:
"This is a good thing that your case got transferred to the Texas Service Center. In our practice, we see cases being transferred to another Service Center because the Center that has the case has too many cases, and they need to transfer cases out to another Center for faster processing. "
Additionally, I spoke with a USCIS agent at the local (Minnesota) USCIS office about a month ago and he explained that I-130's go through several departments for approval. I understood him to say that one agent doesn't work on an individual petition start to finish but that different departements review and approve different aspects of the petition/I-130 (i.e. one for citizenship of petitioner, one for fraud, one for legitmacy of relationship, etc.) The USCIS had received our I-130 about 2 months prior to this conversation and, at the time, the only posting on the USCIS website for our I-130 was the receipt date. There were no other indications on the USCIS website as to where our case was in the process or that it had even been looked at. The agent assured me that our case had already been reveiewed and sent on by 5+ departments and that these internal USCIS movements are not posted on the status screen that we (the public) can see.
The USCIS officer also told me the service centers are being pushed very hard to deliver within the 5 months window. As a result, they are pretty consistant about processing them in the order they were received so there is a better chance of achieving the 5 month goal for all. If you look at the stats onine, the CSC was waaaaaaaay behind and TX doesn't appear to be receiving or processing any I-130's.
Between the info from my friend (the immigration lawyer) and my conversation with the USCIS agent, I believe that CSC was way behind and transferred A LOT (maybe thousands) of I-130's to the TSC to speed up the processing. I also believe that even though we don't see any actions taken on the USCIS website, all of our cases (Jun, Jul, Aug, etc) have been reviewed by many departments and just need to continue to the end of the line (like an assembly line). The movement to TX was done to speed up the I-130's in process and it is a benefit to all petitions that moved and all that stayed.