Has my case been approved?

[Tom12345 2]

Hi all,

 

My wife and I filed our I-130 petition in May 2017 and received our NOA1 in June 2017 via mail.  We completed the E-Notification form but never received an email.  Our case is at the Nebraska Service Centre. 

 

Later on in June, we sent our I-129F to apply for a K-3 Visa.  Unfortunately, due to a minor error, it was sent back.  We then re-sent the I-129F after amending the error.

 

Today we received this email:

 

Quote

Date: Sat, Jul 22, 2017 at 9:40 AM
Subject: USCIS Acceptance Confirmation



Your case has been accepted and routed to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center for processing. Within 7-10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number LIN**********. With the official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) you may visit www.uscis.govwhere you can check the status of your case using My Case Status. We suggest you wait until you have received your Form I-797 before checking My Case Status.

This confirmation provides notification of the date USCIS received your case.  This notice does NOT grant any immigration status or benefit. You MAY NOT present this notice as evidence that you have been granted any immigration status or benefit. Further, this notice does NOT constitute evidence that your case remains pending with USCIS. The current status of your case must be verified with USCIS.

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE

2

 

Is this email in regards to the I-130 or I-129F?  As we have never received an email before we are unsure what it means.  Does this mean our case has been approved?  Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[Scandi 3,970]

It means what it says, that your case has been ACCEPTED, not approved. Two very different things.

 

Why did you file the i-129f when you already had an active i-130? The K-3 visa (form i-129f) isn't used anymore, you need to go for the CR-1 visa (form i-130).

Edited July 22, 2017 by Scandi

[Jim&jackie 0]

On 7/22/2017 at 3:35 AM, Scandi said:

 

Why did you file the i-129f when you already had an active i-130? The K-3 visa (form i-129f) isn't used anymore, you need to go for the CR-1 visa (form i-130).

What do you mean it's not used anymore? You have to have filed i-130 to be able to file for k-3. If the k-3 wasn't used anymore, USCIS wouldn't have it on their list of forms and they certainly wouldn't accept it. We have filed for both and also got a receipt for both.

[Scandi 3,970]

8 minutes ago, Jim&jackie said:

What do you mean it's not used anymore? You have to have filed i-130 to be able to file for k-3. If the k-3 wasn't used anymore, USCIS wouldn't have it on their list of forms and they certainly wouldn't accept it. We have filed for both and also got a receipt for both.

https://rapidvisa.com/the-k3-spousal-visa-is-obsolete/

 

You file the i-130 for the CR-1 visa. The i-129f is nowadays mostly used for K-1 visas, as there are hardly any K-3 visas issued anymore. The i-130 is the route to go for spouse visas, not the K-3.

[Scandi 3,970]

23 minutes ago, Jim&jackie said:

What do you mean it's not used anymore? You have to have filed i-130 to be able to file for k-3. If the k-3 wasn't used anymore, USCIS wouldn't have it on their list of forms and they certainly wouldn't accept it. We have filed for both and also got a receipt for both.

How does it work when you file both btw? Do you have to pay the fee for the i-130 AND the i-129f? Or is one fee waived when you file for the other as well? Seems odd how they would take money for both when they only go by the i-130, if so. 

[Ryan H 3,790]

7 hours ago, Jim&jackie said:

What do you mean it's not used anymore? You have to have filed i-130 to be able to file for k-3. If the k-3 wasn't used anymore, USCIS wouldn't have it on their list of forms and they certainly wouldn't accept it. We have filed for both and also got a receipt for both.

 

It's there because the provision in the LIFE Act of 2000 that created it has not been repealed.  Since the that time, procedures at USCIS and the State Department have changed making the K3 virtually unobtainable and the actual issuance of one a very rare occurrence.

[Jim&jackie 0]

I can't seem to open the link. I really only trust the info from USCIS.org and I also wonder what the information about the k-3 beeing obsolete is coming from. Is it based on statistics? It could very well be that the k-3 isn't being issued that often anymore,but after we've been in contact with USCIS, both by email and phone, this is what they recommended us to apply for. In my mind it's kind of strange to think they would recommend that if it's obsolete. We've been married for 28 years and for us it's inconceivable to be apart for a year or more.

You don't have to pay for the I-129f. Only the I-130.

[Scandi 3,970]

27 minutes ago, Jim&jackie said:

I can't seem to open the link. I really only trust the info from USCIS.org and I also wonder what the information about the k-3 beeing obsolete is coming from. Is it based on statistics? It could very well be that the k-3 isn't being issued that often anymore,but after we've been in contact with USCIS, both by email and phone, this is what they recommended us to apply for. In my mind it's kind of strange to think they would recommend that if it's obsolete. We've been married for 28 years and for us it's inconceivable to be apart for a year or more.

You don't have to pay for the I-129f. Only the I-130.

It's called the misinformation line for a reason. Glad you didn't pay for the i-129f.

[MonicaP 4]

On 7/21/2017 at 8:15 PM, Tom12345 said:

Hi all,

 

My wife and I filed our I-130 petition in May 2017 and received our NOA1 in June 2017 via mail.  We completed the E-Notification form but never received an email.  Our case is at the Nebraska Service Centre. 

 

Later on in June, we sent our I-129F to apply for a K-3 Visa.  Unfortunately, due to a minor error, it was sent back.  We then re-sent the I-129F after amending the error.

