Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	March (2012) filers...	Thanks for the good wishes, guys. So ok, this is really bad, but it amused me for 5 minutes - inspired by Tigerflower, hope you get a laugh... http://www.cafepress.com/vjshop M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-14 12:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	March (2012) filers...	lol... I remember reading about someone being in the "200 days" club... That is like next week for us! *crying* lol If I don't hear today, that will be me. 197 today. 198 and 199 will be the weekend. Monday is 200 days. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-14 10:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	March (2012) filers...	By the way - I don't log in anymore to check my case status. You can do it on the home page without logging in, and you won't get automatically disconnected for idle time. I have that d@mn page up with my case number pre-entered on both computers at home and on my work computer as well. All I have to do is refresh to check it. And you can alter the numbers when accessing that way the same as you can if you're logged in. Just a note to other obsessive checkers. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-13 19:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	March (2012) filers...	I'm March 1 as well, and this is getting really hard. I'm glad to hear they are on 2/27. And I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about that date. The thing is, they know as well as we know it - they don't go strictly in order. So that's not the date of the *newest* petition they're doing. That's the latest date they think they're *done* with. Meaning, they know they've done a few early March, mid March, even April. Those people are lucky, they floated to the top for whatever random reason those things happen. If you're on the same date as one of them, and you didn't get your NOA2 yet, it doesn't mean there's something wrong. It means you didn't get lucky. Now on the other hand, if they think they're done & sewn up with everyone prior to 2/27, and your NOA1 is before that, then yeah you have a problem, like maybe they lost your file or something. So no, I don't really think it's fair to put in a service request just because you've seen the lucky first person to get pulled for your day, and it wasn't you. I think it's fair that the resource of using a service request goes to the poor sucker who has seen *every* other person on their date already get a response, and they've still heard nothing. *That* person has a problem. The rest of us just have to follow along with the rest of the line. In any case, we didn't get to file until 3/1 (NOA1 date) because my fiance had an issue with a document. We expected to file last summer - before our baby was born. We thought he might have even been here for the birth, in July 2011. But he has serious issues with his documentation, and we didn't have everything ready until February 2012. So he missed the baby's birth, and the baby's first Christmas, due to our documentation issues. And he missed the baby's first birthday at the end of July this year, arguably because of the slowdown in Vermont. We had a shot at that, if we had an NOA2 in 3 months. It didn't happen. Now we're coming up on 7 months. And our hope of him being here for baby's *second* Christmas is fading. Believe me, when I see mid March, late March, and April approvals I try to be happy for those people. But I'm starting to want to cry all the time. When I see that filers who were routed to CSC for K1s with Mexico beneficiaries actually have had interviews or have them coming up in the next 3 weeks, it about kills me. I don't know what I did that karma thinks I need to be challenged quite this badly by this process. I've already had the baby alone, and raised him for 13.5 months alone. Can we just get an NOA2, so we have a chance at getting him here before I go through another holiday season and another winter? It was arguably easier when I knew it wouldn't be today (like 6 weeks ago when they were still working on January). Every day for the past 2 weeks when I've seen March approvals and they haven't included my March 1, it's gotten harder and harder. Good luck to everybody. I hope we all get through this in whatever time the universe has in mind for each of us, and I hope it's a distant memory eclipsed by a lovely reality and future, sooner than we think. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-13 19:45:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	DS 230 document language translations	Here is a link: http://www.visajourn...nt/translations	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-21 14:39:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	DS 230 document language translations	My understanding is that it can be done by anyone who is fluent - but that individual will need to write a certification at the bottom, something like "I certify that I am competent to translate language A to language B and this is a complete and correct translation" and sign their name. I had a professional translator do a legal document for me just to be safe. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-21 14:36:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Our appointment in Ciudad Juarez.	Yeah maybe there are few people waiting for interview from mexico.... Or maybe she"s the only one waiting Well they should have a little time in Juarez - they haven't gotten a single K1 from VSC in the past 6 months! Hope you get yours soon D&G... M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-13 14:27:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Our appointment in Ciudad Juarez.	