averageguy6

Our 601 was approved in 3.5 months....filed lated Feb 2014 approved early June....K1 issued August 20
total K1 time 1 year with 601 waiver and no RFE's.
Expedite was ignored.

Our K1 was filed August 2013....my fiancee arrived August 2014 the day after she got the visa......k1 took 1 year....I thought it would never happen, but my new wife is sitting beside me today in California as I type....its all fades into the past once its over.
Yours sounds like a technical glitch...
It seemed hopeless to us at times....hang in there....find out why this happened and try again and lets hope that later phases of your process proceed more quickly.....
If she is your soulmate as you feel, then it will be fine...but try to visit here there as much as you possibly can...

You have a unique situation. Make the best argument based upon the facts, consider an attorney with experience in this area.
A Syrian man would seem to also be at risk for having the visa held up at the embassy in Administrative Processing....so even if you get a USCIS waiver, expect that the USA embassy COULD take a long time before issuing any visa.
Another poster mentioned Jordan...can he travel there without risk and you could travel there too....
Syria does not have much of an organized govt anymore according the the TV news and we are basically at war with the place......
Agreed you should not go there.

I just want to say to everyone waiting out this Texas 129F nightmare...Im really sorry for you guys. This is not complex paperwork and it should never take this long.
However, I doubt its the fault of the people in Texas at the center....I dont know what the truth is, but I have a feeling someone higher up gave them other work to do and they were unable to ramp up their staff to deal with their normal work load.
Im not trying to be partisan at all, just in general our politicians often fail to look at all the consequences of their actions.....if you start a new program or law, it should not end up penalizing an innocent group of people.....
6 months is just way way too long for a 129F.....its not that complicated normally to evaluate a 129F.
An USC (with no problem history) should be able to get approval to ask for a visa for a fiancee (with no problem history) in a few weeks tops.
Part of the solution to illegal immigration would be to make legal immigration quicker and more user friendly.
If the pols want to make a new policy then they should set that up in such a way that there are not innocent casualties....
Best of luck to you all.....I do think its a good idea to contact your senators and congress people and make them aware of the problem.

I just want to say to everyone waiting out this Texas 129F nightmare...Im really sorry for you guys. This is not complex paperwork and it should never take this long.
However, I doubt its the fault of the people in Texas at the center....I dont know what the truth is, but I have a feeling someone higher up gave them other work to do and they were unable to ramp up their staff to deal with their normal work load.
Im not trying to be partisan at all, just in general our politicians often fail to look at all the consequences of their actions.....if you start a new program or law, it should not end up penalizing an innocent group of people.....
6 months is just way way too long for a 129F.....its not that complicated normally to evaluate a 129F.
An USC (with no problem history) should be able to get approval to ask for a visa for a fiancee (with no problem history) in a few weeks tops.
Part of the solution to illegal immigration would be to make legal immigration quicker and more user friendly.
If the pols want to make a new policy then they should set that up in such a way that there are not innocent casualties....
Best of luck to you all.....I do think its a good idea to contact your senators and congress people and make them aware of the problem.

For Bangkok ours also just changed as described.....
IMMIGRANT VISA READY with the old case creation date earlier today and last few days, and just now updated to:
NONIMMIGRANT VISA
READY with the case creation date now being Aug 19 and Updated Aug 19 and the message below changes also.
K1's seem to do this all around the world at the moment....once this happens it might go to AP for a little while even just a few hours or less.... and then Issued.....Im expecting to see Issued on ours tomorrow since this has been the pattern for others I have observed....
So the IV to NIV thing seems to be system wide at the moment....not sure why your is stuck but the case date updates are good, and its good you contacted them.......

Immigration process and fairness have nothing to do with each other. Wait times are all over the place depending upon the year filed, location, whims of the interviewing officer as to needing x,y,z additional info....
There is nothing fair about it. Its quite random in many cases.
This back and forth about 129F wait time between centers is silly.
Compare how long it takes to get the actual VISA in hand before you feel angry, jealous, or guilty.....
Our 129F took 63 days...since then....290 MORE days....and still waiting on embassy to look at my 2013 tax return, whenever they get around to it, for final visa issuance......
129F is just a step in the process, it may or may not equal a faster visa. What seems to happen is that if one step of the process goes well, another one goes slowly to equalize it...lol....
Good luck to all....our visa is coming any day....I guess...I will believe it when I see it.

