Number of cases processed hit new high!

[AndiB 677]

1 minute ago, New Romantics said:

Do you include the pending, rfe etc in that? I was only looking at the completed column which is at 20%

I include RFE cause in past it was at 50%and 80%  incl RFE

I have realised i believe USCIS's 50/80% is not incl RFEs tho (ie when they say median or their processing estimate)

Edited March 27, 2023 by AndiB

[New Romantics 188]

Just now, AndiB said:

I include RFE cause in past it was at 50%and 80%  incl RFE

I have realised i believe USCIS's 50/80% is not incl RFEs tho

That's what I'm thinking! It seems they go by cases closed. What I don't know is whether the clock stops when an RFE is issued etc or not

[AndiB 677]

2 minutes ago, New Romantics said:

That's what I'm thinking! It seems they go by cases closed. What I don't know is whether the clock stops when an RFE is issued etc or not

I think they go off how long since NOA1 do they get NOA2, ie how long from when it becomes their case to when it ceases to be their case

[Quimat 154]

3 hours ago, New Romantics said:

Yep. Or when someone asks if they should file for k1 or cr1 and everyone is like "nooo cr1 is so much better!1!1" because it was 10.5 months and now suddenly jumped to 15! I feel for those that married just to file and now have to wait the same time with k1 anyway. Every person should decide for themselves what their best option would be

Oh this one annoys me soooo bad!! There’s one group where literally EVERY admin is telling newer filers to go for CR1 because it’s “so much better”. Better does not equate with faster and people need to understand that! My fiancé and I chose to go this route and I don’t regret it at all. I mean, yes we will have to wait for the AOS but at least we will be together waiting haha. But in all seriousness, it’s hard for me to travel to Gambia from America. It’s very expensive and I have children. I’m also an RN so it’s kind of difficult to ask off work for a week or longer at a time unless it’s well in advance. By the time we’d even be able to consider the alternative, we would have already been close to done with this process! But yes, it’s annoying seeing admins recommending the CR1, like hello? What about us that are doing the K1? Way to make us feel crappy for our decision 😒

Edited March 27, 2023 by Quimat

[AndiB 677]

2 minutes ago, Quimat said:

Oh this one annoys me soooo bad!! There’s one group where literally EVERY admin is telling newer filers to go for CR1 because it’s “so much better”. Better does not equate with faster and people need to understand that! My fiancé and I chose to go this route and I don’t regret it at all. I mean, yes we will have to wait for the AOS but at least we will be together waiting haha. But in all seriousness, it’s hard for me to travel to Gambia from America. It’s very expensive and I have children. I’m also an RN so it’s kind of difficult to ask off work for a week or longer at a time unless it’s well in advance. By the time we’d even be able to consider the alternative, we would have already been close to done with this process! But yes, it’s annoying seeing admins recommending the CR1, like hello? What about us that are doing the K1? Way to make us feel crappy for our decision 😒

yeah they def make me anxious about going k1 because of how aggressive they are about CR1, for some people there isn't really a choice or for personal reasons K1 > CR1 and it should be respected. If someone is given the info and decides K1, that should be respected.

[New Romantics 188]

1 minute ago, Quimat said:

Oh this one annoys me soooo bad!! There’s one group where literally EVERY admin is telling newer filers to go for CR1 because it’s “so much better”. Better does not equate with faster and people need to understand that! My fiancé and I chose to go this route and I don’t regret it at all. I mean, yes we will have to wait for the AOS but at least we will be together waiting haha. But in all seriousness, it’s hard for me to travel to Gambia from America. It’s very expensive and I have children. I’m also an RN so it’s kind of difficult to ask off work for a week or longer at a time unless it’s well in advance. By the time we’d even be able to consider the alternative, we would have already been close to done with this process! But yes, it’s annoying seeing admins recommending the CR1, like hello? What about us that are doing the K1? Way to make us feel crappy for our decision 😒

Totally! It seems that for some the most important thing is to get to the US asap and they disregard everything else! I'd rather wait 5 more months than get married online!! 

[New Romantics 188]

2 minutes ago, AndiB said:

yeah they def make me anxious about going k1 because of how aggressive they are about CR1, for some people there isn't really a choice or for personal reasons K1 > CR1 and it should be respected. If someone is given the info and decides K1, that should be respected.

Something else I think is pertinent to the discussion is how long the couple has been together and how long they have spent together in person. If you've met once for 2 weeks and been together less than a year I don't think I would ever recommend the cr1! Nuance is important

[Quimat 154]

1 minute ago, AndiB said:

yeah they def make me anxious about going k1 because of how aggressive they are about CR1, for some people there isn't really a choice or for personal reasons K1 > CR1 and it should be respected. If someone is given the info and decides K1, that should be respected.

Oh absolutely! I agree with you. Give these people the facts and leave it at that. Now everyone will feel pressured to find some way to get married. It makes no sense! Either choice should be respected as you said. I personally feel any relationship that can survive this is pretty well equipped to deal with anything life may hand them. 
 

To kind of add on to your LDR talk, I totally get it! I love my fiancé so much but this is HARD. We know we are going to be together but I can’t help but be a little envious of those couples that are together every day and get to do the little things like fall asleep together or go to the grocery store together or just watching a show together. These are the simplest things that those not in this process take for granted. Going through this will remind me daily to cherish the little moments we have together because that’s what I miss the most. Just sitting and talking over a hot cup of tea in the mornings with him is what I miss…the little things 😭. This process surely isn’t for the weak! 

