fiance and spousal visa processing delays

[jm21-2]

Looks like those of us who filed in July 2010 onwards are facing some fairly large delays. Current theory on visajourney seems to be that humanitarian visas for Haitians got expedited in August and September and they slowed down processing of family visas. Don't know if there's any solid proof but for whatever reason visas have been moving slower.

I've tried getting in touch with USCIS and they tell me basically if I want any questions answered I need to set up an appointment in Seattle and go in person
, especially if it hasn't been 5 months yet (their processing time goal).

Disappointing to see the reported processing times on VJ go up each month. Fiance is back in Taiwan but thinking about moving back to AUS. Then someone posts about how they filed in late September and just got their NOA2. Sigh. What a process.

Processing times had been relatively quick for quite a while when we filed. Guess she should have stayed in AUS. Note to others: don't make any sort of plans or have any expectations of how long the process will take.

Fingers crossed we at least get our NOA2 by the end of January. She's thinking if we haven't heard back by the end of the Chinese New Year  holiday (first week of February) she's going to move back to AUS and will be mightily upset....
EDIT: the reason for her moving back was because I was over-confident about our NOA2 coming sooner than it has. By the statistics on VJ shortly after we filed it looked like we were going to get it in mid-november.

[thekfc]

I think that the California Service Center is/was really backed-up, they were transferring petitions to Texas.
The Vermont Center is moving along fine but they are now backed up.

I too am a July filer (VSC) & are now at the final stage.

jm, hopefully you should hear something pretty soon.

[jm21-2]

I think that the California Service Center is/was really backed-up, they were transferring petitions to Texas.
The Vermont Center is moving along fine but they are now backed up.

I too am a July filer (VSC) & are now at the final stage.

jm, hopefully you should hear something pretty soon.

You got the NOA2? Or have they already sent her the packet? Glad things are moving along for you.

My last updated date was 9/1/2010. Hopefully I'm just one of the people who had their account set up wrong and isn't getting updates. Noticed it recently but they won't answer any questions over the phone. Don't really want to take a half day off work to go check but maybe I should. Feels like our lives are on hold indefinitely sometimes. Worse for her because she moved. Wish we had filed earlier.

[thekfc]

You got the NOA2? Or have they already sent her the packet? Glad things are moving along for you.

I am done with both USCIS & NVC - CC. Her interview will be in January.
Hopefully she will be here with me sometime in February.

[william3rd]

glad I am past all that. My wife will have her visa in hand on December 30. She has one more trip to Bangkok for the 27th to present the new and updated police clearance. Our interview was one day after the expiration.
One thing of note- we went from NVC approval to interview in less than five weeks. Fortunately, I sent her the interview letter immediately because the physical letter was only mailed ten days before the interview and received five days before the interview.

So January it will be.

[robert angel]

That California center got backed up on us and our case was sent to Texas too. I mentioned that in calling USCIS, that doing the phone menu instructions all wrong sometimes actually gets you to a real live person faster.

I suggest calling whenever you can, as people are all different and you might even get lucky and get someone further up the food chain, who doesn't just say "All I can tell you is what we both see on our computer monitors--it's all the same" and/or "If you haven't heard in five months--call us". man, I got tired of paying to hear that B.S....

I didn't want to wait five months, so I kept calling, playing nice and got a guy who fixed the 'case of the non existent NOA2' that they were offering (for a hefty fee) to somehow make a COPY of, to expedite things.

The administrator saw past the absurdity and fixed it, but it was simply one lucky phone call I made that saved us a couple months of further delay, easily. Luck of the draw, I guess....

[michaelb]

Go back four or five years in the archives and read our adventures when they denied my wife's AOS because she "failed to appear at her biometrics appointment in Miami". Never mind that we've never lived in Florida, and that she did make it as scheduled to the appointment in Dallas and we had the paper work to prove it. So we made one (actually, four or five before it was all settled) of the "Info Pass" appointments. When confronted with the paper work properly filled out and countersigned and stamped by their own employees and all the receipts etc., their answer was "Yes, I can see you're right, but our office can't over rule the office that denied her......by the  way, she's now out of status and has to leave the country". In my opinion they're all idiots, and some of them have "the attitude" as well.

