angeles73

Guys, we can't get any updates out of these Service Centers and to be honest I think another week will go by before we see anything and even then I doubt they will be accurate - I'm asking we start a thread where we all list the following information so we can get a sense of where these people are at:

SERVICE CENTER
CONSULATE LOCATION
TYPE OF PETITION FILED
MAILING DATE
FIRST NOA

and if you have any info after that please list it (eg. RFEs , 2nd NOAs, interview dates, etc)

My own would be:

TSC
Argentina
I-129F
Mailed 11/5
Post office receipt confirms delivery 11/7
Consulate confirms provisional file opened 11/11

Thanks,
Ange

katesuiter

Hello, again, Ange! Managed to pry yourself away from Dolce??!!! Heh heh!!!
Thought I'd add mine too. Here goes:

TSC
London
I-129F Fiance
Mailed to TSC on 09/16/02
1st NOA 09/18/02
NOA receipt received by USC 09/25/02
Packet 3 forms sent to London 09/30/02
Embassy received forms 10/01/02
Provisional file opened in London 10/17/02

Still waiting on TSC...................................(tumbleweed. ..)

Kate. xxxxxx

Matthew Udall

Hi Ange,
Here are the stats for a recent TSC case for your collection.

I-129f filed at the TSC
U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro.

I put the I-129f in the mail to the TSC on 08/29/02
The "notice date" on the receipt notice was 09/03/02
The "notice date" on the TSC'S approval notice was 09/17/02

I sent my fax "and" shipment to the Consulate on 09/25/02 (the day I received the approval notice in the mail, at my office).

On 10/11/02, I receive an E-mail from the Consulate saying they have her approved petition in their Consular files since 10/07/02, and that they have sent packet 3.

OK, I’ll do one more….
Here are the stats for a slightly older TSC I-129f case.

I-129f filed at the TSC. Beneficiary processed through the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

I put it in the mail to the TSC on 06/14/02.
The "notice date" on the receipt notice was 06/17/02.
The "notice date" on the TSC'S approval notice was 07/15/02.

I sent my fax "and" shipment to the Consulate on 07/23/02 (the day I received the approval notice in the mail, at my office).

On 08/27/02, the beneficiary is interviewed and obtains her K-1 visa.

Petitioner and beneficiary are now happily married.

See what I mean by telling you that the TSC seems to be pretty darn fast right now? But of course, also temper that with the knowledge that what happens in case X a while ago, might not be what will happen with case Y today.

Good luck with your case, Ange.

Regards,
Matthew Udall
Attorney
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/fiancee.htm

hubbyless

TSC
London, England
I-130 (spouse)
FedEx October 7th
Received and signed for October 8th
No 1st NOA received

Folinskyinla

Let me get this straight -- you filed LAST WEEK! And you got the BA consulate to open a provisional file on a Federal Holiday.

Congress has defined "premium" processing as 15 days and you pay an extra grand where it is allowed! And that is immigration light speed.

Matt mentioned in an earlier posting that INS was not MacDonalds or Burger King. But even Mickey D's or BK has to cook the hamburger before serving it.

I had a case last year where an alien had been married to a US citizen for ten years [5 of them when he had a green card], they had two children. Her adjustment had been pending for five years when she recieves a letter to come into INS to discuss her case. BTW, this was BEFORE 9/11. The INS slapped the cuffs on her and started removal proceedings. We won't go into the facts of hubby coming home and finding wife not home and multiple messages from the school about why is no one picking up the kids.

I get hired and it took me 12 days to schedule, try and complete a fully contested hearing because client was in a legal posture of no bond allowed [for those of you who shriek when I express a prejudice against advance parole].

And that was light speed. I may be a good lawyer, but the immigration judge was a real "mensch" [in quotes because I mean "mensch" in its character sense inasmuch as the Judge's first name is Rose]. That case went at light speed because two US citizen children were left motherless by the heartless INS.

You don't even have cause to really bitch yet.

Matthew Udall

Every once in a while, I'm truly surprised at INS service, or the speed in which they provide their service.

Earlier this year, I filed an AOS case for a K-1'er (female) client. AOS was filed at the new Santa Ana INS office here in Southern California. Last Friday, USC husband calls to tell me that he and wife have just moved to Florida, and are now living within the jurisdiction of the West Palm Beach INS office (which by the way, just had their "grand opining" [or was it an open house] for the third new location for that office in the past couple of years). Anyway, client asks me to handle the change of address work and to make sure the file gets transferred to the West Palm Beach INS office without a hitch.

