It's quiet . . too quiet

Yes it's been quiet. We knew that this would be the longest, (and hopefully the) most frustrating part of the process. The period between NOA1 and NOA2 seems to be the longest period of inaction in the entire CR-1 journey. Foofer has been ill for the past few days and is only just getting her voice back, so contact over the weekend was minimal.

Still, I'm going over to see her in less than sixty days for a quick visit so that keeps me cheerful. I've decided, as I explained how I'm calculating the expected processing date in the previous post, to add "estimated NOA2 date" to the timeline to the right - I'll keep it updated whenever I can. Hopefully it'll keep getting closer (and I mean a lot faster than "one day closer every day").

Update (the times they are a changin')

Okay, here's a quick update of where we are. We're still waiting for the I-130 to be processed by the CSC. Fortunately visajourney.com has good news here, over on the right, under the line "I-130 for IR1/CR1 & K-3 visas" is the date of the I-130s that the CSC are currently processing (go see, I'll wait). This date is currently quite a way into the past (i.e. there is a backlog) but is skipping forward at an impressive rate. If you take the number of days between that date and today you have the current waiting time. Add that onto your NOA1 date and you have a pretty good idea of when your I-130 will be processed.

Or you would if the CSC weren't clearing the backlog so fast :-)

So I'm keeping myself busy, watching that figure change daily, getting closer and closer...

As for my choice of POE, as I've stated before I have two candidates: Las Vegas or Dublin.

• Las Vegas because that's where I'm heading, it's where Foofer is and it's where I'll apply to have my green card extended and, eventually, where I'll apply for citizenship. If I give them my paperwork there, not only will my paperwork already be in the right place but I can also step straight out of immigration/customs into my wife's arms and not worry about making a connecting flight.
• Dublin because the immigration part is done in Dublin (customs is still done in the US) so I can get everything sorted before the flight takes off. This makes catching a connection in Chicago or New York a lot easier too.
  

I've got plenty of time to make my decision but happily, looking at visajourney, it's not as much time as I thought I had...

NOA1

YAY

We have an NOA1!!!!
It's from the CSC.

(The cheque has NOT been cashed yet)

Checking

The first clue that your case is progressing (the second being the NOA1), is that the cheque you lovingly paper-clip to your I-130 gets cashed. Your case number should be written on the back of it. As we have had a three-day weekend and an inauguration since our paperwork was received at Chicago, this seems to be taking a little longer than I'd calculated. Gah!!

Also, the date of the NOA1 will be important to us as visajourney.com holds information here (on the right hand side) as to what is being currently processed. As you can see, things do not look that good at the moment. (We will (probably) be a CR-1 at the CSC (California Service Center))