[Ray]

jm,

Usually, you will have to wait until your case has not been resolved after one month past the currently reported processing time goal before you can get anything meaningful out of them, which in your case sounds like 6 months after filing if the processing goal remains the same.

You can then contact the California Service Center directly by FAX or e-mail, or you could make an InfoPass appointment at that time at your local CSC office. Let me know if you need the FAX # or e-mail address for CSC.

Tip: When calling the National Customer Service Center, try asking to speak with an immigration officer. It used to work in the past (?).

Ray

[Dave H]

Current theory on visajourney seems to be that humanitarian visas for Haitians got expedited in August and September and they slowed down processing of family visas.

Oh that's good...all South Florida needs is more crime! I'm sure glad that I moved the Hell out!!!

[Researcher]

  Sorry to hear about the delay JM but remember who you are dealing with here.Ray is right, if you call ask to talk to an immigration officer.The people answering the phones usually don't know much.

  When I filed for my wife's visa there was a huge delay because USCIS raised the filing fees.Alot of folks tried to beat the deadline by filing and it caused a backlog.You are pretty much at the mercy of the system.Hopefully it wont be much longer.


   Researcher

[william3rd]

Considering that the processing times have moved to a year or more from time to time in the past, you guys are in a period of fairly prompt processing times.

My first fiancee (son's mom) went from filing to interview in less than two months. Twice- 1992-1993
The third (Russian)took three months in 2000
The fourth (Thai) took 36 days in September 2001
The fifth (Thai)  took a year to get approval and never resolved after it went out for administrative review because it was on the wrong side of IMBRA. . . .

China and Manila were always the worst; Moscow and Bogota were always the best. Now, Bangkok is one of the worst

[Ray]

China and Manila were always the worst; Moscow and Bogota were always the best. Now, Bangkok is one of the worst

I remember when Hong Kong was the fastest. If my memory serves me, we had a member here who filed his fiancee petition at the US Consulate in Hong Kong and she had her visa within 10 days. Of course that was some time ago.

When I filed a K-1, I walked into the San Diego INS office, filled out the forms, paid the $30 filing fee, and the visa interview in Manila was less than a month later.

Ray

[william3rd]

WOW that was really fast. They must have had it on the next China Clipper out of San Diego Or- were they using steam in those days? 

[robert angel]

Re:

>>When I filed a K-1, I walked into the San Diego INS office, filled out the forms, paid the $30 filing fee, and the visa interview in Manila was less than a month later.

Ray<<

Ray,

Was Roosevelt still President then, or had Truman taken office?

[fathertime]

Considering that the processing times have moved to a year or more from time to time in the past, you guys are in a period of fairly prompt processing times.

My first fiancee (son's mom) went from filing to interview in less than two months. Twice- 1992-1993
The third (Russian)took three months in 2000
The fourth (Thai) took 36 days in September 2001
The fifth (Thai)  took a year to get approval and never resolved after it went out for administrative review because it was on the wrong side of IMBRA. . . .

China and Manila were always the worst; Moscow and Bogota were always the best. Now, Bangkok is one of the worst

Hey wild bill!

You are the true king of the visa process with a total of 5!

Fathertime!

[william3rd]

IMBRA and VAWA has curtailed a lot of that. I had about 100 trips to Europe and Thailand between 1998 and 2008 so I never dated in the US.


The first time I did it, you had to send in original documents or have an attorney sign off that he had reviewed the original.

On the third business day, the receipt notice came back.

On the fifth business day, your original documents were returned all wadded up along with your cover letter, sticky notes, and all the other magic BS that might be included.My statement was three sentences long and fit on the back of the application. The I134 was sent in as well.

On the tenth business day, the approval notice came back.

Packets went directly to the consulate and my girlfriend brought her proof of relationship to that interview.