So I come into the office on Sunday, and I put together all of the change of address materials (various forms and a letter written to the INS from the clients perspective) that will need to be signed by the clients and sent to various INS offices out there (Oh, did you guys hear about the new address in which to submit AR-11's, that is different from the address listed on the AR-11 form [AILA just supplied a new version of the AR-11 that “does� have this new address… perhaps this is mentioned, or the new AR-11 is on the INS site now]). I finish their materials and drop them in the mailbox that day.

In today's mail I get, that's right, you guessed it, the AOS appointment letter from the Santa Ana INS office saying the couple have to be there on 11/26/02 for their spousal interview (as a side note, I had mentioned to the client about a month ago when he first told me that he and his wife were thinking about moving to Florida, that I thought they could be receiving their interview notice any day now).

So around 1:30 PM today, I place a call to a senior adjudicating officer at the Santa Ana office, whose number I happen to have. I leave a detained message on her machine explaining the situation, and that I'm concerned that my client's change of address materials won't arrive to Santa Ana before their interview or be incorporated into their file in time (worried that client would have an AOS denial to deal with for failing to attend the interview in Santa Ana).

Now for the nice INS part. Later today I check my e-mail and I find a letter from officer S. at the Santa Ana INS office saying she is responding to my message (left on the other officers machine) regarding my client’s situation. She says she has pulled my clients file from the interview list as per my request (they won’t interview them there since they no longer live within the jurisdiction of the Santa Ana INS office), and that if I give her my client's new address, she will make sure my client’s file is forwarded to the appropriate INS office in Florida! I’ll call her tomorrow and do just that.

Now "that" is service. Time for a "thank you" note (I'm sure they like being told “thank you� from time to time).

Good luck with your cases.

Regards,
Matthew Udall
Attorney
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/fiancee.htm

Just Jenney

Vermont Service Center
London Consulate
K-1 Fiance Visa

Oct 22 • Mailed I-129F petition
Oct 23 • Sent for UK police certificate
Oct 24 • Return Receipt
Oct 31 • First NOA
Nov 5 • $110 check cleared
Nov 8 • Received first NOA in mail

~ Jenney

abba48uk

And one more.......
Nebraska SC
London Embassy
K1 Fiancee Visa
1st NOA (receipt) 27 June
2nd NOA (approval) 7 November
Approval received in the post 12 November

PeteJ

Here's Ours.........

TSC (K-1)
Mailed 3rd September 2002
Return receipt from postal service 10th September
1st NOA - 27th September
2nd NOA - 17th October
Packet 3 arrives from LONDON 5th November 2002.
Mailing Packet 3 on 14th November 2002


will keep you updated.....


Pete

dazeychain

Nebraska Service Center
London Embassy
K1 Fiance(e) Visa

I-129F sent to NSC 1st May 2002
NOA 1 stamped 4th May 2002
Provisional file opened at London Embassy 9th October 2002
NOA 2 stamped 1st Nov 2002
Approval received by US fiance in post 4th Nov 2002

Peace,

D.

angeles73

Well Folinskyinla, right off the bat let me just say I appreciate your support and the fact that my case hasn't been ignored enough to satisfy your timeline. I simply will not let months pass by before I start doing something to get my loved one here. We filed last week for two reasons which we will not get into but I think the main problem is that there is no organization of any type at this facility. Their lack of organization does not constitute a need for me to be patient. The government is not patient waiting for my taxes. They are not patient waiting for me to make more money to sponsor someone. They certainly are not patient when they send an RFE and you have X number of weeks to send them the info regardless of whether the document takes 6 months to get if it's in another country. Well shoot, I'd say I have about as much patience for them as they do for me.

I am not bitching for my case. I am bitching for the lack of accountability in general. My case is immaterial really because nothing of interest has happened on my front because it's too soon. And the provisional file the lawyers told me I could not get open, I got opened. Guess how I did that? Yes. You are right. By bitching. The exact date of the provisional file getting opened was the first week of November but since we were emailed that information and the server at my office held on to the messages for a few days due to a problem in IT, the day I found out about it was November 11th. All the emails had the same date but they could not have been any earlier than November 7th because Oscar dropped the paperwork off that day. None of that could be done I was told and I didnt even have the right to ask. So you can imagine the opinion I have of people's expertise at times.

