Dumb question, maybe, but I am asking it anyway.

[hurriya 0]

I keep seeing all of these posts comparing the two as well as persons asking which others have done and which they suggest. But I cannot, for the life of me, understand why one would complete and file BOTH. I see timelines stating dates when they have sumitted each separately. Is there a particular reason, other than the competitive game of "which gets done first?" Are these people loaded with cash and enjoy playing gambling games or what?

Someone enlighten me, please?

[notime4haterz 0]

The I-129F or K-3, whichever you want to call it...was created so that people could bring their spouses sooner. As you may already know, the I-130/CR-1 takes several months to approve and several more months to process. So they made the K-3 visa an option so that your spouse can come sooner while you're waiting for the I-130 to process. However, as the trend has been for the last year, they have been approving them at the same time. So really, the I-129F or the K-3 visa are useless.

[pushbrk 13,065]

I keep seeing all of these posts comparing the two as well as persons asking which others have done and which they suggest. But I cannot, for the life of me, understand why one would complete and file BOTH. I see timelines stating dates when they have sumitted each separately. Is there a particular reason, other than the competitive game of "which gets done first?" Are these people loaded with cash and enjoy playing gambling games or what?

Someone enlighten me, please?

The I-129F when filed for spouse, has no fee. Yes, the old reason was to use the K3 visa path to reunite with the foreign fast considerably sooner so we took whichever won the race. Back in 2005 when I first filed, the petitions were processed at separate service centers, totally independent of each other. However, USCIS's change of policy in November, 2006 changed most of that, and a speedier NVC process took care of nearly all the rest of the potential time savings. Now the two petitions are processed together on the same desk. The site admin has committed to swapping option 1 and 2 for married people so the CR1/IR1 process is option 1 but hasn't done it yet.

[Mononoke28 135]

A few years ago CR1/IR1 visas took years to get approved so the K3 was created so USC's can bring over their spouses faster. CR1/IR1 visas don't take that long anymore to get approved, in fact in some cases they take even less time than a K3, so in my opinion K3 visas are a waste of money and total pain in the neck to deal with after the beneficiary arrives in the US.

Diana

[hurriya 0]

I get all of that, but the question is still WHY ARE PEOPLE APPLYING FOR BOTH!

[lucyrich 20]

I get all of that, but the question is still WHY ARE PEOPLE APPLYING FOR BOTH!

You can't apply for a K-3 without also filing the I-130.

The choices for a married couple are, file only the I-130, or file the I-130 plus the I-129F.

Since the I-130 has to be filed in either case, and the I-129F has no extra fee, why would anyone neglect filing the I-129F? It might offer a shortcut to getting together, particularly if the I-130 somehow gets stalled.

I agree that it usually offers little or no benefit, and the whole adjustment of status thing is a hassle. But you never know when the processing times are going to change radically, so it may be useful to keep options open.

Stepping back a bit, the whole K-3 process is crazy and a symptom of what's been wrong with our immigration bureaucracy. When the I-130s were taking 5+ years to be approved, and spouses were complaining to congress about the multi-year wait times for a spouse, compared to a few months for a fiancee, the government reacted to the problem. But instead of speeding up the processing of spousal I-130s, they decided to double the amount of paperwork for both the government and for the poor immigrants, and invent a new form and new visa type that allowed spouses to come into the US to await the processing of their I-130s.

[Y's_habibitk 2]

I get all of that, but the question is still WHY ARE PEOPLE APPLYING FOR BOTH!

the ? was already answered really.

before this past year, the k3 WAS the faster route to reunion. So, people wanting to be with their spouses ASAP, filed for the k3(both petitions).

People who are just starting out and filing the k3's probably are still operating under the assumption that its much faster in the long run. it can be if you are lucky and get to have it adjudicated at CSC and depending on the consulate oh ya, and luck

I get all of that, but the question is still WHY ARE PEOPLE APPLYING FOR BOTH!

You can't apply for a K-3 without also filing the I-130.

The choices for a married couple are, file only the I-130, or file the I-130 plus the I-129F.

Since the I-130 has to be filed in either case, and the I-129F has no extra fee, why would anyone neglect filing the I-129F? It might offer a shortcut to getting together, particularly if the I-130 somehow gets stalled.

I agree that it usually offers little or no benefit, and the whole adjustment of status thing is a hassle. But you never know when the processing times are going to change radically, so it may be useful to keep options open.

this bolded staetment is SO true and a very good point also

[pushbrk 13,065]

I get all of that, but the question is still WHY ARE PEOPLE APPLYING FOR BOTH!

You can't apply for a K-3 without also filing the I-130.

The choices for a married couple are, file only the I-130, or file the I-130 plus the I-129F.

Since the I-130 has to be filed in either case, and the I-129F has no extra fee, why would anyone neglect filing the I-129F? It might offer a shortcut to getting together, particularly if the I-130 somehow gets stalled.

I agree that it usually offers little or no benefit, and the whole adjustment of status thing is a hassle. But you never know when the processing times are going to change radically, so it may be useful to keep options open.

Stepping back a bit, the whole K-3 process is crazy and a symptom of what's been wrong with our immigration bureaucracy. When the I-130s were taking 5+ years to be approved, and spouses were complaining to congress about the multi-year wait times for a spouse, compared to a few months for a fiancee, the government reacted to the problem. But instead of speeding up the processing of spousal I-130s, they decided to double the amount of paperwork for both the government and for the poor immigrants, and invent a new form and new visa type that allowed spouses to come into the US to await the processing of their I-130s.

