Family visa petition, where's the approval?

[nikeboy]

Hi.

My father filled a petition for me (unmarried son of US citizen) in 2009. Since then I only received a single letter in 2010 saying that I should not quit job, dispose of properties etc but patiently wait. The letter also included priority date and NVC case number.
I've heard that people receive a formal letter, saying that their petition is approved. In the letter I got there wasn't mention of any approval. Could it mean that my petition is not approved yet, or it is approved but somehow I didn't receive any mail about it. I also wonder what are the drawbacks/benefits of having approved petition vs having it not approved yet. Is is a bad sign that I didn't get any approval notice?

[Srie]

Your fathers may have received a notice with a priority date in it it. If they have not requested anythng further from him then it is approved. YOu can also call the USCIS on their 1-800 number in the web site to find out the status of your application. There is a 'receipt number' in the notice and that is your reference.

You can refer to the 'visa bulltin' published by the USCIS every month and under your category, you can see what priority dates are current right now.

[nikeboy]

As I mentioned I have NVC case number assigned, so I guess National Visa Center would be more appropriate place to contact rather than USCIS. Anyway, they have a huge lags in responding. This is a kind of approval notice I would expect but didn't get any.
I also do not have any receipt number in the letter I got.