Petition approval times inconsistencies

[donmerlin 0]

I submit my I-129F petition last year, and received the receipt notice on Oct 19th (which I believe is referred to as NOA1 on this board). My case status still shows "Pending" on the USCIS website, and the last time I checked for processing dates at the California Service Center, it showed Aug 2007 for the I-129F (which would indicate that they would not start working on my petition for another 2 months). Recently, however, my fiancee talked to her friend who is also waiting for her K1 visa. They received their NOA1 in Nov 2007, and their I-129F has already been approved (NOA2). They did not do anything to expedite the process, so I'm just curious if anyone understands the factors that cause inconsistencies in processing times. When I call the USCIS, they tell me that the petitions are processed in order.

During the petition approval process, are they doing background checks on just me (the US citizen / petitioner), or on both me and my fiancee? I'm trying to get a grasp as to what effects the processing time, especially since my fiancee got a little upset when she found out her friend's petition was approved so fast (happy for her friend, but like me, she feels like our future hangs in the balance as we wait for the USCIS to approve the petition).

Also, I've heard that sometimes the petitioner must go for an interview before the petition is approved, and sometimes no interview is required. What factors are involved in this requirement? I'm worried because I have a trip planned to be with my fiancee in May, and that might actually coincide with a possible interview. If an interview is required, is it set by the USCIS, or do I get to choose the date?

Thank you!

[HKcouple 0]

There should only be a petition for your fiance/fiancee. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

CSC usually takes longer and hang in there.

I notice you're petitioning for someone in China. Check out the website below for more information.

http://candleforlove.com/

[Meridien 0]

Welcome to VisaJourney! You're in the right place if you have questions about K-1 visas.

As far as processing times goes, unfortunately there is a great deal of variation. Currently, people who filed at California are taking longer than those who filed at Vermont. Nothing we can do about that, it's just the way it is at the moment. If you check out the Immigration Timelines section you can search for other people who filed around the same time as you to get an idea of how long it's taking. If you filed in October, you should be getting an approval soon, there are currently working on Sep-Oct filers at CSC. Of course, there's no guarantees, some people's applications just take longer than others, we don't really know why.

As far as I know, the petitioner (the US citizen) is never required to go for an interview - however your fiancee definitely will be having an interview in her home country. So there's no danger that you will be called in for an interview.

Good luck with the rest of your journey!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

We can never be entirely sure of the reasons, but reading through the thread posted by a former USCIS worker, it would seem that there are at least a couple things that can have an effect on the speed of your approval. One is if your name is very common or shared with that of a criminal - it can take longer to clear a name-check. Another factor is the different speeds at which the individual workers work - some are simply able to clear more petitions in a day than others (although technically this shouldn't make a real difference).

I've never heard of a case where an interview wasn't required...

[BigCityDave 0]

Your fiance's friend probably sent the petition to the VSC making it faster for reasons unknown.

[Roy99 0]

I submit my I-129F petition last year, and received the receipt notice on Oct 19th (which I believe is referred to as NOA1 on this board). My case status still shows "Pending" on the USCIS website, and the last time I checked for processing dates at the California Service Center, it showed Aug 2007 for the I-129F (which would indicate that they would not start working on my petition for another 2 months). Recently, however, my fiancee talked to her friend who is also waiting for her K1 visa. They received their NOA1 in Nov 2007, and their I-129F has already been approved (NOA2). They did not do anything to expedite the process, so I'm just curious if anyone understands the factors that cause inconsistencies in processing times. When I call the USCIS, they tell me that the petitions are processed in order.

During the petition approval process, are they doing background checks on just me (the US citizen / petitioner), or on both me and my fiancee? I'm trying to get a grasp as to what effects the processing time, especially since my fiancee got a little upset when she found out her friend's petition was approved so fast (happy for her friend, but like me, she feels like our future hangs in the balance as we wait for the USCIS to approve the petition).

Also, I've heard that sometimes the petitioner must go for an interview before the petition is approved, and sometimes no interview is required. What factors are involved in this requirement? I'm worried because I have a trip planned to be with my fiancee in May, and that might actually coincide with a possible interview. If an interview is required, is it set by the USCIS, or do I get to choose the date?

Thank you!

[Roy99 0]

Hey do not worry about the time you seen on the site when they received it that will stay that way until it is approved. Do not follow the date on the service center mine said August 07 too but I got approved febuary 29. So do not freak out yet. I called so many times and got no answers from them I am sure you will see an update soon. You can creat an account and you will see your case number. They will send you an e-mail when they approve it and you can check to see if your case was updated since they recieved it. I hope you read this because I went through the same worries too but everything is moving on to the next step

Edited March 3, 2008 by Roy99

[donmerlin 0]

Your fiance's friend probably sent the petition to the VSC making it faster for reasons unknown.

They definitely used the CSC. However, I have seen a few others in my timeline also get their NOA2, so maybe mine will come soon.

[donmerlin 0]

I've never heard of a case where an interview wasn't required...

I know there is an interview at the US consulate in my fiancee's country. I was referring to the US interview with USCIS for the petitioner before the petition is approved. The documentation says it is very rare to have this interview, and others hear have said they've never seen it happen, so it may be something I need not worry about. (knock on wood)

[Roy99 0]

I doubt you will have to be inteviewed but do not worry about the processing time they are not reliable anyways. Like I said I was worried about the same thing too because our paperwork said they recieved it on Nov 6th 07 and it said that until they approved it on feb 29th. I used to check the processing date and they said they were working on August 07 still even now it says that. So do not look at that. If you go to www.uscis.gov and sign in and set up e-mail your case number you will see when they udate and that means they are working on your case everytime they update it.

[donmerlin 0]

Hey do not worry about the time you seen on the site when they received it that will stay that way until it is approved. Do not follow the date on the service center mine said August 07 too but I got approved febuary 29. So do not freak out yet. I called so many times and got no answers from them I am sure you will see an update soon. You can creat an account and you will see your case number. They will send you an e-mail when they approve it and you can check to see if your case was updated since they recieved it. I hope you read this because I went through the same worries too but everything is moving on to the next step

I did create an account, and this does show the last date they worked on it (despite the status never changing). Apparently they last worked on it on 1/17/08, so it appears that it may be held up for some reason. I wish they would update the status to indicate what the hold-up is.

[payxibka 10,045]

I've never heard of a case where an interview wasn't required...

I know there is an interview at the US consulate in my fiancee's country. I was referring to the US interview with USCIS for the petitioner before the petition is approved. The documentation says it is very rare to have this interview, and others hear have said they've never seen it happen, so it may be something I need not worry about. (knock on wood)

Yes, you are worried for nothing... If I were to venture a guess, I would think that for petitions that are evidentiarilly complete, the probability of approval without interview is in excess of 99.9999999999999%