eiloo

Hello,

My fiancee and I have recently sent our I-129 petition and the bible of information to the INS Vermont Service Center. Does anyone have an idea about turn-around times from that Center?

If this application is approved what happens next? Does she (US Citizen) get something back to give to me so that I can apply for the K-1? Is it automatically sent to the US Consulate in Toronto for processing? What's the scoop? Should we be preparing other documents or getting other paperwork done in the interim?

Anxiously waiting,

Ian

Rete

Turn around time for the I-129F in Vermont is 14-21 days from receipt of the first notice of action. You will not be using Toronto but Montreal. There are only two US Consulates in Canada doing K-1's and those are Vancouver and Montreal. Montreal will NOT allow you to set up a provisional file although you can start obtaining your documentation before hand. I suggest you read the FAQ pages listed after my signature. Since you use expats you will be able to see them.

Paul

I can't make a quote but I think it is the next fastest under TSC, and someone from
Canada will be fast too....

You are lucky :O)

___________________________________

"eiloo" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    :
    : Hello,
    :
    : My fiancee and I have recently sent our I-129 petition and the
bible of
    : information to the INS Vermont Service Center. Does anyone
have an idea
    : about turn-around times from that Center?
    :
    : If this application is approved what happens next? Does she
(US
    : Citizen) get something back to give to me so that I can apply
for the
    : K-1? Is it automatically sent to the US Consulate in Toronto
for
    : processing? What's the scoop? Should we be preparing other
documents
    : or getting other paperwork done in the interim?
    :
    : Anxiously waiting,
    :
    : Ian
    :
    : --
    : Posted via http://britishexpats.com
    :

Paul

I can't make a quote but I think it is the next fastest under TSC, and someone from
Canada will be fast too....

You are lucky :O)

___________________________________

"eiloo" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    :
    : Hello,
    :
    : My fiancee and I have recently sent our I-129 petition and the
bible of
    : information to the INS Vermont Service Center. Does anyone
have an idea
    : about turn-around times from that Center?
    :
    : If this application is approved what happens next? Does she
(US
    : Citizen) get something back to give to me so that I can apply
for the
    : K-1? Is it automatically sent to the US Consulate in Toronto
for
    : processing? What's the scoop? Should we be preparing other
documents
    : or getting other paperwork done in the interim?
    :
    : Anxiously waiting,
    :
    : Ian
    :
    : --
    : Posted via http://britishexpats.com
    :

Mdudall

    >Turn around time for the I-129F in Vermont is 14-21 days from receipt of the first
    >notice of action.

Just to add a little to what Rita has said, (by the way, welcome back Rita), the last
few receipt notices I've received for I-129f's filed at the VSC give a projected
processing time of 30 to 75 days, however the reality is that they are still pretty
fast (more in the neighborhood of 21 days).

I've posted this before, but I think it's worth repeating. The projected processing
times printed on a receipt notice DO NOT come from the particular service center
itself, and are quite often not based upon the reality of what a service center
might be experiencing at that given moment in time. The projected times quoted are
not promises by INS nor are those numbers binding on the INS. Things change (such as
the new IBIS directive, for example) and they will take as long as they need to get
the cases through regardless of an inaccurate "courtesy wild guess" printed on a
receipt notice. I actually wish they would just delete this information on the
notices because no matter how many times I, or other people say they are not
promises or binding on the INS, it seems there are those who either don't believe
this or just ignore it, and it angers people when those "non-binding courtesy wild
guesses" are not met.

On my last tour of the CSC, while talking to Lisa (my tour guide) and an officer in
division 3 who happened to be working on an I-130, I specifically asked, "why does
the I-130 receipt notices still give the huge processing time numbers when in fact,
for IR I-130's the actual processing time is nowhere as long as the times listed on
the notices?"

Their reply, "We don't have any control whatsoever on what is printed on our notices.
Congress tells us what we must print, and that's exactly what we do" I actually think
they were a little off with their answer as I believe its INS HQ that tells them what
to list, not Congress, but the point is that the Service Centers are told what to
list regardless if that is in line with the realities of their current processing at
any particular moment in time.

By the way, I also mentioned to Lisa that I really wish the CSC would put together an
"on-line" tour with photos of the various departments, the officers doing their work,
and showing the HUGE scale of the operations they are running. I mentioned to her
that before I started going to the CSC, I had a mental picture of what I thought
their operation must be like (size and scope), and that I had totally underestimated
the size and scope of their operation. I told her that if they were to provide such
an "on-line" tour, that might be welcomed by the on-line community going through
their office and give them an idea of what actually goes on, step by step with a
petition and the size and scope of the operation.

She said that was a terrific idea, but I'm not holding my breath.

Good luck with your cases.

Regards, Matthew Udall Attorney

Paul

I have an even better idea. They have on their website all the cases posted when they
come in and show exactly where they are. Forget the stupid phone system. Bush said he
wants everyone to have high speed access. How about if INS supports this and hops on
the cyberspace highway. Go in (to a secured server) and punch in your SSN and snap
you know exactly where is it and what's happening (or NOT!) I think most consulates
have websites now too. At least the US ones do, so they should do the same. But this
would be waaaaaaaay to good to be true and too easy for everyone so it won't happen.

Mdudall

Good idea Paul (sincerely, not being sarcastic like I was in my reply to Andrew). I
have envisioned a system where every INS file has a barcode affixed to it, and each
and every step of the way has a scanner that would pick up the bar code. That way, we
could log on and find out if its in presorting, sorting, data entry, on the shelf in
the file room, at an officer's desk, finished by the officer and given back to a
contract worker to have the approval data entered at clerical, if its on its way to
the NVC, when received at the NVC, when tossed into the bin at the NVC, when its
received at the mailroom at the Consulate, when packet 3 was sent, and so on and so
on. It's actually a great idea and it would save INS and myself a lot of time
answering calls about the status of a case.

It would be nice to know these things, as I could feel confident that my case has not
become lost along the way, although that would do nothing to speed up the process.

I would especially like such a system for tracking it from the time it leaves the
Service Center until it reaches the Consulate, as that part of the cases journey is a
"black hole" as far as being able to find out anything.