Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Sent our i129f but no reply	Hey guys so I need help! I sent my package to Dallas and they received it yesterday! But I haven't gotten an email or text telling me they got it, only ups showed that it reached there. Plus the check hasn't been touched yet either. What should I do? Took ~5 calendar days to get an email (no text received) and another 6 calendar days to get it physically in the mail.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-25 13:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Vermont Service Center Wait Time	So I just received my NOA1 today and visajourney has projected an early August NOA2 date for the Vermont Service Center. I'm sure I'm just being impatient...but this wait is going to kill me. How correct are these projection dates, and is there anything at all that one can do to speed it up? Probably a hopeless case, but I'm just wondering. If anyone has any stories about their Vermont Service Center experience, I'd greatly appreciate it. Christina If you look at their backlog of work to complete the timeframe of August seems reasonable. There is likely nothing you can do but wait until the processing time frame goes outside their current averages and then you can ask a congresscritter to inquire/speed things along. That being said, reading through the various posts, if you're just "waiting in line" they likely won't speed anything up. If you have a specific hold-up, they can move that along. We're a Jan filer looking at July of this year, we figured 6-12 months from the outset.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-25 17:09:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Another update of my case but the same information	Just got off the phone with USCIS and ours has been sent to the Raleigh Field Office rather than TSC. She did say if i receive multiple paper forms stating where it was sent to I should go with the one with the newest postmark (fun).	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-05-30 10:20:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	VSC to TSC Transfer, NOA2 today.	16 Jan 2013 filer at VSC, transferred 30 May 2013 to TSC. Received our NOA2 today: 159 days from receiving it and 25 days from transfer.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-06-24 21:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	IMPORTANT QUESTION to all the Visa Journey Followers !	So that means that after 25 days of your case being translated to TEXAS  did they give you the approval ?    Yes, in our case it took 25 days from transfer until we received our approval notice. From what I've read, most folks have been seeing ~3-4 weeks after transfer for processing. Edited by Allanah and Chris, 28 June 2013 - 10:38 AM.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-06-28 10:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	IMPORTANT QUESTION to all the Visa Journey Followers !	Me and My Fiance have filed our petition the last week of January 2013,Few Days after we got an I-797C notification saying that they got our file and all was fine. After almost 6 MONTHS waiting ( now almost July 2013) My Fiance who is my petitioner got ANOTHER I- 797C notification saying that our case has been transfered to  TEXAS because they have the jurisdiction over our case. We started with VERMONT ...and NOW our papers are going to TEXAS??   Please, Has any of you had to go through something like this ??   I would appreciate your experiences or knowledge about this situation !   THANK YOU GUYS !   I just got a letter in mail few days ago telling me that on June 21, 2013 we transferred your I129F, PETITION FOR FIANCE(E), to your local USCIS Office for further processing. The new office has jurisdiction over your case and will send you a decision as soon as processing is complete or you will be notified if further information or action is needed   I filed in end of Feb 2013.   We were Jan2013 filers, and it took 25 calendar days for TSC to adjudicate our visa.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-06-28 10:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Case transferred, give government another 180 days???!???!?!?!?!	Dont panic, I did so I understand but dont =) I heard the same message when I called and I freaked out too. I emailed everyone on the planet and the next morning we got approved.   NOA1 jan 16th Transferred to TSC from VSC May 29th. NOA2 June 24th. waiting for consulate # now so we can schedule interview.   These were our exact dates too.   Submit an Ombudsperson case and you'll likely see things move along.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-09 11:50:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Case transfer of I-129F? VSC	Short phone call this AM with USCIS and she said that our petition would be be handled at the Raleigh Field Office rather than at a service center. We'd received both a "moved to another service center" and a "moved to a local office" updates.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-05-30 10:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Has anyone approved from TSC been moved to NVC yet?	Dobnietoo just posted today that they got their nvc# they were noa2 approved on June 18th Hope I'm next we got ours on June 24th VSC to TSC xfer   We're a 24 June NOA2 (VSC-TSC), and we just got our notice that our case was sent 16 July to the NVC.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-16 23:41:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	K1 Process after NOA2....NO CLUE	yeah but how do you know when consultate receives case and after NVC gets it then what? must we already have submitted and prepared all the DS-forms and by then does our fiance arleady have to have it bec i know they have to bring them to the interview........... and then have medical too... when do we pay? how much does it cost? how to schedule appointment???? AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   1. Call the Department of State at (202) 663-1225 and work through the menu's until you get to a human.   2. Give the polite individual from the DoS your USCIS receipt number and ask if your case has received a Number.   