The End is in Sight

Yesterday, Anna informed me that she finally received the package I mailed her over 1 month ago. Soon after she received the package, I was sent an email from the US Embassy in Moscow acknowledging that they received our documents from the Department of State. Within the email they gave us instructions on how to proceed.
Here is the email I received from them:

Dear Petitioner:

Please resend the letter to your fiancé(e).

Dear Applicant:

We are pleased to inform you that the Immigrant Visa Unit of U.S. Embassy Moscow has received your approved visa petition and that your case is ready for processing.

You should now visit http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru to complete the following steps: 1) arrange payment of the $240 visa fee; 2) enter an address to which the visa will be delivered; and 3) schedule your interview appointment.  Once you pay the fee and specify the delivery address, you may schedule your interview for any available appointment slot.  Please ensure that the date you select falls within four months of the date on which the visa petition was approved.  Failure to do so may impact the validity of your visa petition.

All applicants for fiancé(e) visas must comply with the processing requirements detailed at http://moscow.usembassy.gov/iv-fiancee.html. This page provides the most accurate and complete information needed to prepare for your interview including a list of required documents.  Thank you.

Immigrant Visa Unit

U.S. Embassy Moscow

Dear Petitioner:

Please resend the letter to your fiancé(e).

Уважаемый заявитель!

Мы рады сообщить, что Отдел иммиграционных виз Посольства США в Москве получил Вашу одобренную петицию и готов продолжить рассмотрение Вашего дела.

Пожалуйста, зайдите на сайт http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ru ,  чтобы узнать как: 1) оплатить визовый сбор $240; 2) указать адрес, по которому будут доставлены Ваши визовые документы и 3) назначить собеседование. После оплаты и регистрации адреса доставки Вы сможете выбрать любую доступную дату собеседования в течение четырех месяцев  со дня одобрения петиции.

Заявители, назначенные на собеседование, должны придерживаться правил и инструкций, которые можно найти на сайте http://russian.moscow.usembassy.gov/iv-fiancee.html. Эта страница содержит наиболее полную и точную информацию, включая список требуемых документов.

С уважением,

Отдел иммиграционных виз

Посольство США в Москве

Anna and I are both very excited to get the news. In fact today Anna logged into the US Embassy's website and paid the fee for the visa. Next week she will call to schedule her interview. Hopefully she can have the interview soon and she can finally buy the airplane tickets and I hope she will be here before the end of the summer. She has a few other things she needs to wrap up in Russia before she can finally come here but she still has plenty of time to get everything done.
It is nice to finally be down to the step of our journey. It has been a long arduous process that I would not wish on anyone. But fortunately we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The wait will soon be over and Anna and I will finally be together soon.

Another obstacle tries to come between us!

After the entire ordeal with the USCIS and the time we waited for the National visa center to transfer our documents to the US Embassy in Moscow we thought we were home free. But if it wasn't for bad luck, we would have no luck at all.
It seems that anything that can go wrong will always go wrong in our situation.
Anna sent me a link to a news release about a mail embargo imposed on international mail coming into Russia. It seems our letter is among 500 tons of mail that has been put on hold. http://rbcdaily.ru/society/562949987180153. The site is in Russian so you can use google translator to translate it. Or you can read a similar article on this site http://themoscownews.com/russia/20130411/191431278/Mail-embargo-issued-at-Sheremetyevo.html
This embargo occured shortly after I mailed a package to Anna. She needs the documents in the package I sent to her for her interview at the embassy. Now it seems that package is buried at the bottom of a 500 ton pile of mail.
I only hope she gets the package soon or I will have to send the package again using another carrier. And of course it will cost an arm an a leg. We will give it until the end of this next week until I get another package ready to send her. Hopefully we won't have to resort to that option.
Once again we have to wait for things that are beyond our control. We hope this whole ordeal will be over soon so we can finally begin our lives together.

Coming Down the Home Stretch.

Finally, after almost a month of the National Visa Center(NVC) holding our documents hostage while they "processed" our documents, they informed me that they forwarded the documents to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
Unfortunately though, I can't say the same for the Russian Customs. Anna checked the tracking number of the package I sent her and it still indicated that Customs still had the package. I hope they release it soon because Anna will need it for her interview.
But at least we have made another step forward and now Anna can communicate directly with the U.S. Embassy and schedule her interview. Hopefully it won't take her too long to get an interview. We both are very excited to know that we can finally start to make preparations for her to come here.
In fact Anna has even mentioned purchasing some suitcases for the trip. But she is not certain of the color she wants to buy. She has not decided yet. Maybe you can help her decide. Just post a comment suggesting a color and I will pass the suggestion on to her.
This is the very last step of the process and we are very much looking forward to this process ending. After her interview she will finally be able to purchase the 3 visas and make reservations for her flight home. I can't begin to say how much we are both looking forward to that day. It has been almost 10 months since she kissed me goodbye at the airport in Moscow and I can't wait to see her again.

