Curious why the CR1 (Spouse visa) can be filed online

[NoMansLand2020 298]

I have a coworker who is going through the CR1 process. Wondering why you can submit that petition online, but the K1 visa doesn't allow for such at this time. 

[geowrian 22,335]

They are gradually adding more forms to online filing. The I-130 was only added very recently. I would assume the I-129F will be coming in the future.

 

Edit:

Presumably this is likely based on demand vs effort. The I-130 is widely used for many different visas. The I-129F is comparatively uncommon...the number of I-129Fs filed per quarter vs the complexity (foreign addresses, names, etc.) likely is the biggest cause of a delay.

Edited June 26, 2020 by geowrian

[millefleur 5,035]

USCIS is also having a crisis of lack of funding right now, and since the I-29F is relatively specific as @geowrian mentioned, it's probably not priority for them to digitize it.

[Babu Frik 1,162]

Because they run like an old corporation.

A high school kid could probable digitize everything in a month.

[geowrian 22,335]

Just now, Babu Frik said:

Because they run like an old corporation.

A high school kid could probable digitize everything in a month.

They certainly do move like a slug...no doubt there. Some of that is culture and some of it is due to regulations (OMB review alone can take months, plus all the changes needed and then another review by them).

 

I've actually done quite a bit of digitization for large and small organizations, both in terms of traditional scan -> repository (which is what USCIS has done) + POTS -> repository, and in terms of electronic acquisition -> digital record -> repository.

It would take much, much longer than a month to do anything on the scale that USCIS handles. Even an optimistic schedule with full cooperation, near-unlimited budget, requirements already been established, and integration with their existing workflows is likely closer to 6 months or so to get something ready for testing and reviews. Over a year is a more realistic approach if it were determined to be a high priority item.

 

The reality is there's a whole lot more going on than just making a web form. Programmers are not hard to acquire nowadays (although good ones + good solution architects are!). That's the easy part.

Requirements, architecture/infrastructure, acquisitions, CI/CD, testing, reviews, monitoring + action plans, etc. are what really slows down development of large scale application development.

[Babu Frik 1,162]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

They certainly do move like a slug...no doubt there. Some of that is culture and some of it is due to regulations (OMB review alone can take months, plus all the changes needed and then another review by them).

 

I've actually done quite a bit of digitization for large and small organizations, both in terms of traditional scan -> repository (which is what USCIS has done) + POTS -> repository, and in terms of electronic acquisition -> digital record -> repository.

It would take much, much longer than a month to do anything on the scale that USCIS handles. Even an optimistic schedule with full cooperation, near-unlimited budget, requirements already been established, and integration with their existing workflows is likely closer to 6 months or so to get something ready for testing and reviews. Over a year is a more realistic approach if it were determined to be a high priority item.

 

The reality is there's a whole lot more going on than just making a web form. Programmers are not hard to acquire nowadays (although good ones + good solution architects are!). That's the easy part.

Requirements, architecture/infrastructure, acquisitions, CI/CD, testing, reviews, monitoring + action plans, etc. are what really slows down development of large scale application development.

They should already have a lot of that from previous implementations, we're talking about adding forms.

I doubt every form needs to start from square one. They may just need to scale some of the resources for the extra load.

[payxibka 10,044]

58 minutes ago, Solaris81 said:

I have a coworker who is going through the CR1 process. Wondering why you can submit that petition online, but the K1 visa doesn't allow for such at this time. 

Because for whatever reason,  many people like to submit 1,000s of pages of evidence with the i129f, and that would overwhelm any system 

[Babu Frik 1,162]

1 minute ago, payxibka said:

Because for whatever reason,  many people like to submit 1,000s of pages of evidence with the i129f, and that would overwhelm any system 

I've seen some posts in this forum, people wanting to submit 600 pages of conversations

[geowrian 22,335]

5 minutes ago, Babu Frik said:

They should already have a lot of that from previous implementations, we're talking about adding forms.

I doubt every form needs to start from square one. They may just need to scale some of the resources for the extra load.

