March 2021 K1 I-129F filers

[Ivan&Maja 27]

NOA1 March 8th and got our NOA2 today December 17th! :)))))

Edited December 17, 2021 by Ivan&Maja

[topi123456 35]

1 minute ago, Ivan&Maja said:

NOA1 March 8th and got our NOA2 todaj December 17th! :)))))

congratulations!

[sunshine11111 17]

Omg I’m the same day! March 8! I hope I hear something soon! Congratulations! 

[maki90 25]

290 days and still nothing 😭

 

Just send second inquiry. NO1 March 2. Unbelievable 😭😤

[slavaskii 886]

Well, another week rounds out, and March filers are barely getting approved. More than before, yes, but with 3400 of us there’s no shot we’ll be done even by January or February with these numbers. 
 

NOA2 at this point is 10-12 months, it’s pretty sad having to admit that but going forward it’s going to be a year from received to approved. Everyone that’s been following/updating the charts could see well before the times changed to 6.5 - 8.5 months there was a HUGE problem. Just honestly speechless right now.

[lb119397 79]

1 hour ago, slavaskii said:

Well, another week rounds out, and March filers are barely getting approved. More than before, yes, but with 3400 of us there’s no shot we’ll be done even by January or February with these numbers. 
 

NOA2 at this point is 10-12 months, it’s pretty sad having to admit that but going forward it’s going to be a year from received to approved. Everyone that’s been following/updating the charts could see well before the times changed to 6.5 - 8.5 months there was a HUGE problem. Just honestly speechless right now.

It really is a bit disheartening, especially seeing several approvals from your same date, but no update regarding your case... which is where I am at the moment.  It gets more frustrating the closer that you get, but the approval will come eventually. We need more and more patience each day, lol.

[daddybella 8]

2 hours ago, lb119397 said:

It really is a bit disheartening, especially seeing several approvals from your same date, but no update regarding your case... which is where I am at the moment.  It gets more frustrating the closer that you get, but the approval will come eventually. We need more and more patience each day, lol.

It's so sad for this long wait honestly, I keep consoling my woman when she cries to be around me, we've travelled to see each time twice this year January and June also...USCIS should try and get things running fast, I can't wait.. we've filed for outside processing time also

[charlottewitch 43]

Long time lurker, first time poster. NOA1 March 22nd around the middle of 65xxx. This is so hard :( So close, and yet so far.

 

I haven't submitted for the inquiry, since as far as I can tell all it does for anyone is prompts them to respond with a form letter "we don't know what our pace is going to be" response.

 

When I made the decision to pursue fiance visa, all sources I could find were saying it was faster than spouse visa... it's sad being at this point and wishing I tried to pursue spouse visa instead. 😔

[slavaskii 886]

6 hours ago, charlottewitch said:

Long time lurker, first time poster. NOA1 March 22nd around the middle of 65xxx. This is so hard So close, and yet so far.

 

I haven't submitted for the inquiry, since as far as I can tell all it does for anyone is prompts them to respond with a form letter "we don't know what our pace is going to be" response.

 

When I made the decision to pursue fiance visa, all sources I could find were saying it was faster than spouse visa... it's sad being at this point and wishing I tried to pursue spouse visa instead. 😔

Spousal visa isn’t strictly faster depending on your location. K1 is faster for Poland/Ukraine/Belarus and some others. Philippines got railed by K1 processing, as did some others. It was literally Russian Roulette. The people saying “spousal is strictly better” are arguing based on financials and the benefit on arrival. But for some people, like me, who have been with their fiancée 6 years and can’t visit them nor can they visit you, you just want them here *period*. I don’t think the advocates for spousal fully take into consideration that COVID has *also* made visiting practically impossible for most of the world and the K1 remains one of the faster ways to reconnect with your SO (though, again, with the contingency that some countries have stopped interviewing altogether).

 

I just keep shaking my head over the fact nobody is being alerted to just how bad this is. I was talking to someone recently about the delays and he was like “yeah NVC can do that sometimes” and I said no this is the petition and he was speechless. Ugh. Sometimes you just have to let out your frustration I guess, the worst part is just the lack of ability to change literally anything. 

Edited December 18, 2021 by slavaskii

[charlottewitch 43]

10 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

literally Russian Roulette

lmao, good one!

 

Thank you so much for your reply. That does make me feel a lot better. My fiance is from Mexico... I hope all of the processes with Mexico have some good momentum once it comes time to move past this whole initial NOA2 hurdle. I'll be sad if it takes very far into 2022 for my fiance to get here, but I'm bracing for the worst and accepting perhaps it might not even be 2022

 

I see they're so tantalizingly close to your NOA1 date! I hope you get your response before 2022 ❤️

[slavaskii 886]

6 hours ago, charlottewitch said:

lmao, good one!

