awaiting approval of I-129F form for Fiance Visa

[inadmissible]

Thumbell,

Your husband should not be doing this on his own without competent counsel.

Most of us in this forum use either incompetent attorneys or do it ourselves, because we are so poor and broke.

The fact is as a serviceman he is entitled to legal assistance, and specifically assistance from attorneys well versed in immigration and naturalization issues. Almost every ship, base, and installation has legal assistance attorneys (either civil DoD employees or Navy JAG) ready to help or to escalate to off-site attorney better able to assist.

Even if he does choose to call USCIS himself, he should not call the regular number we schmucks call, he should call the military specific number 1-877-CIS-4MIL (1-877-247-4645) available Mon-Fri 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (CST), excluding federal holidays.

I could take a stab at your questions, but I literally pay (through federal taxes) for someone more competent than me to stand by and answer these questions.

If your husband loses confidence in JAG/DoD attorneys, the American Immigration Lawyers Association is standing by to provide pro bono assistance. Email [email protected] for a referral.

That said, please understand that Congress does not want United States taxpayers to subsidize the expenses of immigrants in seeking immigration benefits. User service fees are set in advance, in hope that they cover the cost of running USCIS. There will be times where USCIS has more or less resources than optimal to handle things. The USCIS or DHS ombudsman has no influence over this, only your husbands elected officials.

[Luan]

Can anyone advise me why the US Government is OK with processing times being double the maximum stated?
I sent off my application for the I129F in January and it was 'lost' so I sent it again at the start of March.
I have checked the Texas Service Centre times and they are processing September 2014.
I have called USCIS customer services but they won't speak to me without the petitioner present. It's pretty upsetting as I am in the UK and he is (obviously) in the US. As he is in the Navy he doesn't get time to call the centre during their opening times.
The automated service just says 'no information on this receipt number at this time'
When he did manage to call on a rare day off they couldn't give him a status update either.
I saw that there was an ombudsman service. I called them and they require you to fill out a form for them to look in to things. The ridiculous thing is that the form cannot be downloaded from access via servers outside of the US! Even the PDF download version wouldn't load. Don't know if it's broken or again a licencing issue. I have never had that happen before.
My fiance only has a few months back in November when we were hoping to get married to comply with the visa timescales, which I thought was perfectly reasonable. Now it seems like it's going to be over a year before we can get married.
OK so this has been a bit of a vent post if I am honest but I just wanted to know:
1. Have any other applicants had this problem, where USCIS won't speak to them?
2. Does anyone have personal expereince of hte Texas Service Centre processing times to know if this is actually correct?
3. Does anyone know if the processing times quated is for people actually receiveing their visa or is is just the date of applications they are considering?
4. Are there rough time guideleines for how long it takes them to process applications once they are dealing with them?
5. Has anyone had any experience of the Ombudsman service? Is it worth encouraging people to complain so that maybe they are scruitinised and it's brought tot he Government's attention and possibly the press how badly they are failing (it is public money after all and they should be accountable).
6. Does anyone know how long the process takes for UK applicants once the Service CEntre has done their bit?

Thanks in advance for any assistance. It's really testing our relationship and we're so exhausted with how hard it seems to be. Wish we hadn't taken so long to be sure about getting married in the first place. We were looking in to it and told 6 months.

Hi as per my case, it did take almost 8 months from the time I applied to the Texas Office before they approved my I-129F application.
Yes....the same issues arose with me, the office you call wont speak to the beneficiary in the UK, they will only speak to the US partner....and like you say when they do call, after spending ages on hold they get told no one has access to their file....we had the same frustration.....its just a waiting game! They are way over their processing time of 5 months! I have my Interview date and it is 9 months on from when I initially started! So yes by the time I get to the USA on this Visa is will be close to 1 year!
The date you see on the USCIS processing time states unless they are up to date in which they will state 3 months / 5 months etc....they will give you the last file date they approved. (Example.....if it says 08th Oct 2014 as it does today.....it means they last application they approved was filed on that date) so you can work out from that they are currently taking 7-9 months to approve most cases!
My case was approved by the USCIS in April......it is now June and I am due my Interview this month! So all going well it takes around 2-3 months I would say after the USCIS has approved it because they then send it to the NVC in the States.......they then do what they need to do which only takes days .......then they send it to the S Embassy in London. But each stage takes your paperwork getting from one office to the next which can take 1-2 weeks, plus the US Embassy take weeks to send you their letters, and they send you your interview letter about 4 weeks prior to the interview date and you can't bring it forward!....then I have heard after my interview this month IF approved, it can take another 10-15 working days to get my passport back so you really can't risk booking a flight within 4 weeks after your interview just in case you don't get your docs back in time!
I didn't try the Ombudsman because I could see processing time were taking ages and nothing I could do about it.
Its VERY Frustrating and upsetting, many of us know how you feel!

