When is too late?

[YOUTOO 2]

I was going for the K-3. The lawyer filed the I-130 in April 2007. Knowing nothing at that

time about the procedure I did not question anything. Then I found this website and noticed

that most everybody had filed their I-130 and I-129F only days, maybe a couple of weeks

at the most apart. So by the end of July I just sent a quick e-mail inquiring about status

and was told he did not yet have a receipt yet and without receipt he could not file a 129-F.

The same in August, then I suggested he might try to find out what happened. He answered,

he was praying to hear something any day, it's normal. Well, nothing happened until on

Sept 6 the I-130 was approved. He said, this came as a big surprise but now, he says, with

the receipt number he filed for the I-129F. I feel I lost very valuable time, especially now

that we are in this K-3 dilemma. Had he inquired earlier, I might be done by now. My question,

should he or could he have found out earlier if USCIS had received the I-130? Is it normal

not to find out? He says many times the K-3 is filed long after the I-130 has been approved.

I feel he did a lousy job and withhold money for his unsatisfactory services. Do I have a leg

to stand on? I am looking forward to reading your constructive comments.

[N360 0]

The K3 visa is part of the LIFE act and is available to spouses of US citizens with a pending immigrant petition. If the I-130 was approved, it was too late to file your I-129F.

Most likely your I-129F application would be rejected

Edited March 2, 2008 by NoelandTintin

[YOUTOO 2]

I realize that, so I am going IR-1/CR-1 now. What I am trying to find out if it is normal

to just sit back and do nothing, if one does not get a receipt for the I-130. Should he

not have made inquiries? Because he obviously didn't I lost 4 months for sure and much

more now since I basically start anew.

[N360 0]

Your I-130 was approved a while back. Did you received a hard copy of your NOA2?

If so what does it say? DId it say that they forwarded your case to NVC?

[vbtbmrt 2]

well if 130 was approved in sept/ you should be through the nvc already has he even started this process for cr/ir visa type your time line does not show any nvc work being done

yes it is too late for 129f 130 has been approved it will be at embassy before 129f is even out of uscis unless you attorney told them to hold up the 130 at this point cr-1 is a better visa anyway there taking around same amount of time

well i never got noa-1 either. had to call and call finally got one 3 months later. even by that time it was too late to file 129 f. so i just went the cr-1 route and glad i did. an attoney is only helpful if you case is complicated it doesnt speed anything up it usally slows things down

if i were you i would call uscis or nvc and find your petition and see whats happening good luck

[Enlighten one :) 5]

My layer did the same thing to me along with other things. I fired him and demanded he refund me for the K3 process I paid for and $400 off for mishandling our case. Which would have come to $1200. I ended up with $1000. I could have gotten more, but this was not my priority and I did not want to waste more energy on him as he had already wasted so much of my time.

My lawyer received the Bill from he NVC on Oct 15, did not tell us until Nov 15th. We overnighted the money to him; he did not send it until Dec 5th.

How sick is that. We would have been done the NVC process right now too. His delay was what made me revisit the K3 petition. Then I discovered that someone who was told her petitions was terminated got an unexpected approval.

I was going for the K-3. The lawyer filed the I-130 in April 2007. Knowing nothing at that

time about the procedure I did not question anything. Then I found this website and noticed

that most everybody had filed their I-130 and I-129F only days, maybe a couple of weeks

at the most apart. So by the end of July I just sent a quick e-mail inquiring about status

and was told he did not yet have a receipt yet and without receipt he could not file a 129-F.

The same in August, then I suggested he might try to find out what happened. He answered,

he was praying to hear something any day, it's normal. Well, nothing happened until on

Sept 6 the I-130 was approved. He said, this came as a big surprise but now, he says, with

the receipt number he filed for the I-129F. I feel I lost very valuable time, especially now

that we are in this K-3 dilemma. Had he inquired earlier, I might be done by now. My question,

should he or could he have found out earlier if USCIS had received the I-130? Is it normal

not to find out? He says many times the K-3 is filed long after the I-130 has been approved.

I feel he did a lousy job and withhold money for his unsatisfactory services. Do I have a leg

to stand on? I am looking forward to reading your constructive comments.

[Z and S 0]

I do not think that he could have done much more. In my case, I received the receipt for my I-130 almost four months after filing the petition. I was calling on a weekly basis, and was talking to customer service representatives as well as immigration officers. Basically, the answer was that there was nothing I could do till I got the receipt except to wait patiently. They said that there was no way for me to file I-129F, nor was there anything I could do to expedite getting the receipt, and without receipt no way to get any status information. They kept asking me to wait for 90 days, and when I called them past that, they asked me to send a letter to open inquiry. It was only later I found out that CSC was generally not receipting for four months between August and December. Thus, I do not know if it is normal for attorneys to just sit back and wait, but my personal experience says that he would not have gotten much farther even if he had made best efforts. Anyway, congratulations on your approval!!!

