January 2025 I-130 Filers

[S2N 684]

7 minutes ago, JustBelieve said:

I dont know what you mean by "difficult cases" - Several of us have/had straightforward cases that got skipped for no reason.

The standard response to these from USCIS when inquiries are given by Congress is pending background investigations. That can either mean they found something, there was a mismatch on a name, or they’re having difficulty with the background investigation. Others come from countries with higher fraud rates and get greater degrees of scrutiny even in the consular process.

 

Your profiles doesn’t list a country, but your first post was on a thread about Nigeria. Nigeria is arguably the highest fraud risk country in the world for spousal visas. That essentially makes every case from there not straightforward.

 

It’s also worth noting I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt the background check reasoning. From everything that has been publicly revealed by USCIS and/or leaked by IOs, pending background checks and resolving things that might come up in them is one of the most common delays.

Edited 8 hours ago by S2N

[Nena Lis 5]

On 3/11/2026 at 4:30 PM, appleblossom said:

 

See above, posts with approvals. 

 

Colombia is on the list of banned countries, but it shouldn't affect him until he actually gets to the visa application stage, the I-130 petition should still be approved. Hopefully you'll hear something fairly soon.

 

Good luck. 

Thanks 

[Nena Lis 5]

On 3/11/2026 at 4:30 PM, appleblossom said:

 

See above, posts with approvals. 

 

Colombia is on the list of banned countries, but it shouldn't affect him until he actually gets to the visa application stage, the I-130 petition should still be approved. Hopefully you'll hear something fairly soon.

 

Good luck. 

Thanks

[JustBelieve 8]

19 minutes ago, S2N said:

The standard response to these from USCIS when inquiries are given by Congress is pending background investigations. That can either mean they found something, there was a mismatch on a name, or they’re having difficulty with the background investigation. Others come from countries with higher fraud rates and get greater degrees of scrutiny even in the consular process.

 

Your profiles doesn’t list a country, but your first post was on a thread about Nigeria. Nigeria is arguably the highest fraud risk country in the world for spousal visas. That essentially makes every case from there not straightforward.

 

It’s also worth noting I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt the background check reasoning. From everything that has been publicly revealed by USCIS and/or leaked by IOs, pending background checks and resolving things that might come up in them is one of the most common delays.

 

1. USCIS responded to congress that my case is yet to have an officer assigned | Still pending to be adjudicated

2. I or my spouse are not from Nigeria

3. USCIS is known to skip about 40% of cases before moving to the next month... I am yet to find a reason behind this approach.

 

So yeah, several of us have/had straightforward cases that got skipped for no reason and it appears they have decided to go back and work on them.

[S2N 684]

19 minutes ago, JustBelieve said:

 

1. USCIS responded to congress that my case is yet to have an officer assigned | Still pending to be adjudicated

2. I or my spouse are not from Nigeria

3. USCIS is known to skip about 40% of cases before moving to the next month... I am yet to find a reason behind this approach.

 

So yeah, several of us have/had straightforward cases that got skipped for no reason and it appears they have decided to go back and work on them.

The 40% that you’re referencing are the not straightforward cases… the ones that are more difficult for USCIS to process.

 

”Still pending adjudication” just means they haven’t made a decision yet. Not that it hasn’t seen an officer. 

 

You haven’t shared anything about your case, so we can’t give you much help, but in almost every case online of someone processing more than a month behind the same PD, there’s a complicating factor.

Edited 7 hours ago by S2N

[JustBelieve 8]

1 hour ago, S2N said:

The 40% that you’re referencing are the not straightforward cases… the ones that are more difficult for USCIS to process.

 

”Still pending adjudication” just means they haven’t made a decision yet. Not that it hasn’t seen an officer. 

 

You haven’t shared anything about your case, so we can’t give you much help, but in almost every case online of someone processing more than a month behind the same PD, there’s a complicating factor.

 

I am not really trying to get "help" on my case per se - My point is don't mislead us that every skipped case = "difficult for USCIS to process". Hard to relate if you were part of "the approval wave" though.

Edited 6 hours ago by JustBelieve

[S2N 684]

11 minutes ago, JustBelieve said:

 

I am not really trying to get "help" on my case per se - My point is don't mislead us that every skipped case = "difficult for USCIS to process". Hard to relate if you were part of "the approval wave" though.

 

I’m not misleading anyone: the 40% “unprocessed” every month where almost always the more difficult cases for USCIS to process one reason or another. Almost every time anyone comes on here or another forum with a complaint about being significantly delayed past the other approvals around there date, there’s a reason. 
 

That graph doesn’t show what you think it does. It shows that USCIS prioritized the straightforward cases, and cases that took more processing time were deprioritized in favor of clearing more cases that were straightforward the next month.

 

USCIS has now started going back through the deprioritized cases, which should be a positive for people who are in that group.

 

It will also likely go slower and not be at the same pace we saw a few months ago, because yes, the cases that got skipped were the more difficult cases that take more time for USCIS to process.

Edited 6 hours ago by S2N