3. Regardless of #2, visit the website of the consulate/embassy you're most likely to use and find Packet 3 information; begin filling this out.   Once you have the case number, you can start moving towards sending in a completed Packet 3 to the embassy.   Since you're from the Philippines I suggest you check out all of the other VJ'ers who have gone this route. Tons of them, you're in good company	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-30 09:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Notarized taxes? Form I-134	Has anyone else gotten this before?  I'm sort of confused at this as my tax advisor signs and I sign electronically...   How does one go about getting this?  Especially overseas   So we're clear, did your consulate/embassy make this request?   We've used standard IRS Tax Transcripts, which seems to be the norm.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-09-24 07:17:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Has anyone obtained there K1 Visa in 5 months ?	Goodmorning guys,   I am curious as to I've been following content on  here and some timelines seem to have 7 to 9 months processing time. Are these instances where the case may have some issue or missing documents? Has anyone had there K1 within the processing time of 5 months? It would help us to know how we can avoid delays. Our wedding date is already   5 months is barely enough to get you to the interview.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-09-24 07:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	Approved! 264 days since filing.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-10-07 08:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	January 16 NOA1, finally have a scheduled interview through Montreal in November. Edited by Allanah and Chris, 20 August 2013 - 01:56 PM.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-08-20 13:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	I called the Department of State (202 663-1225) instead of the NVC (who said that I did not have a case number) and got a case number today. She said my case was sent to Montreal on the 22nd.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-23 11:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	Received notice that our case has been sent to the NVC on 16 July. VSC->TSC with a NOA2 24 June. I figure another week until an MTL#.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-16 23:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	Approved this evening at 22:00 EDT. 159 days from receiving it, 25 days after transfer to TSC.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-06-24 21:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	Ours has been transferred to our local office in Raleigh NC; I would go in person to find out but its a 2 hour drive.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-05-30 10:23:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	Just received electronic NOA1 today (16 Jan 2013). 5 calendar days from their receipt on the 11th.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-16 16:09:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	January 2013 filers	Mailed everything USPS Express yesterday 10 Jan 2013 at ~9:00 AM, signed for at 10:36 AM by B. Sullivan today 11 Jan 2013. We'll see how long it takes for the G-1145 to kick thru.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-11 17:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	K1 visa approved! also question about passing border!	I'm a little late in posting this since his interview at the Vancouver embassy was almost two weeks ago, but I wanted to share that my fiance was approved! We were very elated and relieved. We've been together soooo long I'm so ready for the distance between us to close permanently ;w; I really want to thank everyone on this site for being so helpful and always answering questions and being very reassuring! I honestly have no idea how we would've done this if it weren't for VisaJourney. <3 <3   Also, quick question!! When he leaves to come here, does he need to bring anything specific with him besides the K1 visa he gets back from the embassy?? Does he need his birth certificate or any other documents? Thank you!   At the border he'll need his passport (obv) and K1 packet (unopened). If you're moving a lot of stuff a manifest of that as well, just in case they ask. At the POE booth he'll state that he's there to activate his K1 visa, and they'll direct him to secondary screening. Inside he'll take a number or simply be called up (they'll take his passport at the booth or in secondary). Usually its a few short questions while they process the stuff inside the packet, put a paper I94 into his passport, and viola he'll be home free.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2014-04-14 08:21:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	G-325A: Include Part-Time and Volunteer employment?	When filling out a G-325A as part of an I-129F packet, how detailed in the current employment are we required to be? Beyond his day job, Christopher (petitioner) has a number of part time jobs and a volunteer position (board member). All would be considered official employment on a CV. Do we only include those positions which generate a W-2?	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2012-12-20 16:07:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Just filed my I-129F ...	Hello all, I sent my I-129F last night and they received it this morning at the Lewisville, TX lockbox. (Luckily, I'm already IN Texas! ) I am new to this forum, obviously, and wanted to know if any of you would know if the processing time would be faster if I already have government clearance? I work for a government facility (a very very big one with confidential materials) and to get this job, I had to go through a process to receive government clearance to be able to work with proprietary information and the FBI ran my background check, they took my fingerprints, my family and friends were questioned, the whole shebang. I was wondering, since I already have that extensive background check, once the USCIS office or whomever sees that, will that possibly speed up the processing time? I know they will still need to do a background check on my fiance, but I thought maybe that would speed things up a bit! I appreciate any comments or personal stories relating to my inquiry. Thanks! (We filed the 10th, received the 11th, NOA1 today the 16th) We are wondering the same thing! Christopher has had extensive background checks for NSSE's. It would be nice if these counted in our favour!	