March 2021 K1 I-129F filers

[J&D1008 376]

4 minutes ago, Juan&Rocio said:

currently looking for this ! so you have a WAC number already ?

Yes lockbox finally processed some January applications last week. And I received my case number through text on Friday. I waited 8 weeks. Believe me it was extremely frustrating but I couldn’t do anything but wait. I know there are some December filers who haven’t received anything yet but majority are out to California for processing. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by J&D1008

[Juan&Rocio 44]

Just now, J&D1008 said:

Yes lockbox finally processed some January applications last week. And I received my case number through text on Friday. 

that cool, so you sent yours out in Jan or in March sorry just trying to gain a real world example...

[J&D1008 376]

1 minute ago, Juan&Rocio said:

that cool, so you sent yours out in Jan or in March sorry just trying to gain a real world example...

Look at my timeline for details. I sent it in January and waited 8 weeks for the lockbox to assign me a WAC. The lockbox basically makes sure you sign your application, pay the correct fee and filed in the correct category. If one of these are not correct they then return your case back to you. Now my case has been sent to California for processing. 

[Juan&Rocio 44]

6 minutes ago, J&D1008 said:

Yes lockbox finally processed some January applications last week. And I received my case number through text on Friday. I waited 8 weeks. Believe me it was extremely frustrating but I couldn’t do anything but wait. I know there are some December filers who haven’t received anything yet but majority are out to California for processing. 

ok cool sorry this is the first time im actually really using this site... OK WOW your a god send thank you ! I wish you the best of luck! 8 weeks isn't bad I thought I would wait more than that, but accompanied by the recent announcements I think it might get even faster(hopefully). Hopefully by the time they catch up it doesn't mess with out timeline too long..

[J&D1008 376]

3 minutes ago, Juan&Rocio said:

ok cool sorry this is the first time im actually really using this site... OK WOW your a god send thank you ! I wish you the best of luck! 8 weeks isn't bad I thought I would wait more than that, but accompanied by the recent announcements I think it might get even faster(hopefully). Hopefully by the time they catch up it doesn't mess with out timeline too long..

No problem. We are all in this together!  processing time is 5.5-7.5 months right now but that doesn’t include nvc and embassy interview. 

[Juan&Rocio 44]

Just now, J&D1008 said:

No problem. We are all in this together!  processing time is 5.5-7.5 months right now but that doesn’t include nvc and embassy interview. 

that makes me feel so much better... Thank you again.  on tope of the 5.5-7.5  months the embassy could add a couple 6 months? 

[J&D1008 376]

6 minutes ago, Juan&Rocio said:

that makes me feel so much better... Thank you again.  on tope of the 5.5-7.5  months the embassy could add a couple 6 months? 

Depends on if your fiancé embassy is processing K-1 visa. Could be more could be less. Some in the Philippines have been stuck at the embassy or interview stage for over a year.  I would look at the Us embassy in Columbia website.

[Juan&Rocio 44]

1 minute ago, J&D1008 said:

Depends on if your fiancé embassy is processing K-1 visa. Could be more could be less. Some in the Philippines have been stuck at the embassy or interview stage for over a year.  I would look at the Us embassy in Columbia website.

yea but phillipines has the highest number of applicants. I follow them (embassy in bogota colombia)on twitter, they came out with a video last week that as of march 1st theyre doing fiance and spose visas with priority and working to clear the backlog to catch up. Which is good news

[J&D1008 376]

Just now, Juan&Rocio said:

yea but phillipines has the highest number of applicants. I follow them (embassy in bogota colombia)on twitter, they came out with a video last week that as of march 1st theyre doing fiance and spose visas with priority and working to clear the backlog to catch up. Which is good news

Ok great! Then you should be fine! 

[TheJs 34]

Fingers crossed that some of the covid backlog is cleared up by the time we reach embassy stage. We’re filing through the Montreal consulate which is pretty backlogged at the moment. 

[Klara27 3]

We just filed ours! Super exciting, but the waiting will probably get frustrating in the long run. 

 

My fiancé lives in California but we sent it to the Texas postbox - any idea where it might be processed?

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,079]

I-129Fs are always initially sent to the Dallas/Lewisville lockbox, and always initially processed at the California Service Center.

 

A small number of cases, usually involving criminal record waivers, are forwarded to Vermont from there.

[Iguana Rain 0]

On 3/10/2021 at 1:46 AM, J&D1008 said:

No problem. We are all in this together!  processing time is 5.5-7.5 months right now but that doesn’t include nvc and embassy interview. 

Does that include NOA1, or is it purely NOA2? 

 

Application arrived this Monday, hoping that my Embassy actually starts processing K1s in the meantime so there's less of a backlog when it eventually reaches that state.

[slavaskii 885]

Filed today! My fiancee and I have been together for five years - this was an incredibly surreal experience to finally do this.

 

Hopefully we indeed begin to see faster wait times; reading through previous posts, it seems like we should all conservatively expect 9-12 months of wait until the visa is in hand, though this does appear to be very region-specific. Many of you are discussing a 'backlog', is there any way of knowing if this exists at certain locations (and if so, how flooded are they)? My fiancee lives in Minsk, but they don't process the K1 - Warsaw does. I still wrote Minsk on the I-129F as she's already received a visa from there and if they were to start processing the K1s, it would be her go-to location. As it'll almost certainly be in Warsaw anyway, I was just interested in if it was backlogged or not. I know there's the ban on issuance on visas to the Schengen Zone, but it does seem like there aren't many K1 applications that go through Warsaw.

 

Good luck to all!

[TheJs 34]

I’m already obsessed with checking the case tracker app, and it seems like they are already processing NOA1s for early-mid february! I’m happy that the NOA1 probably won’t take 10+ weeks for us unless there’s some unforeseen slowdown again. I will be super excited to feel like it’s actually in process!!

 

27 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

Filed today! My fiancee and I have been together for five years - this was an incredibly surreal experience to finally do this.

 

Hopefully we indeed begin to see faster wait times; reading through previous posts, it seems like we should all conservatively expect 9-12 months of wait until the visa is in hand, though this does appear to be very region-specific. Many of you are discussing a 'backlog', is there any way of knowing if this exists at certain locations (and if so, how flooded are they)? My fiancee lives in Minsk, but they don't process the K1 - Warsaw does. I still wrote Minsk on the I-129F as she's already received a visa from there and if they were to start processing the K1s, it would be her go-to location. As it'll almost certainly be in Warsaw anyway, I was just interested in if it was backlogged or not. I know there's the ban on issuance on visas to the Schengen Zone, but it does seem like there aren't many K1 applications that go through Warsaw.

 

Good luck to all!

It’s frustrating not being able to even guess at how long the embassy stage will be. It seems like our embassy in Canada hasn’t processed any K1s past April 2020 yet  but hoping once restrictions in Montreal loosen up a bit they are able to get through some of the backlog before it’s our turn.