Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Nice letter. VERY nicely worded letter. I agree, that's a great letter.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-23 12:40:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	the "over submissions" one reminded me of the people who say "i submitted so much stuff! IDK why they sent us an RFE" or "gave us such hard time in interview" etc and i have wondered about that in the past because i have seen so many of those i've often wondered if officers were getting PO'd at being given extra paperwork or if it was simply suspicious to over-compensate (i.e. "look, i am not guilty, i can prove to you by providing for you so many things for which you did not ask!!"). i guess we know now! That is a good point- I'm sure there are a lot of filers that send in tons and tons of evidence and of course it's going to take longer to review a case like that.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-23 09:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Just a quick update of where I'm at. Texas Service Center hurts my head. I posted this on the August filer thread and just reposted here. So just an update on my case and something to make you laugh/yell. I was approved on December 23. I have been calling the NVC daily, sometimes talking to an operator, sometimes just doing the automated system, to see if they received my packet yet. Nothing so far. But yesterday I got an email from USCIS stating the following. Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity On January 21, 2011, we shipped this approved or re-affirmed case to the Department of State for visa processing. For more information, please contact them directly. For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State. For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations. Really? I get we had the holidays, etc., but #######? Approved on Dec. 23 and shipped on the Jan 21st? What the hell was TSC doing for a month? I'm assuming that when they approved they had everything in front of them in a nice neat packet. Put an official seal on it, shove it in an envelope, and put a bloody stamp on it. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad my case is moving forward, I realize I'm very lucky that my case has been approved when so many in my time frame and beyond have not. But it's kind of aggravating to see it takes a month to ship out an already approved case. I'm sure all of us in here are feeling that every day that goes by with out progress is sort of agony. Don't mind me, I'm just venting. Good luck to all and it better start raining approvals up in here. The next federal holiday isn't until Washington's Birthday at the end of Feb! They got a month to get a lot of approvals done! Ouch, took them long enough. Edited by jenny477, 22 January 2011 - 01:54 PM.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-22 13:54:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Service Center Officer Couple having fun at the beach this weekend: Lol	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-22 11:08:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	This makes me hopeful, my NOA1 is July 8th. Our petitions must have been in the same box. However, I do not have an expedite. What would be a basis for an expedite? This is what's stated on the site: All expedite requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and are granted at the discretion of the Director. The criteria are as follows: * Severe financial loss to company or individual * Extreme emergent situation * Humanitarian situation * Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States * Department of Defense of National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government) * USCIS error * Compelling interest of USCIS	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-22 09:33:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Party sounds grande- I wonder where most of the folks are from on here... I know at least three of us are in Florida (myself, Jenny, and Val/Gary)... FL represent!!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-22 07:39:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Alright then. I sure will email Officer Garza Thank you I emailed TSC on the 14th and I got a response on the 19th.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-21 15:20:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Just had an email from our lawyer. I think things are close for us, and all of us. Maybe they DO approve, and then take a while to input into the system like yours Jenny - wasn't yours completed on the 14th, but not mailed to you until the 19th? I'm hoping that Officer Garza does her/his bit today. I suspect there is a lag between approvals and the submission to the computer system. The latest email from our lawyer said: I contacted the immigration office today in regards to the I-130application. Shesaid that the review of the case was completed on 1/19/2011, 2 days ago. Theapproval however is still pending. BITING our nails to the knuckle here... It sounds like it's been approved but not entered into the system yet!! The email I got from USCIS said they mailed the notice on the 14th (which I have yet to receive but I might get it today) but the site wasn't updated until the 19th. All in all it really does sound like you've been approved!! I truly hope this is the case!! Edited by jenny477, 21 January 2011 - 02:57 PM.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-21 14:56:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Haha, my husband is from SD too. And I am in Russia... negative 12F here... brrrr when he complains how get cold in SD i always say "i wanna kick you" We had a low of 44 here in southwest FL the other night and I had to use my space heater because I could NOT take it lol	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-21 14:34:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	I know, buddy. 6 months and 25 days since we filed. 44 days waiting for a case number. Hope Mother Nature is kinder to the NE next week. Snow today but from tomorrow until Tuesday it's sunny. Then some more snow the 26th and 27th & 29th.