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-16 17:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	UPS delivery of I-129F	Ok, it was delivered now. Apparently UPS just thought it would be fun to see us squirm. I wonder how long after delivery it will take to receive the text/email notice from the G-1145. 5 days from when they received my package to when I got the email. I've yet to receive a text from them. 7 days for the hard copy I-797C. Once you get the email you can sign up for case updates on USCIS.gov and they're pretty responsive there. We used USPS Express, overnight for ~$45 w/ tax.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-22 21:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	2012 poverty Guidelines	Here is a related question: are these numbers for gross income or net income? Instructions for the I-864 read (emphasis mine): 23. Current Individual Annual Income Enter your current individual earned or retirement annual income... This would be your gross income. The IRS defines "earned income" as: all taxable income and wages you get from working or from certain disability payments.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-25 13:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	August 31st Wedding	Hi guys I am pretty new to visa journey, but my fiancee and I are in the process of applying for a K1 visa to bring me down to the USA (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada). We have sent in the paperwork, etc, and received an NOA1. We have set the wedding for August 31st, 2013. The big question is will we have enough time for this wedding date to work? I just filled out the timeline today, and it is predicting our 129F may be adjudicated between June 22, 2013 and July 30, 2013*. Is this a pretty good estimate? Or are these playing on the safe side of things? If you have been in this situation before, please let me know how things turned out! Thanks, Mark That would be for NOA2, add 7 days of NVC, 5 days of transit, and 80-100 days in MTL if that is your embassy. My guess would be no.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-29 16:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Plan Goes Into Motion **TOMORROW** - NERVOUS. NEED HELP!	Our current plan as you all know is to file while I am in Chicago and she files in Vancouver, as opposed to getting legally married here and filing the proper papers so we never have to be separated. From what I understand, the process we have chosen is typically much shorter than the getting-married-here-and-filing-papers-after route, correct? The first line of action is more ideal for us because it allows her to work in Vancouver while we wait, as opposed to not being able to work for ~who knows how long while waiting for the files to be approved. Is everything I'm presenting factual? Thanks again everyone! Looking at the stats for the last year of I-130/K-3 processing times, I don't know that you can glean much as n=24, whereas K-1 processing times have n=2438 (as of this writing). That being said, the K-3 route (marriage) "appears quicker" to get your spouse into the US (based solely on timeline data, but without a standard deviation we cannot know with any certainty). We're currently in process for a K-1, which took about 2 weeks to get the necessary paperwork/signatures in order and mail it out (USPS Express). If you get your passport style photos made in Canada be sure they know you need US Passport specification photos (50mm x 50mm). Basically, all you have to do is follow the guide/flowchart, view the example documents, and get some system in place to track what needs to be completed by whom and by when (we used a Google Spreadsheet). Edited by Allanah and Chris, 15 January 2013 - 03:27 PM.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-01-15 15:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	G-325A form question about the date	When filling in the official form, in the date section next to the applicant's signature there is a cross which does appear on a printed copy and the date is not complete, just 20 is visible, 13 is out. Is it ok to write in the date with a black pen? Thank you lots! We signed and dated ours in ink, with the rest of the document printed.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-03-18 09:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	USCIS to update their online system on Sunday 16th March	In all likelihood they were updating server software, database software, or some software used internally to run the website. This was not likely to be an update which would add or change features as it was termed "maintenance". Sounded pretty routine and can be safely ignored. (nb: Christopher is a software engineer)	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-03-18 09:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Change of address	I sent an email to NVC to inform them of my change of address (my fiance go the NOA2 hard copy on March 15). However today I got an email saying the mail hadn't been received see below- This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY. YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE. Delivery to the following recipient has been delayed: NVCINQUIRY@stategov.com Message will be retried for 2 more day(s) Technical details of temporary failure: The recipient server did not accept our requests to connect. Learn more at http://support.googl....py?answer=7720 [(0) stategov.com. [82.98.86.162]:25: Connection timed out] WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? DOES ANYONE KNOW? Sure, it means that NVCINQUIRY@stategov.com is not a real email address (because stategov.com is not an email server / lacks MX records / is not actually the correct email). E-Mail is a "best effort" decentralized delivery system, so Google's email servers are retrying for you as a courtesy. The actual email address is NVCINQUIRY@state.gov please copy and paste that exactly. There is no .com on the end as the Top Level Domain for the US Government is .gov. I hope that helps! Edited by Allanah and Chris, 21 March 2013 - 10:32 AM.