F2a- Can anyone give me an idea on how fast the process is since f2a is current for this month? HELP

[Mel1995 0]

F2a is current for march 2021, so does that make the process faster ? Or does the wait time is still the same? I see people waiting for 2/3 years to get it done. Please advise.

[JFH 12,190]

The I-130 will take as long as it takes, can be a few months, can be up to a year. 
 

Then it will depend on the embassy and how much of a backlog they have for interview slots. 
 

So, there is no “one size fits all” answer to the question of “how long?”

[Mel1995 0]

4 minutes ago, JFH said:

The I-130 will take as long as it takes, can be a few months, can be up to a year. 
 

Then it will depend on the embassy and how much of a backlog they have for interview slots. 
 

So, there is no “one size fits all” answer to the question of “how long?”

and the category being current, does it help at all?

[JFH 12,190]

51 minutes ago, Mel1995 said:

and the category being current, does it help at all?

That just affects how quickly you go from USCIS to the NVC. In the past F2A was typically 2 years from start to finish. Now it’s around 12-18 months. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

FYI F2A has been current since July 2019. So this is not a new development. 

Current means a visa number is immediately available, but that is only relevant when the case is ready for scheduling. It still has to go through uscis processing and NVC document, fees etc before it reaches that stage. Then, once it is ready for scheduling, the delay between DQ and interview scheduled depends on the embassy, some have longer queues and wait times than others.

[Mel1995 0]

12 hours ago, JFH said:

That just affects how quickly you go from USCIS to the NVC. In the past F2A was typically 2 years from start to finish. Now it’s around 12-18 months. 

Oh thats not bad thank you. Did you go through f2a?

11 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

FYI F2A has been current since July 2019. So this is not a new development. 

Current means a visa number is immediately available, but that is only relevant when the case is ready for scheduling. It still has to go through uscis processing and NVC document, fees etc before it reaches that stage. Then, once it is ready for scheduling, the delay between DQ and interview scheduled depends on the embassy, some have longer queues and wait times than others.

And how reliable is uscis processing time? Thank you for explaining 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

28 minutes ago, Mel1995 said:

Oh thats not bad thank you. Did you go through f2a?

And how reliable is uscis processing time? Thank you for explaining 

What do you mean how reliable is it? Do you mean the published  times by service center?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Anyway if you want an example, say your case got sent to California service center, if you look up i130 here https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/    for that service center then scroll down to the appropriate line for F2A you see it is published as 19.5-25.5 months

 

Then if you look up NVC processing times you’ll see that currently they are taking about three months to get round to reviewing documents   https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html
 

So if your case is at CSC you can expect it to take around 2 years for USCIS processing (you can look up for yourself how long if it is a different service center.) then 3 months for NVC processing before it is ready to go in line for scheduling. How long it takes after that for an actual interview depends on the caseload at your embassy, it could still be some months. 

Also, these processing timeframes can and do change over time so what you see now is not a guarantee. 

Note also that the timelines above only work if everything goes smoothly. If there is an RFE on your case at USCIS  or something wrong the the first set of documents you submit to NVC it will add more time to the process.

Edited March 28, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[Mel1995 0]

58 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

What do you mean how reliable is it? Do you mean the published  times by service center?

Yes 

52 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Anyway if you want an example, say your case got sent to California service center, if you look up i130 here https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/    for that service center then scroll down to the appropriate line for F2A you see it is published as 19.5-25.5 months

 

Then if you look up NVC processing times you’ll see that currently they are taking about three months to get round to reviewing documents   https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html
 

So if your case is at CSC you can expect it to take around 2 years for USCIS processing (you can look up for yourself how long if it is a different service center.) then 3 months for NVC processing before it is ready to go in line for scheduling. How long it takes after that for an actual interview depends on the caseload at your embassy, it could still be some months. 

Also, these processing timeframes can and do change over time so what you see now is not a guarantee. 

Note also that the timelines above only work if everything goes smoothly. If there is an RFE on your case at USCIS  or something wrong the the first set of documents you submit to NVC it will add more time to the process.

Thank you for the info

[Mega thx 1]

i130 was the longest wait by far, NVC wasn't too bad if it wasn't for the covid/trump ban. Few months depending on embassy. If you're not current then I don't think they will schedule interview so being current always helps. I guess it being current also helps them clear other people that are ahead of you so it can be your turn sooner? Hang in there, prepare well until then.

[Mel1995 0]

2 hours ago, Ultra Mega said:

i130 was the longest wait by far, NVC wasn't too bad if it wasn't for the covid/trump ban. Few months depending on embassy. If you're not current then I don't think they will schedule interview so being current always helps. I guess it being current also helps them clear other people that are ahead of you so it can be your turn sooner? Hang in there, prepare well until then.

Thank you so much really helpful. We did not submit anything yet. We’re not sure wether to do it f2a or wait to do the fiancee visa.

2 hours ago, Ultra Mega said:

i130 was the longest wait by far, NVC wasn't too bad if it wasn't for the covid/trump ban. Few months depending on embassy. If you're not current then I don't think they will schedule interview so being current always helps. I guess it being current also helps them clear other people that are ahead of you so it can be your turn sooner? Hang in there, prepare well until then.

Did you go through it ??

[aaron2020 11,651]

6 minutes ago, Mel1995 said:

Thank you so much really helpful. We did not submit anything yet. We’re not sure wether to do it f2a or wait to do the fiancee visa.

 

Please clarify.

 

What does the F2a; LPR petitioning for a spouse or unmarried child under age 21 have to do with a fiancee visa where the petitioner has to be a US citizen?

Who's the petitioner?  Who's the beneficiary?  Where is the beneficiary right now? If the beneficiary is inside the US, then what is their immigration status?  What is their relationship?  What is the goal?  What is it that you want to accomplish?

Edited April 2, 2021 by aaron2020

[Mel1995 0]

Just now, aaron2020 said:

Please clarify.

 

What does the F2a; LPR petitioning for a spouse or unmarried child under age 21 have to do with a fiancee visa where the petitioner has to be a US citizen?

So couples can wait to do a fiancé visa when the LPR becomes a us citizen instead of F2a if not married. But again naturalization is taking so much longer than the usual processing time. So F2a might be quicker. Sorry for the confusion.

[aaron2020 11,651]

2 minutes ago, Mel1995 said:

So couples can wait to do a fiancé visa when the LPR becomes a us citizen instead of F2a if not married. But again naturalization is taking so much longer than the usual processing time. So F2a might be quicker. Sorry for the confusion.

You've answered none of my questions.  

 

If you want help, then you need to answer the questions.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

21 minutes ago, Mel1995 said:

So couples can wait to do a fiancé visa when the LPR becomes a us citizen instead of F2a if not married. But again naturalization is taking so much longer than the usual processing time. So F2a might be quicker. Sorry for the confusion.

I am battling to see a scenario under which waiting to naturalize then filing K1, with its huge disadvantage of still having to adjust status to green card which can take many, many months after arrival, can be better than filing F2A and then, if petitioner naturalizes before process is complete, upgrading to IR/CR1. Both F2A and IR/CR visas lead to immediately becoming LPRs on arrival.