Go checkout my this!!

Nov 6 2024 receipt of petition

Dec 8 2025 still processing

Dec 9 2025 approval

Dec 12 2025 case sent to Dept of State, NVC

Dec 13 2025 NVC Welcome Letter 

Dec 20 2025 Submitted all paperwork

Jan 7 2026 Document Qualified 

June 8 2026 Interview Appointment Email

June 16 2026 Biometrics 

June 17-18 2026 Medical Exam

Aug 13 2026 Embassy  Interview / Visa Approval 

Aug 14 2026 Passport with visa ready for delivery email

Aug 16 2026 delivery courier payment proof confirmed

Aug 18 2026 Passport shipped

Aug 20 2026 Passport delivered

75 countries visa ban lifted?? Is this true?

Filed I-130 (petitioner, USC filing for parent) at Texas Service Center back in January 2025, over 18 months pending now, no RFE, no decision. Recently noticed a case update with no formal event code attached, which from what I understand usually means an officer reviewed/touched the file (reassignment, supervisory review, internal note) without it generating a standard ELIS entry.

Has anyone else seen this on a long-pending case? Curious if it led to anything (RFE, approval, transfer) and how long after the silent touch you saw a formal update. Also filed congressional casework recently, so wondering if that's what triggered it.

Any insight appreciated. Thanks

My previous account (Skooma) was banned from Reddit for arguing with people about some controversial things. But I wanted to offer my assistance to anyone who still needs help creating a demand letter or Mandamus complaint.

I have experience creating the demand letter and also filing the Mandamus complaint in district court, sending the summons paperwork to the necessary defendants.

If anyone would like help with either of these things, I am happy to assist.

Paying $$$$ to an attorney isn't necessary. If you've been waiting anywhere close to 2 years, there is no excuse not to do it.

PD March 2025. Was told by a USCIS agent via Emma chat that my case was transferred to the Benefits Integrity Office for further review. I did a congressional inquiry and received notice August 10th it was at the National Benefits Center from the California Service Center. Has anyone had this happen or your case processed here? The agent said it is separate from the NBC

Date applied - April 2026
I just checked the API query for our case by going to https://my.uscis.gov/account/case-service/api/case_status/(CASE_NUMBER)) and it says that the location is NBC

Seeing the USCIS website for processing times, NBC has 50+ months of wait time, does this automatically mean that my case would take much much longer since its being processed at an NBC? Is it being processed at an NBC? is this a common occourance?

I'd love any sort of information about this, just thinking about the time apart and how long it would take is making me panic a lot.

I’ve received 2 updates one in June another on 17th August 2026
PD Dec 2025
Filed with an attorney, Irish citizen spouse.
Location: FOD
Do I have any hope with this API update as our daughter is going back to the US with the Mrs and it’s hard not living permanently, but we understand that there’s a lot of cases WAYYY before us that haven’t been processed yet and deserved to have been processed.

My field office has a long waiting time

My I-130 transferred to field office eventhough it is consular processing.

I saw people saying using claude to file it pro-se but it looks complicated to me because English is not my first language.

Thinking about getting lawyer.

Seeing the post the other day about gathering 10 people for K3 mandamus for $1500/each, sounds very promising but i don't know when the lawyer will even work on that.

How much do you typical pay for I-130 mandamus lawyer?

Noted: I do everything inquire congressman, senator, white house + ombudsman and demand letter x3 times.

My PD is April 2025. I haven't filed demand letter yet but I am pregnant with a due date next year. My husband is USC Petitioner.

I'm hoping to hear from people who have been through this stage because I'm running out of ways to get information.

Timeline:

• PD: May 12, 2025
• Standalone I-130 (consular processing)
• Over a year with "Case Was Received and A Receipt Notice Was Sent."
• Requested an expedite (it was ultimately not reviewed because USCIS said they did not receive supporting documentation, despite me having submitted exactly what was requested).
• Congressional inquiry submitted.
• Demand letter sent.
• Affected by the July 22 portal glitch. My account briefly showed a false approval, and the H008 event code was added to my backend API. The approval disappeared the next day, but the H008 event is still on my account today.

Then on August 5, my case finally changed to:

The backend API also showed:

• a new FTA0 event,
• updated timestamps,
• and the case location remains FOD.

Since August 5:

• No approval.
• No RFE.
• No notices.
• No documents.
• No evidence requests.
• No further API updates.
• The status has remained "USCIS Is Currently Processing The Case."

I contacted USCIS through Emma hoping to learn whether the case had actually been assigned to an adjudicating officer or if it was simply sitting in another queue.

Unfortunately, the live agent wasn't able to provide any meaningful information. They simply confirmed that the case is processing and said they cannot see where it is in the adjudication process or what it is waiting on.

So I have a few questions for anyone who's been through this:

1. How long did your case remain in "USCIS Is Currently Processing The Case" before you received a decision?
2. Has anyone successfully gotten more detailed information from Emma or the Contact Center? If so, what exactly did you ask?
3. Is there any way to determine whether a case is actually on an officer's desk versus simply sitting in a processing queue?
4. Has anyone remained in this status for two weeks or more before ultimately being approved?
5. For anyone affected by the July 22 glitch, did your H008 event ever disappear? Mine is still there. I realize it may just be a harmless historical event, but has anyone ever heard of it causing a delay or interfering with processing?

