Petition for Fiancée - USCIS

[DanielNJ 1]

How long does it take to receive communication from USCIS that my form 129f has been accepted and to be reviewed/approved? 

Edited July 19 by DanielNJ

[MalloryCat 211]

have you received your NOA1 yet? this is the letter you'd receive when USCIS acknowledges that they have gotten your petition. it usually takes about a month or so to receive that.

time frames vary drastically

people have been getting an NOA2 (notice of approval) in as little as 3 months. but it would be anywhere up to a year.

 

you should fill out your timeline https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/intro.php?cfl=

and you can compare your process with others

[DanielNJ 1]

Not yet. The form 129f was received by the processing center in Texas on Monday.

Why does it take so long? 

[MalloryCat 211]

it all depends on how many cases they are receiving.

And with this year being an election year, USCIS is probably getting quite a few more cases.

 

We got our NOA1 only a week after we shipped it, so it could only take that long for you to get your NOA1 at the very least.

 

according to the USCIS processing times for the Texas service center, most cases get approved within 16 months

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

 

unfortunately the I-129f is not a quick process, so you have quite a few months of waiting.

 

if you don't get an NOA1 within the next 30 days, you could try inquiring with USCIS. but from my experience they are usually quicker with at least the NOA1

 

 

[DanielNJ 1]

Thank you 

[JeanneAdil 6,581]

1 hour ago, DanielNJ said:

Not yet. The form 129f was received by the processing center in Texas on Monday.

Why does it take so long? 

U mean (from previous post ) u sent the petition to Texas receiving center

From there the petition is assigned to a US office usually California but could be Texas office

When that office receives the packet,  they will send written notice and online will say review which only means the info is fed into computer unless u are missing an item or signature or a fee (RFE or packet sent back in these cases)

Actual review will start anywhere from a few months to a year .  this depends on office workload and the case itself /complicated cases take longer.

so now u wait and wait and wait

u need patience

 

please when  u get the NOA1,  fill in timeline with your flag for country as your further  questions may be related to that country and embassy 

 

Best to u both

Edited July 19 by JeanneAdil

[DanielNJ 1]

Yes. Thank you 

The length of time for waiting is crazy. 

[DanielNJ 1]

I work in IT. With today’s technology it should be much shorter. 

[MalloryCat 211]

21 minutes ago, DanielNJ said:

I work in IT. With today’s technology it should be much shorter. 

most of this site would 100% agree with you

the K-1 visa is one of the few visas left that you cant submit online, so its just much slower.

unfortunately the government doesnt really care 😂

[JeanneAdil 6,581]

1 hour ago, DanielNJ said:

I work in IT. With today’s technology it should be much shorter. 

Its not an IT issue 

its  the # of cases that are in each office

USCIS stats show the following

 

10.9 million petitions received in 2023 plus the 2022 backlog with 1900

 

In FY 2023, USCIS received 10.9 million filings and completed more than 10 million pending cases– both record-breaking numbers in the agency's history.Feb 9, 2024

 

According to USCIS, its recent pending caseload through the end of FY 2023 was over nine million and its net backlog was over four million. This is an increase from FY 2019 when there were approximately six million pending cases and a net backlog of around 2.5 million.May 14, 2024

 

 

A normal work day is not for K1 alone wirh just 19000 federal employees

On an average day in FY 2023 we:

• Adjudicate more than 40,500 requests for various immigration benefits.
• Process 3,800 applications to sponsor relatives and future spouses.
• Analyze nearly 560 tips, leads, cases and detections for potential fraud, public safety and national security concerns.
• Process refugee applications around the world in support of the refugee admissions ceiling of 15,000 refugees for fiscal year 2022.
• Grant asylum to 163 individuals already in the United States.
• Screen more than 547 people for protection based on a credible fear of persecution or torture if they return home.
• Serve 800 people at in-person appointments for document services and other urgent needs.
• Fingerprint and photograph 12,000 people at 130 application support centers.
• Approve applications and petitions to help unite 3 foreign-born orphans with the Americans who want to adopt them.
• Grant lawful permanent residence to more than 2,300 people and issue nearly 9,200 Green Cards.
• Welcome more than 3,400 new citizens at naturalization ceremonies—that’s one every 25 seconds in a 24-hour period. Typically, about 47 of these new citizens are members of the U.S. armed forces.
• Ensure the employment eligibility of 100,000 new hires in the United States.
• Receive 60,000 phone calls to our toll-free phone line and more than 150,000 inquiries and service requests via online accounts and digital self-help tools.
• Receive 1.5 million visitor sessions to our website.
• Conduct automated verifications on employment eligibility and immigration status for more than 124,000 cases in E-Verify and 52,000 cases in SAVE.
• Conduct manual reviews of eligibility and immigration status for more than 1,300 cases in E-Verify and 7,000 cases in SAVE.
• Resolve more than 1,000 phone calls and 450 emails related to E-Verify and SAVE inquiries.
• Process more than 1,500 Form I-134A supporter applications for Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela
• Process 900 Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act requests.

 

 

[DanielNJ 1]

Thank you for the information 

[DanielNJ 1]

Yes. It’s not an IT issue. What I’m saying is that with today’s technology the time to process applications should be shorter. Thanks 

[Cw1977 109]

8 hours ago, DanielNJ said:

Yes. It’s not an IT issue. What I’m saying is that with today’s technology the time to process applications should be shorter. Thanks 

It could be. They choose not to, ultimately. May get even longer/slower with a change in president if that happens 

[hplusj 142]

9 hours ago, DanielNJ said:

Yes. It’s not an IT issue. What I’m saying is that with today’s technology the time to process applications should be shorter. Thanks 

Say what you will about the process, particularly the costs and requirements, but the duration in my opinion is an important component in keeping immigration to the US discerning and subjective to the variety of cases.  I would not want to see it streamlined in a way that would expedite particularly the K1, even though my fiance and I are taking that route. 

 

Spouse visas and other family based visas, sure, but in terms of family-based immigration I personally think K1 should be the slowest.  Not only is it a test of resolve and unity between two people before facing the stress of marriage, but also gives extra time for relationships that won't stand to dissolve.  How many times does a person come to the US to marry, adjust status, then divorce? 

 

There's a process for a reason, and patience is a virtue.

Edited July 20 by hplusj

[h02ejmajja 57]

19 hours ago, DanielNJ said:

Yes. It’s not an IT issue. What I’m saying is that with today’s technology the time to process applications should be shorter. Thanks 

in the end though, it's people - not technology - that will be looking at all the petitions and approving them or denying them. Technology doesn't do that. I think that the biggest way technology could be beneficial is to have all petitions scanned to a central database and have people be able to review them remotely - this would eliminate the need for "service centers" and could be done throughout the US. While most K1s are processed in California, for other visas they are distributed to 5 (or 6 maybe? I cant remember) service centers and inevitably one has different processing times than another.