I have been reading this forum for quite a while now, even though I just registered a few months back when my fiance and I had everything together for the petition and could make direct questions regarding my case. Colleagues of mine are going through the same thing and I would read the messages and could not believe the lack of regard this agency has. And I think the problem is exactly that people are told "YOU DONT HAVE THE RIGHT TO BITCH!" I most certainly do have the right because bottom line, if I'm not doing my job right, I'm replaced. I don't understand how this agency is any different. How there is no retribution. They screw up and you don't even get an apology. You get an RFE to replace what they misplaced. How do they replace the time you lost with your loved one?

I will bitch. And not for myself in particular, but for everyone who sends me emails telling me they are afraid to say something because someone will bite them back on this forum. I'll bitch because it is my right. Otherwise I'd go to Cuba where I don't have that luxury. There's a bearded guy over there who has the same opinion as yourself. Ã?nd while I live in this country, pay taxes to it and have to send my sons and daughters to fight wars for it, I assure you: I WILL BITCH.

Have a pleasant day all. Keep posting your timelines. It's helping a lot of people.

Ange

cindyabs

I still want to know (not having gotten an answer on this when I posted before) if the date is right on TSC's 130 vs 129F dates. It says 130 for spouse May 01 and 129F Sep 02???!!!!

Jana L

Names: Jana (US Citizen) & Marc (Canadian Citizen)
Service Center: Texas
Consulate: Montreal, Canada
Total Cost thus far: $269.98 USD

Day 00 - 10/03/2002 - Filled out all paperwork, each proofed & signed
Day 00 - 10/04/2002 - Marc had INS photos made - Cost $8.47 USD
Day 00 - 10/04/2002 - Marc mailed all forms to Jana via Purolator package
$16.63 USD
Day 00 - 10/07/2002 - Jana had INS photos made - Cost $8.63 USD
Day 00 - 10/07/2002 - Jana overnights I-129F package - Cost $13.65 USD plus
$110.00 USD form fee
Day 01 - 10/08/2002 - INS Received Package @ 10:09 a.m. (Confirmation USPS
website)
Day 03 - 10/10/2002 - Sent Marc duplicate of I-129F package - Cost $2.10 USD
Day 08 - 10/15/2002 - Received first NOA dated 10/09/2002.
Day 08 - 10/15/2002 - Marc received duplicate of I-129F package from Jana
Day 11 - 10/18/2002 - Marc paid for RCMP Police Certification. - Cost $12.71
USD
Day 11 - 10/18/2002 - Marc had Passport photos made
Day 12 - 10/19/2002 - Received return receipt from USPS for Original I-29F
package.
Day 14 - 10/21/2002 - Marc picked up his Police Certificate from the
Montreal RCMP office.
Day 23 - 10/30/2002 - Marc got signatures from doctor for birth certificate
and passport - Cost $12.83 USD
Day 23 - 10/30/2002 - Marc had vacination records updated and necessary
shots taken
Day 23 - 10/30/2002 - Marc submitted form to obtain his long form birth
certificate. - Cost $22.46 USD
Day 24 - 10/31/2002 - Marc submitted form to obtain his passport - Cost
$54.55 USD
Day 37 - 11/13/2002 - Waiting

gentlelady

Folinskyinla

Ange:

Please note that there is a tension between what you want and the goal of the immigration laws.

You want your loved one here as soon as possible.

The general goal and purpose of the immigration laws is to keep aliens out of the US and to grease the wheels out of the US for those already here. The law creates obstacles to coming to the US. The law then creates exceptions to those general goals. You may want to get your loved one into those exceptions, but you are still being contrary to the general import of the immigration laws.

Some people call those exceptions "loopholes" and you want to take advantage of one of the legal loopholes. I have no objection to that. I make my living and occupy my time living in that inherent tension.

Accountability? Yes, there is a movement towards accoutability -- for approving petitions and application that should not have been approved. Mary Ryan of the Department of State learned about accountability.

Your goal is a worthy one, don't get me wrong -- but you are bucking the general goals of the immigration laws -- don't ever forget it.