September 2017 I-129F Filers, Part II

[L and E 305]

3 minutes ago, Enita said:

Hi everyone! I have been following the thread since june...i have never seen it this bad where we have no NOA2 in two days 🙈🙈 its starting to scare me. We need all the luck we can get!

They’re working!! Silently.... 

[Enita 49]

15 minutes ago, Naes said:

It already meant that so I think they just added and corrected the wording for people who didn’t know it to understand.

I’ve seen worse, don’t worry. They’re just not updating the website doesn’t mean there’s no movement in these dates yet  

I love your positvity 🤞🤞🤞

 

[JoelThai 313]

29 minutes ago, ML915 said:

If I've got it right they are no longer posting which dates they are processing at any time, they're simply saying "if your petition is from 24. August or BEFORE that, it now counts as outside of normal processing times and you can contact us". This seems just as well to me, since @Naes has been providing more accurate scans for us anyway

@Amit M  ML915 has it correct.   Basically USCIS is saying "if you filed a I-129F for a K1 Visa after this date (August 24th currently) please do not bother us.   But, if you filed on or after August 24th, your petition is outside of our expected processing time and you may call us if you like, but we will still probably not tell you anything useful."   

 

There is strong evidence that currently USCIS is processing petitions mainly from August and September 2017, but there are many still waiting from June and July as well, and possibly some even earlier than that, but the bulk currently being processed were received by the USCIS after August 24th. 

 

Contrary to what many want to believe, it does not mean that they are claiming that they have not worked on any petitions dated after August 24th.   

Edited March 22, 2018 by JoelThai

[JoelThai 313]

38 minutes ago, JoelThai said:

Basically USCIS is saying "if you filed a I-129F for a K1 Visa after this date (August 24th currently) please do not bother us.   But, if you filed on or after August 24th, your petition is outside of our expected processing time and you may call us if you like, but we will still probably not tell you anything useful." 

 

I made an error!        Correction is below:

 

Basically USCIS is saying "if you filed a I-129F for a K1 Visa after this date (August 24th currently) please do not bother us.   But, if you filed on or BEFORE August 24th, your petition is outside of our expected processing time and you may call us if you like, but we will still probably not tell you anything useful." 

[AM 7 92]

4 minutes ago, JoelThai said:

 

I made an error!        Correction is below:

 

Basically USCIS is saying "if you filed a I-129F for a K1 Visa after this date (August 24th currently) please do not bother us.   But, if you filed on or BEFORE August 24th, your petition is outside of our expected processing time and you may call us if you like, but we will still probably not tell you anything useful." 

Gotcha. This makes sense and thank you so much for clarifying. but this is so scary. Man I hope they speed up. Quick question for all: how many of you are planning their wedding or have already planned or are just waiting to plan after visa is approved et all? Being up in the air is so hard on my partner cuz we don’t know what to expect outta this and what if it doesn’t go thru. What are your guys alternatives if the visa doesn’t go thru? 

1 hour ago, ML915 said:

If I've got it right they are no longer posting which dates they are processing at any time, they're simply saying "if your petition is from 24. August or BEFORE that, it now counts as outside of normal processing times and you can contact us". This seems just as well to me, since @Naes has been providing more accurate scans for us anyway

Thank you explaining

[JoelThai 313]

19 minutes ago, Amit M said:

Quick question for all: how many of you are planning their wedding or have already planned or are just waiting to plan after visa is approved et all?

One of the disadvantages of the K1 Visa (over a CR1) is that marriage is not permitted until the Visa has been issued, and since there are no guarantees in how long processing will take, or if the Visa will even be granted, it is best not plan on any specific date for a Wedding until the Visa is in your possession.  To ignore this advice will greatly increase your stress levels, and could possibly mean loosing deposits made to reserve venues and services and upsetting friends and family by needing to reschedule an announced date and place that was planned for your wedding.

 

Personally my Fiancee and I are planning on a Courthouse Wedding after entry to the US to be followed up with planning for a Marriage Ceremony for a later date.

Edited March 22, 2018 by JoelThai

[ana e jordan 140]

Yes, I believe this is the best way also. Get it official and then bother planning a nice party to celebrate, stress free 🙌💆💙

[JessAUSSIE 0]

9 hours ago, Brit&USA said:

Ditto Jess. Finally got through to someone at the USCIS today- this forum just made me feel paranoid that my application was lost rather than give any comfort. My petition was received on the 31st August, NOA1 dated 5th September. USCIS are still dealing with applications received on the 24th August. So reassured me we've got a little more waiting time  

Well not really as people who’s NOA1 was like sept 22-28th are being approved 

[Mrsjackson 300]

14 minutes ago, h&y said:

Did I miss the new people come in and complain memo...? 

