Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Keeping Track of NOA2's	ANother one here. Check my Signature timeline. Getting excited now	Stone	Male	Thailand	2006-08-09 14:55:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	I134	Hi, If you work for a company, you can request a letter from your employer stating the current salary and that you work is a permanent one. If you are self employed is when you need to submit your taxes. Also copy of at least 4 paychecks could help. But most importtant, please check the poverty guidelines, there you can find how much you need to make to be over the 125% povert level based on the size of your household. Good luck! so i only need to send in the employer information? that is easy enough. what other information will be required for the Manila Embassy to show i can support her?	Nathon-Rogenia	Male	Philippines	2007-03-28 07:13:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	I134	Hello everyone. My question is this: On the I134 when i submit my earnings i made 17.6k from a company then 2k from self employment. i showed a loss for the company of 1.5k so that puts my earnings to 16k. will i need to get a co-sponcer for my fiance? This year i am on track to make 10k more from my company and my buisiness is kicking ### too. how will this work? i do not want her to be left crying in the embassy just cause of the money issue. Thanks for ur input -Nathon	Nathon-Rogenia	Male	Philippines	2007-03-28 06:22:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Please Help! Proof of income for interview	I want to know where you heard you can't have a co-sponsor, cause that is WRONG WRONG WRONG! There actually has been a lot of debate on this topic here. I personaly was looking up the information on a co-sponcership for the philippines. the general consensus is that in the manila embassy they have been known to not allow a co-sponser for the k visas. There is a topic in the philippines regional forums on this. or used to be. If i were not so lazy i would pull it up for you.	Nathon-Rogenia	Male	Philippines	2007-06-04 04:51:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	February Filers!	Just mailed my packet off today. Feb 23. Hopefuly not RFE's	Nathon-Rogenia	Male	Philippines	2007-02-24 10:36:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Are Personals Web Sites considered Marriage Brokers?	I WOULD THINK A CHAT ROOM ISNT A MARRAIGE BROKER IF THATS THE CASE IF YOU GO TO A MALL AND MEET A GIRL THERE IS THAT MALL A MARRIAGE BROKER.I MET MY GIRL ON YAHOO VIETNAM CHAT UNDER THE LAUGAGE CATAGORY ,AS MANY PEOPLE THERE THEY ARE JUST LLOOKING FOR PASS THE TIME AND WE WAS ONLY FRIEND WITH NO INTENTIONS FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHES I TALKED TO MEN AND WOMAN ALIKE WITH NO INTENT .SO I SAY IF I DIDNT SIGN UP AND PAY TO MEET SOME ONE TO MARRY ITS NOT A MARRAGE BROKER [/quote] I agree - in your case. But there are personals web sites, often paid, where there are several possible purposes, one of which is to meet someone for a relationship. Then the answer is far from clear. Does anyone know if the fees structure for something like Yahoo Personals is similar (in dollar terms or relative to average income) across different countries? Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-11 11:46:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Are Personals Web Sites considered Marriage Brokers?	What Rebeccajo said above. Pay particular attention to the "exceptions." I used AsiaEuro. They do not consider their site as a marriage broker. A marriage broker is some company or someone who charges you money (quite a lot) to hook you up with a potential spouse. Most dating/personal sites do not do that. Usually you pay a fee, but you are free to choose or write to whomever you wish. I really appreciate all the feedback. The precise definition was particularly welcome. I don't consider a Personals web site, including one where one has the option of not paying, a "Marriage Broker". However, I can imagine someone out on a crusade taking a different view. Again, thanks to all for the information and informative discussion. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-11 09:55:00
