biggish data

Thanks Timol But no one would feel happy if we started complaining here and be depressed. Everything will be all right!

just like skynaut have mentioned. 100% agree with her.

Cip.

Never_lose_hope

Male

Romania

2010-12-02 08:42:00

It is ridiculous. 6 days untill 5 monthes mark and nothing from USCIS. I dont have power to stay out of depression especially reading about augast-september (!) approvals.
Guys, you deserve it! Lucky you, congratulations, wish you further luck!
i am depressed now . This waiting game getting intolerable and unhonest

Hang in there Timol, your NOA2 will come very soon. :thumbs:

Cip.

Never_lose_hope

Male

Romania

2010-12-02 08:00:00

Hey Loto..you got an updated spreadsheet? I'm just curious out of all of us who's still waiting for their NOA2

CanadianRedneck, below is the spreadsheet
https://spreadsheets...=COjmiv8I#gid=0

Never_lose_hope

Male

Romania

2010-12-02 07:38:00

an update for the touch conspiracy theorists out there-

08-09-2010: NOA1 (I-130) Received text & email with case number
08-26-2010: I-130 Check Cashed by USCIS
09-09-2010: NOA1 (I129F) Received text & email with case number
11-02-2010: Cases Transferred to Texas
11-04-2010: Both cases touched
11-28-2010: I129F Touched- Received text and email saying case is being processed at a USCIS office
11-29-2010: I129F Touched
11-29-2010: I-130 Touched- Received text and email saying Case Status changed from "Initial Review" to "Post Decision Activity"
11-30-2010: I-130 Touched (in the "Post Decision Activity" phase)
12-01-2010: I129F Touched (still in the "Initial Review" phase)

Our both cases are in Initial Review after all this touches.

Never_lose_hope

Male

Romania

2010-12-01 19:57:00

perhaps they will be working like mules to get through the paperwork now that they've had a holiday break! and with another holiday coming perhaps that will keep the carrot dangling in front of them to clear their desks and start the new year clean

nab,
Big laugh when I read your words, so funny. Maybe you have wright , just wait and see. :thumbs:

Cip.

Never_lose_hope

Male

Romania

2010-12-01 18:22:00

This is great news, Cip I smell your NOA2 on the way

Loto

Thanks Loto.
Just hope to came because we are almost out of patience. Wish that July fillers hear some good news this week.Good luck to all of you and fingers crossed. Our approvals will follow soon. :thumbs:

Cip.

Never_lose_hope

Male

Romania

2010-12-01 18:01:00

CR-1 NOA2

I'm on a similar timeline as the OP. I filed at the end of December, and after the NOA1, got our first touch in March. Actually between March 11 and March 15, we got touched twice as well as a I-797C NOA letter. However I'm wondering to those that got approval of their I-130, did you receive something that said you were approved???

The NOA that I reeived today in the mail says that our case was transferred to my local USCIS office and that I am now waiting to be scheduled for an interview. The online status says that we are in the Testing & Interview stage. Does that mean the I-130 was approved?

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-03-15 17:06:00

Can they be any slower?!!!!

I met at the USCIS office and they wanted me to prove the validity of the marriage. Had to show pictures, and tell our story, and provide evidence that my wife was NOT in the USA and that the marriage was real. Took about 7 minutes and then they said "Ok there is no doubt that this is a real marriage...your I-130 is approved and we'll forward this on to the NVC next week".

Yes it's highly unusual to interview at this stage but it was what they required.

What kind of interview it was? I have never heard about interview during USCIS I-130 processing.Can anybody explain?

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-07-23 18:45:00

Can they be any slower?!!!!

Hi Mike. One of our immigration lawyer friends said that the long delay for the interview was likely triggered by the fact we showed two different addresses on the petition for me (USC) and my wife (overseas) without explanation.

The reason for denial was they claim she didn't have proper documents including an unexpired passport...which isn't true..she had a valid unexpired passport that they canceled when they denied her, and they said she was working, which she wasn't, and they couldn't prove that she was. She was living with a friend who provided her room and board while in the US. The officer put her as an asylum case which was never asked if she needed it, so they held her for a week until my wife was able to contact our immigration lawyer friend to get her out.

My wife was 36 at the time of the deportation and she had been in the US since she was 17 originally as a foreign exchange student. Her visa was good until 2015. She would buy a round trip ticket from Hong Kong (she's a HK citizen), and come to the US, and return before her 90 days was up. She never overstayed the visa, never committed a crime, and we have proof of all her entries and exits. After being released, she was escorted by officers to the boarding of the plane which she had a return flight already paid.

Her mother was gravely ill and she was taking care of her in HK, but she would return to the US often. In fact, her mom passed away while my wife was in custody, but because she was in detention, she was not permitted to make or receive phone calls. My wife speaks perfect English, yet they still treated her as a criminal.

