K1 visa - Initial Review

[<3 3]

Can everyone share how the USCIS system works where some applicants who applied in Feb. 2011 can go from NOA1 to NOA2 within 30 days versus others who have had sent their I-129F in November 2010 and are getting close to the average wait of 150-180 days to get to NOA2 and are still waiting for a response?

The Initial Review states "During this step, USCIS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews the applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators"

Am I to assume those who get their application processed quickly have very little "history" and thus go to the next step? How about those applicants whose history has to be verified, ie: divorces, criminal history, nationality, credit or employment history, etc...is that why there is such a lag time to get to the next stage?

I've read that praying was the reason an applicant went from NOA1 to NOA2...read on a past post that an applicant had neatly bagged and sorted their I-129F application which he felt made a difference for the quick process... writing to their local congressman? or is it really just sheer luck on which USCIS employee picks up an application and approves the "Initial Review".?

Any insight from VJers who have gone through this process and can shed light how the process works is greatly appreciated.

[extremerecluse 32]

Can everyone share how the USCIS system works where some applicants who applied in Feb. 2011 can go from NOA1 to NOA2 within 30 days versus others who have had sent their I-129F in November 2010 and are getting close to the average wait of 150-180 days to get to NOA2 and are still waiting for a response?

The Initial Review states "During this step, USCIS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews the applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators"

Am I to assume those who get their application processed quickly have very little "history" and thus go to the next step? How about those applicants whose history has to be verified, ie: divorces, criminal history, nationality, credit or employment history, etc...is that why there is such a lag time to get to the next stage?

I've read that praying was the reason an applicant went from NOA1 to NOA2...read on a past post that an applicant had neatly bagged and sorted their I-129F application which he felt made a difference for the quick process... writing to their local congressman? or is it really just sheer luck on which USCIS employee picks up an application and approves the "Initial Review".?

Any insight from VJers who have gone through this process and can shed light how the process works is greatly appreciated.

If the director of your USCIS Center needs to improve the performance numbers over the next few weeks,then consider yourself lucky. Your petition would be a perfect candidate for a "Cookin the Books" window of opportunity. I don't think I need to beat that horse any more!!

[MatthewNCarolina 73]

Can everyone share how the USCIS system works where some applicants who applied in Feb. 2011 can go from NOA1 to NOA2 within 30 days versus others who have had sent their I-129F in November 2010 and are getting close to the average wait of 150-180 days to get to NOA2 and are still waiting for a response?

The Initial Review states "During this step, USCIS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews the applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators"

Am I to assume those who get their application processed quickly have very little "history" and thus go to the next step? How about those applicants whose history has to be verified, ie: divorces, criminal history, nationality, credit or employment history, etc...is that why there is such a lag time to get to the next stage?

I've read that praying was the reason an applicant went from NOA1 to NOA2...read on a past post that an applicant had neatly bagged and sorted their I-129F application which he felt made a difference for the quick process... writing to their local congressman? or is it really just sheer luck on which USCIS employee picks up an application and approves the "Initial Review".?

Any insight from VJers who have gone through this process and can shed light how the process works is greatly appreciated.

I'd like to give you an answer but I really can't. I do want to say though that I can feel the frustration in your post. I do like the questioning in your post because I can see myself (if) in the future making a post similar. I'm about to send my petition in the mail in about 8 hours. I've put together a pretty thorough package and I might say that it looks impressive to me, when I open it and look through it. I may be able to answer if putting together a nice clean package makes a difference, in the future. For now, I hope your questions get answered because there isn't enough straight forward answers to straight forward questions anymore. Keep asking your questions in a "to the point" manner though, it usually keeps the "timid know-it-alls" from replying with unnecessary info. Good luck on everything!

Matt

Edited March 17, 2011 by MatthewNCarolina

[cortez72483 1]

i sent my petition in via express mail in november of 2010. it's been slightly over 4 months since the date in which my petition was confirmed recieved (november 12). is there anything me/my fiancee do in the mean time to speed things up?

[<3 3]

I'd like to give you an answer but I really can't. I do want to say though that I can feel the frustration in your post. I do like the questioning in your post because I can see myself (if) in the future making a post similar. I'm about to send my petition in the mail in about 8 hours. I've put together a pretty thorough package and I might say that it looks impressive to me, when I open it and look through it. I may be able to answer if putting together a nice clean package makes a difference, in the future. For now, I hope your questions get answered because there isn't enough straight forward answers to straight forward questions anymore. Keep asking your questions in a "to the point" manner though, it usually keeps the "timid know-it-alls" from replying with unnecessary info. Good luck on everything!

