What Do You Think?

[Adventine 3,201]

I met my husband on an online forum (not VJ!). We'd known each other for years as online friends. Some years later, I posted that I'd broken up with my then-boyfriend and was ready to date again, he messaged me. After three days of talking, he flew from the USA to the Philippines to meet me and my family. After that, I flew to the US to meet his. In Jan 2020, he moved to the Philippines to come live with me long-term.

 

Neither of us would have agreed to marry if we didn't have that period of living together first. The pandemic lockdowns in the PH were also a blessing in disguise because we found out what the other was like under intense stress. Nothing brings out one's true character like enforced quarantine in a tiny high rise condo!

 

Seems like so long ago, but at the same time, seems like only yesterday.

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Adventine

[Redro 4,611]

6 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

I was on an F1 here when I met my now hubby. It was around Christmas time, I was as broke as you could get and all my friends had flown back home. I was alone for Christmas, so I signed up for an account in OK Cupid, not because I was looking for love, I just wanted somebody to talk to and not go crazy over Christmas break. Long story short, we went on a blind date for Christmas! 

OkCupid was my jam back in the day! They had very cool quizzes. 

 

The husband and I met at work.

Our situation is pretty common here in Korea (two foreigners meeting up and marrying- but usually they've met online). 

 

Love to read all the "How we met stories!" 

 

I don't know if USCIS will change up their rules to a X meetings in person arrangement or must have met in person at least Y months/years from filing. 

Only needing the couple to have met once seems wild to me. 

 

Online dating can and does work... just seems so stressful when you add immigration into the mix. 

 

 

 

 

[SalishSea 18,000]

16 hours ago, Sarah&Facundo said:

Good morning! This is something I've been thinking about lately, with no actual background or data to support this. But I'm curious about everyone's thoughts! Now with so many ways to connect with people overseas (social media, dating apps, gaming, etc.), I am curious if the rate of petitions for both CR1 and K1 visas have increased in the last decade or so. Previously, the only way to meet someone overseas was to meet someone in person, maybe on a vacation/work opportunity/study abroad. It would be even harder to stay in contact once returning home unless you wrote letters or paid for long distance calling. But now anyone could connect with someone overseas right from their living room and chat 24/7!

I met my husband in person in his country so I don't have that experience, but I see so many posts about people meeting online now and I am curious if it is driving up the number of visa applications/petitions. Has there been an increase in wait times over the last decade? Again, I have no data....Just some thinking while I eat my breakfast this morning. Comment away!

I'm sure it has.  My husband and I were penpals in the pre-internet days of the stone ages, and we met in person in college, after corresponding by snail mail for 6 years.

 

I never would have gone looking for someone who lived on the other side of the globe from me otherwise.  

[SalishSea 18,000]

14 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

I assume 90 Day Fiance also had an impact.

I agree with you, although that kinda makes me feel nauseated.

[Redro 4,611]

14 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

I assume 90 Day Fiance also had an impact.

 

3 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

I agree with you, although that kinda makes me feel nauseated.

CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME: I totally think Matt Sharp is anti-immigration and has created this entire franchise to bring the K1 visa down 

[SalishSea 18,000]

1 minute ago, Kor2USA said:

 

CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME: I totally think Matt Sharp is anti-immigration and has created this entire franchise to bring the K1 visa down 

By featuring sub-literate nobbos who should really have legal guardians nearby to wipe away the drool?  Totally concur.

[Redro 4,611]

@Jorgedig 

You're always posting links to USCIS. Is there a page where you can see how many applications for K1s and IR1/CR1s there are each year (and then how many denials?)

 

I always check this page to see how many visas were issued per post 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html

but it is monthly 

 

Then we also see yearly statistics (for immediate relatives) here. 

But the number is going down... and I believe immediate relative includes parents and children?

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2020AnnualReport/FY20AnnualReport_TableI.pdf

 

Oh! Final page of this PDF

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2020AnnualReport/FY20AnnualReport_TableII.pdf

 

Now to find numbers for K1 visas issued... 

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Kor2USA

[laylalex 7,293]

53 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

 

CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME: I totally think Matt Sharp is anti-immigration and has created this entire franchise to bring the K1 visa down 

 

Totally believe it.

[Redro 4,611]

@Sarah&Facundo

Pulled some data for you:

[Sarah&Facundo 599]

8 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

I'm sure it has.  My husband and I were penpals in the pre-internet days of the stone ages, and we met in person in college, after corresponding by snail mail for 6 years.

 

I never would have gone looking for someone who lived on the other side of the globe from me otherwise.  

"Stone ages" LOL! 

 

But that's so interesting! I became friends with another woman who married a man from my husband's home country and now we are couple friends even though we live on opposite sides of the US. Her now-husband was her penpal as a teenager. When she got older, her parents took her to Argentina to meet her penpal to make sure everything was okay. Turns out, they fell in love and they are married! I LOVE hearing these cute penpal stories!! 

 

36 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

@Sarah&Facundo

Pulled some data for you:

 

Cool, where did you find that? Thanks!

And we still had the internet and Facebook (and Myspace!!!!) back in 2012. I am really curious about the pre-internet/social media stats. Like from the 90s or earlier. How long have these visas even been around? lol

 

 

8 hours ago, Kor2USA said:

 

CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME: I totally think Matt Sharp is anti-immigration and has created this entire franchise to bring the K1 visa down 

 

I can get behind this one....

