clare47uk

Hi

On the 6th Feb the processing times report for Vermont said they were working on petitions for the 15th Jan. Our NOA#1 is dated 16th Jan.

We are not sure whether or not it's worth calling. My fiance is reluctant because he gets frustrated with the fact that the people he has spoken to in the past have been rude and unhelpful.

It's been 54 days in total so far for our current application and we're wondering at what point we should start to be concerned about our file being misplaced.

We are trying to remain patient with this and don't want to call if it will annoy anyone but we also do not want to think that we are sitting in a forgotten mound of paper somewhere.

Clare

KimJ

Hi Clare -

I know it's frustrating, but I think you should give it a bit more time before you call. If you call now, they'll just tell you to wait until they are processing cases 30 days beyond your NOA 1 date. This is taken from the service center procesing times page:

"If your case (form type) was filed on or before the
processing date shown on the chart, or if the standard processing time has
passed, please allow 30 additional days to receive a written notice or
decision. This additional 30 days covers the time needed to: review your case,
issue a decision, mail the decision, and allow for mailing time through the Post
Office."

Since your NOA date is Jan. 16th - you probably won't get any help until they are processing cases dated Feb. 16th.

Good luck,
Kim

mcjimbo

We are are day 184 of waiting through Nebraska for a K1. They give approval dates of 150-180 days. Nebraska currently state they are processing applications with a 1st NOA of September 30th 2003, we are September 8th!

Anyway we are concerned and I thought we had a valid reason to call up and get a "Case Status Check". Which means that someone actually checks with the service centre whats going on with your application.

Anyway after speaking to a number of people including including some of the management my fiancee was told she was not able to request a case status at least until 30 days outside of the 180, which would be day 210.

So unless your 30 days past the maximum guestimate given on your First NOA don't call, as you will be told the same thing.

Believe me I understand your frustration, but all you can do for now is sit it out. The other option is to contact your congressman but they might be told the same thing until your case becomes officialy overdue.

Hope this helps, hang in there!

James

Aegina1028

I called the Service Center about my I-129F at VSC five times and was given
five different timelines about when a trace could be made. Needless to say,
none of the people I spoke to actually did anything.

I don't know if it applies in your case, but the VSC does have a webpage where
it says you can request expedited processing for financial or humanitarian
reasons. I don't know how often this is granted, but it might be worth a shot.
Who knows?

Good luck,
Aegina

clare47uk

I am sure we don't qualify for any special treatment.

The thing that is the most frustrating is seeing other people whole applied after us being approved.

I reason with myself that it's due to the fact we applied before and that there is a divorce involved. It doesn't take away the frustration of being apart but at least it would be a logical explanation.

I am not sure how the system works but we must have ended up on the desk of someone that has a backlog greater than anyone else in VSC at the moment.

It's been 7 months in total waiting for Vermont and at every step of the way we have managed to be unlucky with the time things have taken. The reason for the RFE and denial was our fault but the fact that it took 142 days last time for it to go through seems a bit harsh compared with most other people and VSC.

On the positive side it is a testement to how strong our relationship is, if we can get through this and still be together, we can get through anything.

MarDae

We had a similar situation when we went through VSC. The processing time report came out and they were about three days away from our NOA1. I waited and waited and when almost 30 days had passed from 3 days after the date the processing report was issued I e-mailed my state rep. I know that technically we might not have been overdue but we were probably within a few days of being overdue. Regardless, within two days of contacting my state rep our petition was approved and then only a day or so later my fiance had his packet 3 in Ireland...I don't know how our case could have gone through NVC that quickly. I also got a nice letter from my rep too to add to our file. I had a positive experience with contacting my state rep. Hope what ever you do you get a speedy approval!!!

MarDae

souls canuck

wholly doodle.. just looked at your timeline.. second time around eh? sheesh.. thats rough..

I hope you hear something soon..and I hope they are happy with your documents now

Aegina1028

I really hope everything works out for you -- it's rough that you have to put
up with all this!

Best wishes,
Aegina & Nick

Matthew Udall

First, make sure you are using your "notice" date, not "received" date from the first NOA. Second, if your "notice" date is 01/16/04, and if the date listed on the 02/06/04 report is 01/15/04, than you cannot use that report to determine an overdue date as the report "clearly" shows they haven't progressed to your date yet. This isn't like horseshoes where "close" is good enough :-).

So you would then look at the "next" VSC report which was put together on 02/20/04, and which lists 01/20/04 as the notice date of the last case moved off of the I-129f shelf and given to an officer. Assuming the case did not get an IBIS hit, we then calculate your overdue date by adding 30 business days to the date of publication of the report that showed your case was likely now with an officer.

30 business days added to 02/20/04 is 04/02/04 (if I counted my business days accurately). Therefore your case is not yet overdue, and there is no reason to contact them about it being overdue (as its not overdue yet).

What does 54 days have to do with anything? That has nothing to do with whether or not your case is with an officer yet or overdue. Did you receive a receipt notice? If so, then the odds are your case is not misplaced. If you want to contact them with that concern, then the time to do that is 04/02/04.

