AndiB

I think it's def better on paper. There's just individual circumstances and priorties that may change which is the 'superior' choice. No issue with vj highlighting pros of spousal, just saying everyone should refile in answer to something unrelated can be a bit much. Esp saying it'd be faster to refile. Don't want people misled

In that case what crazycat said

Won't affect it but you may have to request embassy transfer at nvc/embassy stage which can delay it. I've not looked into it much, it's def do-able with no issue for the k1. Will just maybe affect your timeline. I'm assuming you're beneficery? If you're petitioner you'd need a cosponsor if living abroad

It's up to the individual. It is not superior for me or others I know. It's def not the right option is main goal is to be together asap and they're 7months in. Saying itll be faster to restart is false unless the goal is a gc fast.

Okay i follow more data than just vj. That's based on people who had noa2 months ago, the k1 was taking about the same, if not a little longer as spousal then, it's since sped up by almost 60days for uscis stage. Even vj has uscis stage as 390 days on ave not 447 days like the link you shared Itll probably decrease a little more while spousal will stay about the same. Even if your data was current, they are only 75 days different, 2.5months. Restarting would put them back 5months+ so for this case, it's slower 100%.

You're right. A CR1 is faster for a greencard, it is NOT faster for US entry and certainly not if you're 7 months in. VJ is obsessed with spousal visa and literally any question you ask, someone will find a way to bring it up. At the moment the USCIS stage is taking 12-15months for bulk of people with some a bit longer. It is speeding up slowly so you may be looking at 11-14 or such for yours. There's literally no info you can get until it's approved, denied or you're sent a request for evidence. It's complete silence and you won't be told anything until then, even if you get someone on the phone. It's, as others have said basically sitting on the pile waiting.

Chances are high your k1 noa2 will expire while at nvc or shortly after, this is normal. Just make sure you keep track as if embassy doesn't hear from you, they may consider it abandoned

You're correct. I dunno what Mike's pt is. I don't think they do welcome letters really anymore. You will need to submit an inquiry to obtain your case number from nvc so you can check status and follow up at embassy. The case number will start with the letters of your embassy. I'm not fully clear on nvc stage as I'm still noa1 but I'd find your noa2 date group here and discuss there! If you tell me your noa2 i can link you to group if you're unsure where to find

Average by working day is still 250 for July, 259 for June

agreed, guess depends what fiances situation is. Unless they formally renounce def making more work for themselves, esp if citizenship just comes right back in couple months 😂

This law has not been enacted yet. Home affairs can still challenge it so for instance I lost mine when I got my UK citizenship and have not yet regained it. My security clearance at work is affected by nationalities so they're keeping an eye on it but as things stand I have not regained my citizenship and their fiance will lose his south african if he doesn't ask to retain dual. It may become mute but it may not be in time for their interview. It's a weird limbo state where I'm not sure what status his nationality would sit at....

I assume the USCIS case tracker app on mobile which allows you to scan ranges

South Africa only allows dual if you request it. If they're expecting him to have his NZ citizenship in next couple months it may be too late but I agree with your advice. If it's still possible to put in a request to keep his saffa citizenship, I would for ease. If he has issue with having it, he can always choose to renounce it later. What stage are you in the new citizenship process @Clink2023? I remember NZ citizenship taking a long time as you need to get approved, then get booked into a ceremony and then apply for a passport. These processes can take up to a year total, at least it has for my family so maybe it's changed since. As you have NOA2 I would really do your best to maintain the South African passport, if this isn't possible just bring it with to interview along with new NZ passport. He will likely still need a South African police cert.

you'll probably start seeing approvals for your month around dec-jan 2024. Also I doubt your service centre is Texas, it should be California. Everyone sends it to Texas lockbox but it then goes to California centre. If your number starts with WAC, that's cali. EDIT: okay so your profile on forum says texas but timeline says cali. My bad. Not sure why they're showing diff things

it's taking up to, and sometimes over, 90days to go from uscis to nvc rn. Many march people are still waiting. It's normal, sorry.

Your feelings are completely valid and i won't tell you to feel otherwise but they started march about two months ago? You're still very much on their radar and within a normal delay. Doesn't make it any less sucky but it'll come 💚

SRC I think.... Everyone sends their k1 to texas lockbox but it doesn't go to the texas service cente

I personally found a place happy to be flexible as long as we gave them plenty of warning and didn't book a fri or sat. Can always try reaching out.

Your processing center would be California. If your number starts with WAC, that's California. Others have said but mid-late July onwards but could be months, then nvc then embassy interview. I agree that you'll need to probably just plan to have a legal ceremony and then a party later. We're planning legal signing shortly after i arrive then party few months later.

Yes i know. It's the same for our basic checks. It's a surface level check that just looks for basic flags. Deeper searches are higher clearance, I'm not talking about those A simple check can take a day or months in the UK. I would assume US is the same. As I stated you can literally have the same history as some one else, right down to your addresses and for some reason it's slower for one and not the other. Hell ESTAs take variable time and that's literally a basic form that is automated. Everyone does the same ESTA. Its not a team digging into history and yet...some people take mins and others takes hrs or days. It's not as simple as you're making it. The same check does NOT mean it's the exact same speed every single time. I don't work at USCIS so maybes I'm wrong and there is a simple check that really is the equiv of a google search but I'd be shocked as it's not that simple in UK for what I assume is an analogous check. I've also seen someones inuiry come back saying their security check was still pending which is the other reason I dont think its as simple as a quick search.

That's not true. That's not how security checks work. I have needed multiple as I worked with kids and now at a company that runs checks from basic to top secret. The basic ones can be anywhere from a couple days to months. It's not that the petitioner had a history but rather there was just a hiccup in the system. It is NEVER the same for everyone. You can have twins who lived together their whole lives with no differences and their checks can come back at widely different times. The majority should clear in similar timelines but it is not a guarantee. Your wishing things are simple does not make them so. Government bureaucracy is never that straight forward Context?

agree with this. The early 2021 are a mystery though. I never see filers from then who are still waiting so it's unclear what the situation is, whether they're 'active' cases or something happened that we're unaware of. If these include RFEs, many get an RFE and never respond and it can take months+ for USCIS to circle back and change the status to denied.

it was one approval. It happens sometimes, always has. It's literally one in thousands. Either something in her case was not obvious to us or it was a simple USCIS error. 1 in 4k+ is a really really small % error. I understand it's unfair but it's not like they're skipping you for jan 2023. We don't know the USCIS process but cases require background checks etc which will take different times for different applicants, even a straight forward applicant can have a slow security check. There's also diff case workers that work at diff speeds. April started a lil over a month ago. That's barely a delay at all in terms of paperwork/processing. It obviously feels like a long wait, totally valid but on paper...it's totally normal and they're not 'choosing' to just leave you behind.

It exists but since they converted to a website, it is not allowed to be shared on here 🤷‍♂️ I would ask in an fb group or other K1 site

it increased a few months ago as well then came back down. Am curious to see if it will stay or if they'll readjust