 

[Sarah&Facundo 599]

By the way, I think it is SO CUTE that several long-term posters have shared their stories. That's so sweet!! 

I guess I'll add mine then.  

I was 20 went I ventured to Argentina on a study abroad trip with my university. My roommate and I loved this ice cream shop near where we were staying and we became friends with one of the workers. The worker (who is now one of my best friends and was the best man at our wedding) asked us to meet for pizza with his friends one night after he finished working. He said one of his friends could speak English...and that one is now my husband! We were together all the time until I had to go home to the US, but we stayed friends for a couple of years. We talked every day. I visited Argentina a couple more times for short 1-2 week stays. When my father passed, my now-husband applied for a B2 visa (and somehow got approved with almost no ties back home lol) and came to stay with me for a couple of weeks. I later started living on-and-off in Argentina. He came to the US a few times. We also backpacked New Zealand and a few countries in Asia together. 

Now he is with me in the US. We have backpacked multiple other countries together, gone back to Argentina several times, and have more plans for the future!

[Redro 4,611]

18 minutes ago, Sarah&Facundo said:

"Stone ages" LOL! 

 

But that's so interesting! I became friends with another woman who married a man from my husband's home country and now we are couple friends even though we live on opposite sides of the US. Her now-husband was her penpal as a teenager. When she got older, her parents took her to Argentina to meet her penpal to make sure everything was okay. Turns out, they fell in love and they are married! I LOVE hearing these cute penpal stories!! 

 

 

Cool, where did you find that? Thanks!

And we still had the internet and Facebook (and Myspace!!!!) back in 2012. I am really curious about the pre-internet/social media stats. Like from the 90s or earlier. How long have these visas even been around? lol

 

 

 

I can get behind this one....

 

Pulled from various sources. 

I checked each of these forms for I-129F forms received (but not approved). They don't separate out I-130s for USC spouses but you can see number of 1-30s filed. 

Number of Service-wide Forms Fiscal Year To Date - By Quarter and Form Status Fiscal Year 2020 (had to search for the forms with the entire year). 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/reports/Quarterly_All_Forms_FY2020Q4.pdf

Then I check out how many K1s and IR1 and CR1s entered the US looking at the Yearbook.

Table 6 and Table 25

https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2020

Found the breakdown for IR1 and CR1 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2020AnnualReport/FY20AnnualReport_TableII.pdf

 

You have to search around the different websites to get all the years. Couldn't find 2013 and 2017 for K1 applications but you can try to find it if you like ^^ 

 

ETA Wikipedia tells me K1 was started in 1970 during the Vietnam War. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Kor2USA

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,093]

On 3/16/2022 at 4:37 AM, Sarah&Facundo said:

Good morning! This is something I've been thinking about lately, with no actual background or data to support this. But I'm curious about everyone's thoughts! Now with so many ways to connect with people overseas (social media, dating apps, gaming, etc.), I am curious if the rate of petitions for both CR1 and K1 visas have increased in the last decade or so. Previously, the only way to meet someone overseas was to meet someone in person, maybe on a vacation/work opportunity/study abroad. It would be even harder to stay in contact once returning home unless you wrote letters or paid for long distance calling. But now anyone could connect with someone overseas right from their living room and chat 24/7!

I met my husband in person in his country so I don't have that experience, but I see so many posts about people meeting online now and I am curious if it is driving up the number of visa applications/petitions. Has there been an increase in wait times over the last decade? Again, I have no data....Just some thinking while I eat my breakfast this morning. Comment away!

I'd guess it had been going up slowly as international travel became more affordable, then quickly as the internet made it easier both to find partners abroad and to stay in touch with them during the separations that are almost unavoidable (and then increasing bandwidth generally available made video calls more practical), and recently fell off a lot due to Covid (because it made meeting in person much more difficult, made getting required paperwork more difficult, and increased processing times so applying seemed futile). Which the numbers posted in this thread seem to imply.

[JeanneAdil 6,599]

9 hours ago, Kor2USA said:

Pulled from various sources. 

I checked each of these forms for I-129F forms received (but not approved). They don't separate out I-130s for USC spouses but you can see number of 1-30s filed. 

Number of Service-wide Forms Fiscal Year To Date - By Quarter and Form Status Fiscal Year 2020 (had to search for the forms with the entire year). 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/reports/Quarterly_All_Forms_FY2020Q4.pdf

Then I check out how many K1s and IR1 and CR1s entered the US looking at the Yearbook.

Table 6 and Table 25

Thank u /  this is the table i once found and then lost the site

9 hours ago, Kor2USA said:

https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2020

Found the breakdown for IR1 and CR1 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2020AnnualReport/FY20AnnualReport_TableII.pdf

 

You have to search around the different websites to get all the years. Couldn't find 2013 and 2017 for K1 applications but you can try to find it if you like ^^ 

 

ETA Wikipedia tells me K1 was started in 1970 during the Vietnam War. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Redro 4,611]

7 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

Thank u /  this is the table i once found and then lost the site

 

If you can find Number of Service-wide Forms by Fiscal Year To- Date, Quarter, and Form Status 2017 Q4 and any data from before 2012 I would be entirely grateful. 

The USCIS site is not easy to navigate and I do not know how to find FY17Q4.  Q1 and Q3 appear but not Q2 and Q4. 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/data/Quarterly_All_Forms_FY17Q3.pdf