Matt

LOL..I hope I didn't come across as "frustrated" in my post....just was curious to learn more...and of course, if it was somewhere on here how the process works, I might have missed that forum or couldn't find it...lots of great info on VJ...

Good luck Matt with your application...and by the way, I followed the guidelines provided on here on how to "package" the I-129F so I personally am taking that out of the equation for the quick move from NOA1 to NOA2.

[<3 3]

i sent my petition in via express mail in november of 2010. it's been slightly over 4 months since the date in which my petition was confirmed recieved (november 12). is there anything me/my fiancee do in the mean time to speed things up?

I feel for you guys since the "take a ticket and you'll be the next in line" doesn't seem to work with USCIS regardless of what Service Center its from. As I've read from other forums, you might have to write, tweet or call your local congressman. As for my application, I don't mind waiting since I know there are others like yourself thats been waiting much longer.

[cortez72483 1]

thanks for the advise. i too, also read about contacting the DOS but i didn't have enough time to review it (i was at work at the time and had to close the page.) :/

who can i call?

[iampatricias 17]

Am I to assume those who get their application processed quickly have very little "history" and thus go to the next step? How about those applicants whose history has to be verified, ie: divorces, criminal history, nationality, credit or employment history, etc...is that why there is such a lag time to get to the next stage?

I wouldn't assume that per se - while it's true the USCIS 'initiates background checks' during the Initial Review, these checks are not initiated in the first few weeks, and throughout the 3 or 4 months we wait. From my understanding, these checks happen within 5 minutes of an adjudicator pulling your petition out of the box they're working on (4-5 months after the petition arrived) and if things are a little complicated, (you share a name with a convicted felon etc.) the adjudicator initiates in-depth checks and puts your petition aside until the extra checks clear (within the day? a week? maybe someone in some small county has to pull the physical file by hand from a records collection and takes 10 days to get back to the adjudicator?).

There is such a lag time to get to the next stage because there are many more petitions coming in every day than adjudicators to process them. The one-month approvals are wonderful and infuriating but I doubt they are anything more than bureaucratic manipulation of the system for the sake of appeasing someone's superior with better numbers.

[<3 3]

I wouldn't assume that per se - while it's true the USCIS 'initiates background checks' during the Initial Review, these checks are not initiated in the first few weeks, and throughout the 3 or 4 months we wait. From my understanding, these checks happen within 5 minutes of an adjudicator pulling your petition out of the box they're working on (4-5 months after the petition arrived) and if things are a little complicated, (you share a name with a convicted felon etc.) the adjudicator initiates in-depth checks and puts your petition aside until the extra checks clear (within the day? a week? maybe someone in some small county has to pull the physical file by hand from a records collection and takes 10 days to get back to the adjudicator?).

There is such a lag time to get to the next stage because there are many more petitions coming in every day than adjudicators to process them. The one-month approvals are wonderful and infuriating but I doubt they are anything more than bureaucratic manipulation of the system for the sake of appeasing someone's superior with better numbers.

Thanks for that bit of insight on the K1 process. I know in California with state budget cuts and employee furloughs, I am assuming there would be less man-power to process the hundreds of visa applications in a timely fashion than maybe in the past...just speculation

[Sweet17L 3]

i'm just like you in the sense that im also asking the same questions you posted up there.. we filed in late NOV 2010 and we're still waiting for our NOA2.. I don't know what's up with USCIS and/or CSC as to why it's taking them so long to get over with initially reviewing our papers..but just the same, we wait.. it's been 4 long months and everyone says we're on the normal timeline.. whew! we cant wait to finish this K1 process.

[<3 3]

i'm just like you in the sense that im also asking the same questions you posted up there.. we filed in late NOV 2010 and we're still waiting for our NOA2.. I don't know what's up with USCIS and/or CSC as to why it's taking them so long to get over with initially reviewing our papers..but just the same, we wait.. it's been 4 long months and everyone says we're on the normal timeline.. whew! we cant wait to finish this K1 process.

Yah, even though its stated on USCIS that its a 5 month processing time frame which I think many applicants would accept but when others similar to one's application (same Embassy, same local Consulate, etc) get a quicker response by several weeks, one has to wonder whether some "cleared" background is sitting in some pile being covered by new I-129F packets.