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-03-21 10:31:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 Question regarding name	Hello everyone, I am a US citizen and wanting to marry a Japanese citizen from Japan. We just started the process of filling out the forms for K-1 and getting all the things together (pictures, emails, etc). I have a question regarding my name. I have a legal name (of course), but I also have a Christian baptism name that many people call me by (including my fiance). My baptism name is on my emails, Skype, Facetime, etc. So for example, let's same my legal name is Joe Doe and my baptism name is John Doe. Will it get confusing for the immigration people reviewing our forms when they see Joe Doe in the applications, passport, etc and then see John Doe in my emails, Skype calls, etc.? I hope I am making sense. Thank you very much! :-) If you've ever legally changed your name that would fall under "7. Other Names Used". If you've never legally changed your name, then you should not have to do so. Many people call Christopher by his last name, and it is common to see that in chats. Nicknames/petnames/shortened/alternate forms are not required there. So unless you legally had your middle name changed to "Danger", you'll have to skip that question Edited by Allanah and Chris, 05 April 2013 - 12:14 PM.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-04-05 12:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Signature requirement for K1 Visa Documents	Hey guys....should we include our middle names for our signatures since they request your middle name on the I 129F and G-325? I would really not want anything sent back because of that   thanks Stefano   P.S. I'm a US citizen and my girlfriend is Brazilian..we are preparing the documents together   Our K1 was approved and you cannot under any circumstances claim to read what any part of my signature says.   All you should do is keep your signature consistent	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-08 13:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I-134: What is included in gross income?	1. I've read on previous threads that the minimum income required for the I-134 is based on the petitioner's gross income. What does that include/exclude? Does this mean his income before state/county tax? How about 401K deductions or insurance?   2. If he is not self-employed, would it be sufficient to attach pay stubs or would we need to submit his tax forms (w-2) as well? Do we have to submit most recent or multiple? He was not employed for the full year in 2012 (but will have a full year of employment in 2013) so his 2012 returns are likely below the 125% benchmark.   Thanks in advance!     1. Gross income is all income received, except for some certain sources which I wouldn't worry about unless he pays somebody to do his taxes due to their complexity. A good rule of thumb would be to use the amount he told the IRS he made on his 1040 (also found on his W2's), or if different than his current wage, what he is expected to make this year.   2. We're submitting, based on advice from this forum and guides: three (3) years of tax return transcripts, a letter from Christopher's primary employer, a copy of each W2, and a copy of his last 6 months of pay stubs.   As for meeting the minimums, if you can show in the employer letter, with 6 months of pay stub evidence (derived from I-864 requirements, if you've got less due to it being a "new" job, use all available), that your fiancee will meet the 125% requirements, you likely will be Ok. The forms refer to "expected income".   If you do not think you would meet this test of "expected income" with your evidence; take a look at the I-864 instructions for figuring out how much in assets you need to show you have.   I hope that helps.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-16 09:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Travelling to USA after NOA2	So I got my NOA2 July 24th and I'm heading to NY then Georgia for my fiance's army infantry graduation in August, I'll be flyin out August 7th. And returning September 5th. Since I'm in the UK will I have to fill out the  ESTA Visa Waiver Program form before I go and take it with me? Or will this in any way collide with my K1 Visa process?   ESTA does not specifically bar you from travelling if you're still in the application process for a K-1 (or any other Visa, because until granted you have No visa), as you've not had your interview. Provided you can show you truly do mean to just hop in for the graduation you should not have a problem. As with any trip while waiting on your K1, bring your case/photocopy of NOA2 and evidence of "ties to home".   You cannot travel on ESTA once approved for the K-1 Visa (moot at that point for you anyways).	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-31 14:31:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Fiance filled the in the dates wrong on his 325a & letter of intent- does it matter??	Hi guys!   My fiance is freaking out as he's mailed me his paperwork for me to put in our 129 package and he's realized that he wrote the dates in european style (date, month, year) at the parts where they ask you to sign and date the forms. The did the other dates, that could be typed in were done correctly.   Will the wrong dates cause a problem? Should he just resend me the forms? (The place he prints out his forms is only open once a week, so it's a bit of a hassle, but not really that big a deal). He wrote 28/7/13, so it's not like they'd mistake the date for the wrong month.   