From one government bureaucracy to another.

After waiting 6 Months at the California Center of the USCIS our paperwork was transferred to the National Visa Center (NVC) which is a division of the Department of state. The NVC is supposed to "Process" our paperwork which includes putting it on someone's desk and waiting for 2 weeks to a month to transfer the documents to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
They seem to serve no other purpose than to make us wait longer. In fact, I called the NVC last week asking them if they did any actual processing of the documentation there. They told me "No, we just wait.". Here seems to be another good use of taxpayer money, NOT!!!
We hope that within the next week all our documents will be transferred to the US Embassy in Moscow so that at least some type of processing can happen. At least after that Anna can call the embassy and schedule her interview.
We are also waiting on the Postal Service to deliver all of the documentation that I was required to send Anna for her interview. I mailed it on May 2nd and the U.S. Postal Service processed it through the sort facility in Los Angeles, California on the 6th. Today I called the USPS and they told me they cannot provide tracking information for the package. Even with a tracking number they provided, they are unable to track it now for some reason.
But fortunately Anna is very resourceful and she managed to track the package down in Russia. It is currently in Russian Customs. Hopefully it will not remain there as long as Anna's letter to me. It was tied up in US Customs for over 10 days.
We hope all of this waiting will end soon and Anna can purchase the visas and plane tickets and finally come here.

The package is in the mail.

After our petition was approved, I had to prepare many documents to send to Anna.
The U.S. Government required me to sign an I-134 Affidavit of support and I had to send a copy of the entire package I submitted with our initial request.
They also required bank account information and my last year tax returns. I don't know why they require all this information but the U.S. government requires this information for some reason. Fortunately, I was able to redact any personal information because I don't have a lot of faith in the U.S. Postal Service.
Anna and I discussed the options we had to send her the papers. I had 3 options available. The first option was to send the papers using the normal postal service. $20.00 to send the entire packet to her regular mail. No tracking number and we don't know if it will even arrive. $45.00 would have given us delivery confirmation. But the U.S.P.S. would still not guarantee delivery.
For $145.00, I could have sent the package containing 20 pages of documents to her with the ability to track the location of the package but they are still unable to guarantee delivery..
After discussing it with Anna, she told me we will choose the cheaper option. Hopefully the package won't get lost in the mail and she will get it in time for her interview with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
In fact, Anna and I have wagered a bet. I told her she will receive the package from me before the Department of State (National Visa Center) transfers the documents to the embassy in Moscow.
I hope my package arrives first because I don't want to lose this bet.

Finally our NOA2 Arrived

Yesterday I finally received our official NOA2 in the mail. It was called:

I-797, Notice of Action

Notice Type: Approval Notice 

Valid from 04/23/2013 to 08/22/2013

Consulate: KIEV (Are you kidding me? She lives in Russia not Ukraine)

The Letter said 

The above petition has been approved, and forwarded to the listed consulate. Please contact the consulate with any questions about visa issuance, or if you would now like them to forward the petition to a different consulate. The petitioner can also file a Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, to request that we notify another consulate of the petition approval for visa processing purposes. THIS FORM IS NOT A VISA AND MAY NOT BE USED IN PLACE OF A VISA.

When the person this petition is for enters the U.S. based on this visa, he or she will be admitted for ninety (90) days in order to marry the petitioner, and based on that marriage file for adjustment to permanent resident status on form I-485. The form to apply for adjustment can be obtained at any local USCIS office or USCIS forms center. Please attach a copy of this notice to the adjustment application when you file it.

 If the petitioner and the fiancé(e) do not marry within these 90 days, status will expire, and he or she will be in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Action if he or she does not depart. An extension cannot be granted. It is requested that the petitioner inform his or her local USCIS office if he or she determines that the marriage will not take place within the 90 day period. Please attach a copy of this notice to any correspondence about this case.

Notice: Although this application/petition has been approved, USCIS and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reserve the right to verify the information submitted in this application, petition and/or supporting documentation to ensure conformity with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and other authorities. Methods used for verifying information may include, but are not limited to, the review of public information and records, contact by correspondence, the internet, or telephone, and site inspections of businesses and residence. Information obtained during the course of verification will be used to determine whether revocation, rescission, and/or removal proceedings are appropriate. Applicants, petitioners, and representatives will be provide an opportunity to address derogatory information before any formal proceeding is initiated.

Anna and I were pleased when we finally received the notice. Both of us have been collecting documents and preparing for Anna's interview at the US Embassy in Moscow (Oh wait, they are sending it to KIEV Ukraine. The Federal Government at it's best!). 

