There is nothing out to tell us exactly what those of us who have already filed are going to have to do to comply with IMBRA. Even calling doesnt get you answers as USCIS doesnt have the answers. Best advice would be to sit tight and wait till they let us know what to do.

That´s true. I think the first step would be approving this form.
Then we need to hear from them and see what do they want from us.

Hopefully they already know what to do and are just waiting for an approval.

I am sure that once the new form is approved they'll either update the site with instructions for already filed petitions and future petitions, send us an RFE or other letter, update our status, or something like that. They'll certainlly let us know what will happen next.

rlt,

What the numbers mean is explained in detail in the USCIS Supporting Statement for the new form, the link to which was posted a day or so ago and which many people have also been praising as a great information find. Maybe you missed that one.

What I find interesting is that the cost and fee information provided in the Supporting Statement, while difficult to follow, indicates that either a fee increase can be expected at some point or the current fee is excessive. I haven't quite figured out which yet.

Yodrak

I sure did and still do..

Just trying to understand if any of that information would give us an idea on whether they (OMB) have started looking at the new form or not.
Is there any way to tell?

Also, maybe your are more familiar with this, so I´d like to ask for your opinion..

They received the form yesterday and it´s supposed to be approved until tomorrow.
Has that ever happened before?

Cheers for that.

rlt,

The OMB item clearly states that the request for review was received 7 June - yesterday. The only other information it provides, also quite clearly, is the processing burden and cost as compared to the old I-129f.

That information is very provocative, and everyone is commenting on how great the find is, yet everyone is asking the same thing you are about what the notice does not say rather than pondering what it does say. I find that to be very interesting, but I guess not unexpected. VJers in general see the words but often do not read what they mean.

Read the OMB notice again, then read the USCIS supporting statement again, and then think about the implications carefully. Let me know if you get some ideas of what I'm alluding to.

Yodrak

If you have any ideas, why not post them Yodrak?

Ok. Just read the OMB notice and the USCIS statement.
I don´t know what you mean about the implications. I honestly don´t.
And yes, sometimes I read the words and do not understand what they mean.

If you do, please share that with us.

About the implications, do you mean it´s not possible for OMB to approve USCIS request?
Thanks.

Nobody else sees that the estimated time for processing I-129f has increased by a factor of 3, from 0.5 hours per petition to 1.5 hours per petition? From 100,000 hours per year to 300,000 hours per year spent processing I-129f petitions? Unless resources to process the petitions are tripled, might that not have an impact on the backlog?

Yodrak

That´s what you meant? Maybe you missed my point.

The backlog we have now can´t be for that reason, since this new form hasn´t even been approved.

Let´s say they approve it. Ok, then we´ll add more time for the applications to be processed.

But the backlog we have now is because we need a new form and it isn´t ready yet. Actually, it is ready but it´s waiting for OMB to approve it.

So what I asked you and the other members is if you know of any case where OMB approved a new form in 2 days.

That´s all. Not asking about how long will it take for them to process the cases. I´ll save that question for when they start processing again.

Do you understand what I mean? Sorry if I wasn´t clear before.

Yodrak, yes, I see where you're heading, ok, so they have cases each year, thus it will take longer to process, but we do know they're starting to make changes in the service centers, and I think that with time they'll get more people or new procedures so the processing times won't be even longer.
I'm not sure this info will affect us immediatly.

P.S. One thing I find strange. When I got to the review page on USCIS to view the supporting statement, what I get is a different form than Mike has posted here.
Mine looks like a regular request (not emergency) and signed by a different person.

Mike, can you show the link to where you got the statement as opposed to the actual statement link? I can't seem to be finding the difference on my own.

Yeah, I´m lost there too.

I wonder if we´ll know if they approved the form by tomorrow.

Hey Folks, check this out
Marriage Protection Amendmen
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/...sjres1sap-s.pdf



And this is where youl find the 1615-0001 if appproved tomorrow

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library/OMBI...HS.HUD.html#DHS

Actually, from what I understand, this form is approved and simply going under review.

Here is the link I used.

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/pra/

Where did you here it was approved???/

They would be great if it was.

