My experience
Dengdeng, I talked with the officer face to face before the Independence Day. Actually she was more friendly than any IIO in the phone. I complained that I've waited too long for my Nov. 2001 case, and my FP would be expired soon. She said she fully understood the situation and nobody likes this, but there were too much work load to clean up the backlogs. Then she found my case on her computer and told me it hasn't assigned to an officer yet. I asked why you were processing the Dec cases but my case was still untouched? She replied that they need to deal with the cases whose FP will be expired first in order to avoid a second FP. I told her my FP on May 2002 was also going to expire soon, she said she noticed that and then typed something into the computer. Then I was told my case will be put into another line which will be processed faster, probabaly before the expire date of my FP. That was my experience. However, nothing new to my case. I'm still waiting with great patience.