AndiB

there's scanners for each month, not just the big spreadsheet. I see they're posted on their individual posts here (so go look at jan and feb for todays numbers per month) and prob on fb and such too

there's been slow mondays before, try not to judge off a single day. Haven't seen any issues that we know of though

16.5months are the estimate for people who are getting their applications adjudicated *now* as it's theoretically approximately current processing time and usually a good estimate for anyone filing now too. However, it's based on 6months of data but as we know numbers drastically improved in Jan and feb so it's not really a reflection of reality, some people are getting approvals at 13months but many are also still waiting 15-17 months. USCIS also has changed drastically through covid and even now so that number is usually pretty meaningless beyond being a rough guide of where they are with processing time. Looking at numbers we have thanks to wonderful data collectors, we can see they *should* bring down average processing to 13-14months for mid-late 2022 filers. USCIS never predicts processing, they only give you what to expect based on PREVIOUS data.

I feel the same as you! I don't want my engagement and wedding to be admin nightmare. Maybe that means a longer wait or more hassle and maybe I will regret it but current me wants to be engaged for awhile and wants to be with her husband when married, not apart. I'm making my peace with probably having to have a 'legal' wedding then reception later but I'm still trying to 'normalise' everything else as much as possible.

yup! To me I feel like a lot of advice is just rush into CR1/marriage and figure it out after. It's fine if you're already at a place to get married, I know a lot are and that's totally fine! I just wish they realise a lot aren't, I filed k1 'early' cause I knew we had all the time to figure it out with this wait time 😂 Sadly we're over it now though, we went from 'I don't know' to 'I'm ready' faster than we anticipated

I feel the same! The fact we've managed LDR and he supported me when I was losing my mind at end of PhD (it was not pretty) gives me faith we can survive life together when it gets tough. Def feeling that appreciation for the mundane, I had no idea how much I enjoyed just driving to errands or going to the grocery store together. I'm keeping a journal during this process and I'm hoping I will remember to appreciate these little things

yeah bf and i had been together just a yr when we filed and was on my second longer trip. To us it felt too soon, we needed more time together. I think looking back we could have married that trip and filed CR1 instead but at the time it felt like we would be doing it just for the visa rather than for us. I know marrying for a visa is normal around here, but we take it super seriously and are going based off 'would we be happy getting married rn if it weren't for a visa?' and the answer would have been no.

yeah they def make me anxious about going k1 because of how aggressive they are about CR1, for some people there isn't really a choice or for personal reasons K1 > CR1 and it should be respected. If someone is given the info and decides K1, that should be respected.

I think they go off how long since NOA1 do they get NOA2, ie how long from when it becomes their case to when it ceases to be their case

I include RFE cause in past it was at 50%and 80% incl RFE I have realised i believe USCIS's 50/80% is not incl RFEs tho (ie when they say median or their processing estimate)

if I understand the spreadsheet, feb is about 32% so probably in a week or two?

I'm very grateful for timeline speeding up, I just worry about how I'll react if I get 'left behind'. I tell myself I'll be reasonable but who knows. I'm not very patient 😭

They already started feb at maybe 50-60%, I didn't check but they're at about 70% for Jan now I believe??? Usually they move focus more fully when a month hits about 80% but I no longer follow months independently so can't say with a lot of confidence. March should start around when Feb hits 50%

Yeah same, when we got into the relationship I naively thought I could get a work visa to US as I was finishing up my PhD 9months into the relationship and therefore 'free' but guess not! Also didn't know k1 had become such a mess. I would never have signed up to 3yrs apart if I'd known but now he's stuck with me 😂 We also try every 3months so it's manageable but there's just so much stress and pressure. Feel like have to make every minute we have overlapping times count, makes having a life difficult sometimes and have been stressed/resentful at times. Think getting better at it but it's just not issues that come up in person.

exactly! I don't have 100% faith in surviving ldr so I don't feel comfortable making that commitment but in person, I'm confident. Props to those who are better at LDR than me though. february needs to hit 50, not jan

Also LDR is so stressful, our time difference + work schedules have been rough this year and I think the pressure of being legally binded may have been too much. Our relationship is easy in person but it is rough at times LDR and I think I'd feel trapped in those worst moments. Know that may not sound great but I'm just terrible at LDR 😭

agreed, I regret it a little bit as I didn't realise how country based CR1 times are, I saw some could be 3yrs and didn't want to risk it but seems London is pretty standard. I'm a lil stressed about wait time for EAD as we can't really afford me being out of work a yr but yeah, we weren't ready for marriage and although it may have made things easier, I think it would have put a lot of stress on our relationship too. I wasn't quite ready and my bf was no where near ready, we're probably about ready now honestly but we're 6months into a k1 so it'd be silly to restart now. I'd also prefer to wait until I was truly 1000% ready instead of telling myself I'm ready because it makes immigration easier. I need my yr of engaged to settle 😂

I've seen people with visas that are ready and they wait months for a letter and never follow up and when they finally do find out there's no letter, you just book. How do you wait over a yr for NOA2 then just leave it in limbo at READY without asking why questions? 😂

I agree. I do understand pushing the cr1 but people need to understand not everyone can just marry to file or by time they are able to marry it's an extra yr or similar. Cr1 wasn't really viable for me but people kept pressuring me to do that instead like it was simple. I wish people who just share the advantages of cr1 over k1, highly suggest it and then let petitioner decide instead of harassing em. I've seen people asking for advice and just getting 'apply for cr1' over and over instead of an actual answer. Will say although they take similar times, cr1 is cheaper and means no AOS drama and limbo (no drivers etc without an EAD/GC) so it's still better even if time wise they're similar

ah I meant normal as in no longer having to take measure to reduce the time. Once the backlog is down to manageable they won't need to do this like 4-5month+ spread Main reason they have to take these measures is how big the backlog is from the fact they were processing slower than they were receiving

so at current rate just under 2yrs to get to 'normal' 😭

there will always be a backlog I think? Cause they don't adjudicate instantly so maybe like 20k is the 'normal' amount? but yh still a lot to get through

no, they have like 50k in backlog right now and are removing about 200/week? ish?

it's def pros and cons, the US seems to have far more options than a lot of countries but is also some of the worst wait times. Real mixed bag....

this won't really affect us I assume but once they get back to 'normal' times they should start processing more fairly. The issue is really the backlog, once that's mostly removed they won't have to speed ahead at 50-60% like they have been. Hopefully that comes sooner rather than later for the 30-40%. It's def a temporary method though, no comfort to all of us who are in this temporary period but it won't be like this forever. I imagine sometime next yr they'll return to 'normal'