Because filing the I-129F causes the already filed I-130 to be moved back in line to the place the I-129F entered the system. The benefits are small if any and filing the second petition has the potential of the opposite impact of that being sought, delay instead of speed. As long as the two petitions are processed on the same desk, changes in processing times will have no impact because both petitions will complete USCIS processing the same day.

Edited February 4, 2009 by pushbrk

[aliska 0]

I get all of that, but the question is still WHY ARE PEOPLE APPLYING FOR BOTH!

You can't apply for a K-3 without also filing the I-130.

The choices for a married couple are, file only the I-130, or file the I-130 plus the I-129F.

Since the I-130 has to be filed in either case, and the I-129F has no extra fee, why would anyone neglect filing the I-129F? It might offer a shortcut to getting together, particularly if the I-130 somehow gets stalled.

I agree that it usually offers little or no benefit, and the whole adjustment of status thing is a hassle. But you never know when the processing times are going to change radically, so it may be useful to keep options open.

Stepping back a bit, the whole K-3 process is crazy and a symptom of what's been wrong with our immigration bureaucracy. When the I-130s were taking 5+ years to be approved, and spouses were complaining to congress about the multi-year wait times for a spouse, compared to a few months for a fiancee, the government reacted to the problem. But instead of speeding up the processing of spousal I-130s, they decided to double the amount of paperwork for both the government and for the poor immigrants, and invent a new form and new visa type that allowed spouses to come into the US to await the processing of their I-130s.

Because filing the I-129F causes the already filed I-130 to be moved back in line to the place the I-129F entered the system. The benefits are small if any and filing the second petition has the potential of the opposite impact of that being sought, delay instead of speed. As long as the two petitions are processed on the same desk, changes in processing times will have no impact because both petitions will complete USCIS processing the same day.

Hi, I'm new here. Well, this last message is very upsetting to me. If it is really true that submitting the I-129F knocks your "combined" case back to the new I-129F notice date, it means that my process has just been delayed by more than 2 months!!! I suppose if I had (like most people) submitted the I-129F immediately after receiving the NOA1 for the I130 it wouldn't have been that big a deal, but we spent some time debating whether or not to send the I-129F because it meant having to pay for several certified translations of documents AGAIN, etc... now, after we finally decided it was worth it (just in case) I see this information. How disheartening. Just when you think you're doing everything you can to make things happen ASAP, you shoot yourself in the foot...

I HOPE that it is not actually their routine procedure at USCIS. OK, waiting for a positive response, please

[couple0426 0]

Hi guys,

Im also confused with this...I am the beneficiary and today I got letter from USEM that they already got my K3/I-129f application from NVC, and I can call their hotline to get interview schedule. WHat I'm going to do with this since we are going to persue CR1?? SHould i need to ignore the letter or call USEM to get interview later after CR1 complete?/ Advice me plss..thanks in advance

[pushbrk 13,065]

I get all of that, but the question is still WHY ARE PEOPLE APPLYING FOR BOTH!

You can't apply for a K-3 without also filing the I-130.

The choices for a married couple are, file only the I-130, or file the I-130 plus the I-129F.

Since the I-130 has to be filed in either case, and the I-129F has no extra fee, why would anyone neglect filing the I-129F? It might offer a shortcut to getting together, particularly if the I-130 somehow gets stalled.

I agree that it usually offers little or no benefit, and the whole adjustment of status thing is a hassle. But you never know when the processing times are going to change radically, so it may be useful to keep options open.

Stepping back a bit, the whole K-3 process is crazy and a symptom of what's been wrong with our immigration bureaucracy. When the I-130s were taking 5+ years to be approved, and spouses were complaining to congress about the multi-year wait times for a spouse, compared to a few months for a fiancee, the government reacted to the problem. But instead of speeding up the processing of spousal I-130s, they decided to double the amount of paperwork for both the government and for the poor immigrants, and invent a new form and new visa type that allowed spouses to come into the US to await the processing of their I-130s.

Because filing the I-129F causes the already filed I-130 to be moved back in line to the place the I-129F entered the system. The benefits are small if any and filing the second petition has the potential of the opposite impact of that being sought, delay instead of speed. As long as the two petitions are processed on the same desk, changes in processing times will have no impact because both petitions will complete USCIS processing the same day.

Hi, I'm new here. Well, this last message is very upsetting to me. If it is really true that submitting the I-129F knocks your "combined" case back to the new I-129F notice date, it means that my process has just been delayed by more than 2 months!!! I suppose if I had (like most people) submitted the I-129F immediately after receiving the NOA1 for the I130 it wouldn't have been that big a deal, but we spent some time debating whether or not to send the I-129F because it meant having to pay for several certified translations of documents AGAIN, etc... now, after we finally decided it was worth it (just in case) I see this information. How disheartening. Just when you think you're doing everything you can to make things happen ASAP, you shoot yourself in the foot...

I HOPE that it is not actually their routine procedure at USCIS. OK, waiting for a positive response, please

Yes, I'm positive that's been the procedure since November, 2006. The exception is when there's too long a gap in filing dates for the I-130 to be located before it's approved. Then they send the I-129f back to you. You could hope for that but two months wouldn't be a big enough gap anytime in the last couple years.

Hi guys,

Im also confused with this...I am the beneficiary and today I got letter from USEM that they already got my K3/I-129f application from NVC, and I can call their hotline to get interview schedule. WHat I'm going to do with this since we are going to persue CR1?? SHould i need to ignore the letter or call USEM to get interview later after CR1 complete?/ Advice me plss..thanks in advance

Yes, you may ignore all correspondence on the K3 if you wish. On the other hand if you schedule a K3 interview and the CR1 case file arrives before the interview date, your interview would be for the CR1 instead, so make sure you get the vaccinations and are prepared for a CR1 interview.