Every case is different too none are the same I was told that many times.... But these are my time frames to date:

I-129F app sent off and received by Texas Lockbox 23rd Sept 2014
I-129F app was approved by Texas Office 07th April 2015
Around the 13th April 2015 my case was sent the Texas Office to the NVC in the USA.
Around 23rd April 2015 case was received by the US Embassy, London
Around 29th April 2015 it said my case was ''Ready'' in the US Embassy, London
I did my Medical on London and all the online stuff they ask of you.
About 19th May 2015 I received my interview letter from the US Embassy with my Interview date on which is normally about 4 weeks after you get your letter.
So as you can see, for me the process from my application to getting an interview date has been 9 months.

But again....every case is different. I was told that the USCIS were even sending some cases to the Californian Office to ease the work load off the Texas Team because the processing time at the Office in California for the still shows as 5 months max! So they are dealing with less cases it seems.

Sadly mine never got moved over and stayed in Texas. but I was kind of glad because I feared it going back to the bottom of the pile if it did get moved.
There is light at the end of the tunnel it is just very tough to get there. When it comes to the US Embassy in London it gets no easier either because they don't take calls or give any advice at all by phone.....you have to email them and a reply takes weeks if they deem that they need to reply. So Its tough....hang in their!


Then I received my Interview letter from the Embassy

[Jovana Ruibal]

Hey.....has your case been approved yet> I would hope so!
What stage are you at now?

No , no news yet .... still waiting and it sucks !

[Luan]

No , no news yet .... still waiting and it sucks !

Really?
I know your visa type is different and is a K3, but is it also at the Texas Centre? As it shows that the last files they approved were filled on the 08th October 2014!
So if you filled yours on the 24th Sept 2014 you should have heard by now?
Have you emailed them to ask???

[Jovana Ruibal]

Really?
I know your visa type is different and is a K3, but is it also at the Texas Centre? As it shows that the last files they approved were filled on the 08th October 2014!
So if you filled yours on the 24th Sept 2014 you should have heard by now?
Have you emailed them to ask???

Yes i sent it to Texas , i have no idea what is going on because i havent checked their updated these days, the last update for June was the 8th and they were still processing September 18th but thank God that u told me that they have a new update. So im waiting to hear from my lawyer, im hoping that he will call USCIS and see whats happening. It either they havent update my status or there is some problem with my case.
im freaking out !!!
Thank you so much for letting me know

[Luan]

Yes i sent it to Texas , i have no idea what is going on because i havent checked their updated these days, the last update for June was the 8th and they were still processing September 18th but thank God that u told me that they have a new update. So im waiting to hear from my lawyer, im hoping that he will call USCIS and see whats happening. It either they havent update my status or there is some problem with my case.
im freaking out !!!
Thank you so much for letting me know

I am sure all will go fine.
Keep us posted with your news! Hopefully good news next

[Jovana Ruibal]

I am sure all will go fine.
Keep us posted with your news! Hopefully good news next

My lawyer informed me yesterdsy that my case is not in Texas but NBC??? I have no idea since when nor why , he didnt give me much informations about it . Do u have any experience about it ? I cant check processing dates or anything like it since most of the cases are sent to local offices

[Luan]

My lawyer informed me yesterdsy that my case is not in Texas but NBC??? I have no idea since when nor why , he didnt give me much informations about it . Do u have any experience about it ? I cant check processing dates or anything like it since most of the cases are sent to local offices

I have not heard of the NBC?
However once the Texas Office approves the case they send it to the NVC (National Visa Centre) -maybe that was what they meant? Check with your Lawyer as that is what you are paying them for. ;0)
If so that means it has been approved and has been moved to the next stage ;0)
Let's hope so...

[Jovana Ruibal]

I have not heard of the NBC?
However once the Texas Office approves the case they send it to the NVC (National Visa Centre) -maybe that was what they meant? Check with your Lawyer as that is what you are paying them for. ;0)
If so that means it has been approved and has been moved to the next stage ;0)
Let's hope so...

Its not NVC its the national benefit center
I wish it was in NVC but its not yet .
How is your process going ? When are you leaving ?

