I-129F

[wmhurd 0]

Hello all

Can anyone on here tell me what is involved with the processing of the I-129F I mean what is it that the INS do on the pettitioner's end to confirm if you are either approved or disapproved.

Edited March 6, 2006 by wmhurd

[Yodrak 7]

wmhurd,

Excellent question.

A few things we know for sure

- they confirm that the petitioner is a US citizen,

- they run both the petitioner's and beneficiary's names through IBIS to see what pops up, and

- they consider the evidence submitted to see if it seems reasonable the the petitioner and beneficiary have a fiance-fiancee (or spousal) relationship and meet the requirements of the INA to apply for a K visa.

Yodrak

Hello all

Can anyone on here tell me what is involved with the processing of the I-129F I mean what is it that the INS do on the pettitioner's end to confirm if you are either approved or disapproved.

[lucyrich 20]

I don't know if anyone can tell you exactly what they do. They seem to reserve the right to investigate further if they uncover anything suspicious, and the precise meaning of "investigate further" and "suspicious" are a bit difficult to decipher.

First, they take care of the money. As soon as they get your petition, a clerk checks to see that you've attached the right fee, and they cash your check, issue you a receipt number, and mail you NOA1. Then they put your petition on the shelf and you wait in line for ages.

Basically, they read what you presented to them, determine whether you meet the statuatory requirements, and issue a decision if it's clearly approvable or clearly ineligible for approval, or else they issue an RFE if it's not quite approvable with current evidence, but not clearly ineligible either. The statuatory requirements are fairly straightforward. Basically, you've got to have a legally valid marriage, a pending I-130, and the petitioner must be a US Citizen.

Outright disapprovals are rare. They're usually due to something blatantly wrong like a non-US Citizen filing an I-129F for a foreign spouse. RFE's are more common.

There seem to be some cursory computerized security checks to check into the immigration history of both parties. I'm not sure what's involved here. But the USCIS doesn't do a detailed check to determine all aspects of the admissiblity of the beneficiary -- that's left up to the consulate. For example, if the foreign spouse is subject to a bar on entry due to a long previous overstay, that will not hinder approval of the petition. It will cause a denial at the consulate, however.

An attorney who used to post around here and on another immigration board said that it typically took them around a half hour or so between the time they started looking at a petition and the time they issued a decision. I'm sure it varies depending on how much paper you submit with your petition and any special circumstances that arise, but it's clear that during almost the entire time you spend waiting, they're working on petitions that are ahead of you in the line.

[scy 0]

You can read this general overview of the adjudication process in the Adjudicator Field Manual.

http://uscis.gov/lpbin/lpext.dll/inserts/a...d-chapter-32-10

They redacted the section on adjudicating K visas.

[wmhurd 0]

Hey guys thank you very much for the help and the advice it really put my mind at ease. (By the way you two make a very nice looking couple)