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-21 12:29:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	WOWWWW.. Just had the OFFICER GARZA email!!! Good Morning Thank you for your inquiry. A decision will be made shortly. Thank You Officer Garza Awesome!!! Officer Garza is definitely a badass! He/she doesn't write the exact same reply to everyone so that must mean he/she really is looking into the cases. Great news Val & Gary!!!!!!!!!!!! Edited by jenny477, 21 January 2011 - 09:47 AM.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-21 09:47:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	anyone has a sample letter to contact congressman or senator? This is what mine looked like (I based it on a consent form): U.S. Representative Address THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974 REQUIRES THAT WRITTEN CONSENT BE OBTAINED FROM A CONSTITUENT BEFORE INFORMATION MAY BE DISCLOSED FROM RECORDS WITHIN A FEDERAL AGENCY. TO PERMIT ME TO ACT ON YOUR BEHALF, I WILL NEED YOUR STATEMENT CITING THE PROBLEM AND YOUR SIGNATURE FOLLOWING THE STATEMENT. IF YOU ARE INQUIRING ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE, IT WILL BE NECESSARY FOR THAT PERSON TO SIGN THE STATEMENT. Date: Dear Congressman : I would appreciate your assistance with the following: The Immigrant Petition for Relative that I filed for my spouse, name of spouse, was received by the California Service Center on . My case was then transferred to the Texas Service Center on and I was sent a letter (a copy of which I have attached to this form) stating that the reason for this transfer was to “speed up processing.” The current estimated processing time for this particular form is stated as 5 months on the USCIS website; however, I have yet to receive any word on my petition, even though my 5 months mark has already passed. I called the USCIS customer service line on (dates you called) to inquire on the status of my petition, and (information they told you). This seems very unreasonable to me considering the fact that I have searched a few websites and I have seen that many September and even October filers have been approved by the California Service Center recently. I kindly ask you to inquire about my case and to please inform me of what problems, if any, have delayed the processing of my form. Also, if it is possible, I would like to know how much longer it should take to adjudicate my petition. Please call me at the number listed below for any additional information. I sincerely thank you for your time. Please Print: Name: Phone number: Address: City: State: Zip: Immigration issue Receipt #: Type of Application Filed: I-130, Petition for Alien Relative Name of Petitioner: Name of Beneficiary: Date filed: Signature	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-20 14:42:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Congratulations to all the approvals. That makes me have hope. I keep going to the mail and my email everyday to see if I get anything since when I got the Notice of Transfer back in November I got the hard copy first and then 16 days later I got the email notification. Anyone, I tried to email TSC but I got a reply saying that I need to wait 30 days after I placed a service call. I placed a service call on January 6 and they told me it was out of processing time. They have no contacted me, so last week I requested an expedite, nothing yet. Like I said, I tried to email the TSC and I got a reply saying I had to wait 30 days or they will not respond to my inquiry. Have you contacted your senator or congressman? Both Rickey and I got the same kind of reply from our congressmen- that our cases were sent to the EXAMS unit-- I'm thinking maybe that helped with our approvals.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-20 13:43:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Congratulations Jenny So happy for you, Hip hip Hurray Thanks a lot!! It's because of the people who post on this board that I made it through without losing all my sanity! Approvals are coming quickly for the rest of my fellow VJ'ers! I know it!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-20 09:56:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Here is my guess at what is going on Jenny. TSC have a stack of approved petitions, but they need inputting onto the system, and then getting ready to be sent to NVC. I think yesterday, with yours for example, like Skynaut before you, you managed to attract the attention of an officer, who, as stated in the email PULLED your file from the stack of approvals, and then had it in putted onto the system. In other words, you were already approved on the 14th, as was Ricky, but your persistence drove them to getting your records into the system. That's my guess for what it's worth.... I agree, I think that's what's going on. Have you tried calling to speak to Officer Garza? A lot more of us may be approved and it's just taking them a bit to update the system. I hope that's the dealio! Edited by jenny477, 20 January 2011 - 08:58 AM.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-20 08:56:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	The first two approvals in this thread came at 10:30 on a Thursday night. The last 3 came at 6:30 on a Wednesday. One thing they have in common is on a given night all came around the same time. At least I think they're coming at once per evening when they refresh their system. I would guess that there are more VJers who got approved last night but have not posted yet or will skip posting all together. I think that their estimates are correct, at this rate they should finish processing all 35,000 applications in 60 - 90 days or so. I would not get hopes up that everybody here is approved this week. If anyone gets approved today they won't get an email/text until next week, anyway. There seems to be lag between having your petition approved and receiving the notice about it.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-20 08:33:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Thanks to everyone for the congrats, I wish everyone here get the same reply today. VJ made the wait possible because of all the comradeship and support. I feel the same way! I wanna see some approvals today!!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-20 07:10:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Thanks, everyone! And I'm not going anywhere! I'm still gonna post on this thread and I would love to see my VJ friends approved this month!!!!!!