Is I-129F worth it?

[pushbrk 12,877]

Note that even in some countries that DO have reliable police reports, males have been in AP for additional extensive and expensive security checks far above and beyond a police report.  These security checks are not even begun until AFTER a positive decision on the visa, subject to those further security checks.  This has been going on for almost all males and some females from the same list of countries since shortly after 9/11/2001.  It started right after the moratorium on visas ended, I think in early 2003.  Correct the date if you know.

 

It just takes LONGER in countries where we cannot rely on the local authorities.

[SalishSea 17,824]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

It started right after the moratorium on visas ended, I think in early 2003.  Correct the date if you know.

I wasn't paying attention to immigration back then.  Was it for all immigrant visas for certain countries?

[pushbrk 12,877]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

I wasn't paying attention to immigration back then.  Was it for all immigrant visas for certain countries?

A complete moratium for 18 months or so, as I recall.  The additional security checks have been in place since the moratorium ended.  That was before 2005, when I got involved but many that were caught in the moratorium were still around helping on the forums when I got involved.

[SalishSea 17,824]

1 minute ago, pushbrk said:

A complete moratium for 18 months or so, as I recall.  The additional security checks have been in place since the moratorium ended.  That was before 2005, when I got involved but many that were caught in the moratorium were still around helping on the forums when I got involved.

Interesting...

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

9 hours ago, pushbrk said:

These security checks are not even begun until AFTER a positive decision on the visa

and thus, some people are shocked when the consulate denies a visa after verbal "approval" of the CO.  Thanks for mentioning that fact.

[NikLR 13,227]

3 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

and thus, some people are shocked when the consulate denies a visa after verbal "approval" of the CO.  Thanks for mentioning that fact.

Makes sense. I don't go for a background check for a job until offered the job. 

[pushbrk 12,877]

7 hours ago, NikLR said:

Makes sense. I don't go for a background check for a job until offered the job. 

Excellent analogy.  There ARE government related jobs where you must be vetted before the offer, but those are exceptions, not the norm.

[Jessandmargarito 13]

On 4/20/2020 at 2:04 PM, FAW said:

Hey All - brand new member here.  I’m just in the process of filing my paperwork for my husband to join me in the US.  I’ve been researching all of the types of forms and am undecided if it’s worth completing the I-129F, especially now that COVID-19 has invaded all of us?  
 

I’ve read it’s a waste and usually not faster than the I-130.  I’m not sure what to do.  Thoughts and experience please?  Thank you. 

In my opinion, I’d say don’t bother to submit one right now. It was useful to get a quicker approval when the petitions were being sent to a specific service center. Some locations, such as Nebraska, took over a year on average. People were seeing their i129f denied and then the i130 was approved within a few days of the denial since they were processed together.  Since 2/23, and possibly before, the petitions seem to be sitting in an online pool and are dispersed to a service center when it is their turn in line. 
 

I was originally sent to Texas but was transferred to California to be approved after about 7 months. I also filed the i129f and it stayed at Texas. My i130 was approved on April 7 and my i129f is still pending. They no longer appear to be processed together. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

On 4/20/2020 at 8:50 PM, Jorgedig said:

Exactly, which is why it is the only country (I believe) for which a police clearance is not required.  The state department just doesn’t trust Pakistan’s criminal record-keeping ability.

 

There are multiple threads here on VJ about prolonged AP and denials for Pakistan.  Check out the ‘Waivers and AP’ board for at least two long threads.

They stopped asking for police certificates from Indonesia awhile back (to our delight)