I don't have time to read to see if it is the same or not. Let me know. I am swamped at work.

Just found this from the link posted above. Does this mean it was approved, and why is the expiration date June 30

Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services
OMB NO: 1615-0001 EXPIRATION DATE: 06/30/2006
RESPS:200,000 HOURS:100,000 COSTS(000):$1,900
Petition for Alien Fiance(e)
FORMS: I-129F

rlt,

I didn't miss that point, I simply wasn't addressing it (other than to observe that OMB has only had the request for 1 day).

What I did address was your question about what the numbers in the OMB notice meant, and then went on to ponder the consequences of that information.

Yodrak



mike,

Note that the link to the I-129f Supporting statement, reached from the link to the PRARC page in your post, appears to have changed. The supporting statement that comes up now, and that you quote from in your post, is from when the current I-129f was sent for approval to incorporate the provisions of the LIFE Act. It is not the supporting statement for the proposed I-129f to incorporate the provisions of IMBRA.

Yodrak

Hmmm, using the new link you gave me, Mike, I still see what I was seeing directly from the site, and it has changed indeed.

Now it says "Extension for an approved form" and no emergency was requested.
Now I'm thinking the emergency was denied and we'll have to wait the 30 days to go by.

In response to Yodrak's concerns. I don't know if I couldn't understand what they mean by time of burden, or whether Yodrak was referring to that specific piece of info, but I think they set an estimate amount of time that each person filling out the forms will most likely spend.

Here, from the form that's on USCIS website today (http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/files/I-129F.pdf)




And from the drafted I-129f (http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/pra/I-129F-DRAFT.pdf):



Maybe I'm guessing all wrong - and it can be totally possible - , but when they refer to reporting burden, they mean the time petitioners spend filling forms out.

Mew,

I initially thought as you do. What caused me to consider that the USCIS was talking about it's own burden in processing the forms for the OMB review is the cost calculation that is also part of the supporting information that goes to OMB.

Upon further reading of the supporting statement and continuing review of the cost calculation I am coming back to the point of view that the burden and the cost are on the part of the petitioners. I hope so! But I still can't make sense of the cost calculation when comparing the current supporting statement to the last one.

Yodrak

Okay the link that I am looking at...has the new form in the draft form. If you notice it has a revised date of May 23, 2006 and an expiration date of June 30, 2006. I have no idea what this means, but wanted to point it out. Also the link that Steve posted...actually is a link to OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS
INVENTORY OF APPROVED INFORMATION COLLECTIONS
JUNE 02, 2006

Does this mean it's already approved? Just some things to think about.

The document and supporting statement appear to be old, since all it mentions is the LIFE act, don't you think?

Chimi, although the Supportment Statement doesn't mention IMBRA, but only the LIFE Act, I think this draft we're talking about already reflects IMBRA, as it especifically mentions it on items 3, 4 and 9.

Hang on.

The approved forms by OMB go to this link Steve posted?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library/OMBI...HS.HUD.html#DHS

Because if they will, and what we are waiting for is the 1615-0001, it is already there...

Only that the expiration date is 06/30/2006.

So what I think is that the draft is actually approved, and that the link http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...i-129f_83-i.pdf is not like the stataments we read. It might be their request to use the approved form for 180 days. I really don´t know, but it looks like the draft is approved and they´re now asking for a revision of a currently approved collection by June 9th.

I thought that at first, but now I can't seem to see the link Mike gave anymore, I mean, now the same link shows a regular review, and not the one that says it should be approved by June 9th. It either means we're screwed, or that the emergency one was approved and is now with the OMB before release.

EDIT: Now I am thinking that the emergency one was approved, and that what we see now under review is the regular 60-day notice review they said they'd be doing paralel to the emergency one. I hope that's what it is, at least.

Maybe the link is not there for us to click, but the file is still there as we can see here: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...i-129f_83-i.pdf

I don´t think there´s another request as this one in the USCIS website only with a different date for an approval.
I think this is still going.

I´m just not sure if the 1615-0001 being on that OMB page Steve showed means it was approved...

If you look at the link Mike gave with the request for approval by June 9th, it says "Revision of a current approved collection".

What does that mean?