1. No they dont have to be time stamped. You prove you have met by showing your passport pages showing you travelled there or they travelled here within the last two years...passport stamps plus photos are excellent evidence. Only a couple photos for the 129F. The photos are to do a basic initial proof of relationship, not to prove you met in the last 2 years...passport stamps, hotel bookings with both your names on them, concurrent boarding passes that seems good.
2. Do not send cash in the mail.
3. Both is best Im pretty sure. You should get a new passport it only takes a few days, but save scan of the old one as the stamps are important to prove travel. We didn't send any boarding passes.
4. Ring is good, engagement photos if you did that.....the main proof of relationship is at the consulate interview...the 129F is just for basic demonstration, you cant really prove a relationship on the 129F, just basic things, when you met and a few pictures and passports showing travel dates to the other country.
5. That would be for interview not USCIS 129F
6.I dont know but its better to have the originals....just have him overnight it, it only takes 3 days even from Asia.
7.Blue ink is good to show that its not a copy. I dont think its required but why not do it? Its easy.

Thank you for being so nice. I didn't mean to hijack the thread, but I think the answer is clear for the OP.

Whoever the OP is they dont seem to recognize the difference between the 129F USCIS process and the DOS visa issuance process....
There is no "normal processing time" for DOS visa issuance...
The answers from the DOS are not specific and do not say K1 is being affected....they are just the standard answers from the press release.

Whoever the OP is they dont seem to recognize the difference between the 129F USCIS process and the DOS visa issuance process....
There is no "normal processing time" for DOS visa issuance...
The answers from the DOS are not specific and do not say K1 is being affected....they are just the standard answers from the press release.

The news as of July 31 today still says they are processing and printing about half of non-immigrant visas and still prioritize immigrant visas...
The messages posted by the OP do not state that K1 are being affected.....the DOS just answered that Visas can be delayed...that is the canned answer.
Lets see if anyone gets visas in the next few days.

The news as of July 31 today still says they are processing and printing about half of non-immigrant visas and still prioritize immigrant visas...
The messages posted by the OP do not state that K1 are being affected.....the DOS just answered that Visas can be delayed...that is the canned answer.
Lets see if anyone gets visas in the next few days.

She said she was "very pregnant and very hormonal" thus giving us a warning that she was allowed to be crabby.
She can be forgiven as she is new to the process and not yet hardened.....no 2 weeks is not a delay....lol...thats nothing!
Going into month 12 now with our K1...still waiting...
The I129F is just step one. Its not like you are getting a visa any time soon, so take care of your pregnancy.
If you expect your case to conform to the timelines you could be in for constant frustration....you never know, the embassy might take forever etc....
You can really drive yourself crazy with this process.
My advice is to do everything you possibly can to make sure your process is processing well....one example is that you could be working on your embassy packet now..download forms from their website etc... if you have not already done it. As soon as you get your case number from NVC you can send your packet in to the embassy, vs waiting for them to send you everything....find out who in London is the best USA family visa processor or attorney and find out what you can do to speed up that part of the process....(such as what I just mentioned).
Its too early to be going crazy about this....that is what everyone is telling you. Take care of yourself, and be realistic and you can be at least a little happier....
Its tough for all of us. We started in August 2013, I was expecting 129F in 4-5 months, got it in 60 days, then I was so excited....oh boy we could have the visa by New Years....haha...then the NVC shipping was slow....took 6 weeks to get a case number....then I moved my estimate visa back to Feb....then we got an interview right away....wow, Jan 2nd 2014..I thought we would have the visa by end of that week....uh oh....problem, needed a waiver....thought that would take ?? Heard everything from 4 moths to 2 years....ok so then I thought waiver would be approved in August...wow, approved in June..they sped up...ok, so I thought we should have visa end of June....no no....embassy slow....not moving on any post waiver cases even a month behind us....then I thought ok this is bad its going to be 6 months more...then...July 17 they contact us asking for more stuff....so we send it in....I think ok now we will be done fast like 1 month or less....maybe 2 weeks? Then, yesterday they tell me they cant even know if they got our papers last week as it takes them 2 weeks to get their own internal mail...lol.....or it could be lost....so we could get the visa in a couple weeks...but the computer system went down....so there will be delays...and what if the docs are lost like so many others had happen.....so will we get the visa next week or in 3 more months???
LOL.....I hope your case is much faster, but it could be slower too.....maybe embassy puts him in AP for indefinite period...?
Get it?

