Is I-129f still the fastest way to get to the US?

[Beth & Achraf 328]

2 hours ago, Lil bear said:

In the past IR visas took 8 months start to finish .. like many other things .. in the past 😳

I remember around 2008-2010 how Vermont and California processing times for K1's  would change daily, sometimes Vermont would get back logged while Cali was processing nearly upon receipt & Vise Versa with Vermont and Cali

Those K1 filers were here within 6 months  most times.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Beth & Achraf
missed a word

[breadlover408 24]

It is what suits you best. I did mine during the pandemic but chose K1 as CR1 was impossible for either of us to do - as both of our countries blacklisted each other because of high Covid so we couldn’t visit each other at all. 
 

It depends on what your country does in terms of marriage processes too. For me, getting married in my home country is complicated - you have to go through many processes; registering, wait a month, and then come back for part 2. Obviously since my then fiancé couldn’t come in, it was impossible to do.

 

My process started in Aug 2020 with lots of paperwork and I only got approved yesterday. It was considered fast in the middle of crazy Covid.

 

My husband’s friend chose to do CR1 but only saw his fiancé maybe 2-3 times in the span of 2020-present, and still waiting for her to come in, whereas I got to see my husband immediately from Dec 2021.

 

Depends on your situation. In our cases, my K1 was quicker than husband friend’s CR1. 

[usmsbow 801]

30 minutes ago, Beth & Achraf said:

I remember around 2008-2010 how Vermont and California processing times for K1's  would change daily, sometimes Vermont would get back logged while Cali was processing nearly upon receipt & Vise Versa with Vermont and Cali

Those K1 filers were here within 6 months  most times.

 

When I was going through the process in 2014, CSC was taking a month or so to process K-1s, while TSC was taking 4+ months. Eventually a bunch of us had our files transferred from TSC to CSC and got immediately approved. I think soon after that CSC became the sole K-1 processor and things dramatically slowed down.

 

[Cathi 5,745]

Nope.

[tartpief 12]

There's nothing meritorious about K1 for the foreseeable future... unless they revert back to the old ways / processing time. (*used to* have faster processing time than CR1)

I am surprised that people are still filing K1.

As a September 2021 I-129F filer, I bitterly regret not opting for a CR1 route. 😂

[Crazy Cat 41,770]

13 hours ago, breadlover408 said:

Depends on your situation. In our cases, my K1 was quicker than husband friend’s CR1

Quicker to the Green Card?

[cristinea2 7]

The waiting period is not the real problem. You make patience and will pass. The problem is that you cant work till you get the work permit or GC.. With marriage visa you can work asap.

I regreted the K1 because i could not work for 10 months..

[Mr Ibrahim 0]

On 1/27/2023 at 12:47 PM, Livdays said:

I’ve seen people say that I-129f is the fastest way to get to the US, but is this still true? A 15.5 month wait doesn’t seem fast to me. Would getting married over zoom, then applying for a spousal visa be quicker than I-129f??

Well, I-129F was the fastest before the pandemic, since there is a huge backlog it becomes 15.5 all the way from 10 months. Spouse visa is not fast as well. It shows fewer months than a Fiance visa but still takes at least 2 years. Also depends on the country. In my opinion, the I-129F is still fastest than the spouse, only downfall is once they are in the US they gotta wait for the GC, and it's not the case with a spouse Visa. 

[Mike E 11,739]

5 minutes ago, Mr Ibrahim said:

In my opinion, the I-129F is still fastest than the spouse

The data says otherwise. 

[Crazy Cat 41,770]

15 minutes ago, Mr Ibrahim said:

In my opinion, the I-129F is still fastest than the spouse,

USCIS Immigration Processing Times - VisaJourney

Per VJ members, the average time from NOA1 to interview is:

K-1:  575 days + another year or 2 until a Green Card is issued.

CR-1/IR-1:  572 days + 0 days since the spousal visa holder IMMEDIATELY becomes a legal resident upon arriving in the US. 

 

Assuming that is accurate, then the spousal visa is a slam dunk except for a few specific circumstances.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[TBoneTX 45,222]

An unrelated post was split into its own topic and moved to the General Immigration Discussion forum.

[breadlover408 24]

On 1/28/2023 at 4:47 AM, Crazy Cat said:

Quicker to the Green Card?

Processing time + to be with each other. 
Not green card. 

[Crazy Cat 41,770]

2 minutes ago, breadlover408 said:

Processing time + to be with each other. 
Not green card. 

USCIS Immigration Processing Times - VisaJourney

Per VJ members, the average time from NOA1 to interview is:

K-1:  575 days + another year or 2 until a Green Card is issued.

CR-1/IR-1:  572 days + 0 days since the spousal visa holder IMMEDIATELY becomes a legal resident upon arriving in the US.