6 minutes ago, New Romantics said:

Totally! It seems that for some the most important thing is to get to the US asap and they disregard everything else! I'd rather wait 5 more months than get married online!! 

Oh exactly! Getting married online is insane to me! 

[AndiB 677]

1 minute ago, New Romantics said:

Something else I think is pertinent to the discussion is how long the couple has been together and how long they have spent together in person. If you've met once for 2 weeks and been together less than a year I don't think I would ever recommend the cr1! Nuance is important

yeah bf and i had been together just a yr when we filed and was on my second longer trip. To us it felt too soon, we needed more time together. I think looking back we could have married that trip and filed CR1 instead but at the time it felt like we would be doing it just for the visa rather than for us. I know marrying for a visa is normal around here, but we take it super seriously and are going based off 'would we be happy getting married rn if it weren't for a visa?' and the answer would have been no.

[AndiB 677]

3 minutes ago, Quimat said:

Oh absolutely! I agree with you. Give these people the facts and leave it at that. Now everyone will feel pressured to find some way to get married. It makes no sense! Either choice should be respected as you said. I personally feel any relationship that can survive this is pretty well equipped to deal with anything life may hand them. 
 

To kind of add on to your LDR talk, I totally get it! I love my fiancé so much but this is HARD. We know we are going to be together but I can’t help but be a little envious of those couples that are together every day and get to do the little things like fall asleep together or go to the grocery store together or just watching a show together. These are the simplest things that those not in this process take for granted. Going through this will remind me daily to cherish the little moments we have together because that’s what I miss the most. Just sitting and talking over a hot cup of tea in the mornings with him is what I miss…the little things 😭. This process surely isn’t for the weak! 

I feel the same! The fact we've managed LDR and he supported me when I was losing my mind at end of PhD (it was not pretty) gives me faith we can survive life together when it gets tough. Def feeling that appreciation for the mundane, I had no idea how much I enjoyed just driving to errands or going to the grocery store together. I'm keeping a journal during this process and I'm hoping I will remember to appreciate these little things 

[New Romantics 188]

1 minute ago, AndiB said:

yeah bf and i had been together just a yr when we filed and was on my second longer trip. To us it felt too soon, we needed more time together. I think looking back we could have married that trip and filed CR1 instead but at the time it felt like we would be doing it just for the visa rather than for us. I know marrying for a visa is normal around here, but we take it super seriously and are going based off 'would we be happy getting married rn if it weren't for a visa?' and the answer would have been no.

Well put!! The visa situation pressures all of us whether we realize it or not but it's important to really think about what would make the most sense! In your case this gives you more time with your bf to figure out what you want etc before you make such a big commitment!

[AndiB 677]

Just now, New Romantics said:

Well put!! The visa situation pressures all of us whether we realize it or not but it's important to really think about what would make the most sense! In your case this gives you more time with your bf to figure out what you want etc before you make such a big commitment!

yup! To me I feel like a lot of advice is just rush into CR1/marriage and figure it out after. It's fine if you're already at a place to get married, I know a lot are and that's totally fine! I just wish they realise a lot aren't, I filed k1 'early' cause I knew we had all the time to figure it out with this wait time 😂
Sadly we're over it now though, we went from 'I don't know' to 'I'm ready' faster than we anticipated

[New Romantics 188]

1 minute ago, AndiB said:

yup! To me I feel like a lot of advice is just rush into CR1/marriage and figure it out after. It's fine if you're already at a place to get married, I know a lot are and that's totally fine! I just wish they realise a lot aren't, I filed k1 'early' cause I knew we had all the time to figure it out with this wait time 😂
Sadly we're over it now though, we went from 'I don't know' to 'I'm ready' faster than we anticipated

Ha! At least now you're 100% certain so it will make it sweeter in the end when you reunite! 

[HC&DJXG 43]

18 minutes ago, AndiB said:

I feel the same! The fact we've managed LDR and he supported me when I was losing my mind at end of PhD (it was not pretty) gives me faith we can survive life together when it gets tough. Def feeling that appreciation for the mundane, I had no idea how much I enjoyed just driving to errands or going to the grocery store together. I'm keeping a journal during this process and I'm hoping I will remember to appreciate these little things 

Congrats on your PhD! Been there, done that and totally get it 🙃

[Tom.Jen 43]

12 minutes ago, AndiB said:

yup! To me I feel like a lot of advice is just rush into CR1/marriage and figure it out after. It's fine if you're already at a place to get married, I know a lot are and that's totally fine! I just wish they realise a lot aren't, I filed k1 'early' cause I knew we had all the time to figure it out with this wait time 😂
Sadly we're over it now though, we went from 'I don't know' to 'I'm ready' faster than we anticipated

We are in our 8th year of LDR. We initially wanted to get engaged and be married much sooner but then Covid happened… we couldn’t meet in person for 1.5 a year. 
We knew from the beginning that we want to make our engagement and wedding as traditional as possible even if it meant it’ll take longer to get there. For example I knew he was gonna propose, but it was a surprise when and where it’d happen. Maybe it sounds silly, but this was important to me after having such an “untraditional” relationship. 
We got engaged in the US and when I had to come back I was super depressed for a long time. Being on that high and then having to leave him and be apart again was very hard. 
Then I found the forum a week after we filed and saw a lot of people pushing CR1. It made me very anxious and felt like we made a mistake with the K1. 
But then I remember how depressed I was when I had to leave after the engagement and imagine how much worse I’d feel if we had gotten married and would have to leave my *husband* and not see him for months again. It’s just not how we want to spend our first year of marriage.