 

Im just not sure what people don't understand. No ones aplications are priority and there is no set way that anyone knows of when it comes to USCIS going through them. I think @Naes knows more than any employee anyway. No one here understands or agrees with their work flow. From what I do know is that background checks have a play in this. Some take longer than others. The officers aren't only processing K1 visas. We could be a file under a stack of papers. No it's not fair but you're not going to find out any straight answers. From here or from calling Cs. I can read from a script too, if you want to feel better about the situation. Hang in there. We are all in the same boat. The entire process makes me want to throw my phone against a wall but then I realize I have the most amazing person in my life and I rather be patient and bring him here. Our fiancés will be with us, eventually.  Hopefully sooner than later.

Thank youuuuuuuu 🙌🏻

 

We’re all fed up but this forum is where we come to help each other both with our questions about the process and with staying positive. 

 

Eventually we will all hear something back from USCIS.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Mrsjackson

[Naes 12,205]

10 minutes ago, Mrsjackson said:

Thank youuuuuuuu 🙌🏻

 

We’re all fed up but this forum is where we come to help each other both with our questions about the process and with staying positive. 

 

Eventually we will all hear something back from USCIS.

Now if they can only put some updates please....

[Quiata 130]

3 hours ago, h&y said:

I am planning a wedding on my mother's property at her house because she lives on the water. The only pre planned thing I've done so far is the dress. It'll be a pop up wedding for sure! As in ... " hey guys wedding next week let's party!" And I truly don't care if 5 or 50 show up. Just would like to avoid a courthouse setting

I am planning my wedding because I would like to spend time with my fiancé when he arrives. I would rather us revisit the plans when he arrives verses being stressed planning a nice event. I was sure to discuss the situation with the vendor(s) and I have a clause stating that "…due to unforeseen circumstances, the event may be postponed without penalty". If he arrives early, we will do a legal marriage at the court and celebrate with family and friends at the planned time. 

[chronicchecker123 21]

I know the waiting is frustrating and seeing approvals after your date, is just excruciating.  I'll just say that, although I don't work for the USCIS, I work for a similar or analogous entity.  I used to work overseeing the processing of millions of applications such as this and for the timing part, perhaps this will provide some additional perspective.  Applications in the government are usually processed by contractors.  This means there could be multiple contracts for this work.  This typically leads to applications being broken up in interesting ways that are meant to get through as many applications over a period of time as possible, not necessarily first in and first out.  They are looking across quarters and years.  For each application type, there is usually a window of time where most of the applications need to be processed.  For example, the contract may be set up so that 75% of I-129F applications are processed within 190 days.  So there may be a financial incentive for meeting that percentage.  For the other 25%, there may not be an incentive.  As the contractor, if I have other pending applications for the next quarter, and I've already lost out on a bonus for the other 25%, I now have an incentive to try and get my bonus for the next round.  Meaning, there's no point in moving through that other 25% quickly because that will only delay the next quarter's numbers.  Hopefully that makes sense.  I mean, it's not the best for US, but hopefully that provides at least a little insight on why they move on to other applications before finishing older ones.  Hopefully everyone who is outside of the normal range is doing an inquiry.  The person managing the contract is probably going to put a little more pressure on those lagging applications if there's a squeaky wheel.

 

Another issue is the likelihood of one person getting a stack of 30 applications and gets stuck on application 1 of 30, thereby delaying the other 29 in the stack- while his colleague might breeze through his stack and be on to the next stack the next day- which may result in pulling from a date down the line because the other work is sitting in other people's stacks.

 

One more point that would probably be helpful to know is that sometimes these types of applications aren't done one by one.  I would imagine, by seeing the number of RFEs that go out prior to any approvals, that there is a multi-step process that goes on.  There's probably an order they go in.  So they will first probably make sure that the application is legible.  Next they could be making sure everyone has paid the proper fee.  Next, they will probably make sure that the person has filled out the proper application for what they want to do.  Etc.  At any stage, if the application needs to be rejected or an RFI issued, they will do that. 

 

Again, I don't know how they process them.  Some or all of this may be totally inaccurate.  I'm basing it on my own work experience for a similar process.  What I've explained may be intuitive for everyone reading but I just see a lot of understandable frustration and wanted to share a different perspective that may help explain a few things.  I'm hoping for lots of NOA2s!  Thank you everyone who is being helpful and positive.  This is rough so hang in there everyone.  

[Mrsjackson 300]

41 minutes ago, Naes said:

Now if they can only put some updates please....

Believe me I like updates as much as the next guy.. 

[AbenaKofi 132]

3 hours ago, h&y said:

I am planning a wedding on my mother's property at her house because she lives on the water. The only pre planned thing I've done so far is the dress. It'll be a pop up wedding for sure! As in ... " hey guys wedding next week let's party!" And I truly don't care if 5 or 50 show up. Just would like to avoid a courthouse setting

Same here! I live by a nice park with a Japanese tea garden - planning to do a short ceremony then out to 🍾🥂!

[LuFlolady 881]

7 hours ago, Naes said:

There was no update yesterday 

seriously? smh