We hope she will have her interview within the next few months. After that, she can purchase the Visas and plane tickets and finally come here. We will finally be together again, but this time neither of us will have to leave again. Here is a photo we took on my last day in Russia.

And now the moment we've been waiting for....

Finally, after over a year and a half of since the day we met and over 3000 pages of written correspondence between us. We waited 6 months and 2 days from the day our petition was received by the USCIS for any information from them. The letter I sent to my senator and congressman seemed to work and our voices were finally heard.
Today, as I spent my lunch hour talking with Anna, my Senator's office called me and told me they had good news regarding our petition. They informed me they received an email from the USCIS informing them that our petition was approved yesterday.
It is interesting that my Senator's office called me with the good news long before I heard the good news from the USCIS. Today after I returned home from work I waited for nearly 2 hours, At precisely 6:30 P.M. I finally received the official notification from the USCIS in an email message.
I cannot begin to describe how happy both Anna and I were to hear the news. Finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we can begin to plan our lives together.
Perhaps it takes an act of Congress and a fax from a Senator to finally get action from this organization or perhaps we were just getting impatient and if we waited they would have approved it anyway. I don't know which is true. I have my theory, but you can be the judge.
This is the email I received today:

***************************************
*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: ************

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity

On April 24, 2013, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State.  For denied applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include the processing of an appeal and/or motions to reopen or reconsider and revocations.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov under Check Processing Times.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
*******************************************

While Anna and I are pleased to hear the good news, we feel sorry for the many other couples continue to wait for any information pertaining to the case. In fact there are people still waiting after filing their petition in July of last year.
I hope the investigation continues into this organization because I think it needs to become more organized and make some improvements. Today I read a message on a forum by someone saying that they never thought they would ever find a government organization that was even worse than the DMV. I tend to agree.
Immigration reform is long overdue.

A letter to my congressman and senator.

Both Anna and I have been very frustrated with this process that seems to go on indefinitely for us while many other people who filed after us are getting approved. I tried calling the USCIS and was unable to get anywhere with them. So tonight, I decided to write letters to one of my state congressman and my state senator.
Here is the letter I sent to them.

Dear ______________,

I am writing you today because I am among thousands of other frustrated U.S. Citizens who are customers of The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Among the many other U.S. Citizens, I submitted a petition I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiancé) along with the $340.00 fee they charge for this "service".  My petition was received by the USCIS on October 22, 2012 and was subsequently transferred to the California Service Center (CSC).  At that time the USCIS advertised a 5 month average decision on petitions of this nature.

After waiting for a period of 5 months, I decided to call the USCIS to determine the status of our petition. They were unable or unwilling to give me any information on the status of our specific case and I was informed that the expected processing time had increased to 7.5 months.  Meanwhile  the CSC has advertised on its website for over four months that it has been processing petitions that it received on July 18, 2012(It is still the date they advertise today).

At the same time the Vermont Service Center (VSC) is processing these applications within 5 months. In fact many people are indicating that their petition that was filed after ours has already been approved. This is frustrating to say the least. We had no choice as to which center processed our petition.

My fiancé and I have spent many hours on the internet researching this issue and have discovered many forums that may indicate that the CSC has ceased processing I-129F petitions to focus on the "Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process(DACA)" which was implemented due to an executive order given by President Barrack Obama. You can read more information here regarding this issue http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/421247-i-129f-delay-at-the-csc-a-comprehensive-analysis-of-the-data/.

Today I checked the average processing time for the I-821D (DACA) petition and it appears to be 6 months for CSC to reach a decision on this petition. Keep in mind this petition has existed for less than a year.

This could explain why the California Service Center has slowed down, if not ceased processing the I-129F petitions. While I have no problems with the DACA program in particular, I do have a problem with it taking precedence over other petitions. It appears that the CSC has been overwhelmed with these new applications for the I-821D petition (Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and has been unable to process the I-129F petitions.

While that may be a problem, it appears the agency has another problem. Today my Fiancé showed me a forum entry that was posted yesterday by someone that claimed their I-129F petition that was submitted in December was approved yesterday by the CSC after only 4 months and 1 day. Here is a link to the forum topic she showed me http://www.zaokeanom.com/forum/topic7887-180.html. The forum is written in Russian, but the message was translated as  “We received our NOA2 yesterday! I cannot believe we ended up waiting for only 4 months and 1 day!” “Be patient everyone and GOOD LUCK!! California worked well last week”

Today, I decided to contact the USCIS to ask them why someone who filed in December was approved before someone who filed in October. They could not answer the question and told me the average time has increased to 9 months for the CSC. So, it seems the CSC of the USCIS is not only favoring the I-821D petition. It may also be favoring people that may have deeper pockets than me or I need to find someone out there that can expedite the process, which I believe is a crime. Honestly, I don't know what is causing this delay but I am afraid I will call in 30 days and learn the average time has increased to 12 months.