I don't know if Clair has had the opportunity to read my many, many postings throughout the years where I've been passing along this information, but I'm rather stunned lately by the amount of regulars who "I know, know better" but who just remain silent when people talk about their cases being overdue based on fiction printed on a receipt notice. Why is that? Do you people honestly think I'm making this crap up out of thin air and have nothing better to do than waste my time lying to you about this over and over again????

Mtravelkay

Matthew Udall wrote:

    > Originally posted by clare47uk
    >
    >>On the 6th Feb the
    >
    > processing times report for Vermont said they were working on petitions
    > for the 15th Jan. Our NOA#1 is dated 16th Jan.
    >
    >
    > First, make
    > sure you are using your "notice" date, not "received" date from the
    > first NOA. Second, if your "notice" date is 01/15/04, and if the date
    > listed on the 02/06/04 report is 01/16/04, that you cannot use that
    > report to determine an overdue date as the report "clearly" shows they
    > haven't yet progressed to your date yet. This isn't like horseshoes
    > where "close" is good enough :-).

Matt,

I am confued here. If the "notice" date is 1/15 and they (CIS) up to
1/16, why would they not be included since 1/15 is before 1/16?

Thanks

Matthew Udall

Thanks for pointing this out. I made a mistake in my posting in that I said her notice date is 01/15/04 and the reported date was 01/16/04, when actually I got that backwards. The poster said her notice date was 01/16/04 and the date on the report was 01/15/04.

I've gone back to edit my prior post, however the observation about not being able to use that particular report is still accurate. Thanks again for pointing out my mistake (typing too fast, thinking too slow :-).

WiAnSiempre

Hi Matt - Your input is always very welcome and appreciated. I just wanted to make a comment though. I understand you feel like you are talking to a wall now when you explain the whole process of being "overdue" over and over again here on this NG. I don't think it's that we think you are "making this up" I'm speaking for myself here - but the problem is when we initially receive our notice with an approximate time-frame in which they will respond, we tend to plan our lives around that time. If that time frame is just "made up" and we're not supposed to go by that at all - then my question is why do they even tell you this? Why not just say "Your petition has been received and will be processed eventually...." ok, so maybe not the best choice of words, but my point being is that we all are in a difficult time in our lives waiting to be with our loved ones and we can only go by what they tell us. If they are telling us in writing it will be between this # days and that # of days, then that is what sticks in our heads and is what we base all of our future plans on. That's the only power we have in this whole process (if you want to call it that) I understand the frustration of everyone on this NG and the whole waiting game and feel that if we want to write our senators/congressmen at a certain point, we have every right to do so - that's their job.

Anyway, not to be-little what you contribute here Matt - I just thought I would throw my 2 cents in as to why no one seems to listen to you and the psychology behind it

Thanks as always,
Angela

Matthew Udall

Hi Angela,
Thanks for your posting and thoughts on this matter. I appreciate it very much.

I personally think they "should" take that boilerplate language off of the receipt notices. Too many people (justifiably so) end up having unrealistic expectations based on that fiction. Putting that inaccurate information on a receipt notice is not "helping" anybody, and is why the USCIS themselves provide a way to get to the couple, the information that they probably want more than any other… is their case being worked on yet, and is it overdue.

I understand this perfectly. But in addition to the notice (with the inaccurate information) they "also" tell you in writing conflicting information that is actually accurate information, right on their very own website. And really, until the visa is issued, plans can only be sketchy at best. Even the Consulates warn not to sell property, quit jobs, etc., until the visa is in hand.

I think some think this is some sort of automatic process, you fill out a form, pay a few bucks and a visa automatically falls out the other end of the pipeline at a predictable rate of speed. I think some in this very group have helped to contribute to this misconception, and the reality is that no two cases are the same, each service center and consulate moves at a different rate, the international fiancée is not "entitled" to a visa and just might have his or her visa denied, and that a complex body of law has to be applied to two people's unique situation by two sets of different officers before a determination can be made whether or not a petition is approved and a visa granted.

I appreciate that Angela. And helping to spread the word about how to use the reports that actually "do" mean something can help countless others who might have fallen into the same trap of believing what the notice says. This is important and helpful information, so I'm still not sure why one would not want to hear it.

Of course, perhaps some are mad because their maximum time on the notice has passed, then they discover that according to the reports there is still more time to go and its not even overdue yet. That too is understandable, but it does not change reality (what is listed on the bi-monthly reports) and helping people avoid this anger and frustration is why I keep at it, educating the DIY crowd. I just hope some of the regulars start jumping in and helping in this regard as well.

utopiacowboy

I know how you feel, Matt. After watching the posts on this board for the last six months, you start to see the same series of questions asked over and over again as each new wave of people start their process. I was probably guilty of some of that too although I try to make a habit of searching the board first. Sometimes I pitch in and sometimes I don't. Personally I don't see how you keep it up, maybe every now and again you pick up something that helps you in your practice. God, I hope so, because, believe me, many of your posts are invaluable. Same for Folinskyinla. Muchas gracias, senores!

clare47uk

Thanks for the information. I'll mark April 2nd on my calendar as the date to call if I don't have an approval by then. It's only 3 weeks away.

I was thinking March 20th but I was thinking calendar days not business days. It makes more sense for it to be business days.

Thanks again

Clare