So are you also thinking that the draft was approved and the current approved collection is the draft itself?

I think that the draft was indeed approved, but if when going through review some error or problem is found, they'd fix it. It also seems that after the review it goes to the OMB for actual approval of the review so they can put it up. I am guessing all this.

Would it be approved if a mistake was found?

I think (if we´re guessing right that the draft was approved) the review is another proceedure that the form needs to go for before being released... and the USCIS/DHS requested it to be done by June 9th.

So far I don´t think we have any information saying that the draft/request have been refused...

What did you click to know this is the list of APPROVED as opposed to a list of UNDER REVIEW? Because they only update the approved list monthly.

If you go to the bottom of that page and click on RETURN TO AGENCY LIST, you´ll see that the title of the page is OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS INVENTORY OF APPROVED INFORMATION COLLECTIONS. So it makes sense to understand the form as approved. The list is dated June 2nd, 2006.

However, if you click on this link http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library/OMBPPWKP.html#DHS
you´ll se a list of collections under review. And the I129F is there too!
This list is dated June 8th, 2006...

I don´t know what to think.
The form seems to be approved in the list of approved forms and under review in the list of forms under review..

HELP!!!

If you click on the "Return to the agency list" at the bottom of this page (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library/OMBINV.DHS.HUD.html#DHS), you'll get here http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library/OMBI...IST_OF_AGENCIES, and the title is "OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS - INVENTORY OF APPROVED INFORMATION COLLECTIONS".

So I'm guessing it was approved. What do we have so far?
1. A drafted version of a new I-129F, which complies with both the LIFE Act and IMBRA, with a 60-day notice and a 30-day one, both showing the same OMB;
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...-129F-DRAFT.pdf
2. A Paperwork Reduction Act submission regarding a new I-129F that says "Revision of a currently approved collection" and requests an emercency review with approval requested by tomorrow (with the same OMB)
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...i-129f_83-i.pdf
3. A list of approved information collection that says:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/library/OMBI...HS.HUD.html#DHS



Anyway, guys... If this form is actually approved by tomorrow, we will be getting news soon. Let's just try and relax... (to start feeling all anxious again if it isn't approved and we don't hear anything soon). So... I'm guessing a good way to find out whether the drafted form actually was approved is by checking USCIS application procedure site (http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/fianceapp.htm). Although I doubt that they'll actually make the new form available tomorrow in case it's approved (and then it should be there on Monday, maybe?).

I think it´s what I said. Remember how in their notice they say they made a request for an emergency approval valid for 180 days but at the same time they´d make one regular 60-day notice review request?
I think they approved the emergency one and now the regular one has been received by the OMB for the 60-day review.

That´s the part I think we get lost. At least I do.
Approval after being approved, 60/30 days in review, emergency for June 9th..

I think what we have is a form ready, waiting to be approved tomorrow.
Let´s see if it will be.

I was reading the DoS statement again and when the law was signed in January, they gave USCIS 60 days to start asking petitioners for their criminal background. They missed it.

But if a 60 days notice was given, it´s because they CAN do it in 60 days.

I think USCIS stopped approving petitions around April 20th or so... maybe that´s when they figured it.
If they were told to start doing it in 60 days, it´s possible that they will start doing it really soon.

Rlt, I am talking about this.

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01...006/E6-8206.htm

"(USCIS) has submitted an emergency information collection request (ICR) utilizing emergency review procedures, to the Office of management and Budget (OMB). If granted, the emergency approval is only valid for 180 days... During the first 60 days of this period, a regular review of this information collection is also being undertaken."

So, it´s like I said. It seems they approved the Emergency one (as shown in the OMB site) and are now reviewing the regular one (also shown on the OMB site).

Obviously an approved petition doesn´t go online the next minute, so we might have to wait longer than tomorrow.

---

Check this out.

If you click on the statement of the I129F draft on USCIS website, you´ll find this:

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...a/I129FSupp.pdf

But if you go to the SEARCH link and type IMBRA, you´ll find another statement, dated 06/01/2006. This is the one with IMBRA on it. This one request an emergency review by 0MB, and in my opinion, it seems to be the actual supporting statement.