 

Thank you so much for your reply. That does make me feel a lot better. My fiance is from Mexico... I hope all of the processes with Mexico have some good momentum once it comes time to move past this whole initial NOA2 hurdle. I'll be sad if it takes very far into 2022 for my fiance to get here, but I'm bracing for the worst and accepting perhaps it might not even be 2022

 

I see they're so tantalizingly close to your NOA1 date! I hope you get your response before 2022 ❤️

Thank you so much - that would be a sorely-needed Christmas gift, considering my plans to visit my fiancee "in the middle" in Amsterdam were just shot down completely due to new restrictions Going back to make some more lemonade with all these lemons, I guess haha.

[lb119397 79]

2 hours ago, slavaskii said:

Thank you so much - that would be a sorely-needed Christmas gift, considering my plans to visit my fiancee "in the middle" in Amsterdam were just shot down completely due to new restrictions Going back to make some more lemonade with all these lemons, I guess haha.

Aw, sorry the plans didn’t work out for you.  It appears that we are all so stressed out over this. I am March 8 and have seen several approvals for that date for receipt numbers that are after mine. I have to admit that it makes me a little paranoid thinking that they may have skipped me and I’ll end up waiting months to hear back, lol. But then I try to calm myself down and remember that they are seemingly picking and choosing at random. Hoping that this week is a better week for processing and that they want to accomplish as much as possible before the end of the month/year, lol.

[topi123456 35]

On 12/18/2021 at 3:49 AM, slavaskii said:

yes, but with 3400 of us there’s no shot we’ll be done even by January or February with these numbers. 

Now we are 3,288 waiting of 3,753 (subtracting the automatic denials from lack of signature on i129f in April 2021)

There are 332 approvals and 133 RFE = 465. 

 

465 / 3753 = 12.4% of cases looked at.

 

This percentage is about half of December. Maximum I see another 12% being looked at before January. (~25% a month).

By end of March should be near 100% for March group.

 

10-12 months looks about right.

 

The new hope: Hope I don't wait till March.

The new perspective: We are all first in line. That is something to be grateful for!

[topi123456 35]

8 hours ago, slavaskii said:

considering my plans to visit my fiancee "in the middle" in Amsterdam were just shot down completely due to new restrictions

Hi slavaski, 

 

My brother is flying to Holland on tuesday and was unsure if he would still be able to. According to the dutch government, you are able to enter as american with only a vaccine card. I would take a test for good measure too 

[slavaskii 886]

8 hours ago, topi123456 said:

Now we are 3,288 waiting of 3,753 (subtracting the automatic denials from lack of signature on i129f in April 2021)

There are 332 approvals and 133 RFE = 465. 

 

465 / 3753 = 12.4% of cases looked at.

 

This percentage is about half of December. Maximum I see another 12% being looked at before January. (~25% a month).

By end of March should be near 100% for March group.

 

10-12 months looks about right.

 

The new hope: Hope I don't wait till March.

The new perspective: We are all first in line. That is something to be grateful for!

Thank you for the analysis! That does make me feel a bit better, mainly because I follow the charts too closely and get tunnel vision haha (that is, I see only a few cases processed a day and can’t fathom how that fits into the ‘big overall number’). If they truly did 12.5% up until this point in December, and last week was the first nearly “full” week of March cases, my hope is somewhat restored. I mean, there’s 8 working days left in December, that can be as good as 800 March approvals or as little as 400. Thank you for your optimism as well - at the very least, I think we all need to see that we’re at the very end of the road here, and as we’re closer than anyone, we should be the happiest.

 

I don’t even know what emotion I would have at this point to getting an update from USCIS, though I’ve had so many the past 3 months I think the first reaction would be to run to the toilet 😂
 

8 hours ago, topi123456 said:

Hi slavaski, 

 

My brother is flying to Holland on tuesday and was unsure if he would still be able to. According to the dutch government, you are able to enter as american with only a vaccine card. I would take a test for good measure too 

Okay! So disclaimer is that my fiancée is Belarusian and in Belarus so I only vaguely know the Dutch measures because I was planning a trip there, but my understanding is that to get into the country, the CDC card is still accepted. I also don’t think you need a test but the new restrictions came literally at the eleventh hour yesterday so please do check. If they do require a test, it would need to be a PCR, so keep that in mind.

 

Also he should know that, past the airport, the CDC card isn’t recognized anywhere. Netherlands scans your COVID certificate in order to get into any store, which, of course, requires your card to have a QR code from the EU DCC. In Amsterdam, it’s nearly impossible to get the CDC card made into an EU DCC, though I did find a pharmacy in Paris that did it for me. In lieu of that, he would need to get daily tests.

 

But, of course, Amsterdam is also in full lockdown right now so traveling is only really advisable out of necessity. I’ve never cancelled a trip in my life but pulled the plug on this one. Everything is closed until late next month, except for essential food stores. Markets are closed, events banned, etc. You have to order takeout at every cafe/restaurant. Unfortunately now is not the time to travel because it’s my understanding Germany/France/Italy are contemplating the same and these can go into effect at a moment’s notice. Good luck to you and your brother!