K1 Visa Petition Timeline Question

[Proactiv1 10]

I have sent the K-1 visa petition to Texas and after two weeks I received the receipt notice from California Service Center. I'm in Atlanta, GA so just confused as to why they sent to the California center. Any ideas? If they take beyond 6-8 months is there anything a lawyer could do to move it faster and make the USCIS take action on our petition?

[Dashinka 24,505]

Petitions like the I129 or the I130 routinely get moved around to different service centers to try and balance workload.  Also, there is nothing any lawyer or visa service can do to speed anything up, and if you see one claiming they can, don't believe them.

 

Good Luck!

[Verrou 1,962]

they can assign the case to any service center they want and not based on where are u located

[Crazy Cat 41,884]

20 minutes ago, Proactiv1 said:

I have sent the K-1 visa petition to Texas and after two weeks I received the receipt notice from California Service Center. I'm in Atlanta, GA so just confused as to why they sent to the California center. Any ideas? If they take beyond 6-8 months is there anything a lawyer could do to move it faster and make the USCIS take action on our petition?

You mailed the petition to a lockbox....not a service center.  Rarely, would a  K-1 petition be processed anywhere other than at the California Service Center.  The process requires patience.   An attorney has no control over USCIS.

Edited December 16, 2021 by Crazy Cat

[MarJhi 963]

11 minutes ago, Proactiv1 said:

I have sent the K-1 visa petition to Texas and after two weeks I received the receipt notice from California Service Center. I'm in Atlanta, GA so just confused as to why they sent to the California center. Any ideas? If they take beyond 6-8 months is there anything a lawyer could do to move it faster and make the USCIS take action on our petition?

If you get anywhere near 6 to 8 months, consider yourself lucky. You are going to have to develop a high level of patience for this process or you will drive yourself nuts.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

2 hours ago, Proactiv1 said:

there anything a lawyer could do to move it faster and make the USCIS take action on our petition?

Nope. Otherwise everyone would do that!

[SalishSea 17,833]

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Petitions like the I129 or the I130 routinely get moved around to different service centers to try and balance workload.  Also, there is nothing any lawyer or visa service can do to speed anything up, and if you see one claiming they can, don't believe them.

 

Good Luck!

I-129F petitions for K1s don’t routinely get transferred between service centers.   All are processed at CSC, except for a handful that go to Vermont for petitioner’s criminal background.

[SalishSea 17,833]

3 hours ago, Proactiv1 said:

I have sent the K-1 visa petition to Texas and after two weeks I received the receipt notice from California Service Center. I'm in Atlanta, GA so just confused as to why they sent to the California center. Any ideas? If they take beyond 6-8 months is there anything a lawyer could do to move it faster and make the USCIS take action on our petition?

Dude, you’re just getting started.  
 

The petition approval process is the first baby step in many years’ of long waits for US immigration.     No lawyer can help.   It takes that long because there are people in line ahead of you, who filed before you did.   We all have to wait our turns.

[MarJhi 963]

You cannot speed up the process, but you do have the ability to make the road a little smoother by not making mistakes when you sent off your application.

 

I hired a lawyer for one reason and one reason only, to make sure I had all of our i's dotted and t's crossed BEFORE that application was sent off, I didn't want any mistakes or RFE's delaying the process. I found an attorney who has plenty of experience dealing with the specifics of immigration from the Philippines, he happens to be a Filipino who has gotten many of his own family members to the US. I am in Arizona, most of the attorneys here are dealing specifically with immigrants from Mexico/Central America. He was able to direct my fiance  exactly where to go and what to do to get all of the documentation needed and in less than a week our packet was sent off. It turns out the packet I was trying to prepare on my own was overkill. Many say don't hire an attorney, but I feel good about my choice because I am sure what I attempted to prepare on my own was lacking in some areas and overkill in others. It wasn't cheap but I do have confidence that I have avoided mistakes that could delay the process.

[JeanneAdil 6,509]

you already did what a lawyer would do for u

u mailed the petition in

 

a  lawyer gathers all supporting documents from u and with the info u give him ,  he fills out the petition,  copies for his files and mails it

u are always the one responsible for what the petition says and when u sign it,,  you hold all is correct/  lawyer takes no responsibility for any mistakes (as many VJ members have posted about on here)

 

lawyers do not contact UCSIS and speed the process

your next step NVC stage (many months from now) will  arrange to send packet when the embassy asks for it

 

Lawyer does not attend interview

 

 

[mam521 2,062]

Immigration requires patience.  Lots and lots of patience.  If you don't have any now, buckle up because you're gonna have a vertical ride to the top of the learned patience mountain.  

 

If your timeline is correct and your fiance is Russian, there may be some additional bumps in the road because the whole political situation with Russia is a bit complicated.  

 

No lawyer is going to be able to speed anything up.  As stated previously, if that were the case, then everyone would have a lawyer.  

[nakm 2]

17 hours ago, MarJhi said:

You cannot speed up the process, but you do have the ability to make the road a little smoother by not making mistakes when you sent off your application.

 

I hired a lawyer for one reason and one reason only, to make sure I had all of our i's dotted and t's crossed BEFORE that application was sent off, I didn't want any mistakes or RFE's delaying the process. I found an attorney who has plenty of experience dealing with the specifics of immigration from the Philippines, he happens to be a Filipino who has gotten many of his own family members to the US. I am in Arizona, most of the attorneys here are dealing specifically with immigrants from Mexico/Central America. He was able to direct my fiance  exactly where to go and what to do to get all of the documentation needed and in less than a week our packet was sent off. It turns out the packet I was trying to prepare on my own was overkill. Many say don't hire an attorney, but I feel good about my choice because I am sure what I attempted to prepare on my own was lacking in some areas and overkill in others. It wasn't cheap but I do have confidence that I have avoided mistakes that could delay the process.

Can you be specific about how your packet was “overkill”?.. because I’m worried that I’m doing too much , or perhaps maybe too little by another’s standard. Thanks for your help

[Proactiv1 10]

Thanks much everyone for your responses and I really appreciate that. I'm patient but wondering if there are any ways to expedite the process and now that I know there are none I'll sit tight and wait.

 

I have entered the country "Russia" by mistake and should have been Ukraine. No wonder people were mentioning Russia in their responses. How could I correct that? I tried going to my profile but couldn't figure out an option to do so. Please let me know. Thanks!

[millefleur 5,046]

12 minutes ago, Proactiv1 said:

I have entered the country "Russia" by mistake and should have been Ukraine. No wonder people were mentioning Russia in their responses. How could I correct that? I tried going to my profile but couldn't figure out an option to do so. Please let me know. Thanks!

On your profile, click the upper right hand button that says "Edit Profile" scroll down and you'll see a country list drop down menu you can select from.

[Just Paul 4,595]

24 minutes ago, Proactiv1 said:

I'm patient but wondering if there are any ways to expedite the process and now that I know there are none I'll sit tight and wait.

Fiance Visas don't usually qualify for any types of expedites, unlike a spousal visa. If you feel you have a valid reason to request an expedite contact USCIS.