[Luan]

Its not NVC its the national benefit center
I wish it was in NVC but its not yet .
How is your process going ? When are you leaving ?

Oh gosh....what does that mean? Is that part of the process for you, or not?
I had my Interview this week and got Approved! YAY!!!!
Not saying they are all like this but I was only in interview as such for 5 minutes and they didn't ask me much at all.
They only took about 5 bits of paper off me too, the rest of the stuff they say you need they didn't ask for. But best to be prepared...I am sure every one varies!
I asked how long it will be before I will get my passport etc back, and they advised they are behind with processing and so it may take up to 3 weeks before my passport etc is sent back to me....so I am lucky I choose not to book my flight too soon after the interview.
I am also lucky that we had taken the risk and pre booked our venue and church for the wedding (under the assumption I was approved) , as when she approved me for the Visa she said I had to use it by November!!!!
So all going well I should get my passport and package for Immigration sent back to me within some time in July, and I have booked my flight for early August.

[Ar182]

My case was sent to Department of State on june 2 and we still waiting. Were we supposed to get new case number by mail? There is no specific info on uscis site.
It feels like this will never be over.

[Luan]

My case was sent to Department of State on june 2 and we still waiting. Were we supposed to get new case number by mail? There is no specific info on uscis site.
It feels like this will never be over.

My Fiance called the NVC where my case went before the Embassy got it and they are quite easy to speak to. They create the New Case Number that goes to the Department of State, so you or your fiancé can contact them with your original case number and get your new one.......one you have that you can then go to the CEAC Tracker site and track your case, once the Embassy has your case it will show as READY until after your interview.
My initial case number started with SRC and after the NVC changed it, it started with LND (for London) ...... You can only use the CEAC Tracker once you have your new case number.

If you are doing a K-1 Visa......I found a blog that really helped me but they don't allow me to copy and paste it on here....even if I try to type the words they block it....Sorry

[Luan]

[QUOTE=Luan;417592]My Fiance called the NVC where my case went before the Embassy got it and they are quite easy to speak to. They create the New Case Number that goes to the Department of State, so you or your fiancé can contact them with your original case number and get your new one.......one you have that you can then go to the CEAC Tracker site and track your case, once the Embassy has your case it will show as READY until after your interview.
My initial case number started with SRC and after the NVC changed it, it started with LND (for London) ...... You can only use the CEAC Tracker once you have your new case number.

The letters you get from the Embassy can take some time (weeks) to arrive, so if you haven't already I would contact the NVC who had your case last to get the new Case number off them so that you can track your case on the CEAC Tracker.

[joetran]

Mines is long too. Did yours go thru yet ?

I wish it wasn't you too, but like you at least now I know it is not just me.
It seems they have just approved forms filed on the 25th June 2014, so hopefully by this time next month you will be the next stage along!
Please keep in touch and let us know when you do hear something. It is quite a joke how they expect people to be apart for so long.

I am wondering if they have finally sent you a NOA yet ? You sent in your petition I-129F much sooner than I did. Can you tell me your approximate NOA1, NOA2, NVC and did you finally get to arrive in the US and how many month did it take total. I sent mines just this year around April 2015 and got the NOA1 within two week but now it's almost November 2015 (7 months) but I haven't seen anything yet. I wonder if age has anything to do with this. Can you tell me your age and your fiance's age too ? Thanks,

[joetran]

How did you get your fiance visa so fast ? Please help me....

First off I want to apologize, but it would seem my process was a lot luckier then yours. I submitted the application for my fiance K-1 Visa on January 16, 2015. I did all the paperwork myself, and had her Uncle review the paperwork for errors that he could see. On January 22, I received the letter stating the receive my paperwork and are processing it. On February 9, I received my NOA2 stating that my paperwork was sent to the NVC and all further inquiries was to go through them. Currently waiting on letter from NVC stating that they sending the paperwork to the Embassy in the country where my fiance lives. I am under the impressions when I receive my next letter is when I can tell my fiance to start filling out the ds-160 online, and provide her with any documents she needs. Wish you luck with your paperwork.. long distance relationships sucks.

I am wondering if you can provide your timeline from the date you sent in the I-179F petition, NOA1, NOA2, NVC and did you finally get to arrive in the US and how many month did it take total. I sent mines just this year around April 2015 and got the NOA1 within two week but now it's almost November 2015 (7 months) but I haven't seen anything yet. I wonder if age has anything to do with this. Can you tell me your age and your fiance's age too ? Thanks,