 

Today we received this email:

 

 

Is this email in regards to the I-130 or I-129F?  As we have never received an email before we are unsure what it means.  Does this mean our case has been approved?  Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

No it just means your case was received by the uscis and was routed to Nebraska. Unfortunately Nebraska service center is backlogged with applications. Sounds like it could be for the I-130 form though. 

[NikLR 13,220]

On 7/23/2017 at 9:02 AM, Jim&jackie said:

I can't seem to open the link. I really only trust the info from USCIS.org and I also wonder what the information about the k-3 beeing obsolete is coming from. Is it based on statistics? It could very well be that the k-3 isn't being issued that often anymore,but after we've been in contact with USCIS, both by email and phone, this is what they recommended us to apply for. In my mind it's kind of strange to think they would recommend that if it's obsolete. We've been married for 28 years and for us it's inconceivable to be apart for a year or more.

You don't have to pay for the I-129f. Only the I-130.

Go to the department of state website regarding the K3.  The USCIS still processes both petitions, but they adjudicate them together.  

Statistcally speaking, from numbers provided by the NVC, a K3 is given less than .3% of the time compared to a cr1/ir1. Granted not everyone applies for a k3 because it takes just as long, provides less than half the benefits, and costs twice as much. So most people don't waste their time.  

[JOL 19]

On 7/21/2017 at 8:15 PM, Tom12345 said:

Hi all,

 

My wife and I filed our I-130 petition in May 2017 and received our NOA1 in June 2017 via mail.  We completed the E-Notification form but never received an email.  Our case is at the Nebraska Service Centre. 

 

Later on in June, we sent our I-129F to apply for a K-3 Visa.  Unfortunately, due to a minor error, it was sent back.  We then re-sent the I-129F after amending the error.

 

Today we received this email:

...

Is this email in regards to the I-130 or I-129F?  As we have never received an email before we are unsure what it means.  Does this mean our case has been approved?  Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

The simplest easiest way to tell is to compare the LIN receipt numbers in the physical NOA1 and email.  Your I-130 and I-129F petitions will (necessarily) have UNIQUE receipt numbers, so if the emails LIN# is the same as on your NOA1 for the I-130, the email is also for the I-130.  If LIN#s differ, the email is almost certainly for the I-129F, unless you filed some other petition with the USCIS (or it falsely BELIEVES you did; the USCIS is far from flawless, but I would still bet heavily on a second LIN# belonging to the I-129F.)

You can also click the USCIS link in the email, then click "Check Case Status" and type in the LIN#; as I recall, the message that returns does not explicitly state which PETITION it is associated with, but does say when it was received, and the I-130 and I-129F will not be received on the same date, so you can usually interpolate from that to figure out which is which.

 

For whatever it is worth, since it does not sound like the USCIS had any problems receiving (if not necessarily reviewing) an I-130 for which you got NOA1 in June, it does sound like the July email confirmation is for your I-129F.  It is odd though; if you included the e-notification form atop both petitions, you should have gotten e-confirmation when each was received.

Edited August 4, 2017 by JOL

[JOL 19]

On 7/23/2017 at 2:48 AM, Scandi said:

How does it work when you file both btw? Do you have to pay the fee for the i-130 AND the i-129f? Or is one fee waived when you file for the other as well? Seems odd how they would take money for both when they only go by the i-130, if so. 

That is precisely how it works, and (I believe) the reason the I-129F petition for K-3/4 visas must be accompanied by the I-797 NOA1 from the I-130 petition:  Because NOA1 proves you ALREADY paid a petitioner fee, and so do not need to pay another for the I-129F.  Page 12 of the I-129F instructions explicitly says,

Quote

There is no fee for Form I-129F petitions for classification of an alien as a spouse of a United States citizen.

The I-129F fee is still required for K-1/2 visas though, because neither a fiance(e) nor their kids are members of your legal family (yet,) and the I-130 is a Petition for Alien RELATIVE.

 

So yeah, spouses can file both but yeah, it is pointless.  I filed both, then posted this VJ thread (my very first!) requesting feedback.  NikLR and everyone who responded there said precisely what NikLR and everyone who has responded here said, and their statements were completely accurate:  Eight (8) months later I got a notice saying my I-129F had been terminated because my I-130 had been approved (that notice actually arrived the day BEFORE the date printed on the letter; "the USCIS is far from flawless.")  Four days later I got the actual NOA2 formally stating my I-130s approval. 

 

Think of it as a glass half full:  K-3/4s do not take any longer than ever, but I/CR-1s are processing about thrice as fast when Congress created the K-3/4 remedy nearly two decades ago.  But since K-3/4s DO require the I-130s NOA1 be submitted with the I-129F, and the I-129F is IMMEDIATELY terminated if the I-130 is approved before it, it is practically certain the USCIS will approve an I-130 that automatically has a week or two head start on the I-129F.  As NikLR said, that is a better deal anyway, because K-3/4s do not come with a green card nor Social Security Card, but I/CR-1s do (well, the SS card is optional, but since it is also free and a primary ID for employer I-9s, why would anyone refuse?)

Edited August 4, 2017 by JOL

[NikLR 13,220]

The K3 is a multiple entry 2 year visa.  You must still adjust status to obtain the green card and obtain work authorization.