The fee was $60.

[Ray]

Was Roosevelt still President then, or had Truman taken office?

Yes, Teddy was still president.

Why do yo ask?

[piglett]

Hey wild bill!

You are the true king of the visa process with a total of 5!

Fathertime!

he he he

so now we know why wIII knows about all these kinds of visas, he has applied for all of them at one point or another


pig

[Dave H]

Yes, Teddy was still president.

Why do yo ask?

Hey Ray,

How I wish Teddy was still President!

Dave

[no comment]

My wife will have her visa in hand on December 30. She has one more trip to Bangkok for the 27th to present the new and updated police clearance.

William III,
My Peruvian wife and I are in the final stages, I hope, of our Visa process. I gather that you're an attorney who handles Visa cases and wonder if you're up to date on the rules specific to Peru. The gov't. website http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_4881.html?cid=3649 states this regarding police records:
"Police records are available but not required by the U.S. Embassy in Lima for consular processing.  They are not an accurate reflection of an individual’s arrest record because local laws allow for deletion of past arrests."

On the other hand, a PDF at the site dated 3/15/2010 doesn't lead me to believe that the police records are not necessary.  I suggested to her that she just call the embassy and ask, but she says they give her the answering machine runaround. Any opinion on this?

[michaelb]

  They are not an accurate reflection of an individual’s arrest record because local laws allow for deletion of past arrests.

Neither are U.S. records. Many (perhaps all?) local jurisdictions in the United States also will, depending on the circumstances, expunge certain types of misdemeanor arrest records if there is not a conviction. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case throughout most of the world (although in some localities it may depend on whom you're related to or who's palm you greased as much if not more than the actual local law). 

[william3rd]

William III,
My Peruvian wife and I are in the final stages, I hope, of our Visa process. I gather that you're an attorney who handles Visa cases and wonder if you're up to date on the rules specific to Peru. The gov't. website http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_4881.html?cid=3649 states this regarding police records:
"Police records are available but not required by the U.S. Embassy in Lima for consular processing.  They are not an accurate reflection of an individual’s arrest record because local laws allow for deletion of past arrests."

On the other hand, a PDF at the site dated 3/15/2010 doesn't lead me to believe that the police records are not necessary.  I suggested to her that she just call the embassy and ask, but she says they give her the answering machine runaround. Any opinion on this?

If the consulate says they are not necessary, then they are not necessary. They make the rules. However, the appointment letter that she will receive from them will tell her whether she needs one or not, per their most recent rules. I dont think I have done more than 6-8 Peruvian cases in all my processing.

Since the NVC had collected all the materials in advance, we only needed photos, a passport, and the medical examination for the interview in Bangkok. But- since the NVC screwed around for so long, we needed a new police clearance-the old one had expired the day before- and a certified copy of the marriage certificate since the didnt like the original.

[Osa]

I may get caught in the same trend, though I am optimistic.

I got NOA1 on 10/6/10 and right now it is "under review" whatever that means.  As a person who has worked for the government, I know that sorta jargon means it is sitting on someone's desk or in a file cabinet.

I'm good either way though.  I think of it as simply more time to prepare.  I got a second job about a month ago, so the cash is beginning to trickle in from there.  Plus I got problems I got to deal with (like with my car) that i would like to have totally dealt with by the time she arrives.

[jm21-2]

Through some family/work connections I got in touch with a congressional office today...they are going to check in and get a more detailed update in the next 1-2 weeks and if it's in limbo they think they can help me getting it expedited (due to financial hardship since she's looking at moving back to AUS soon if nothing happens). Hopefully that will help out a bit.

I didn't mind the first 2 months or so but after that it started to drive me nuts. especially now that it's been almost 4 months with no updates of any sort.

[Ray]

Financial hardship?? HOGWASH!

Remember that for every petition expedited, everyone else gets delayed. Get in line and wait your turn!

There won't be any detailed updates until your petition is pulled and assigned to an adjudicator. Then it will likely be approved that day unless something is missing.

Ray