I am not the only one who is frustrated with this situation. It appears that someone has even submitted a petition to the white house to intervene in this apparent rogue government organization.  You can view the petition at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/expedite-processing-i129f-petitions-meet-current-government-processing-goals-5-months/rp6yP4Jw

I know you are very busy but I hope you will find some time in your schedule to research this problem.

If necessary, I can provide you with my case number.

Thank you so much for your consideration.

Respectfully,
Bryan

Immigration reform is here. U.S. citizens to the back of the line and Illegal Aliens to the Front!

According to various sources it seems that USCIS has intentionally placed all I-129F petitions for K-1 Fiancé Visas on hold in the California Service Center("CSC") to comply with an executive order that was given by King-President Obama. This order resulted in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) and was implemented by the Secretary of the Department Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
You can read more information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_Action_for_Childhood_Arrivals. Essentially the DACA was created as a method for children of Illegal Aliens to apply for visas and give them a pathway to citizenship.
This resulted in the CSC’s acceptance of a new type of application called the I-821D Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (herein after “DACA” applications).
After the California Service Center(CSC) was given the responsibility to process these new petitions, they chose to cease all processing of the I-129F petitions for not only the K-1 Visas which are Fiance visas. They also had to cease processing of the I-129F Petitions for the K-2 Visa which is for a spouse living abroad to devote all their resources to I-821D petitions.
In turn thousands of couples, including married couples have been put to the back of the line since July 18 applications which the USCIS has proudly advertised on their website for 4 months as the current processing date for K-1 and K-2 petitions. But while we are still waiting for them to process applications from July 19th of 2012, the CSC is processing August and Septembers applications for DACA.
It seems petitions requested by a U.S. Citizen are of lower priority than those requested by non-citizens of the U.S.. You can read more on this subject at http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/421247-i-129f-delay-at-the-csc-a-comprehensive-analysis-of-the-data/.
It is of my understanding that according to U.S. Law, all petitions for Visas are supposed to be processed in the order they are received but unfortunately this is not the reality. While Anna and I, among thousands of other couples wait for an indefinite period of time, the USCIS processes thousands of visas that were received after ours was received.
Fortunately there are others that are getting very frustrated with this process and they have started to petition the White House on this matter.
While I am not against children who were brought here illegally to have an opportunity to apply for citizenship, I cannot understand why our government gives them priority over United States Citizens who have been patiently waiting in line.
You can find the petition here https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/expedite-processing-i129f-petitions-meet-current-government-processing-goals-5-months/rp6yP4Jw.
Please sign the petition and help get the process moving again.

How long can this process continue? Forever?!

It seems like this process will last forever with the California Processing center that we were unfortunately forced to go with.
When I first heard that our petition was being processed by the USCIS California Service Center, I was rather excited because it was supposedly the quickest in processing I-129F petitions. It was advertised that they completed the process within less than 6 months.
Our petition was received on October 22, 2012.
Unfortunately, now it does not seems that the California is the fastest. After almost six months of waiting, the Vermont Service Center is advertising that they are currently working on October 2012 Petitions. I checked nearly two months ago that the California Center was still processing petitions that were submitted on July 18 2012. I checked last month and they had updated the information and they were processing July 18th applications. In fact this is the same day they told me they were processing when I called them two weeks ago.
Today, I checked again and they updated their website again yesterday for the 2nd month, indicating that they are still processing pettions that were submitted on July 18th.
How can it take 30 days to process petitions submitted on July 18th of last year while Vermont is processing October Petitions?  At this rate, Anna and I can look forward to our application being approved by this time next year. You do the math. If it takes them 30 days to process petitions filed on any given day, we can expect they will process 1 day of received petitions every 30 days. So in the next month we can "hopefully" expect them to process the July 19th date.
As the vermont Center processes October petitions currently, the California Center will process ours in (92 days until October 22nd) * (30 days it takes to process a single date of received petitions) days? I think that may be another year give or take a few days.
Oh, and to make matters worse, Anna sent me a link to a forum that indicated the California Service Center may have lost or severely destroyed 48,000 petition requests due to a "plumbing problem". Click here to read it for yourself.
I used to be optimistic, but I am guessing ours is one of those that were lost or damaged. I think Anna's original estimate of 120 years is closer to my estimate.
Needless to say, we are both extremely disappointed and frustrated (among many other couples waiting). But neither one of us will give up. In fact we have considered having me apply for a visa to Russia again and we could get married while I was there and then we both would live in Russia together. Both of us agree, it does not matter where we live. The only thing that matters is that we are together in the end.