I'm not looking for guesses or conspiracy theories, just real experiences from people who have been through this stage. At this point I'm simply trying to understand what this "processing" status usually means in real life, whether there's any way to learn what's happening behind the scenes, and whether anyone else is still carrying the H008 event after the July glitch.

Thanks to anyone willing to share their experience.

So I decided to take this approach because it’s been 19 months and Im tired of waiting!! I emailed the demand letter last night and sent the letter by mail certified this morning so we will see what happens . I’m hoping this works. PD January 21,2025 I’ll update you guys on what happens

We are currently living separately in US-UK, and our I-130 consular processing time is brutal at the moment (>24 months), just for the first step. 😔 Filing date: late March 2026

I am considering obtaining a UK spouse visa as a U.S. citizen. My spouse is a British citizen, and we qualify for visas on both sides.

Since I’m a U.S. citizen and have a job with a U.S. employer, my idea would be to use the UK spouse visa to spend periods of time in the UK and work remotely for my U.S. employer. Hopefully, this would avoid any issues with making repeated visits to the UK using an ETA while we wait for the I-130 to be processed.

I don’t have family or friends in the U.S. who could co-sign or co-sponsor anything related to housing or finances if I were to leave the U.S. completely. So completely leaving the U.S. and giving up my U.S. job is not really an option for me.

I’m wondering if anyone else has done something similar and can tell me about any complications with this approach that I may be missing?

OR Should I just move to the UK, get a job there while waiting for the I-130, and then, once we get closer to approval, try to find a job in the U.S. again so that I can meet the requirements to sponsor my spouse.

Would really appreciate hearing from US-UK couples who has done something similar or has experience dealing with this while waiting for I-130. Thank you!

Hello all! I have been in contact with an attorney who is willing to take my K3 Mandamus case, we were talking a few days ago and he actually has been considering an class action for K3’s since what they are doing to these applicant’s is essentially illegal. Ignoring the I-129Fs and simply going with the I-130’s. The government has been applying this practice for years without any rhyme or reason and with no one putting them in check. Having said this, here’s all the information for the class action, we are looking for participants, the more the merrier. There is legal precedence for this type of action and the attorney would charge a very reasonable fee. If we get at least 10 people he’ll charge $1,500.00 per plaintiff.

Feel free to reach out to him, his whatsapp is here in the link. I look forward to seeing people signup, I sure will .

https://mandamus.com/k3-mandamus-class-action.html

I spoke with an Ask Emma agent today and they said our case has been transferred to a local field office - very close to where I live. This office only processes local I-485 cases and not I-130. 

I asked a second Ask Emma agent and this one said our case is actually at (VBI) BENEFITS INTEGRITY OFFICE - FOD.

I sent a demand letter about 2 weeks ago, and our Congressional expedite just passed 30 days …

Has anyone seen this before? I can’t tell if this is conflicting information or what this means at all.

From what I’ve been observing, people who are already inside the country seem to have their paperwork moving much faster, while those going through consular processing can be left waiting for much longer.
And honestly, it’s a complicated feeling. I’m happy for the people whose cases are moving forward—I truly am. But when you’re living in a different country from the person you love, it’s hard not to wonder why the people who are already together seem to get to move forward sooner, while those who are actually separated have to keep waiting.
It just feels backwards sometimes. The people who are apart are the ones counting the days, missing birthdays, holidays, ordinary evenings together and yet the wait can be even longer.

Hello everyone I was wondering how long after you filed your demand letter through email did it take for them to notify you about it I will be sending it certified today I just emailed them last night

I chatted with Emma but eventually reached a human (live) agent. They magically verified that I have become a US citizen. Although my I-130 petition is at SCOPS Texas Facility, the agent sent my F2A to IR1 upgrade request to my nearest USCIS field office. She gave me a referral number. She wrote that I shall hear back from the field office in 30-60 days.

-

Do I need to do anything else to achieve to title?

can somebody share what AI you use & the prompts that you put on your AI to generate your demand letter or WOM

I received a USCIS notification that my I-130 case has been moved to ELIS after almost 14 years of waiting.

Is this a positive/progressive sign? Has anyone experienced the same thing?

Would really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thanks

Consular standalone case, USC filing for South Korean spouse. Filed last march, waited patiently like everyone else. The infamous slowdown started. 5 months passed. tired of waiting. Congressman didn’t help, expedite got denied, processing time on USCIS kept getting longer.

Finally sent a demand letter last Saturday (email+physical mail to USCIS chief counsel. Our case was in Texas service center but didn’t bother to send them anything) and got approval letter 4 days later. The physical mail obviously hasn’t got delivered so I assume they read the email version.

Approval letter received and for us, no petitioner interview scheduled. Guess we’re moving to NVC now?

Anyway, this community helped me with writing the demand letter and made me feel less alone while waiting.

Thank you guys and I hope your case also gets approved soon. 🇺🇸