IMBRA Special Topics	Are Personals Web Sites considered Marriage Brokers?	In the recent thread on IMBRA, http://www.visajourn...showtopic=31286 there is a definition of a marriage broker: (4) INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKER .— (A) IN GENERAL .—The term ‘‘international marriage broker’’ means a corporation, partnership, business, individual, or other legal entity, whether or not organized under any law of the United States, that charges fees for providing dating, matrimonial, matchmaking services, or social referrals between United States citizens or nationals or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States as permanent residents and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals. ( EXCEPTIONS .—Such term does not include— (i) a traditional matchmaking organization of a cultural or religious nature that operates on a nonprofit basis and otherwise operates in compliance with the laws of the countries in which it operates, including the laws of the United States; or (ii) an entity that provides dating services if its principal business is not to provide international dating services between United States citizens or United States residents and foreign nationals and it charges comparable rates and offers comparable services to all individuals it serves regardless of the individual’s gender or country of citizenship. --- By this definition, it seems to me that anyone who met on a personals website, including in a chat room, used an International Marriage Broker. I would welcome other opinions. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-11 08:47:00
IMBRA Special Topics	International Marriage Broker question	The following recent thread discusses this question in detail. http://www.visajourn...h...c=31361&hl= In our application we listed the personals website where we met, and then said that while we didn't consider it a IMB, we didn't know the legal definition. We weren't questioned on this. (At least not yet.) Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-23 20:15:00
USCIS Service Centers	Formal Congressional Inquiry Petition Link	Ok, so I might just be a regular US Citizen that was told to "wait in line" by USCIS. However, at this point I am extremely frustrated and tired. Regardless if I am approved soon or not (God, let's hope so), I wanted to start and do something about these long waits. It breaks my heart to know that based on locality (VSC versus CSC) your application could get approved in less than a month or take 6 months or longer. I started a petition online, and with as many VJ'ers that are involved with this forumn and probably have friends as well in the same/similar situations. Yes, I know this is a simple start, but I am extremely hopeful and optomistic that eventually this petition could have thousands of signatures so that we can get USCIS to be accountable and to actually allow greet people with the "open arms, not long lines" that is spouted off at the political mouth. Anyway, here is to us, let's see how many people are willing to help a little and give it support. Petition Link: http://www.PetitionO...S/petition.html I share your concerns. However, I think I'd go directly to members of Congress. I suspect that they are the ones who would start a Congressional Investigation. Also, they are up for election, Bush is not. Finally, I suggest focussing on a long term solution, rather than the short-term IMBRA mess. I suggest urging all members of Congress to push for a 45 day turn around for all centers for K1s. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-08-26 21:49:00
USCIS Service Centers	I wonder how many K1's are at each service center?	Just a curious question. On a side note, I dont' think we will hit 100 signatures by end of today..maybe Monday? http://www.petitiono...S/petition.html Using data from the VJ data base, using applications with activity since 6/30, as of 8/31: VT Filed in: March 3 April 5 May 2 June 8 July 7 Aug. 12 Total: 37 NOA2s sent in Aug. 52 CA Filed in: March 34 Apr. 31 May 31 June 51 July 68 Aug. 58 Total 274. NOA2s sent in Aug. 111. Tom Edited by TomYu, 03 September 2006 - 11:51 PM.	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-03 23:50:00
USCIS Service Centers	The GAO suggestions to reduce backlog	An 80 page pdf with suggestions on how to improve USCIS backlog reduction from the GAO (Government Accountability Office). If nothing else, it gives us something to read while we wait Very interesting! Now we can tell our members of Congress that the problem is not just our perception, it is the GAO's perception. This is especially relevant if one of your state's delegation is on the Judiciary Committee. http://judiciary.sen...gov/members.cfm Republican Spector (PA) Chair Hatch (UT) Kyl (AZ) DeWine (OH) Sessions (Alabama) Graham (SC) Cornyn (TX) Brownback (KS) Coburn (OK) Democrat Leahy (VT) - Ranking member Kennedy (MA) Biden (DE) Kohl (WI) Feinstein (CA) Feingold (WI) Schumer (NY) Durbin (IL) House Judiciary Committee: Republican Hon. James Sensenbrenner Wisc. 