Utah online marriage vs K1, CR1, ....

[Adventine 3,196]

11 hours ago, GinoNiña said:

Noted. Good point.  I received my Noa1 on 03/31/2022.. my fiancée visa application is already in the system for 5 months come August. Base on VJ projection on K1 visa which is about 15 months, all I needed is 10 months. 
Now If I ditched K1 and switch to cr1, it might take me more than 10 months.  I have to think about this real hard. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Why not ask your fiancee to read this thread and other related topics on VJ, so you can come to a decision together? 

[GinoNiña 182]

4 hours ago, Adventine said:

 

Why not ask your fiancee to read this thread and other related topics on VJ, so you can come to a decision together? 

About marriage, she is ready. 
The hard part is deciding which route I should take for her to get here the fastest. 

[Crazy Cat 41,888]

This decision is important.  I have seen many members here who went the K-1 route, then regretted it later due to the limbo period between arrival and the ability to work, travel, obtain the green card, etc.   I have seen exactly zero CR-1 couples who say they wish they had gotten a K1 instead.....FWIW. 

[Adventine 3,196]

I agree with @Crazy Cat - some people can manage that long waiting period between entry on the K1 visa and being able to legally work, travel internationally, drive, etc. Some people would go crazy staying at home. @GinoNiña only you as a couple can make the decision which route is best, long-term. Always with the caveat that no one can predict exactly how long the process will take.

[GinoNiña 182]

38 minutes ago, Adventine said:

I agree with @Crazy Cat - some people can manage that long waiting period between entry on the K1 visa and being able to legally work, travel internationally, drive, etc. Some people would go crazy staying at home. @GinoNiña only you as a couple can make the decision which route is best, long-term. Always with the caveat that no one can predict exactly how long the process will take.

Yes, your comment is correct.  The thing is I don’t really care  about the pros and cons between the two. My main concern is the speed. Due to an enormous backlog for k1 it seems cr1 has an edge. Because of the graph VJ puts out, k1 visas issuance went from very high output to practically nothing. 

Always with the caveat that no one can predict exactly how long the process will take. VJ made a daring prediction on when my fiancée will get interviewed. They must have a magic ball in their position. Or trying to give us hope. But I like this website compare to other immigration website site out there. 
 

I need to do more homework before switching. CR1 has a history of longer approval process. K1 is the shortest of all. It just so happened Covid hits and it went to the back burner. 

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

4 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

This decision is important.  I have seen many members here who went the K-1 route, then regretted it later due to the limbo period between arrival and the ability to work, travel, obtain the green card, etc.   I have seen exactly zero CR-1 couples who say they wish they had gotten a K1 instead.....FWIW. 

This may change with the new USCIS procedures but many K-1s are getting their 751's processed quicker. This is talked about. Though I admit the real life advantages are minimal with the extension letter.

[Adventine 3,196]

15 hours ago, GinoNiña said:

Yes, your comment is correct.  The thing is I don’t really care  about the pros and cons between the two. My main concern is the speed. Due to an enormous backlog for k1 it seems cr1 has an edge. Because of the graph VJ puts out, k1 visas issuance went from very high output to practically nothing. 

Always with the caveat that no one can predict exactly how long the process will take. VJ made a daring prediction on when my fiancée will get interviewed. They must have a magic ball in their position. Or trying to give us hope. But I like this website compare to other immigration website site out there. 
 

I need to do more homework before switching. CR1 has a history of longer approval process. K1 is the shortest of all. It just so happened Covid hits and it went to the back burner. 

 

Let's imagine that another worldwide pandemic hits and the embassy shuts down processing again. This is unlikely, but then, nobody expected COVID to have the impact that it did.

 

Most likely, the embassy will again prioritize spousal cases over fiance cases.

[Chancy 6,241]

On 4/14/2022 at 9:07 AM, GinoNiña said:

VJ made a daring prediction on when my fiancée will get interviewed. They must have a magic ball in their position. Or trying to give us hope.

 

VJ has no magic crystal ball nor any USCIS/DOS insider information.  The estimates on VJ are based on historical data from entries on members' timelines.