Here's the link to the embassy page on Juarez on VJ: http://www.visajourn...xico&cty=Juarez Here's a link to the embassy web page for fiance / spouse visas on "the day of the interview": http://ciudadjuarez....step4kvisa.html Good luck... M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-13 11:43:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	Our appointment in Ciudad Juarez.	Juarez will not let you attend - nobody is allowed to accompany an interviewee, not even a lawyer, the only exceptions being assistance for elderly, disabled, or minors. They will direct you to wait outside. However I have heard some people say they were asked if their fiancee was in the city. If you go, you can give your fiance your ID as proof that you're there outside waiting for him. I am 99% sure I will not be able to be there. We don't even have an NOA2 yet (NOA1 of 3/1/12). I'm hoping to get an interview before Christmas but it's looking worse & worse. Good luck with the interview.... M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-13 11:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	February filers getting excited...???	Finally after months of nothing, we got text/email of NOA2 approval. Good luck everyone who is waiting, your time will come. Congratulations - glad to see they are moving people through. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-26 07:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	February filers getting excited...???	I apologize - I wasn't attempting to imply you were overreacting about anything. Thanks - I thought from the smile that you weren't, but I wanted to be clear I wasn't a whiner. I think it's much better to check the timeline stats on here than to rely on what any one person at VSC says. Looking at the timeline page I can see how many people there are ahead of me - and I can see that many fewer NOA2s are being posted the past couple weeks than were being posted previously. I keep checking, hoping to see the pace pick up again. There are confounding factors (maybe users don't update, or a certain filing date is underrepresented), but on the whole I think you can get a really good idea of your window by looking at the user timeline stats on here. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-21 11:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	February filers getting excited...???	You've been waiting less than four months .. if you receive it in 5, consider yourself lucky. I'm aware of the goal and the number of January filings outstanding. My comment is that progress has slowed down and you can see that by the fact that the projected dates on the timelines keep getting pushed back. That's based on actual user data, not some rep on the phone who may or may not be accurate. I didn't ask to be put ahead of anyone, nor complain that I'd been waiting too long. But since I can't afford to go see my fiance and haven't seen him in over a year, "this sucks" is actually a pretty mild reaction to a slowdown in the processing times. It does suck. For everybody. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-21 09:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	February filers getting excited...???	I check my own timeline for the projected NOA2 date and it keeps getting later. I'm sure it's a calculation based on all our user info. Mine used to say the 3rd week in July, then the 4th, now the outside date is August 1. This bites.	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-21 07:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	February filers getting excited...???	My NOA 1 date is March 1 - I noticed the slowdown as well.	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-20 10:43:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	RFE circumstances of meeting	Did your initial submission include a letter explaining how you met initially? The way I read the RFE quote was that they are looking for the "circumstances under which you met." I don't think it would hurt anything to resubmit the evidence of meeting in the last 2 years, but it sounds like they're looking for *how* you met each other in the first place - was that in there initially? M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-07-17 10:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NOA 2 ISSUE...	VSC is way behind. CSC is around 3 months ahead of VSC right now. I see users with the same visa & same country who already have interviews scheduled in the next 6 weeks, and I don't even have an NOA2 and don't expect one for another several weeks because there are still so many Feb NOA1s with no NOA2 yet. It sucks. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-08-21 12:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Touch date	I logged into my account to see if I had any "touch" dates, but nothing...does that mean that it hasn't been "touched"? Not even to run criminal checks? I know I'm a July filer and I should get ready to wait a while longer, but I can't help it, like everyone else! I think they do everything at once, meaning it doesn't take 6 months because they're actually working on your file the whole time, it only takes a short time but you wait because of all the people that are ahead of you. From what I'm hearing, no touch dates is pretty normal. