So, What Next?

Once the CSC has approved a case and issued their NOA2 (they call it an I-797), they forward that case to the NVC, the National Visa Center, in New Hampshire.

We should hear from them within three weeks of getting our NOA2. Whether that's three weeks after the NOA2 date (March 4th) or three weeks after Foofer received the I-797 through the mail (March 19th) - I'm not sure. I am sure that using the word "mail" instead of "post" will take some getting used to.

So, for the moment, we await news from Portsmouth, NH.

NOA2!!!

YAY

Foof received a letter today - we have our NOA2 (issued on the 4th of March 2009)

wow - that was fast

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").

Averages...

I can't recommend the website visajourney.com enough, we've linked to it a few times before in this blog but I wanted to point out what a great resource it is. There you'll find advice, useful checklists and even shortcuts. One of the things that you get drawn to are the timelines.

• Out of 483 "CR-1"s, the average time to get an interview is 400 days.
• The average number of days to get your NOA1 is 37 days
• The average processing time between the NOA1 and NOA2 is 135 days
• The average time between your NOA2 and your interview is 208 days
  (as of the 23rd of January 2009)
  

Pretty grim reading at first, but I decided to try to look on the sunny side.

These stats are for the last few years, for both the Vermont and California centres and include all attempts at visas - the ones where the forms were botched, the ones where people have "special circumstances", the ones that got lost in the mail etc...

They have a huge amount of data that you can just wander through: I looked at all of the people processed via California who are having CR-1 interviews next month - the numbers vary (with no obvious correlation to country) from a 493 day process (from I-130 to interview) down to a less scary 233 days.

None were from the UK so I checked out my fellow Brits. The most recent wait times were: 363, 157, 281, 388, 252, 193, 201, 425, 489 and 342 days from posting the I-130 to getting an interview. The ones in italics have yet to receive a visa. The average of the other eight is 309 days (which would put my interview twelve days after Bonfire Night). Of course, checking the facts behind the numbers show that one of these applications was lost for four and a half months so, hopefully, my interview will be sooner.

Of course, playing with numbers on this site only gives you a rough idea of what's in store - and we have no real idea what's going to happen in our particular case but looking at these numbers makes me feel like I'm doing something and not just sitting waiting...

ACROvation

I thought I'd take a little break here, grab a soda (see, I'm picking up the lingo already), and address something that's caught my attention.

We know that the main I-130 processing may take a long time but we're trying to be patient and prepare for what's to come.

Most things can be prepared in advance and there are various certificates to get ready for the upcoming forms but at least one is only valid for six months.

This is the "Police Certificate". As this is are a paper certificate to state that you have no criminal record it is, by definition, out of date the moment it's issued. In other countries, this doesn't seem to be an issue - in the UK, surprise surprise, it's different. This quote from the ACRO (ACPO* Criminal Records Office) form itself makes a great point: "Embassies or High Commissions will usually require you to produce a Police Certificate, which has been issued less than six (6) months before your visa interview."

This is actually quite tricky. The average waiting time for the interview (in London) from the moment you get your NOA2 (The second Notice of Approval that your I-130 generates) is currently 200 days (according to this site). But I have to send the police certificate to the NVC (National Visa Center (in the US)) as evidence with my DS-230 form. This means that my certificate stands a chance of being out of date by the time I go for my interview.

Which is why I can't get one now - I'm just going to have to play a waiting game...

(as they're only £35 I really don't mind shelling out for a second one just before the interview if that's all that's needed to get me to my wife...)



*Yes, the "A" in ACRO is, itself, an acronym. It stands for the "Association of Chief Police Officers". I know, I know...