 

[GinoNiña 182]

I know, I know.  I’m just venting my frustration out. 
 

How about this question? Why is it that they increased cr1 visa approvals but neglected k1 visa approvals. They both have time sensitive requirements. 

[RO_AH 1,659]

1 hour ago, GinoNiña said:

I know, I know.  I’m just venting my frustration out. 
 

How about this question? Why is it that they increased cr1 visa approvals but neglected k1 visa approvals. They both have time sensitive requirements. 

Because the spousal visa is a family member immigrating. Fiance is not. Prioritization was given to family based visa's.

[GinoNiña 182]

19 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

Because the spousal visa is a family member immigrating. Fiance is not. Prioritization was given to family based visa's.

If this is the case why is it that k1 visa were being approved by the hundreds  a month compare cr1? It makes no sense. 

[RO_AH 1,659]

1 hour ago, GinoNiña said:

If this is the case why is it that k1 visa were being approved by the hundreds  a month compare cr1? It makes no sense. 

Actually it makes a lot of sense. You are really overthinking everything and looking at the numbers as if they mean something more than they do without taking into consideration the effects of the pandemic.

 

In the beginning of the Pandemic all visa processing stopped. The embassy was shut down to all but emergency services. When it resumed it was on a limited basis with reduced staffing. AT THAT TIME spousal visa approvals went way up because family based visa's were given priority and virtually no K1's (student, tourist, etc) were processed. Once again, K1 is NOT a family based visa.

 

If there was no pandemic, then looking at the numbers the way that you are could be possible and useful. As of now they are not, especially if you have not been paying very close attention as to what was going on at the USEM and in the Philippines through the pandemic.

Edited April 15, 2022 by RO_AH

[SalishSea 17,836]

On 4/13/2022 at 12:37 PM, GinoNiña said:

By going to this route, online marriage, would speed up the process for her to come here. Shes going to be ahead of the line. She going to be in CR1 visa status.  CR1 visa is being process by the hundreds in Manila monthly compare to K1. 

I think you're missing something here.   The online marriage in no way speeds up the process.

[GinoNiña 182]

4 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

Actually it makes a lot of sense. You are really overthinking everything and looking at the numbers as if they mean something more than they do without taking into consideration the effects of the pandemic.

 

In the beginning of the Pandemic all visa processing stopped. The embassy was shut down to all but emergency services. When it resumed it was on a limited basis with reduced staffing. AT THAT TIME spousal visa approvals went way up because family based visa's were given priority and virtually no K1's (student, tourist, etc) were processed. Once again, K1 is NOT a family based visa.

 

If there was no pandemic, then looking at the numbers the way that you are could be possible and useful. As of now they are not, especially if you have not been paying very close attention as to what was going on at the USEM and in the Philippines through the pandemic.

Yes you are correct. I made my comments or assessment based on data courtesy from VJ. Per that graph, they were interviewing >500/mo. During Covid, just 50/mo for 24 mo. And if you do the math, the answer would be the backlog that needs to prioritized. 
 

But you are saying do not use this figures to come up with a conclusion? And you said “The embassy shut down and when they opened back up, they were just processing family based visas and no K1”. So when did you think they started interviewing K1 visa again? And I have no clue as to what is happening at the USEM in PI. Can you educate me? 

 

Thanks for these comments. 

 

 

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

2 hours ago, GinoNiña said:

Yes you are correct. I made my comments or assessment based on data courtesy from VJ. Per that graph, they were interviewing >500/mo. During Covid, just 50/mo for 24 mo. And if you do the math, the answer would be the backlog that needs to prioritized. 
 

But you are saying do not use this figures to come up with a conclusion? And you said “The embassy shut down and when they opened back up, they were just processing family based visas and no K1”. So when did you think they started interviewing K1 visa again? And I have no clue as to what is happening at the USEM in PI. Can you educate me? 

 

Thanks for these comments.

I don't remember the exact date that they finally started doing K1's again, but I remember when here in this forum people started posting that they were finally getting scheduled for interviews. If you search you could probably find them.

 

They are working on clearing the backlog but I don't think they would prioritize the backlog.