K-1 Processing times

[bundy_138 0]

I filed my I-129F and received my NOA-1 in May 07 (see my timeline). The processing dates on the USCIS website have changed so many times in the last 90 days, I decided to call USCIS today and get an update. (I wasn't sure if my petition was outside the USCIS processing times becuse of the constant changes to the timeframe) The rep told me that they are working on I-129F petitions with the date of 02/16/2007. He told me that it will most likely be 3 more months before I hear anything! I've already waited 111 days and have not heard anything and there have been no touches to my petition according to the website.

Looks like the 90 - 120 day approval times are a thing of the past. Looks like the 6 month wait is correct.

Bundy

[*julez* 124]

They just give you worst case scenario to cover their a$$. You'll probably have your NOA2 by the end of this month.

If you call again, you'll likely get a different story.

[Zee Bee 61]

Have you checked out this thread? There have been 5 K1 Approvals for April/May filers in the past week. USCIS just gives you that 6 month mumbo jumbo to cover their behinds.

Don't believe everything USCIS says

[Patsy and John 0]

We've called the CSC 5 times but only one touch is showing on the USCIS website. We're still uncertain whether to use 21st May (which the website says they received our I-129F) as our "NOA1" start point, or the day we received the actual NOA1 by mail. That was on the 30th July! We've been touched once (12th July) and we THINK that was when Patsy called about the late NOA1, which then arrived by mail on the 30th July.

I see that some K1-ers got their NOA2 without being touched but we don't understand why. We believe our application is more straight forward than most and everything was sent correctly. So, if they're processed in the order they were received, why are some getting their NOA2s when they applied AFTER us? Patsy's mom is terminally ill and she called on 4th Sept to ask if we could use the "humanitarian clause" to speed up our application and she was told not to bother because we'd be getting our NOA2 and day. We've found that it's down to luck whether we get an intelligent answer, a rude uninformed and unhelpful answer, or someone who doesn't care and makes up an answer to get rid of us, when we call. The worst thing about the USCIS call centre is that no-one seems accountable and you can't get the same person twice.

So we're totally in the dark without any reliable means to check our K1 progress, or plan accordingly. I hope that "touches" are meaningless or, at best, a sign that our application is so uncomplicated that it doesn't require constant checks/touches. But, if that is the case, then why wasn't it dealt with quickly? We believe that we are in the simpler K1 categorie and therefore should be dealt with faster than the "average" time-scale to get NOA2 (110 days). 111 days have passed since the 21st May, surely we don't have to use the 30th July as our start date (NOA1)? That would add on 10 weeks (70 days) to our wait! That would be really bad news but at least KNOWING would be less stressful.

Sorry to have been so vocal (I feel a little better for getting it off my chest...lol) but I do hope that this post helps someone in some way and maybe me too. ~

John

[weedebz 0]

It's all the uncertainty surrounding every issue that gets me too. I could actually cope waiting 6-7months if I knew for sure at the end of the wait I was definatly going to have my visa in my hand.

[chris4gretchen 1]

So, if they're processed in the order they were received, why are some getting their NOA2s when they applied AFTER us? We believe that we are in the simpler K1 categorie and therefore should be dealt with faster than the "average" time-scale to get NOA2 (110 days).

John

I am sure most everyone believes their petition is a simpler one and should be fast tracked. who would decide the criteria for what is simplier?

look, this is how they process them. the petitions come in are checked for correct submissions and are grouped by date received and by the region the beneficiary is from. Certain countries get put to the front (Cuba) and the rest are then boxed with other petitions for the same region and date received. then those boxes are put on a shelf (or in a truck outside) to sit until they can get to them. the 6 months time is just to GET to the petition. it only takes about 15 minutes to approve a petition that has no RFE or hits on the background check. When they are ready to process another box, they just go to the shelf and pick one. theres probably 40 boxes from the same week on the shelf to the same region, each containing petitions. if your petition is in that box, then you just beat some others who are still in the box on the shelf. they are not taken in exact order. They will get to us all, and probably in the 120 days or so. they are saying 6 months to legally cover their butt. rigth now both service centers have a semi container FULL of petitions in their parking lots to accomodate the influx of petitions filed to beat the fee increase. They are giving NOA2s now to april and may and yours is probably soon to be processed.

right now the service centers are swamped with petitions.

and what does your NOA1 say in the received date box? that is your date to start counting for the 6 month time line. not your notice date ( thats the date they made the notice to you). So look at your NOA1 and you will clearly see the date you should use.

Chris

Edited September 12, 2007 by chris4gretchen

[BYRON-LEIDY 0]

The ####### they say as far as the 6 month wait is just status quo!! they are so annoying...it feels like they enjoy sticking a dagger right through us when they give these dates!!!!!!!