5th (Chair) Hon. Hyde ® Illinois, 6th Hon. Coble ® North Carolina, 6th Hon. Smith ® Texas, 21st Hon. Gallegly ® California, 24th Hon. Goodlatte ® Virginia, 6th Hon. Chabot ® Ohio, 1st Hon. Lungren ® California, 3rd Hon. Jenkins ® Tennessee, 1st Hon. Cannon ® Utah, 3rd Hon. Bachus ® Alabama, 6th Hon. Inglis ® South Carolina, 4th Hon. Hostettler ® Indiana, 8th Hon. Green ® Wisconsin, 8th Hon. Keller ® Florida, 8th Hon. Issa ® California, 49th Hon. Flake ® Arizona, 6th Hon. Pence ® Indiana, 6th Hon. Forbes ® Virginia, 4th Hon. King ® Iowa, 5th Hon. Feeney ® Florida, 24th Hon. Franks ® Arizona, 2nd Hon. Gohmert ® Texas, 1st Democrat Hon. John Conyers, Jr., Michigan (14) Hon. Berman (D) California, 28th Hon. Boucher (D) Virginia, 9th Hon. Nadler (D) New York, 8th Hon. Scott (D) Virginia, 3rd Hon. Watt (D) North Carolina, 12th Hon. Lofgren (D) California, 16th Hon. Jackson Lee (D) Texas, 18th Hon. Waters (D) California, 35th Hon. Meehan (D) Massachusetts, 5th Hon. Delahunt (D) Massachusetts, 10th Hon. Wexler (D) Florida, 19th Hon. Weiner (D) New York, 9th Hon. Schiff (D) California, 29th Hon. Sánchez (D) California, 39th Hon. Van Hollen (D) Maryland, 8th Hon. Wasserman Schultz (D) Florida, 20th Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-05 17:00:00
USCIS Service Centers	An Idea To Ensure Those Waiting Longer Have Their Petition Adjudicated First	Both ideas appeal to me. I think the web based would be better. They should also post why older files are waiting while more recent ones are being processed. By having to justify sitting on older files, maybe they would do it less. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-19 13:45:00
USCIS Service Centers	Substantial variability in time lags in ALL K1 steps	See below with data added instead. Tom Attached Files  Other_steps_in_the_K1_process_Sept_23_2006.doc   148.5KB   36 downloads Edited by TomYu, 23 September 2006 - 10:27 PM.	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-23 22:24:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC and VSC data and estimated processing	Sorry, but I found a couple of errors in my analysis. I included some VSC folks in my CSC data for Aug. and Sept. Overstatements are: Aug. approved - should be 8, not 17 Aug. waiting - should be 78, not 84 Sept. approved - should be 0. I will fix all of these in my analysis next weekend. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-25 08:41:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC and VSC data and estimated processing	GREAT STATS!!!! I Love it broken down like that and hope to see CSC clear MARCH AND APRIL also, as those petitioners have been waiting for approvals!!!!! Thanks again!!!! You're very welcome. I totally agree that the March, April and May folks deserve to be cleared ASAP! Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-24 12:51:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC and VSC data and estimated processing	Thanks, Tom! It's interesting to see how that July filer approvals for September outnumbered June filer approvals. My hunch is that many of those of us left in June had used the old pre-IMBRA form and CSC couldn't move forward with our cases until they receive our RFE's. In any case, the number of approvals is encouraging. I would seem that CSC's restructering has been an improvement - their numbers seem to even be better than the approval times prior to IMBRA. You're welcome. Yes, they did more July than June. But I hope that they looked at the June files carefully - doing approvals for new forms and RFEs for old forms - before doing July and August. I also wonder if this is a mad rush to the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30), when they have to report on backlogs. Also, if they have extra budget, they may be in a "use it or lose it" situation. While I hope they don't slow down after October 1, it does concern me. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-23 20:37:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC and VSC data and estimated processing	Lots more people were approved. Lots more people filled in their timelines. I looked at all 2006 NOA1's. I then excluded those with no activity since May 31. I also excluded those who obviously don't "fit", like the file with no NOA2 date, but an interview date. This will give somewhat higher waiting numbers than the analysis that Gary and some others do. All data are from the VJ Immigration Timelines database, imported into Excel and sorted. CSC includes NSC and TSC. Here are the basics: CSC March NOA1's processed in: July & before 74 Aug. 45 Sept. 25 Waiting 25 15% CSC April NOA1's