When to file i-129f-confused by timeline discrepancy between CSC and TSC

[aka586 1]

My fiancé and I have been working to finish our i-129f materials for a K1 visa so we can send them soon. However, I just saw that the CSC is processing the petitions very quickly right now and we are now worried that it might be too fast for when we have planned to have our wedding.

I am from Ohio and read in the forums that Ohio petitions get sent to the CSC. Is it correct that petitions get sent to one or the other based on state and not chance or to balance things out? I am skeptical of the forum that says that because in looking at the statistics, I have seen some Ohio and other state petitions in Texas that supposedly should go to California.

The timeline for Texas is closer to the timeline we considered when deciding we should send in our application in very soon. We are planning for a wedding for August 1, 2015 and my fiancé is planning to visit me in Ohio for a few weeks at Christmas this year. That being said, we need to have his visa approved after his trip at Christmas.

Any advice on when we should actually file our petition? We are kind of worried that things will move too quickly if we file too soon. At the same time, if there is some chance that our petition would be sent to Texas instead of California, waiting too long to send the petition could mean that it won’t be approved quickly enough. My fiancé is from Austria, if that is helpful to know. If we happened to get to packet 3 from the embassy in Vienna too soon, is it possible to delay a bit before the interview is scheduled so that the interview would be early 2015?

Thank you for any advice you have!

[Cori and Rob 55]

It's true that some petitions go to TSC and others to CSC. It does depend on your geographical location, although I'm not sure which way Ohio apps go. Something you need to keep in mind is the NOA1 stage to the NOA 2 stage is only part of the process. Your application, once it is approved, will need to go through the NVC, then your fiancé will need to have a medical exam and an interview. Depending on your consulate, that could tag on a few months. Without knowing how fast you guys will be processed, it is hard to say if it will be close to your wedding or not. Have you considered applying for the K-1 now, then having your fiancé come here when everything is approved, and you have a civil ceremony to fulfill the K-1 requirements? You could still have your wedding. That's what my hubby and I did, and now we get to celebrate two anniversaries! Alternatively, you could scrap the idea of the K-1 and just marry in August of next year, then file for a spousal visa. Give it some thought!

Edited July 29, 2014 by Cori and Rob

[kehills 217]

Also keep in mind that you can delay the Consulate. Typically you have four months from when they get the file to either interview or abandon the petition (I believe - someone check me if I'm wrong). In our case, my then-fiancé needed to come here for Christmas for job interviews and oh, meeting my family and such, but return to Australia for a research fellowship in January of this year. The Consulate wanted him to have his interview by mid-November, which really would have screwed everything up. So, he wrote up a polite letter asking for permission to extend for another four months because he needed to travel to the US over the Christmas holidays for [conference] and family, and return to Australia for said fellowship. The Consulate said sure, had me file another notarized affidavit of intent to marry, and all was good.

The thing is, though, just because TSC is slow right now doesn't mean people should count on it always being slow. We were processed through TSC last year - it took two weeks, after we were transferred there. Vermont was still processing the paperwork at the time, and they were horribly backed up; we got lucky and we were in one of the first batches transferred. And then BOOM, everything went really fast. So you absolutely should NOT plan a big floofy full affair legal and party wedding based on estimated timelines. There's no way to guarantee how long it will take; there's no way to really even guess. No one knows if you'll get RFEs, if you'll sit in AP for three months, or if the global system to process VISAs will crash.

So if you're wedded (heh) to a specific date for your wedding, you should probably plan it far enough out that your fiance can immigrate here and you can have a court "getting legal" ceremony to fulfill the K-1 requirements.

[JenDave3121 30]

I would discourage doing a K3 or spousal visa because I have heard of many stories where it took over a year to get the spouse to the US! I would start the k1 now and if things move quickly you can always delay the interview and I believe you have a few months to use the visa but once he enters the US you have 90 days! If for some reason you can't delay and he gets here early just have a civil ceremony to meet requirements and the big wedding in August! I think you will be much happier not having to stress over timelines and give yourself plenty of room for potential delays!

[Sweetmelissa 82]

I would file now or as soon as you can. There is SOOO much uncertainty and randomness in this process. Besides, it is only as quick as you wish it to be after your petition is approved - my NOA2 came a month after we filed, but I didn't do my medical/interview for another 5 months because of work and other things, and I will be moving next month. We planned on our process taking 8+ months and have stuck to our original timeline. And after the visa is issued (well after the medical technically) you have another 6 months to activate it.

So personally I would ere on the side of caution and get er done!

Edited July 29, 2014 by Sweetmelissa

[bunnygirl 86]

Even if you were sent to CSC, it will take a few months after that to actually get the visa. The visa will be valid for 6 months from the date of the medical and then you have 90 days to get married once he's in the US. So there's plenty of time built in there for you to make your wedding date. Plus you can always stall things at the Embassy (don't submit your DS160 too soon etc) if you need to slow things down.

Also, I know CSC are speeding through applications right now but there's no guarantee this will continue, it seems to go in cycles. I'm sure at some point TSC will speed up and CSC will probably slow down again.

My advice would be to submit asap. There's plenty of latitude you can build into this process if you need to.

[Mike&Lin 39]

Keep in mind that nothing is certain in this process and you could run also run into an unexpected delay that pushes you past your intended wedding date. It has been stated many times here, don't make any firm plans (no deposits, no invitations, etc) until the visa has been issued.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

Ohio is CSC

[CowBoE 429]

File ASAP but keep the wedding date flexible.

You will lose many nights of sleep if you think you can correctly time the visa approval.

You are the only post that I saw so far that worried about fast processing...

That's the dream for rest of us. :-)