7 months for a K-1? (pre-engagement thinking ahead)

[tallfrond 2]

I'm a U.S. Citizen, who's been in a relationship with a Canadian woman for some time now, and it is quite reasonable to assume that we/I will be active participants on this board in the not-too-distant future She is living near Toronto, I live near St. Paul Minnesota.

Firstly, for those of you who are in this process or have finished it already, are there things you wish you would have know/done before you were engaged?

Secondly, I am just trying to make sure I'm interpreting the data properly - wanting to understand the realistic timetables involved. If I look at the data on the statistics page, it looks to me like it will be at least 7 months from the time the K-1 application is started until she gets an interview. Is that an accurate interpretation? Knowing it might be at least that long might be a consideration that would move us towards taking certain steps sooner rather than later.

Also, do K-1 processing times tend to take longer or shorter depending on the country of the Non-US Citizen? (I.e., does her being Canadian as opposed to some other nationality have any bearing on the potential timetables involved?)

[Frenchwife 1]

I'm a U.S. Citizen, who's been in a relationship with a Canadian woman for some time now, and it is quite reasonable to assume that we/I will be active participants on this board in the not-too-distant future She is living near Toronto, I live near St. Paul Minnesota.

Firstly, for those of you who are in this process or have finished it already, are there things you wish you would have know/done before you were engaged?

Secondly, I am just trying to make sure I'm interpreting the data properly - wanting to understand the realistic timetables involved. If I look at the data on the statistics page, it looks to me like it will be at least 7 months from the time the K-1 application is started until she gets an interview. Is that an accurate interpretation? Knowing it might be at least that long might be a consideration that would move us towards taking certain steps sooner rather than later.

Also, do K-1 processing times tend to take longer or shorter depending on the country of the Non-US Citizen? (I.e., does her being Canadian as opposed to some other nationality have any bearing on the potential timetables involved?)

1) not sure, not my story

2) correct on average, maybe 8 months better proxy with common variability 3-12 months

3) more or less same vs country of non-US.

with some variability at embassy level

I think Canada it is a positive variability because they process electronically and no translation

You can look at statistics too

Variability at first step (USCIS) is big

factor is more which service center gets the petition, Vermont or California, and what is their mood / activity at that time,

Service center depends on your state, see I129F instructions

Edited August 4, 2009 by Frenchwife

[Old Dominion 26]

Six months, perhaps, or longer because of the waiting list in Montreal, which varies from time to time. Just be sure to complete all the paperwork correctly when you send it.

[Sam and Ben 2]

I'm a U.S. Citizen, who's been in a relationship with a Canadian woman for some time now, and it is quite reasonable to assume that we/I will be active participants on this board in the not-too-distant future She is living near Toronto, I live near St. Paul Minnesota.

Firstly, for those of you who are in this process or have finished it already, are there things you wish you would have know/done before you were engaged?

Secondly, I am just trying to make sure I'm interpreting the data properly - wanting to understand the realistic timetables involved. If I look at the data on the statistics page, it looks to me like it will be at least 7 months from the time the K-1 application is started until she gets an interview. Is that an accurate interpretation? Knowing it might be at least that long might be a consideration that would move us towards taking certain steps sooner rather than later.

Also, do K-1 processing times tend to take longer or shorter depending on the country of the Non-US Citizen? (I.e., does her being Canadian as opposed to some other nationality have any bearing on the potential timetables involved?)

My fiance and I are currently undergoing the process (he being the USC), and I know there's a long, possibly endless list of things we wish we would've/could do before engagement/moving. Unfortunately, even though we're only doing the US-Canada distance, there's still certainly a distance, and that makes many things that a local couple would enjoy difficult to accomplish.

Seven months seems a little shy. 8-10 would be a better bet, and all of that is dependent on where you file (VSC vs CSC). I don't have the I-129F in front of me to see who files where, but those of us at VSC do tend to play the waiting game an extra month or two than our counterparts.