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 20:07:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Gary just called me and told me the news Jenny!! I am in tears!!! SO happy for you!!! Aww, Val, thank you!!! I want to see your approval next!!!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 19:37:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	congrats 2 u 2 (looking at my cell but no SMS). Any ways did you also write to your senator/congressman? it seems like that is the only thing that is working at TSC. Also it seems like the notifications are coming late (both of u were approved on 14th). I wrote to my congressman earlier this month- but I'm not sure if that's what helped or if it was the email. Maybe it wasn't the email since I sent it on Friday and I got approved on that day, but it might help! I'm still in shock but until I get my NVC case # who knows where this will go!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 19:35:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	TOLD YA!!! CONGRATULATIONS JENNY!!!!!!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY THRILLED FOR YOU!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Thank you!! Everyone should email TSC!! It seems like it's the way to go!! Use this email: tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov. Oh, and this is what the email from USCIS says: Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity On January 14, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283. For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State. For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations. Things are happening!! But I won't be completely happy until the rest of you are approved! Seriously- we're all in this together.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 19:21:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	I JUST GOT APPROVED!!! Omg you guys!!!!! I'm crying here!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 19:15:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	You should write a song dedicated to Officer Garza. What email address did you use for TSC? I used this one: tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov JENNY...I pray to GOD that might be a sign from the Universe to you. We are all, at the moment stuck in hell. I can't even bare coming on here lately because I am so depressed about all this. I don't know what else to do except continuing to call everyone about this whole Texas fiasco!! Yup, stuck in hell, just hanging out together. Sigh. I'm usually not a positive person but I've been trying my best to keep my head on straight. But it's not easy...not in the least...	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 18:38:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Well....I'm calling and asking for this officer Garza tomorrow......AGGHHHHHH....I am so very frustrated.......got hung up on ( or disconnected LOL) last night after holding for almost an hour to talk to a tier 2 person...... That's a really good idea! You should do that- hopefully you can get a hold of him/her! And I just opened up a fortune cookie and my fortune reads, "Your dearest wish will come true." Might that be a sign from the universe??? Hmmmm	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 18:17:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Really??? Hmmm...I don't want to get my hopes up but if that's true then maybe something good will happen... I just found that post and their email response said: Good Morning Thank you for your inquiry. This case is pending review with an officer. Thank You Officer Garza Well...I dunno. Their file was in someone's hands while it looks like mine is not. It's sitting somewhere collecting dust. We'll see what happens. Yep, Found it - on page 111 - hours before he got his approval....not exactly the same, but certainly from Officer Garza - I think you may be in luck Jenny.... QUOTE SKYNAUT: This is what we got from TSC today, my hubby sent them an email yesterday: Good Morning Thank you for your inquiry. This case is pending review with an officer. Thank You Officer Garza As if we didn't know that! Hummm... Thanks for finding it! Yeah, maybe Garza is a bleeding heart and will help me/us out. You never know!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 18:02:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Didn't Skynaut get the very same email from Officer Garza the day before he was approved? You may be onto something if it was the same officer. Really??? Hmmm...I don't want to get my hopes up but if that's true then maybe something good will happen...	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 17:54:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Hey, y'all- I sent an email to TSC last week requesting an update on my case and surprisingly I got a response: Good Afternoon Thank you for your inquiry. File will be requested from records for review. Thank You Officer Garza Oh, Officer Garza- how I wish you were on our side...	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 17:43:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	I remember back in June before I got married I went to the U.S. Embassy in Asuncion, PY and the woman there told me it would take a year to get my husband to the states. I think I may just hope for that. I feel...burnt out.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 13:08:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Now we have facts & figures, the trend graph is empty til November. Either there's only 1 employee working in TSC, or they are in deep sh****. My advice is to add a copy of both trend and volume graphs to any corresponce to any gov. representative. Good luck everyone I think it looks that way because for who knows how many months they've had very few I130 forms to process (< 100?) and then all of a sudden WHAM. Super increase.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 11:30:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Which will take them 90 months if they only do 400 per month!! Ridiculous! I can see us all being scattered over the whole USA before long. The thing is - they HAVE to go in order don't they??? Surely.... Wow, didn't we just draw the short straw.... 