[afterforever 0]

So, if they're processed in the order they were received, why are some getting their NOA2s when they applied AFTER us? We believe that we are in the simpler K1 categorie and therefore should be dealt with faster than the "average" time-scale to get NOA2 (110 days).

John

I am sure most everyone believes their petition is a simpler one and should be fast tracked. who would decide the criteria for what is simplier?

look, this is how they process them. the petitions come in are checked for correct submissions and are grouped by date received and by the region the beneficiary is from. Certain countries get put to the front (Cuba) and the rest are then boxed with other petitions for the same region and date received. then those boxes are put on a shelf (or in a truck outside) to sit until they can get to them. the 6 months time is just to GET to the petition. it only takes about 15 minutes to approve a petition that has no RFE or hits on the background check. When they are ready to process another box, they just go to the shelf and pick one. theres probably 40 boxes from the same week on the shelf to the same region, each containing petitions. if your petition is in that box, then you just beat some others who are still in the box on the shelf. they are not taken in exact order. They will get to us all, and probably in the 120 days or so. they are saying 6 months to legally cover their butt. rigth now both service centers have a semi container FULL of petitions in their parking lots to accomodate the influx of petitions filed to beat the fee increase. They are giving NOA2s now to april and may and yours is probably soon to be processed.

right now the service centers are swamped with petitions.

and what does your NOA1 say in the received date box? that is your date to start counting for the 6 month time line. not your notice date ( thats the date they made the notice to you). So look at your NOA1 and you will clearly see the date you should use.

Chris

If I was't depressed before, I am now. Seems like having your case file touched by USCIS is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Edited September 12, 2007 by afterforever

[MKCT 0]

I filed my I-129F and received my NOA-1 in May 07 (see my timeline). The processing dates on the USCIS website have changed so many times in the last 90 days, I decided to call USCIS today and get an update. (I wasn't sure if my petition was outside the USCIS processing times becuse of the constant changes to the timeframe) The rep told me that they are working on I-129F petitions with the date of 02/16/2007. He told me that it will most likely be 3 more months before I hear anything! I've already waited 111 days and have not heard anything and there have been no touches to my petition according to the website.

Looks like the 90 - 120 day approval times are a thing of the past. Looks like the 6 month wait is correct.

Bundy

Welcome to the waiting game....!

[Rob & Jin 0]

We've called the CSC 5 times but only one touch is showing on the USCIS website. We're still uncertain whether to use 21st May (which the website says they received our I-129F) as our "NOA1" start point, or the day we received the actual NOA1 by mail. That was on the 30th July! We've been touched once (12th July) and we THINK that was when Patsy called about the late NOA1, which then arrived by mail on the 30th July.

I see that some K1-ers got their NOA2 without being touched but we don't understand why. We believe our application is more straight forward than most and everything was sent correctly. So, if they're processed in the order they were received, why are some getting their NOA2s when they applied AFTER us? Patsy's mom is terminally ill and she called on 4th Sept to ask if we could use the "humanitarian clause" to speed up our application and she was told not to bother because we'd be getting our NOA2 and day. We've found that it's down to luck whether we get an intelligent answer, a rude uninformed and unhelpful answer, or someone who doesn't care and makes up an answer to get rid of us, when we call. The worst thing about the USCIS call centre is that no-one seems accountable and you can't get the same person twice.

So we're totally in the dark without any reliable means to check our K1 progress, or plan accordingly. I hope that "touches" are meaningless or, at best, a sign that our application is so uncomplicated that it doesn't require constant checks/touches. But, if that is the case, then why wasn't it dealt with quickly? We believe that we are in the simpler K1 categorie and therefore should be dealt with faster than the "average" time-scale to get NOA2 (110 days). 111 days have passed since the 21st May, surely we don't have to use the 30th July as our start date (NOA1)? That would add on 10 weeks (70 days) to our wait! That would be really bad news but at least KNOWING would be less stressful.

Sorry to have been so vocal (I feel a little better for getting it off my chest...lol) but I do hope that this post helps someone in some way and maybe me too. ~

John

Use the receipt date on the NOA-1, not the received date

[bundy_138 0]

Thanks everyone. I am hopeful that the guy I talked to was just covering his a**, but you never know. I have seen a few May/June filers already receive NOA-2, so I am hopeful. To quote Tom Petty: "The waiting is the hardest part".

It's bad enough not knowing where your petition is during the process, but whats worse is when someone files after you did and gets the NOA-2! Oh well, things happen for a reason.

Thanks again for all the info!

Bundy

[Rob & Jin 0]

We've called the CSC 5 times but only one touch is showing on the USCIS website. We're still uncertain whether to use 21st May (which the website says they received our I-129F) as our "NOA1" start point, or the day we received the actual NOA1 by mail. That was on the 30th July! We've been touched once (12th July) and we THINK that was when Patsy called about the late NOA1, which then arrived by mail on the 30th July.