processed in: July & before 48 Aug. 46 Sept. 22 Waiting 24 17%. CSC May NOA1's processed in: July 47 Aug. 41 Sept. 12 Waiting 34 25% CSC June NOA1's processed in: July 29 Aug. 20 Sept. 17 Waiting 66 50% CSC July NOA1's processed in: July 1 Aug. 14 Sept. 37 Waiting 55 51%. CSC Aug. NOA1's processed in: Aug. 10 Sept. 17 Waiting 84 76% CSC Sept. NOA1's processed in: Sept. 3 Waiting 31 91%. By comparison, VSC has cleared most, leaving the following waiting: March 1 2% April 4 10% May 4 13% June 9 24% July 7 35% Aug. 6 25% Sept. 5 63%. Processing rates: CSC: July 137 Aug. 178 Sept. so far 134 Estimated for month: 178, i.e. about 44 more in Sept. IF they were to process 44 more in Sept. and 178 in October, and IF they were to process in order, then they would clear: March 25 Apr. 24 May 34 June 66 July 55 Total 204. If they kept up this pace, Aug. and Sept. would be cleared in Nov. While they've cleared 76 from March-June this month, this does not seem to be their primary focus right now. While I'd love to see them clear out all these old applications, I anticipate they may clear lots of the July and Aug. files in the next 5 weeks. There is no good way to tell how many of the earlier ones have RFEs waiting to be processed, or what their priority will be between IMBRA vs. July/Aug. files. VSC has really slowed down - 47 clearned in July, 57 in August, only 15 so far in Sept. I suspect this is because they have relatively few files waiting from the March -July period. I wish we knew why these files are waiting so much longer than most. I am attaching the data details and graphs for those of you who are interested.  VJ_data_Sept_22_2006.doc   93KB   40 downloads Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-23 20:04:00
USCIS Service Centers	Substantial variability in time lags in ALL K1 steps	I think part of comparing CSC to VSC is volume related and proximity; don't forget that VSC is a neighbor to NVC..so mailing is much faster as well. I agree that VSC is closer than CSC. That's why I made the first tiem grouping 14 days. I suspect mail from California can take 1-3 extra days. But if things are mailed even once a week, they should NEVER take more than 14 days to get to NVC and be entered. Also, since CSC does a higher volume, they presumably have enough cases to justify a shipment more often. This would push the two toward being closer to each other in time from NOA2 to NVC receipt. I think both centers should strive for 100% received and processed at NVC within 14 days. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-25 10:29:00
USCIS Service Centers	Substantial variability in time lags in ALL K1 steps	CSC-NVC-Gunagzhou = wait, wait, wait. You got that right! Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-24 08:50:00
USCIS Service Centers	Substantial variability in time lags in ALL K1 steps	From the time you send your application until the NOA1 is issued varies substantially: 0-14 days CSC 676 which is 77.6% VSC 236 which is 84.6%. 15-21 days CSC 119 which is 13.7% VSC 25 which is 9.0%. 22 days or more CSC 76 which is 8.8% VSC 18 which is 6.4%. Businesses virtually always deposit checks within 7 days. Even allowing for NSC and TSC forwarding to CSC, how can they take more than 14 days 22.5% of the time at CSC and 15.4% of the time at VSC? The lag from P2 until the NVC sends to the Consulate also varies substantially, with CSC taking far longer than VSC. 0-14 days CSC 120 which is 39.9% VSC 117 which is 92.8%. Even worse, 67 of the CSC ones (22.2%) take 22 days or longer. Apparently CSC just sits on approved files for a week or two before sending them to NVC! I would like to know why they are so much slower! Once NVC sends the files to the embassies or consulates, you'd think they would arrive within a few days. After all, DHL can circle the globe in less than a week. Unfortunately, only 78.4% make it within 7 days. Worse, about 5 % take over 2 weeks. Worst are China, Cuba, Dominican Republic the Philipines and Taiwan, each of which had one or more cases take 35 days or longer! After the Consulate gets the package from NVC, most consulates/embassies send out the P3 within 14 days (73.4%). But the other 26.6% take more than two weeks. Special mention goes to those who take over 28 days: China, Germany, Iran, Jamaica, Korea, Mexico, Philippines (several), Russia, and Vietnam (several). Here is the data, in case you want it. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-23 22:26:00
