Processing Time Odds for I-130 Online - Pre vs Post Fee Changes

[mikesaidyes 4]

First time posting, excited for this community as we begin our journey. Thank you all for your advice and previous posts and info!

 

American living in Seoul since 2011, with my partner, living together since 2017 with tons of proof (official address documents in Korean, money sent between banks, he is on my will), and money exchanged, so obviously no worries about "is our relationship real?"

BUT we have the very unfortunate (or is it?) timing of Denmark wedding 21 March and back to Korea on 25 March.

 

I know that it's all a ####### shoot, but what's the word on the street:

Rush to apply with lower fees and get stuck in a backlog?

Or wait until April, pay more, be in a new batch and fingers crossed it's faster?

Any idea what the odds are? I'm not worried about the cost, and I still fully expect it to take a year and a half start to finish (I-130 online, wait a year according to recent estimates - then DS-260 and interview at Seoul Embassy six months wait). 

 

I also know that it all comes down to the pure luck of which center we get - is there any way to predict which center we get as BOTH living abroad? Or again, pure crapshoot? 

Would hate to shoot myself in the foot if done at the wrong time with the fee changes.

Thanks everyone!

[pushbrk 12,995]

Last time there was a major fee increase (like triple) it took months to hire and train more people.  It sped up a little, then has gotten slower ever since.

 

[Redro 4,611]

3 hours ago, mikesaidyes said:

First time posting, excited for this community as we begin our journey. Thank you all for your advice and previous posts and info!

 

American living in Seoul since 2011, with my partner, living together since 2017 with tons of proof (official address documents in Korean, money sent between banks, he is on my will), and money exchanged, so obviously no worries about "is our relationship real?"

BUT we have the very unfortunate (or is it?) timing of Denmark wedding 21 March and back to Korea on 25 March.

 

I know that it's all a ####### shoot, but what's the word on the street:

Rush to apply with lower fees and get stuck in a backlog?

Or wait until April, pay more, be in a new batch and fingers crossed it's faster?

Any idea what the odds are? I'm not worried about the cost, and I still fully expect it to take a year and a half start to finish (I-130 online, wait a year according to recent estimates - then DS-260 and interview at Seoul Embassy six months wait). 

 

I also know that it all comes down to the pure luck of which center we get - is there any way to predict which center we get as BOTH living abroad? Or again, pure crapshoot? 

Would hate to shoot myself in the foot if done at the wrong time with the fee changes.

Thanks everyone!

I used to live in Korea! And you will be assigned to a random service center. unless you can file DCF there is no benefit to be overseas and it can actually slow down your case. 
During the year we filed, we were at Vermont SC and our I130 was approved after 9 months (online stated time 13 months). A friend (not on VJ) was at Nebraska and their petition took 6 months and then a third person was at a third SC and I believe their petition took a year. 
All couples living together in Korea. 
NVC to Interview was really quick- about 2 months after DQ. You can check out my timeline and my review to see how we handled domicile. 
The advice we were given before filing (we started speaking about it in early 2021) was to file as soon as possible. And not to focus on best case scenario but plan for long processing times… 

Word on the street is don’t pay attention to what’s happening now or might happen in the future.
Other piece of advice is… hope for a 10 year green card. I’m not sure if you are getting married in March or going to someone else’s wedding. If this is your wedding, I suggest you move to the US after March 2026. 

Edited February 6 by Redro

[mikesaidyes 4]

On 2/6/2024 at 8:50 PM, Redro said:

 

Thank you and glad to find someone else with Korean experience! So, yeah, basically, it seems that "just do it when you can and expect to wait a year" and be lucky if it comes quickly.....and also, I presume you said wait until March 2026 to enter America - so that we can get a green card freely? No conditional two years after marriage....because we will do I-485 after entering, correct?

 

 

 

 

 

I used to live in Korea! And you will be assigned to a random service center. unless you can file DCF there is no benefit to be overseas and it can actually slow down your case. 
During the year we filed, we were at Vermont SC and our I130 was approved after 9 months (online stated time 13 months). A friend (not on VJ) was at Nebraska and their petition took 6 months and then a third person was at a third SC and I believe their petition took a year. 
All couples living together in Korea. 
NVC to Interview was really quick- about 2 months after DQ. You can check out my timeline and my review to see how we handled domicile. 
The advice we were given before filing (we started speaking about it in early 2021) was to file as soon as possible. And not to focus on best case scenario but plan for long processing times… 

Word on the street is don’t pay attention to what’s happening now or might happen in the future.
Other piece of advice is… hope for a 10 year green card. I’m not sure if you are getting married in March or going to someone else’s wedding. If this is your wedding, I suggest you move to the US after March 2026. 

 

On 2/6/2024 at 7:43 PM, pushbrk said:

Last time there was a major fee increase (like triple) it took months to hire and train more people.  It sped up a little, then has gotten slower ever since.

 

Thanks for the reply....yeah so it seems that it's "just file it and wait a year and be very surprised if we get it early' haha

[Redro 4,611]

Yep! 
File as soon as you can but don’t be in anyway surprised or annoyed when people who filed a month or two after you get their I130 approved before yours. You need to be very “go with the flow”…. 
And yes we entered after our 2 year anniversary so I’m pretty much done with US immigration until I apply for citizenship next year. I entered, received SSN after 10 days, then my GC arrived 5 weeks later.

It has been such a weird transition because I was so used to going to Kimmi once a year to renew my ARC.

My other advice is to really love everything about Korea before you leave. We miss Korean food so much. All I want is some samgyetang or juk or dakgalbi… I could go on… 

Edited February 9 by Redro

[powerpuff 6,744]

*** Topic moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports as the post is about processing times ***