I see that some K1-ers got their NOA2 without being touched but we don't understand why. We believe our application is more straight forward than most and everything was sent correctly. So, if they're processed in the order they were received, why are some getting their NOA2s when they applied AFTER us? Patsy's mom is terminally ill and she called on 4th Sept to ask if we could use the "humanitarian clause" to speed up our application and she was told not to bother because we'd be getting our NOA2 and day. We've found that it's down to luck whether we get an intelligent answer, a rude uninformed and unhelpful answer, or someone who doesn't care and makes up an answer to get rid of us, when we call. The worst thing about the USCIS call centre is that no-one seems accountable and you can't get the same person twice.

So we're totally in the dark without any reliable means to check our K1 progress, or plan accordingly. I hope that "touches" are meaningless or, at best, a sign that our application is so uncomplicated that it doesn't require constant checks/touches. But, if that is the case, then why wasn't it dealt with quickly? We believe that we are in the simpler K1 categorie and therefore should be dealt with faster than the "average" time-scale to get NOA2 (110 days). 111 days have passed since the 21st May, surely we don't have to use the 30th July as our start date (NOA1)? That would add on 10 weeks (70 days) to our wait! That would be really bad news but at least KNOWING would be less stressful.

Sorry to have been so vocal (I feel a little better for getting it off my chest...lol) but I do hope that this post helps someone in some way and maybe me too. ~

John

USE the noa-1 receipt date, and touches are meaningless, many get some , most get none, they are not a indicator of anything. Good luck

[*julez* 124]

We've called the CSC 5 times but only one touch is showing on the USCIS website. We're still uncertain whether to use 21st May (which the website says they received our I-129F) as our "NOA1" start point, or the day we received the actual NOA1 by mail. That was on the 30th July! We've been touched once (12th July) and we THINK that was when Patsy called about the late NOA1, which then arrived by mail on the 30th July.

I see that some K1-ers got their NOA2 without being touched but we don't understand why. We believe our application is more straight forward than most and everything was sent correctly. So, if they're processed in the order they were received, why are some getting their NOA2s when they applied AFTER us? Patsy's mom is terminally ill and she called on 4th Sept to ask if we could use the "humanitarian clause" to speed up our application and she was told not to bother because we'd be getting our NOA2 and day. We've found that it's down to luck whether we get an intelligent answer, a rude uninformed and unhelpful answer, or someone who doesn't care and makes up an answer to get rid of us, when we call. The worst thing about the USCIS call centre is that no-one seems accountable and you can't get the same person twice.

So we're totally in the dark without any reliable means to check our K1 progress, or plan accordingly. I hope that "touches" are meaningless or, at best, a sign that our application is so uncomplicated that it doesn't require constant checks/touches. But, if that is the case, then why wasn't it dealt with quickly? We believe that we are in the simpler K1 categorie and therefore should be dealt with faster than the "average" time-scale to get NOA2 (110 days). 111 days have passed since the 21st May, surely we don't have to use the 30th July as our start date (NOA1)? That would add on 10 weeks (70 days) to our wait! That would be really bad news but at least KNOWING would be less stressful.

Sorry to have been so vocal (I feel a little better for getting it off my chest...lol) but I do hope that this post helps someone in some way and maybe me too. ~

John

USE the noa-1 receipt date, and touches are meaningless, many get some , most get none, they are not a indicator of anything. Good luck

In this case I would NOT go by the NOA1 date, which is late July. There was a well published computer glitch at CSC which caused many filers not to receive a NOA1 hard copy. But I would agree that the touches don't necessarily mean anything. Lots of VJers have gotten approved with nary a touch!

[Jamie76 0]

So, if they're processed in the order they were received, why are some getting their NOA2s when they applied AFTER us? We believe that we are in the simpler K1 categorie and therefore should be dealt with faster than the "average" time-scale to get NOA2 (110 days).

John

right now the service centers are swamped with petitions.

Chris

I think this is bogus. What if the service centers are swamped? That should be affecting those that filed the end of June through July most likely. It should not be affecting those that filed in May and early June which it is.

[Ken & Marife 0]

I filed my I-129F and received my NOA-1 in May 07 (see my timeline). The processing dates on the USCIS website have changed so many times in the last 90 days, I decided to call USCIS today and get an update. (I wasn't sure if my petition was outside the USCIS processing times becuse of the constant changes to the timeframe) The rep told me that they are working on I-129F petitions with the date of 02/16/2007. He told me that it will most likely be 3 more months before I hear anything! I've already waited 111 days and have not heard anything and there have been no touches to my petition according to the website.

Looks like the 90 - 120 day approval times are a thing of the past. Looks like the 6 month wait is correct.

Bundy

By looking at timeline database and my own experience, you can expect that your petition will be approved between 115-135 days from time you mail it. Good luck!