No doubt they can reuse a lot of what they learned and have in place from previous forms.

New forms are being added much more quickly than the original ones. Once the N-400 an I-90 forms allowed online filing and the pilot program completed, they added the next set of forms in under half a year. Not "quick" by any means, but it's kinda what I would expect from a large organization that has to go through those processes.

The I-130 basically dropped one day without notice. Hopefully the next set is done soon....although staffing and funding issues are likely a holdup now. =\

 

1 minute ago, Babu Frik said:

I've seen some posts in this forum, people wanting to submit 600 pages of conversations

Ouch...(and yes, I've seen many similar reports!)

Edited June 26, 2020 by geowrian

[payxibka 10,044]

5 minutes ago, Babu Frik said:

I've seen some posts in this forum, people wanting to submit 600 pages of conversations

Yup.  While I was being sarcastic, I was not really stretching the truth

[Babu Frik 1,162]

5 minutes ago, geowrian said:

No doubt they can reuse a lot of what they learned and have in place from previous forms.

New forms are being added much more quickly than the original ones. Once the N-400 an I-90 forms allowed online filing and the pilot program completed, they added the next set of forms in under half a year. Not "quick" by any means, but it's kinda what I would expect from a large organization that has to go through those processes.

The I-130 basically dropped one day without notice. Hopefully the next set is done soon....although staffing and funding issues are likely a holdup now. =\

 

Ouch...(and yes, I've seen many similar reports!)

but anyway, I wasn't being 100% serious, but with the years they've had, everything should've been digital by now.

Reminds me of when the start ups started disrupting things for these old huge enterprises, the big enterprises bought some of them and ruined them because they tried to do the same old thing.

[NoMansLand2020 298]

8 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Because for whatever reason,  many people like to submit 1,000s of pages of evidence with the i129f, and that would overwhelm any system 

The burden of proof is on the petitioner. I don't understand that I guess. It's a Govt process.  I have a TS DoD clearance. All I did was submit the required form. The Govt did the rest. 

 

Maybe if USCIS was more clear and specific on what they wanted, people wouldn't send in hundreds of pages. 

 

People are afraid of a denial because they aren't exactly sure what USCIS is looking for so they send whatever they think will prove their case. 

 

 

[payxibka 10,044]

3 minutes ago, Solaris81 said:

The burden of proof is on the petitioner. I don't understand that I guess. It's a Govt process.  I have a TS DoD clearance. All I did was submit the required form. The Govt did the rest. 

 

Maybe if USCIS was more clear and specific on what they wanted, people wouldn't send in hundreds of pages. 

 

People are afraid of a denial because they aren't exactly sure what USCIS is looking for so they send whatever they think will prove their case. 

 

 

If you read carefully and interpret literally,  I think it's pretty clear what they are after.  People don't want to do this.  They rely on and perpetuate urban legends that simply won't die

[Ela G. 389]

1 hour ago, payxibka said:

If you read carefully and interpret literally,  I think it's pretty clear what they are after.  People don't want to do this.  They rely on and perpetuate urban legends that simply won't die

Well I can assure you for people who come from high fraud countries it’s just best to submit as much proof as they can. I’m sure you understand as you probably know firsthand. I don’t even come from one and didn’t hesitate to add as much evidence as I could (nothing USCIS didn’t mention beforehand on the instructions) and yet I’m sure I could have added just one photo of us and they would have approved us. And I’m sure it’s like that for many. But most don’t want to risk it.

[payxibka 10,044]

3 minutes ago, Ela S. said:

Well I can assure you for people who come from high fraud countries it’s just best to submit as much proof as they can. I’m sure you understand as you probably know firsthand. I don’t even come from one and didn’t hesitate to add as much evidence as I could (nothing USCIS didn’t mention beforehand on the instructions) and yet I’m sure I could have added just one photo of us and they would have approved us. And I’m sure it’s like that for many. But most don’t want to risk it.

USCIS doesn't look to whether it's a high fraud or low fraud consulate for petition approval,  that factor is simply not in the equation