USCIS Service Centers	Crunching the Numbers	I feel the same way. I crunch the numbers. People seem to appreciate it. It relates to various steps along the K1 path. Then the post gets moved, meaning that people can't find it as easily! Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-24 12:38:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC NOA1s by month	[/quote] This guy is a Sept NOA1 at CSC, he got approved after he asked for military expedite. [/quote] I just checked his timeline. He lists himself as an August NOA1. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-25 21:32:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC NOA1s by month	I found a flaw in my analysis. I double counted some VSC people into CSC for Aug. and Sept. Aug. approvals should be 8, not 17, and waiitng should be 78, ot 84. There are no Sept. NOA1s approved yet in CSC. I'll fix it in next week's graph. Sorry. Tom This guy is a Sept NOA1 at CSC, he got approved after he asked for military expedite. Thanks. I may have pulled my data before he updated his timeline. I'll post month-end numbers next weekend anyway. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-25 20:28:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC NOA1s by month	I found a flaw in my analysis. I double counted some VSC people into CSC for Aug. and Sept. Aug. approvals should be 8, not 17, and waiitng should be 78, ot 84. There are no Sept. NOA1s approved yet in CSC. I'll fix it in next week's graph. Sorry. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-25 08:32:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC NOA1s by month	Thanks Tom and yes I feel the NOA 2 coming also this upcoming week. I hope you're both right! I don't understand why CSC is pushing the July and August folks through, with so many from earlier waiting. But they have approved 59 March, April and May folks already this month, so there is some hope. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-24 14:10:00
USCIS Service Centers	CSC NOA1s by month	CSC_Sept_22_2006.JPG   38.98KB   260 downloads http://www.visajourn...h...ost&id=2428 Attached Image	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-24 13:09:00
USCIS Service Centers	Are you pissed off at USCIS?	My idea is this: Chose one news person who will be willing to bring some attention to our issues. Example: At CNN some leading news people are Lou Dobbs, Paula Zahn, Larry King, Anderson Cooper. At Fox News some leading news people are Bill Oreilly, Hannity & Colmes, Shepard Smith, Greta Van Susteren. If at some point in the future one of these news anchors began to get hundreds of emails from people all over the USA explaining their horrible expirences with USCIS then they might be willing to bring some media attention to the problems we all face. Count me in! Also, if you have a House or Senate race that is expected to be close, I suspect that the candidates might be more willing to listen. I agree that interest might fade with time. But I think maybe not. I have a colleague who went through this hellish process over 5 years ago. He is STILL incensed, saying this is the worst government process he's been through in his life. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-08-31 06:53:00
China	When can Chinese parents visit us in US?	We just got our NOA2. Our guess is that my fiance's interview will be in March or April. After she finishes teaching for the spring semester, she would come to the US in June, and we would marry in early July. We've heard that her parents will not be able to get a visa to attend our wedding in the US. Does anyone know for sure? How long will the wait be before they can get a visa to visit us for a few weeks or a month or two? Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-30 13:00:00
Africa: Sub-Saharan	NOA2 EMAIL CSC	Congratulations! May the rest of your journey be swift and smooth. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-16 14:08:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)	nvc case number been 13 days	It is often taking 2-3 weeks (or more) for CSC NOA2's to get to NVC. I think you and I still have some time to kill. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-09-25 20:23:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)	National Visa center Question	My NOA2 date is Sept. 20. I called NVC this morning. They said they had just received our application today. I think you're likely to get to NVC soon. Tom	TomYu	Male	China	2006-10-17 14:17:00
USCIS Service Centers	Are you pissed off at USCIS?	I have to agree TJV I've been very frustrated with USCIS. Its just not fair that we are tax paying CITIZENS and having to go through this when it seem the illegal aliens are going to just be given citizenship.	Stone	Male	Thailand	2006-08-30 20:12:00