90 months! There's just no way! To get these all approved in at least 5 months time (beginning in December of last year since they didn't enter them into the system until the end of Nov.) they need to approve at least 7,200 a month. But I guess we won't be able to see if that's true until the stats are up for December.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 10:46:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Nov stats are up on the USCIS website. Check them out here. Looks like our TSC friends completed 400 cases that month and have 35,000+ pending. Uuuuggghhh	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-19 10:21:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	I think that when I see two successive days of approvals then I will grow some hope again. Calling USCIS again next week. I've never been escalated to a Tier-2, though, I might try that. With tears.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-18 18:49:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Ditto on that. I've sent emails to various sources, but the only one to come back was from our senator - who were VERY kindly informed by TSC that, we were not late for approval, as our NOA1 date was November 30th. We then had to go about PROVING to our Senator, we were not lying, and had to send hard copy faxes of everything. This is costing us all time and money - I'm really surprised a class action lawsuit hasn't been taken by someone with more brains than us. I attached a copy of my transfer notice to the letter I sent to my senator to make sure he had proof of what was going on. I'm expecting a b.s. response letter to my service request sometime this week since the agent I spoke to said I would receive some kind of notice of action within 30 days. I'm really curious to hear what they'll say when I call next week (when those 30 days are up).	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-18 15:05:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Would wife being pregnant qualify for an expedite processing of I-130? Just thought I'd ask. I remember reading on another thread that no, it doesn't. But, then again, many of the people transferred have had an expedite but it's not helping.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-18 13:22:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Are you folks planning to follow any "NVC Shortcuts" or just take it as it comes? I'm not sure what I will do but I think I will at least follow the tips given here: EZGuideSpouse. I have not looked into detail on this page: James's Shortcuts. And another: LingChe NVC ShortCut Def, I was planning on following this one even though it's a few years old, but I think they're all pretty much the same. Which one would you suggest, fermat?	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-18 10:06:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	I'm not the one to keep smiling. You know that the average time between NOA2 and Interview is 180 days? I know that when I receive the NOA2 somehow I'll be even more angry than before. Right now I am just just running on anger. I don't think we should sit here eat ####### and smile, I feel like we should be taking action beyond just writing letters. We are the ones who get affected, not USCIS, not the Senators or even the President. Nobody is going to make it better for us. We have to find a way to do that ourselves. Do we need 3 separate government organizations in order to give a person permission to enter the country (USCIS, NVC, and Consulate)? The system is broken and people need to be made aware of that. When I tell people it takes around 1 year to move a spouse of a US citizen they are shocked, but they go right on eating their lunches because it does not affect them directly. We're being punished for following the rules, to me it is akin to putting an innocent person in prison. There is no oversight on USCIS and their needs to be. Stop complaining and do something, then.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-15 10:51:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Well here's an interesting one... Val just received a letter written "On behalf of President Obama" detailing and understanding the concerns we are having with our I-130 Petition. The letter goes on to say we were passed to "AN EXAMINER" on December 28th, and can expect to receive a reply within 60 days. (Ring any bells Jenny?). If we require an expedite for medical reasons - which we do, it asks us to fax documentation. Well, we ALREADY HAVE an expedite approval, and have already faxed the ddocumentation in November!! UGHH!! Well, nothing new, but at LEAST they ARE responding, and ARE trying to do something. This letter must be in response to the email we sent to the Whitehouse. Crossing fingers again..... It's that darn exams unit! I hope that means we're getting close to being approved! And I'm glad to see that they responded!!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-14 15:23:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	so did I....but I'm sure it was only a delay tactic....there way of saying we are working on it please don't bother us we are very important government employees and cant be bothered truly helping you pleblians....then when we get approved in 60 -90 days they can feel like we think they have worked hard for us poor saps...being in IT i am very used to this longer than needed time estimate.... I'm still waiting for a response to my SR and who knows what kinda numbers they're gonna throw at me. Regardless, I'm calling them again on the 28th, which is 31 days after the SR was initiated. I wonder if I can bring my talent of crying on cue into play...I might try it.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-14 12:58:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	can we get some early July filers approved please?...=/ Pretty please!!!!!!!!!!!! Edited by jenny477, 14 January 2011 - 11:11 AM.	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-14 11:11:00
IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures	California Service Center To Texas Service Center	Many congrats, Skynaut!!! I just sent an email to TSC so we will see if/when I get a reply. I smell approvals in the cool FL morning air!!	J e n n y	Female	Paraguay	2011-01-14 08:26:00