And now that our I130 is approved, and we wait for the NVC, we are very aware that the airport could still deny her entry into the US just like they did in 2006 despite having proper documents, and this stresses us both like crazy. Once we have all the documents, she needs to end her apartment lease, move all of her belongings by boat to the US, and she's coming with her dog. Imagine if they deny her and she had to go back with nothing left for her to go to? I'm planning to fly back with her, so if the unimaginable happens, I can atleast be there for her, as she suffers from depression and this would have certainly traumatic effects on her...because of me, her depression has been kept in check but this whole immigration process has certainly affected us both!

What was the reason for the denial of entry? That may have something to do with why it's taking so long for you now.

Just a thought.

Thanks!
Mike

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-07-23 00:45:00

Can they be any slower?!!!!

Well the USCIS received our petition in January and was transferred to the Los Angeles CSC in March. Yesterday they interviewed me, because my wife is living in her home country. We got the I130 approved and the examiner said he would send it to the NVC next week. But because there is a 5 year bar in place and she is in the 4th year, we are expecting the visa to be denied, and need to go through the waiver process. She was denied entry back in 2006 despite having a valid visa and passport, no criminal record, no overstays, and this was before our relationship began.

What is happening to California Service Center?! there is a week left in july and they are still not done with March filers!some are accepted,and some are just skipped seemingly....when are they even gonna start with the April filers?! our timeline keeps going further and further away,what is up with that?seriously!...they used to be faster than Vermont Service Center with a whole lot,now it's far behind(accoring to the timelines on visa journey,Vermont is processing the April 5th filer,and Turtle speed California Center is still processing March 30th filers(which i doubt is exact)...What is wrong with them?are they ever gonna speed back up?Why have they gone and maintained being so slow?!!!.....

Thanks in advance for your answers/comments,and Goodluck with your journey!

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-07-22 23:12:00

How much is your phone bill?

Just create a Skype account and load $10 in it to start with and you can talk for a VERY long time. Now your American husband can call a local US phone number that he chooses and can simply press a speed dial number that dials whatever phone he wants..could be your cell phone or home phone. Rates to home phones are a bit better than to cell phones but still talking pennies a minute.

The net effect is that you can both be talking on cell phones but using Skype rates and there are no monthly or yearly subscription fees, no contracts, etc.. To the phone company he will be dialing a local number.

Richard

Thanks.
Is it possible for my american husband to call me on my cell phone from his cellphone (still dont get it, i guess).
You are saying the "foreigner" would have an american number, too. But I already have a phone number?
2nd cell phone?

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-04-06 13:24:00

How much is your phone bill?

My first phone bill was about US$1500. I only have a cell phone. I had to quickly change that! First I signed up for a long distance plan through my phone company AT&T and that dropped my bill down to about $800. I also went to unlimited text messages and that also dropped the bill down to around $500. My wife and have a schedule where I call her from about 7am to 10am and from 5pm to Midnight or 1am, depending on how tired we are. We do this everyday, so we talk about 10 hours a day. We text every waking moment, and we've been doing this for the last year and a half. I've since been able to keep my phone bill down to about $165 a month now by taking advantage of different technologies.

We video Skype for free. I use Skype minutes to call her home phone or cell phone when she is away from the computer. When I am away from the computer, I use a feature of Skype that lets me call her by calling a local number that then patches me through Skype to her in Taiwan. I use Skype minutes and because I have nationwide unlimited calling, I don't have any additional local charges.

We text each other using Yahoo. If you are not signed onto Yahoo through the computer, there is a feature that will send a text to your phone. This allows us to do long distance texting without the international charges. Recently we started using an app called Ping. We both have iPhones and we can text each other using our local data plans. So we can text without using the phone companies text messaging system. I spent over $20,000 last year traveling to see my wife every other month. It costs between $800 to $1300, depending on the time of year for the 16 hour flight from the US to Taiwan or Hong Kong. That plus hotels, etc... I love my wife very much and I would do anything to be with her!! Wish her I130 would get approved soon! We are past the estimated Timeline range now.

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-04-06 09:27:00

Your questions are answered in my Timeline which you can see from my posts earlier in this thread.

All I can say is to be patient..it will take longer than you expect. There is nothing quick about this whole process. I had the interview in July, 4 months after the notice, and now it's been nearly 3 months that we are still working with the NVC. We filed in December 2009..our lawyer told us 60 days to 90 days max...complete BS..we're approaching a year now, and we still don't know when my wife will be here.

please i want to aask did you get any letter in the mail that this case is under review after they sent you a letter that your case have been transfer. on the 25th i got a letter saying this case is undereview you should receive a notic within 30days. please any body help i am cofused i tought i was waiting for an interview now i got this letter pls help. thanks

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-09-30 09:00:00

Well I paid the Affidavit Of Support (AOS) fees already and they were pulled from my bank account and we are almost done getting the package together..a lot of time taken waiting for documents...originals or certified copies are needed for everything, and in some cases are at the mercy of the government to acquire them. In our case, we're expecting a waiver might be needed as well so we have prepared one and gotten psychological evaluations done as well.

