Approved I-129F Lost between CIS and NVC

[Ustare]

Not sure what to do now. My fiance's I-129F was approved by California CIS on June 5th, 2008. The 129F petition packet was supposed to be sent to NVC to be processed and forwarded to the embassy in Macedonia. I called NVC every week since June and they kept telling me that they haven't received the packet yet and that I needed to wait at least 90 days before I they would take any action. On day 91, I called NVC and they told me they still haven't received the packet. NVC said to call CIS because NVC didn't have it(duh) and there was nothing NVC could do.

So I called CIS yesterday and I was instructed to make an appointment at a local immigration office in Sacramento to see about tracking down my missing I-129F. The first agent I spoke with apparently didn't know what to do, so I ended up speaking a his Lead(there were no supervisors present) According to the local IM officer, they "doing me a favor" by even requesting my file and initiating a trace of my lost paperwork. I got the feeling they just wanted me out of their office because my situation was not a simple deal. As near as I can tell, the following options are available to me:

1) The Sacramento office will send a request to National Visa Records to see if someone mistakenly placed my approved visa petition into our file and sent the entire thing to the records center rather than ship my petiton to NVC. At this point I need to make another appointment at Sacramento in another 30 days(because they can't be bothered to call or email ANYONE and there's no number they will let me call in Sacramento to check and see if the file has arrived). At that point, if my petiton is there, I can request it be sent back to NVC.

2) I can file an I-824, Applications for Action on an Approved Petition for another $340. I find this course of action confusing. I paid $455 to file my I129F(which got approved). Somewhere between California CIS and NVC, my petition apparently was lost, so due to a bureaucratic error, I need to pay CIS an additonal $340 to prompt a civil servant into action, all because of their screw up? Call me silly but this is crazy.

3) I can have my fiance follow up directly with the Embassy. She has the I-797, Notice of Action detailing our I-129F Approval. Supposively, she can initiate action to procure a visa based upon our Notice of Approval.

I am finding this process very very maddening. The apparent ineptitude and arrogance of the people I spoke with at NVC and the local IM office really set me off. What is really eating at me is that I've just returned from my second overseas combat tour in three years and have put my life on the line on more occasions than I can remember. I've served our country selflessly and without reservation, and then I come back to this. I'm totally disappointed with our government. Its ironic that overseas, we soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, treat locals with more care and compassion than our own civil servant can show us.

Well if anyone out there has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

[ankur82]

Not sure what to do now. My fiance's I-129F was approved by California CIS on June 5th, 2008. The 129F petition packet was supposed to be sent to NVC to be processed and forwarded to the embassy in Macedonia. I called NVC every week since June and they kept telling me that they haven't received the packet yet and that I needed to wait at least 90 days before I they would take any action. On day 91, I called NVC and they told me they still haven't received the packet. NVC said to call CIS because NVC didn't have it(duh) and there was nothing NVC could do.

So I called CIS yesterday and I was instructed to make an appointment at a local immigration office in Sacramento to see about tracking down my missing I-129F. The first agent I spoke with apparently didn't know what to do, so I ended up speaking a his Lead(there were no supervisors present) According to the local IM officer, they "doing me a favor" by even requesting my file and initiating a trace of my lost paperwork. I got the feeling they just wanted me out of their office because my situation was not a simple deal. As near as I can tell, the following options are available to me:

1) The Sacramento office will send a request to National Visa Records to see if someone mistakenly placed my approved visa petition into our file and sent the entire thing to the records center rather than ship my petiton to NVC. At this point I need to make another appointment at Sacramento in another 30 days(because they can't be bothered to call or email ANYONE and there's no number they will let me call in Sacramento to check and see if the file has arrived). At that point, if my petiton is there, I can request it be sent back to NVC.

2) I can file an I-824, Applications for Action on an Approved Petition for another $340. I find this course of action confusing. I paid $455 to file my I129F(which got approved). Somewhere between California CIS and NVC, my petition apparently was lost, so due to a bureaucratic error, I need to pay CIS an additonal $340 to prompt a civil servant into action, all because of their screw up? Call me silly but this is crazy.

3) I can have my fiance follow up directly with the Embassy. She has the I-797, Notice of Action detailing our I-129F Approval. Supposively, she can initiate action to procure a visa based upon our Notice of Approval.

I am finding this process very very maddening. The apparent ineptitude and arrogance of the people I spoke with at NVC and the local IM office really set me off. What is really eating at me is that I've just returned from my second overseas combat tour in three years and have put my life on the line on more occasions than I can remember. I've served our country selflessly and without reservation, and then I come back to this. I'm totally disappointed with our government. Its ironic that overseas, we soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, treat locals with more care and compassion than our own civil servant can show us.

Well if anyone out there has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

i have same case and i am dealing with now

my approval notice was April 17 2008 and NVC keep telling me that we don't have your file i call them also email what not so after that i went to congress men and told them. they got to know that it's been lost between USCIS to NVC and i told them my notice will exp so then i called USCIS and talk to officer they told me fill out I824 and write letter not to pay $340 and send all the paper work again with the proof and notice to USCIS.

[Ustare]

Follow up to my lost I-129F

Its been a long pain in the @ss but we've finally negotiated all the obstacles USCIS has thrown down. My fiance was finally issued her Fiance visa today. All said and done, it took us 314 days from the initial receipt to visa issuance. In the end, what it took was my Congressman's office calling CIS. They got it moving again and followed its progress all the way from CIS to NVC and finally notified me of our embassy appointment. They actually called the embassy and made sure my fiance was scheduled an interview! If it had not been for the immigration specialist on the Congressman's staff, I still think that CIS would be ignoring me. I found that the Customer Service Reps on the CIS phone lines were pretty much useless. Even my visit to my local CIS office where the agent told me they were overnight mailing my petition never worked. Its really been in exercise in frustration. I thought that it would have been much easier than this. The only advise that I can pass along is to keep copies of everything you submit. Call your Congressman once your petition has exceed normal processing times. Don't bother to "wait another 30 days" for something to turn up like you will hear from CIS. The sooner you call for Congressional help, the sooner action can be taken on your behalf. My Congressional Rep got our petition moving in two weeks after I first contacted them. This was after months of calling on my own.

Well, good luck to all of you out there. Don't give up and don't be afraid to call on your Congressional Representatives because that is why they are there, to help you.

[Ustare]

My fiance has finally arrived in the US!

Its been a long haul but she finally got here on Dec 12th. I still can't believe that part has finally ended. Now we need to work on getting her green card. At least we will be together for this. Good luck to all you out there.