Far as the longer or shorter... I think it'd be more accurate to say that some countries have more hoops than others. You will not see a five-month processing time simply because she is a Canadian (heck, I wish...). Instead, there may be less red flags, etc, than a country with a high risk of fraud, which are things which can certainly add onto the processing time. And, of course, there are still other considerations in place when it comes to timelines - did they require further evidence for something, were additional background checks required for possible criminal records, did the medical examination go smoothly... All of these will have a much greater bearing. Unfortunately, little to any of this can be planned for, outside of triple checking every piece of correspondence between you and USCIS at this point.

A great place to jump into would be the Canadian Forums here on VJ.

[NatPatBen 3]

I don't know if you can really go by country. My K1 journey is taking a lot longer than most people I know who are going through the same journey involving the same country (Jamaica). Our interview is about 9 months from when I sent off the petition.

Others who filed after me had their interview within 5 months. It varies by case.

Fortunately, my initial plans would work if our case took up to 11 months to complete, and that cushion saved me some stress.

[Kimbear 53]

it varies extremely. for me i'm bout to hit my 5 months mark, for another march filer who is also from canada, she was approved after 3 months. however interviews take longer at montreal as well, cue to the fact in canada it is the only place for cr1/k3 interviews so they have double the workload, and she has been waiting 2 months sofar for an interviewe date. 8-10 seems to look more likely to me.

[amykathleen2005 441]

So in other words any time between now and forever....... lol

As you can see there is quite a discrepancy. My best guess would be around 6 months based on the timeline statistics, etc.

[TimandJoyce 1]

yeah, definitely hard to say. Depends on the box your files get dropped into. I've noticed that every now and again, someone, and it seems like it doesn't matter from what country, gets approved so fast it makes your head spin!!

Best wishes for your journey!! I hope everything works quick for you both!

[Danu 19]

it varies extremely. for me i'm bout to hit my 5 months mark, for another march filer who is also from canada, she was approved after 3 months. however interviews take longer at montreal as well, cue to the fact in canada it is the only place for cr1/k3 interviews so they have double the workload, and she has been waiting 2 months sofar for an interviewe date. 8-10 seems to look more likely to me.

Yup that would be me. I'm at 6 months now, waiting on Montreal who is doing interviews about 2-3 months out, but the packet took awhile to get to me so I lost almost a month there too. Figuring if I'm lucky I might be done in the 7-8 month mark but thats me. For Kim, as she said shes at 5 already, still waiting on NOA2, add this time onto her getting her NOA2 hopefully this month, shes probably looking closer to 9-10 months. Being Canadian has no perks other than it being fairly easy to keep visiting during the wait, there is no preference for us at any stage, I've heard of a few Canadian couples who got stuck in AP after the interview, which added another 6 months on at the end.

Going with it being at least 7 months is a good estimate, but do prepare yourself just incase.

[Leo&Farah 0]

If you're under Vermont, a reasonable estimate would be 4-5 months for NOA2 and 2 months for the interview, so between 6-7 months if it goes fast.

If it goes slow, that's a different story. If you get put under AP that's a whole other story. If you get an RFE or they lose your stuff, that's another story. There's a lot of variables and so many things that are out of your control.

CSC seems to be 2 months ahead of VSC folks.

Things we wished we would have done before filing? Filing things faster. Kick start it off ASAP so the clock can start ticking. It's a better feeling waiting for something with a somewhat distorted deadline than not having a deadline at all.

[Ellie-and-David 38]

Make plans....sure.

But dont bet on everything going smoothly, and I wouldn't book anything. You could be throwing a deposit away.

We were lucky, despite being selected for additional processing at NVC and it still took 7 months. The length of processing varies greatly. Some here have been approved quickly and the process has taken as little as three months (very unusual). Other more unfortunate VJ-ers have been waiting for well over a year (again unusual but highlights the difference between processing times) I guess what people will be telling you on this thread is. .....

Bet on how long a piece of string is...

Then hope your one of the lucky ones who gets to see the end of the string sooner rather than later.

Good Luck, congrats on your engagement and your imminent filing!