Thank you in advance for any information:)   One would hope this is not a problem. On all of our forms which did not specify a format we used YYYY-MM-DD (as it is the only logical way to write a date; all other means give software engineers a headache).   We were approved.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-31 10:07:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Can someone just check I have everything?	yeah, thinking of it now, I think I read somewhere that some poor plucker has to copy everything. I am going to keep the skype log, with a screenshot to prove some sort of authenticity.   Yeah, its 276 pages, double sided. Will keep it for the interview. Was free to print, so not too bothered   Ours was 38 pages, would have been less if sections were double sided.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-08-01 11:25:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Timeline dates accuracy?	So I personally am going through the I-129f application for the k1 visa and I just have a question about the timelines I want to find out how accurate they really are. I know they depend on people actually updating there timeline cause I presume people use it untill they get their good news and forget about this site that has helped them all through it and them updating there timeline will help others in the situation. So can anybody verify these timlines are accurate with a tolerance or has anyboy experienced a better date or a significantly worse date.   Provided the system doesn't have a hiccup, you can trust the timeline. During our K-1 process there was a hiccup (VSC->TSC transfer) and we'll be 264 days from NOA1 to Interview. Many people applied far after us and are interviewing far before we are.   It is a total ####### shoot :-)   So, my advice would be to take a low ball of 6 months and a high ball of 12 months from NOA1 to Interview and plan accordingly.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-08-22 09:33:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	New I-129f	Does anyone sent new 129 f petition already? I need help with question #  35a it says "In additional, attach a copy of the signed, written consent form the IMB obtained from your beneficiary authorizing the release of your beneficiary's personal contact information to you" , aslo instruction says "In addition, you must provide the signed, written consent form that the IMB obtained from your beneficiary authorizing the release of his or her personal contact information to you. " I wonder how  can I get  it and do i really need ? Thanks.   This should be a New Topic. (to answer: if you used an International Marriage Broker, then yes it is required).	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-09-03 11:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Do they google you?	Nothing on Facebook is actually set to private. Even if you select " private " settings. It is all accessible.   As much as I dislike the privacy settings on FB, this is not quite true. You have fairly decent control over your own content, however, for most people this has only been a recent addition (~18 months ago). What this means is your older content typically inherited Public or Friends-of-Friends as its privacy level. Most disclosures of private information are unintentional due to a confusing interface on the part of FB.   You really can lock down posts, but it does not necessarily do you any good. For example, you can take simply the filename of a Facebook picture and determine the profile of the individual who posted it.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-09-24 07:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I need urgent advice on my K1 application please	My fiancé in the US just got an approval for K1 visa for me. There seems to have been some slip-up in processing my application documentation. According to him, my documents were supposed to be handled Vermont (VSC) but somehow ended up at Texas (TSC) However because Texas TSC has not typically deal with this kind of issue before they sent back Vermont instead of National Visa Center (NVC). So what normally takes 1 week will now take 4 weeks.   So after 2 weeks following approval we're yet  to receive Package no. 3 which I will use to file.   Meanwhile because we're running out of time (I only have 3 months to file), my fiance advised that i write the US embassy in my home country Nigeria quoting my USCIS case number so that this can be fast-tracked.   Can anyone advise me further please?   Going to try and clarify/answer for you: The VSC to TSC transfer was apparently due to case loads at VSC, not due to a "slip-up". TSC does not routinely handle K1's. It is not actually known if the documents went back to VSC before the NVC, but for some of us they went direct to NVC. Yes it is taking about 4-6 weeks from NOA2 to Case Number assignment at NVC (for us it was 5 weeks). You will not receive Packet 3 until probably 1-2 weeks after your Consulate/Embassy receives your physical case, which is after your case number is assigned (this will vary by consulate/embassy). You are not running out of time. The "expiration" on your NOA2 can/will be extended by the consulate/embassy as necessary. If your NOA2 was 2 weeks ago, you can probably start calling the Department of State (+1 202 663-1225) each day to ask if your K1 has been received and assigned a case number. They are very polite and have been a lot more helpful than the National Visa Center. You likely will not receive a case number until at least 4 weeks from your NOA2.   You can start working on your Packet 3 now!   You just won't be able to send it back to your consulate/embassy until you receive your case number.   To recap: your case was not handled normally, but it was also not alone in its handling (ours was a VSC-TSC transfer). You will likely get a case number 4-6 weeks after your NOA2. You should call the DoS instead or in addition to the NVC to find your case number. Meanwhile, work on acquiring the Packet 3 documentation as required by your consulate/embassy.   You should definitely check the Nigerian embassy details on VJ.	Allanah and Chris	Female	Canada	2013-07-25 09:11:00