She said she was "very pregnant and very hormonal" thus giving us a warning that she was allowed to be crabby.
She can be forgiven as she is new to the process and not yet hardened.....no 2 weeks is not a delay....lol...thats nothing!
Going into month 12 now with our K1...still waiting...
The I129F is just step one. Its not like you are getting a visa any time soon, so take care of your pregnancy.
If you expect your case to conform to the timelines you could be in for constant frustration....you never know, the embassy might take forever etc....
You can really drive yourself crazy with this process.
My advice is to do everything you possibly can to make sure your process is processing well....one example is that you could be working on your embassy packet now..download forms from their website etc... if you have not already done it. As soon as you get your case number from NVC you can send your packet in to the embassy, vs waiting for them to send you everything....find out who in London is the best USA family visa processor or attorney and find out what you can do to speed up that part of the process....(such as what I just mentioned).
Its too early to be going crazy about this....that is what everyone is telling you. Take care of yourself, and be realistic and you can be at least a little happier....
Its tough for all of us. We started in August 2013, I was expecting 129F in 4-5 months, got it in 60 days, then I was so excited....oh boy we could have the visa by New Years....haha...then the NVC shipping was slow....took 6 weeks to get a case number....then I moved my estimate visa back to Feb....then we got an interview right away....wow, Jan 2nd 2014..I thought we would have the visa by end of that week....uh oh....problem, needed a waiver....thought that would take ?? Heard everything from 4 moths to 2 years....ok so then I thought waiver would be approved in August...wow, approved in June..they sped up...ok, so I thought we should have visa end of June....no no....embassy slow....not moving on any post waiver cases even a month behind us....then I thought ok this is bad its going to be 6 months more...then...July 17 they contact us asking for more stuff....so we send it in....I think ok now we will be done fast like 1 month or less....maybe 2 weeks? Then, yesterday they tell me they cant even know if they got our papers last week as it takes them 2 weeks to get their own internal mail...lol.....or it could be lost....so we could get the visa in a couple weeks...but the computer system went down....so there will be delays...and what if the docs are lost like so many others had happen.....so will we get the visa next week or in 3 more months???
LOL.....I hope your case is much faster, but it could be slower too.....maybe embassy puts him in AP for indefinite period...?
Get it?

She said she was "very pregnant and very hormonal" thus giving us a warning that she was allowed to be crabby.
She can be forgiven as she is new to the process and not yet hardened.....no 2 weeks is not a delay....lol...thats nothing!
Going into month 12 now with our K1...still waiting...
The I129F is just step one. Its not like you are getting a visa any time soon, so take care of your pregnancy.
If you expect your case to conform to the timelines you could be in for constant frustration....you never know, the embassy might take forever etc....
You can really drive yourself crazy with this process.
My advice is to do everything you possibly can to make sure your process is processing well....one example is that you could be working on your embassy packet now..download forms from their website etc... if you have not already done it. As soon as you get your case number from NVC you can send your packet in to the embassy, vs waiting for them to send you everything....find out who in London is the best USA family visa processor or attorney and find out what you can do to speed up that part of the process....(such as what I just mentioned).
Its too early to be going crazy about this....that is what everyone is telling you. Take care of yourself, and be realistic and you can be at least a little happier....
Its tough for all of us. We started in August 2013, I was expecting 129F in 4-5 months, got it in 60 days, then I was so excited....oh boy we could have the visa by New Years....haha...then the NVC shipping was slow....took 6 weeks to get a case number....then I moved my estimate visa back to Feb....then we got an interview right away....wow, Jan 2nd 2014..I thought we would have the visa by end of that week....uh oh....problem, needed a waiver....thought that would take ?? Heard everything from 4 moths to 2 years....ok so then I thought waiver would be approved in August...wow, approved in June..they sped up...ok, so I thought we should have visa end of June....no no....embassy slow....not moving on any post waiver cases even a month behind us....then I thought ok this is bad its going to be 6 months more...then...July 17 they contact us asking for more stuff....so we send it in....I think ok now we will be done fast like 1 month or less....maybe 2 weeks? Then, yesterday they tell me they cant even know if they got our papers last week as it takes them 2 weeks to get their own internal mail...lol.....or it could be lost....so we could get the visa in a couple weeks...but the computer system went down....so there will be delays...and what if the docs are lost like so many others had happen.....so will we get the visa next week or in 3 more months???
LOL.....I hope your case is much faster, but it could be slower too.....maybe embassy puts him in AP for indefinite period...?
Get it?