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for.../i-129fsupp.pdf

I know, Rlt, they have the same OMB number, so I really think it´s like I said.

What do you mean by emergency one/regular one?
And doesn´t it say that after approval it would be valid for 180 days?

I agree that after approved it will take some time for them to publish and allow us to do anything with it.
But judging by all the emergency request, I think they are in a hurry too.

Just read the statement to see what I am talking about the emergency request while the regular procedure (waiting 60 days under review) is going on.

Ok, I see what you meant.
I just think the emergency approval is to allow USCIS to use the form while the regular procedure is still being done.

So they could use the form while still collecting information.

If we are assuming that this emergency request was actually approved, it means they can start using the form.. and it was approved before June 9th, leaving nothing for us to wait for tomorrow, correct?

It seems so, the I-83 thing didn´t say request to be approved ON June 9th, but it said request to be approved BY June 9th. So yeah, the form may have been approved already, so now we must sit and wait till they either send it to the petitioners or make it available or whatever is it that they´re gonna do.

Unbeknownst to, I guess everyone, the USCIS is going through changes regarding I-129F Visa Applications. Having googled "Bi-specialization" I found out the California Service Center and the Vermont Service Center as of April 1, 2006 will process all I-129's including the I-129F.

I also found out about IMBRA (International Marriage Brokers Act) that is law as of March 6, 2006 and applies to all I-129F's. The DHS (Department of Homeland Security)/USCIS is supposed to complete a background check similar to a US Federal Government Secret Clearance but without the phone calls.

The USCIS needs to develop new policies, procedures, rules, and regulations to comply with IMBRA including a new I-129F form. Since anyone filed a K-1 Application after April 1, 2006, the application went to the California Service Center.

Sometime early after March 6, 2006 1100 Approved K-1 Applications were recalled to the US to comply with IMBRA. See http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegram...grams_2927.html

See "2. While most K-1 cases under the new IMBRA requirements
were held at the service centers ..."

I think the USCIS has stopped processing all K-1 Applications filed after March 6.

"...pending development of a new form I-129F..."

I filed the K-1 Application using the old form. USCIS has to develop a new form and allow public comment for 60 days. The 60 day comment ends July 23, 2006.

I think all K-1 Applications will be sent back to the applicants some weeks after July 23, 2006 - August or September 2006 for re-filing, and new signatures.

Essentially follow-through K-1 Visa Applications processing filed after March 6, 2006 has stopped until August 2006 or thereabouts.

When the “New” I-129F is filed then the processing can continue with the first order of business:
Inter-Agency Investigation of the US Citizen.

And let´s also hope we got everything right..

But it´s clear to me that an emergency review was requested, and that for the first 60 days of the 180 that it would go for, another review would be undertaken.

It´s also clear that we have on OMB website an I129F taken as approved and another one as under review...

I wish a lawyer could help us out!

All of what you said has been posted previously on this thread, and at the moment we´re just waiting on what they´ll do with the new form to get our petitions back on track.

sigh... I just wish it would all end!!

Me too.

Haha, don't look at me!

I think you missed the emergency request by USCIS.
That would make the new I129F valid while they collect the comments for 60 days, meaning we wouldn´t have to wait until 23-July to have a new form.

No one can tell for sure, but some of us think the form is already approved.

As per new regulations, rules and proceedures, I doubt they would write a new form without knowing about the regulation.
So the August-September guess would not apply, thank God.

Now, if the form is really approved, they should be preparing themselves to request more information from the petitioners.

Thanks everyone for all the updates. When I was reading these at work, I was so confused, but now I can read all the research you all have done. Well we can all only guess. This is my opinion, the approved new form I would assume is going to be used for the 180 days, to rush us back out to where we belong, during this time I am guessing that they must also get and approval for the new procedures that will be used after the they clean house. So the new form is approved for us that have been royaly screwed and the new petition that will be used for the next couple years is under review. Now we just nee to find out when this will happen. I think we should be calling our service centers tomorrow for any news. Now that it has been approved they must have a system in order, or it would not have been approved, because part of the review had to do with the burden on us and how they were going to collect the information.

GOOD Thoughts everyone, Good Thoughts!!!!