I realize that, so I am going IR-1/CR-1 now. What I am trying to find out if it is normal

to just sit back and do nothing, if one does not get a receipt for the I-130. Should he

not have made inquiries? Because he obviously didn't I lost 4 months for sure and much

more now since I basically start anew.

[Enlighten one :) 5]

Youtoo, have you ever logged onto the USCIS website to check the status of your petition? THis site will tell your reciept date. Then you can judge what the time frame was from NOA1 to NOA2.

IF it was you filing you would have doing anything you can to discover the Reciept number so you could file your I129f petition. Your lawyer/his assistant has 50 other cases they are worried about so some people get forgoten about if they do not recieve stuff to trigger a responce.

There is a lot you can do. Good question is your case being processed at the NVC? Lawyers are still takeing money for the k3 petition despite that the uscis has been aproving the I130 before the I129f.

HAve you figured out what your lawyer's fees are for just a marriage visa petitions versus a K3 visa. Most of the cost for the K3 visa comes after your wife arrives in the US.

My lawyer charged 1700 for premium marrige service. $2500 for the addional K3. I was refunded $1000 when I fired him. Does that help you a little?

I was going for the K-3. The lawyer filed the I-130 in April 2007. Knowing nothing at that

time about the procedure I did not question anything. Then I found this website and noticed

that most everybody had filed their I-130 and I-129F only days, maybe a couple of weeks

at the most apart. So by the end of July I just sent a quick e-mail inquiring about status

and was told he did not yet have a receipt yet and without receipt he could not file a 129-F.

The same in August, then I suggested he might try to find out what happened. He answered,

he was praying to hear something any day, it's normal. Well, nothing happened until on

Sept 6 the I-130 was approved. He said, this came as a big surprise but now, he says, with

the receipt number he filed for the I-129F. I feel I lost very valuable time, especially now

that we are in this K-3 dilemma. Had he inquired earlier, I might be done by now. My question,

should he or could he have found out earlier if USCIS had received the I-130? Is it normal

not to find out? He says many times the K-3 is filed long after the I-130 has been approved.

I feel he did a lousy job and withhold money for his unsatisfactory services. Do I have a leg

to stand on? I am looking forward to reading your constructive comments.

[YOUTOO 2]

Well, of course I could not track the I-130 process since I did not have a receipt number.

But it did take about 4 months, two weeks after approval the lawyer started the I-129F.

I have now switched to CR-1/IR-1 and am working on having my fees reduced. He wants

another $ 2000.00 but I told him that I feel he owes me a substantial discount for not

doing better on the I-130 receipt and for being unresponsive about the I-129F situation.

Plus, I think, the bulk of the work for the CR-1/IR-1 is already done. So all the info everyone

has given me is helpful to bolster my case. Let's see what happens. And, yes, I am also

thinking that the CR-1?IR-1 of course will save me the extra $ 1070.00 or so that I would

have to pay for the status adjustment after the K-3.

[YOUTOO 2]

Lurking, your I-130 was approved even before mine. If you would go ( like I do now ) CR-1/IR-1 route where is your

hold-up? At the slow Embassy or at NVC? Our I-130 approval is half the distance already or not? Switching over to the

CR-1/IR-1 then should mean pretty quick action or am I wrong?

Edited March 3, 2008 by YOUTOO

[Enlighten one :) 5]

My case is at the NVC, I am getting ready to submit the last part the affidavit of support. My husband paper work took a whole month to get here. Then it was taking me two weeks to pick it up at the post office. My lawyers package is at fed ex right now. I will go pick that up tomorrow. I am never home. I hate it when people send packages to my home and not my work.

So I am calling the USCIS and doing the RFE trick for the first time. I want to hear them tell me my case is close and ask them to send me documentation stating this information. Then I am going to ask where there policy is around this.

My I129f petition was sent in before my I130 was approved. That is the directions. I will keep you all posted.

Lurking, your I-130 was approved even before mine. If you would go ( like I do now ) CR-1/IR-1 route where is your

hold-up? At the slow Embassy or at NVC? Our I-130 approval is half the distance already or not? Switching over to the

CR-1/IR-1 then should mean pretty quick action or am I wrong?