So as far as the NVC is concerned...we are still in the beginning stages.

hey - can you verify where the casefile is at, now?
ie - at NVC, yer in the middle of nvc processing
or
in limbo somewhere after this interview ??

FWIW, there's some tweaks you can do at NVC, to speed things along, when the time is right.

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-09-24 12:08:00

Thanks! In took a couple of weeks after the interview before we found our case number (which I assume means it's at the NVC already?), but our attorney messed up and the case was assigned to the country my wife is living in, not the one where she was born or a citizen of. That is, she is living in Taiwan because it is less expensive, but we have been expecting all along to go through Hong Kong where she is from. For various reasons, she isn't listed on a house hold registry..and we believe it would be much more difficult for the immigration process. So we need to get a new case number at the appropriate consulate.

It's taken some time to get the whole NVC packet together. Ran into some hurdles with the affidavit of support document...namely..I had to get a joint sponsor with my father because of losses over the past year with some shady business partners.

Our lawyers also sent by snail mail a document my wife needs to sign..we are waiting for that to arrive..they sent it by snail mail because we got upset at them for sending some documents by FedEx that didn't need to be rushed, nor we even asked them to be sent overseas...they were supposed to be sent to me here in the US..so now they are afraid of sending anything overnight...even if it defies logic.

Fortunately, since I'm going to visit her next week, I will take a copy of that document for her to sign and will probably get that document back before the mail does. :bonk:

So between internal battles with our lawyer, and the US government, one way or another, we will get her here!!!! :devil:

OctaneGuy - some heads up -
even after that interview -
it still takes some time for the local office staff to finish up with the casefile
and then package it up for shipping
and then actually send it off.

A local USCIS office is notoriously slow to do all of this. I wish there was someway to 'stay on top of this', but there isn't - unless you have a contact # with the local office (probably the person that interviewed you).

Then - figure another month to get it back to the 'national uscis' system, then some more time for it to clear out of the EAC/WAC service center, then packed off to NVC.

I wish the local office could 'clear all' at the national level and bundle off to NVC, but I've not read about that happening, this year or last.

Hang in there !!!

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-09-24 10:08:00

It was much like the interview at NVC. They want pictures, letters, cards, etc... so I brought a very large "bankers box" full of photo albums, IM chats, our wedding DVD, momentos, and the USCIS interviewer asked me how I met my wife. I was very nervous but it helped that my wife put a scrapbook together of how we met and held actually airline stubs and movie tickets during our dating, and so I was able to tell our story very convincingly. Especially helpful since my memory isn't the greatest, so using the scrapbook as a guide, I was able to relay my story more comfortably.

I spoke for 10 or 15 minutes and the examiner concluded it was a bonafide marriage, said he would approve the i130 today and send the documents to the NVC next week.

OctaneGuy,

I am insame boat, got an interview in Oct, i found out by making infopass appt. Can you share what kind of questions they asked you. I am suspecting they are calling me in because of my prior marriage. If you were in similar situation can you please share what sort of doc did you take with you. I am totally nervous. Any advise and experience would help. Thanks

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-09-24 03:10:00

Every case is different, but yes, in my case it took 4 months, and might have taken longer if I didn't do an Infopass meeting to find out why it was taking so long. My lawyer hasn't been very helpful. Visa Journey has given us more reliable insight and more reassurance than our own lawyer. I know how hard it is for you to wait. I haven't seen my wife in 7 months because I can't afford it any longer..yet we talk via Skype. We've both experienced a lot of personal turmoil that could have been sooooooo much better had we been together to suffer together..but it is what it is. We're hoping that by the end of the year, we'll atleast know if she will be coming to the US or not.

so it took 4months to get an interview? i am dead

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-09-18 12:58:00

If you look at my signature, the dates are current. The interview did not happen in March. It was just notification that we were scheduled. The actual interview didn't take place until July. We are finished with the USCIS approval process and now waiting on the NVC. We just got our package together, there were some issues with my financial history due to some bad investments, but it's all been resolved, and now we are just waiting to pull a few documents together that my wife in Hong Kong is sending over to us, and that our attorney is sending to her for signatures. I'm going to visit my wife in less than 2 weeks, and will bring her the materials from my interview for her own interview with the NVC.

please can you update if you got the interview i am in same boat same email and the case was touch today what does this mean i am going crazy i ant even eat i just find my self crying all the time pls help

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-09-18 09:28:00

I just received in the mail the document confirming this email and it's just the I-797C NOA. I don't think the I-130 has been approved yet then, as it's just informing me that initial processing has been completed??? On a happier note, I logged on to the USCIS and noticed that we got touched today. Woohoo!

Edited by OctaneGuy, 15 March 2010 - 04:24 PM.

OctaneGuy

Male

Hong Kong

2010-03-15 16:21:00