OldUser

3 or 5 year rule?

Not reject but deny. These two words mean different things. Yes, there's always possibility of denial.

Yes, it is naturally slower.

Adjudicators live in this country and can guess that even though minimal requirement is $25500, living on that in New York City, San Francisco or LA will be drastically different to living somewhere in rural Louisiana. They can check prices / rents by ZIP code you provide in your address. Not sure if anybody actually does it, but I wouldn't be surprised. Unless you can convince your income is enough to sponsor somebody or have a qualifying joint sponsor, no GC will be issued, sadly.

Translations don't expire. In my case, translation was digital as far as I remember. It wasn't an issue for my AOS.

You can never predict accurately how long your case will take. For example, all estimates for my I-751 showed 7 months at the time of filing. Case took 20.5 months. And it's not just me. Each case is unique and will take as long it needs to. I'd consider cost, ability to work after entering the US and other factors you CAN control. Wait time is not one of them.

Faster for what? To enter the US? Maybe. It's not faster to get GC on K-1 route. It's also more expensive. We also cannot predict what processing times will be under new administration. It's much easier to deny K-1 case after months of waiting than it is CR-1 case.

When you filed, was it January 12th already in New York (Eastern Time)? For example, you filed at 10pm on January 11th in Los Angeles.

Yes, any petitions by mail 4-10 weeks to be accepted. Add to that December holidays we just had and fee reduction. She should hear end of the month, first week of February maybe.

It's not good telling government you live at a place you don't live at just yet. Just wait and file AR-11 on the day you move in actually.

2 according to OP.

Income appears to be the issue at first glance. Even though the required minimum is 25550, the more is the better. Depending on location, even $50k may be tough for 1 person to live on. 5 years ago I lived in a very cheap apartment that cost me close to $25K a year. If you live in area like this, there's no way you can sponsor anybody on $32K salary. I would say joint sponsor is what you need.

Ignore the warning

Was proof of US citizenship provided? Were all pages of docs provided? How much higher the income was compared to required minimum? I'd if she made 50K+ in the last 3 years, it should be approvable.

Bring the docs to the interview I'd say.

Delete

Yes, statement is needed. So get it translated again.

Amazing, looks like there may be a solution to your problem!

I-765?

Hopefully not when his current 10 year expires, but Resident Since Date + 2 years - 90 days. This is when his 90 day for I-751 opens. It should be filed before 2 year anniversary of Resident Since date. Good luck!

No work visa is going be issued with a pending immigrant petition.

Sponsorship as a service is what smells fishy in all of this. USCIS didn't build a marketplace for petitioners to shop for sponsors. The government doesn't need fradulent sponsors who are unable to pay back or aren't there if and when they're required by government to fulfill their obligations. I do not say what OP is describing 100% fraud or illegal. But it has all potentials to trigger fraud investigation by USCIS. If I was OP, I wouldn't want to be answering to immigration official how I knew / found the sponsor. Just imagine that: "I don't know him officer. I just paid $500 to get him sign I-864". I want to see officer's facial expression at that point. There's going to be large chunk of USCIS fraud unit involved in investigating this, especially under new administration.

Your point about petitioner not needing to have relationship with sponsor is valid. However, would you sign paperwork for a random person? I wouldn't. If somebody wants to charge for it, there's just high possibility they're charging several people and committing fraud. See related, not exactly same, but you get an idea: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-migrant-sponsorship-program-paused-cuba-haiti-nicaragua-venezuela/ I wouldn't want to pay $500 and discover the" joint sponsor" sponsored 100 other people and doesn't really qualify based on income.

Yes, you get it at the ceremony.

I've seen people reporting on VJ 5 year rule filers being approved much sooner while 3 year filers are still waiting... I think a lot of them have I-751 not yet approved though.