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-08 19:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Touch date	By the way, for my fellow VSC filers with Mexico beneficiaries - have you done any timeline searching on VSC vs CSC for Mexico K1s? Using only NOA1 dates of 3/1 to 5/1, there are 8 such cases at CSC and 5 at VSC. 7 of 8 have their NOA2 from CSC. Zero - that's right, zero - have their NOA2 from VSC. Three cases that went through CSC already have interview dates. When you read all those thread with people complaining about Vermont, and people say oh, CSC is slow too - well, compare apples to apples. That's what I'm doing here. Same visa, same country. CSC has processed 88% of their cases. VSC has processed zero. It's ridiculous. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-07 10:04:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Touch date	Hi M im still waiting anxiously too and i check the uscis page daily even on weekends and still touched 3/5/12 as always(super desperate right?) I think i might get a RFE cuz i didnt send the Letters of Intent but i wish u the best of luck hope with all my heart that we can get our NOA2 soon... keep me posted Hey, it's my timeline twin! I hope you hear soon as well. It's hard feeling like every day might be the day you finally hear something, right? It was a bit less stressful when it was like, no they won't get to me for a couple months so I might as well relax! Trying to be patient.... M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-07 09:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Touch date	IMHO, "touch" dates don't mean much. My petition was "touched" shortly after arrival at the CSC, it still took 157 days until approved. To the OP: However, according to your timeline, you are getting close. Hopefully the VSC is getting back on schedule and your petition approval is forthcoming. Good luck on your visa journey. I think everybody's is touched a few days later - my guess is that's them marking the payment cleared. Of course that would be the priority LOL good luck to you too... M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-05 10:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Touch date	My "touch" date never changed prior to NOA2. It went from my NOA1 date to my NOA2date and I was watching it obsessively. I was at the CSC though. VSC might be different? Thank you for the info. I figured it probably wouldn't, but you know how you get to thinking about stuff when you're trying to pass the time! M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-05 10:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Touch date	Ahhhhh.....you are getting very close to your NOA2 now. I'm gonna win the bet.... I will be happy to lose! However to be honest I didn't realize you were doing CR1 & the whole interview phase was still at NVC. I'm still learning about the process. Hope you get a date this month. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-05 10:01:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Touch date	Hi all, I'm logged in to the uscis site and looking at my "last updated" date. It's a few days after my NOA1 date so I assume it's when they cashed the check, or shoved it in a box, or whatever. My question is this: for those who were checking that site/date, and have their NOA2, did you see that "touch" date change prior to getting your NOA2, not on the NOA2 date? I read in the interview with a former adjudicator that the date could be anything, including the box the case is in being taken out for processing. So I wondered if I'd see that change before hearing about my case (NOA2 or RFE). Cases around my NOA1 date are finally being processed in Vermont. Just wondered if there's any point to my obsessive checking of uscis. Thanks, M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-05 09:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NOA 2 Arrival	Thanks all. @ M&R : CSC is now processing June? Is that filing date or NOA2 Date? If thats the filing date you got your NOA1 in March and I got mine in May. Sorry - just saw this. Yes, California is finished with most of June K1s already. Look here: http://www.visajourn...filers.php?cfl= Vermont is months behind California for the K1. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-10 12:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NOA 2 Arrival	I'm at Vermont and been waiting over 6 months. They're finishing February. As others said, you can use the time to read up on what you'll need to do next. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-05 10:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	What to send to fiance for K1 interview	Yes. My husband is from Mexico City. I love it there. Went once alone with my husband, and the next time we took a trip there we took my daughter. She loved it too. We hope to have more family trips there in the future, and other places around Mexico I haven't gotten to explore yet. I was 4 months pregnant & my fiance was like "you can go like halfway up, right?" Hell no, I waited at the bottom, it was like 75 degrees that day! I love that the three of us were there together. Can't wait until little man can do it "on the outside" LOL. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-24 19:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	What to send to fiance for K1 interview	No need for the letter of intent from the USC at Juarez, unless you just really want to add it. The instructions do not ask for one. I personally ordered extra copies of my birth certificate and divorce decree so I could send those instead of just copies. I sent copies with the I-129F as well. No need for the NOA1 or NOA2 either. Sending a full copy of the petition is useful for the beneficiary to see exactly what the CO will have in front of them. They can ask questions about anything they see in your file, so it is good to be prepared that way. For the consulate, things do not need to be translated to English either. All the COs are fluent in both English and Spanish. Your original list looked pretty good. Thank you for the tips. Is that Teotihuacan in your avatar? I went there with SO last time I saw him. Hoping to go back as a family before too long. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-24 10:42:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	What to send to fiance for K1 interview	Thanks - I did have a second letter of intent on my list but forgot to type it in here. I've read all the guides & the page on Juarez. I haven't found a guide for "what to send your fiance because you're the one who has it and they don't" - going by all the info posted, this was my best shot. One thing - I didn't send certified copies of my ID / marital status docs with the I129-F. I sent scans, and they accepted that. Before I found this site I found Rapid Visa and used them to complete the I129-F packet. That was successful. It's on their advice that I'm sending the duplicate of the I129-F to my fiance, so that he can study exactly what was submitted to them so far, just to be fully prepared. Going to re-read everything, and add that second letter. Maybe certified copies of the original ID / marital docs are the best idea. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-22 11:37:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	What to send to fiance for K1 interview	We got our NOA2 last week (finally). I'm putting together a packet to ship to my fiance. This is what I'm putting in it: Original I134 with my sig Employment letter from my HR department Last 4 pay stubs (original) Last tax return (I know I can send 3yrs, sending 2011 only personal reasons) Original 2011 W2 forms A full duplicate of the I129F package Original NOA1 Original NOA2 Question - does he need my original birth cert & marriage / divorce certs? (Currently there are copied placeholders in the I129F duplicate.) Phone records summary & detail with handwritten explanation in English & Spanish Screenshots of weekly video chat with time/date showing, summary & detail with handwritten explanation in English & Spanish Have I missed anything? I haven't seen him since we filed the I129-F, can't afford to, and can't go down for the interview (Juarez doesn't allow me to attend anyway). Our proof of meeting in the last 2 years is in the original packet. I'm nervous about putting my original ID in the mail to Mexico, but since I can't go down I don't see an alternative, because I believe he needs it, right? He'll be filling out the fiance forms online (D156, right - have to research that too) - that's how they do it for Mexico. I'm pretty sure this is all the stuff I'm responsible for (as opposed to his stuff) and have to send him. I make well over the minimum so I'm not including additional asset or sponsor information - particularly as I don't have either assets, or a sponsor LOL. We are on the phone nightly and have a video chat weekly, so our "ongoing relationship" proof is the phone & chat records. I'm doing the notations on them in my writing in both languages to help show that we communicate in both (he speaks English as well). Is this a complete packet? Feedback is appreciated. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-22 06:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Heeelp RFE more evidence	i was crossing thru pharr,tx and they made a new bridge from donna,tx and it goes straight to my rio bravo... since i dont travel at all and just cross the border to see him and my family i just have the card passaport not the book! and oh god... is difficul to be looking for conversations and dates and all when you have a 4 month old, that should be evidence enough huh?? but oh well ill be getting ready little by little thank you so much for your help guys I agree with PP - the pics don't have to be touristy or nice. A bunch of mine were just at home or friends' homes. Also I hear you about how hard this process is with a baby. They need so much of your attention, and of course you want to focus on them, and this process is really hard to do in little bits and pieces when you have a minute, especially when you're sleep deprived. It requires sustained attention that you just don't have when you have a newborn. There's a saying I like to remember - you eat an elephant one bite at a time. Poquito a poco mami... M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-28 13:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Heeelp RFE more evidence	First, redo the pics exactly like they said, with the dates & places in your writing. Then write a statement explaining what you explained here about exactly how you keep in touch and how you see him. Do it in your handwriting or at least with your original signature. Then - how do you pay your phone bills? Is there anything there that you can use to prove you text or call him? Any kind of documentation. And as someone said, statements from his parents. Also look around for any little thing you might have. I sent a scan of a ticket to Teotihuacan with a date on it, and a pic of us in front of the pyramid of the moon (among other stuff, but the point being it was just a ticket stub but it substantiated the picture). I sent a church program from my earlier visit, since I had almost nothing from then, not even a passport stamp (long story). It had the date and the name of the town & church. I didn't mark the pics in my writing, I commented them in a doc. It must depend on who you get. I'm sorry you got all of this! I heard of the blue cover sheet as well. Maybe it's not actually blue. But they say there is something in the RFE you got that says "attach this to your stuff." If you don't do that, it will hold you up. Take another