US Citizen I-130 petition for spouse & simultaneously filing I-129F K3

[Reynal2m 8]

On 1/17/2025 at 8:25 PM, SalishSea said:

It's not black and white.  It's discretionary.

 

You will absolutely not get a K-3.  Those are obsolete.

 

Normally the "expedite" reason needs to involve the USC, not the alien beneficiary. 

 

No one likes to wait, but it's just part of the deal when you choose to immigrate.

I don’t believe K-3 visas are obsolete; it’s just that USCIS has chosen not to issue them anymore, and they are not obligated to, as there is "no statutory mandate". USCIS's justification at one point was that most K-3 visas were being rejected, meaning they would need to invest resources in working on a denied K-3 case and then still process the I-130 petition. Essentially, USCIS was handling two cases instead of just one. Upon researching the history of K-3 visas, I found that they were introduced in 2001 to address delays in family-based petitions, which is very similar to the situation we are facing now, where processing times for I-130 petitions have increased to 16.5 months (for 80% of cases) and some cases taking years to complete... Given the current circumstances, the K-3 visa should be reinstated, as it directly addresses the issue for which it was originally created.