K3 / K1 inconsistency

[Nordic Tim 95]

Is there any reasonable explanation as to why a K1 visa gets approved so quickly while going through the spouse process takes so long? A couple that has met online can be together within weeks, yet a married couple is looking at 10 to 14 months to be together.

Is there some justification for this inconsistency that I'm missing??

tim

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

No justification, just different centers processing at different rates. Issue of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Well, I suppose they know but getting it back to normal takes a while.

[Darnell 8,479]

each service center director sets a 'coverage' count on adjudicators, based on petition type.

IMO, if you study that count, you'll have an idea of when and why things get shifted around.

[Kolewenoik31 57]

Is there any reasonable explanation as to why a K1 visa gets approved so quickly while going through the spouse process takes so long? A couple that has met online can be together within weeks, yet a married couple is looking at 10 to 14 months to be together.

Is there some justification for this inconsistency that I'm missing??

tim

Op I have been sitting here thinking the same thing myself for months. I have become so frustrated even though I just submitted our CR-1. Before my husband and I was married I tried to make sense of it all. I look at it like others have posted ie, each service center approves at different rates, certain countries have natural disasters {these certain countries always have natural disasters and other never have them } , CR-1 don't have to adjust status, CR-1 get green card, LPR, and AP all at once. But guess what? None of these things really reason why our government pay more attention to K-1 petitions rather than people that are actually married. Yes we all want to be with our loved one's but...why do it backwards? I think CR-1 should be given approvals at a quicker rate to encourage family unity. I believe if there was some written policy that if things are not approved within 90 days or your money back we would see petitions flying up out of these service centers so quick it would make our heads spin. What takes TSC or any service center 6.4 months to approve with our technology? This whole process makes no sense, and just think we are paying for a service. Sorry not trying to offend anyone but I don't think it is fair to spouses and their children. Why is there a fee if you are married? The plane ticket alone is enough to cause financial hardship. Let me stop.....

Edited April 28, 2014 by Kolewenoik31

[NikLR 13,232]

IMHO it has to do with money.

K1 pay the USCIS more than CR1 and IR1 do. The faster they can get K1 here, the faster they get money.

[mdzcpa 58]

I never want to speak badly of other's good fortune, but it does certainly seem unfair that petitions for couples already married are processed far behind fiancé petitions. It also seems very disingenuous to the USCIS mantra that reuniting families is a priority. Waiting almost a year or longer to have your legal spouse enter the country is pretty outrageous.

[Nordic Tim 95]

I was almost hoping that there would be some kind of "excuse" that I was missing. Even a bad reason would be better than no reason at all. And, it would be so easy to fix, a five minute conference call with the directors of all the centers could do the trick. It's not like they have to re-invent the wheel. Everything is stored electronically anyways, why can't they just put them all in the same queue and then take them in order. Ahhh well, dwelling on it certainly doesn't help.

[sara d 2]

i too m really frustrated as coz i m also missing my spouse n it hurts when u r married n living separated not even knowing when u will get to be together

[TBoneTX 46,379]

*** Thread moved from K-3 Process forum to the USCIS Service Centers forum -- topic involves comparative rates of processing. ***

[Darnell 8,479]

Is there any reasonable explanation as to why a K1 visa gets approved so quickly while going through the spouse process takes so long? A couple that has met online can be together within weeks, yet a married couple is looking at 10 to 14 months to be together.

Is there some justification for this inconsistency that I'm missing??

tim

--I-129Fs are adjudicated with the I-130, but

--I-130s are pulled out of their place in the queue when the I-129F hits and both are put at the end of the queue and

--adjudicator counts (# of humans working on petition type) is set by the Service Center Director, per quarter, or when some shift is mandated by the President (study DACA shift, for example)

so, for the first run at a petition, there are variables to study, ultimately knowing how 'that queue' runs.

I invite you to study, this quarter, as what happened last quarter is not representative of this quarter, at all.

[Dualie 185]

IMHO it has to do with money.

K1 pay the USCIS more than CR1 and IR1 do. The faster they can get K1 here, the faster they get money.

Unfortunately, this is probably true. The whole world revolves around money.

[Nordic Tim 95]

Unfortunately, this is probably true. The whole world revolves around money.

If it was all about the money they would be approving K3s like crazy. It seems more likely that the USCIS has knee-jerk reactions based on governmental pressure. For instance, if Congress or the House or the White House suddenly sends a message that wait times for one type of application need to come down, it seems like they stop everything else to make it happen.

[Darnell 8,479]

it's not wait times that need to come down - no one has used that label, them fellas that give the directions.

Instead - they say - 'We want more adjudicators to handle xyz petition type this quarter' and the adjudicators are shifted over.

each time this happens, the queue waiting time changes.

DACA caused a big queue lag and subsequent reshuffle for I-130s .

Seriously - study queues by petition types, the counts of approvals per petition types. Higher counts, less time = more adjudicators assigned to that type from the SET pool of adjudicators, per order from each USCIS Service Center Director.

[i have spoken]

[thedude6752000 360]

--I-129Fs are adjudicated with the I-130, but

--I-130s are pulled out of their place in the queue when the I-129F hits and both are put at the end of the queue and

--adjudicator counts (# of humans working on petition type) is set by the Service Center Director, per quarter, or when some shift is mandated by the President (study DACA shift, for example)

so, for the first run at a petition, there are variables to study, ultimately knowing how 'that queue' runs.

I invite you to study, this quarter, as what happened last quarter is not representative of this quarter, at all.

So K-3's actually slow down the process?

[Darnell 8,479]

yes. Historically !