look at everything they sent you. If there isn't one, call them and ask why and what to do - maybe they can email one or tell you what to write as a cover sheet so your stuff doesn't get misrouted. Don't panic. Do the specific things - the handwriting on the photos, and your own statment. Do the "affidavits" from his parents. And dig up absolutely any stupid everyday thing that tends to confirm what you wrote and what they wrote. Sending as much good karma as possible.... M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-09-27 19:47:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I-129F Denied	I'm not understanding how the CENOMAR isn't required until the interview. For the I129-F, you have to prove that you're both free to marry. In my case, we are both divorced. We had to show the divorce decrees to prove that we were both free to marry. Why wouldn't anyone else have to also show proof that they're single? They only require proof if you're divorced, if you were never married they take your word for it? I suppose that's possible. Does USCIS handle petitions with Filipino beneficiaries differently? I wouldn't have thought so. Bottom line, it's critical to the I129-F to prove that you are "free to marry." And yes that means by the laws of your own country - otherwise they wouldn't require proof of divorce from my fiance, would they? As for the examples of things that are legal in other countries and not in the US, of course that doesn't mean the foreign laws apply to the US - you have to meet legal requirements of *both* countries, not "one or the other". M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-10-16 09:42:00
USCIS Service Centers	Vermont Updated Back To 5 Months!!!!	Mary check out this list, it tells you the last people who have been given the NOA2, you can filter it how you need to: (by service center etc...) Good luck on your journey! http://www.visajourn...tion=1&sortby=2 This is awesome - thanks! Mary	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-05-08 05:03:00
USCIS Service Centers	Vermont Updated Back To 5 Months!!!!	I am so happy to see that VSC updated back to 5 months & that they are working on the late december early jan cases.....Oooooo, IM SO EXCITED!!! Good luck everyone & God Bless!!!!! Where can you see they're working on december / january? (I only saw the 5 months.) My NOA1 date is 3/1... Mary	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-05-07 19:15:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC 75% through January, VSC only 45%	can someone post the link to igor's list? some other much older thread had a link but it was years back and it's a dead link now. thanks! http://www.visajourn...tion=2&sortby=2 You can also click "immigration timelines" in the top menu bar, then click "Igor's List" near the top right of that page. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-07-01 19:25:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC 75% through January, VSC only 45%	Personally I'd put the people on unemployment to work policing welfare and disability fraud. That would clean up a lot, no? Those programs are so abused it's ridiculous. Or we could train the unemployed to process cases through VSC. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-25 10:14:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC 75% through January, VSC only 45%	Anybody else notice that if you run "unapproved petitions" in Igor's list for CSC and look at the graph that shows percent approved, it looks like around 75% of January is done at CSC. Then if you run it again for VSC it looks like VSC has only completed around 45% of January cases. What's up with that? Is it likely to balance out over the long term? M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-25 07:31:00
USCIS Service Centers	VSC on a coffee break..for the week	You are trying to apply private industry efficiency expectations here. Does not apply. What applies is governmental direction from above; in this case, the highest priority might well be to server the petitions of the almost 1,000,000 (I've heard) people that were brought in as minors, went to school, and now are given the benefit of a work permit as long as they are under 30 years old. SOme say this is a decision based on the upcoming elections, maybe, maybe not, but if you call CSC (Customer Service Center), a the top of the options is the one to care for this cases; I'd say that it has priority. Let's assume that of that estimate of 1,000,000 only 75% file; that's still a lot of petitions to check that equals to about 1562 months (assuming each petition takes 30 minutes, 8 hrs/day work, no holidays); so unless USCIS is about to hire 1500 people and with that, do the work in 1 month; that means that workload will have to be absorbed somehow, overtime, shorter reviews, more people reviewing, or a combination of the above. etc. ANyway I see this, the scenarios lead to more delays for everyone. I want to be wrong here, but all of a sudden, a non-planned massive volume of petitions cannot be absorbed overnight. BTW, last 1 1/2 year ago VSC was snail slow (our petition for K-1 was there), while CSC (California) was moving along at a good clip. IN the past few months, CSC has turned quite slow (and guess what, our petition for AOS was transferred there in late Dec/early Jan; under the "speedy processing" reason). One flaw in that reasoning - few of the young people affected by that ruling will have even have completed the forms yet. It will take them time to hear about it, figure out what to do, complete their paperwork, and mail it in. That can't be what's backing up Vermont. Yet. M	M_&_R	Not Telling	Mexico	2012-06-28 14:18:00