A lot of this depends upon dates so lets not get confused here...Im not a lawyer...I was responding to a particular post...
I put some references from immigrate2us and Laurel Scotts website to clarify this....I was responding to the person saying that since it was easy for their father to get a greencard after using false papers, then it would be easy in the OP case also...that is misinformed.....see below....
Entering without inspection after recently being deported will get you a ban that can not be waived for various numbers of years....
At this time, and since late 1996....Impersonation of a US Citizen, to any govt agency for any purpose, even trying to vote...WILL get you a lifetime ban with NO waiver possible.....EVER....
This includes using a false US passport or someone else's passport, a false BC, or verbally claiming to be a USC, or even getting waived through at the border....
Now...Prior to 9/30/2016....it was considered just misrep and could be waived....must be your dads case...good...
So...at the time your father did it the law was different and you could get a waiver as at that time it was considered same as misrep....
Yes, there is a 601waiver possible for many types of misrep...but not anymore for false claims to US Citizenship... gets you a lifetime ban with no waiver possible....
Some bans "simple from entering the country illegally" can NOT be waived for several years such as illegal presence for 1 year or more (after 04/01/1997) after a deportation.....
9C: EWI after Unlawful Presence or Removal
If a person has been unlawfully present for more than a year after April 1, 1997 and subsequently enters or attempts to enter without being inspected, the person is not only inadmissible under INA §212(a)(9)©(i), but is ineligible to apply for a waiver for ten years from the date of next departure. Likewise, if the person has been removed or departs under an outstanding order for removal including prior to April 1, 1997, and subsequently enters or attempts to enter without inspection after April 1, 1997, the person is inadmissible under INA §212(a)(9)©(i)(ll) and ineligible to apply for a waiver for ten years from the date of next departure. It is very important to be mindful of this ground of inadmissibility due to the unavailability of a waiver for ten years from the date of next departure.
See below....from Immigrate2US.
WHAT "COUNTS" AS A FALSE CLAIM TO US CITIZENSHIP AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?


COMMON WAYS TO FALSELY CLAIM US CITIZENSHIP:
Using a US passport Using a US birth certificate Verbally claiming to be a US citizen Registering to vote
LESS COMMON WAYS TO FALSELY CLAIM US CITIZENSHIP:
Checking the US Citizen option on an I-9 or any other forms, government related or not Being "waved through" at a Port of Entry / Someone in a group claiming to be a US citizen and the officer assumes everyone is a US citizen

THE BAD NEWS:

There is no immigrant waiver available for false claims to US citizenship. It is a permanent ban.


EXCEPTIONS:


FALSE CLAIMS OF USC PRIOR TO SEPT 30, 1996:

This situation is treated differently because the law related to fraud/misrepresentation/false claims changed on that date due to the 1996 US Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act (IIRIRA 1996) enacted on September 30, 1996, which is the last time there was major immigration law reform.

According to the AFM (Adjudicator's Field Manual) a false claim of US citizenship made before that date is treated as a regular fraud/misrep inadmissibility. This means that first, the false claim had to be made for an immigration benefit to trigger an admissibility, and second, although it's a lifetime ban, there is a waiver available immediately.

If you know or believe you made a false claim prior to September 30, 1996 it's essential that you talk to a knowledgeable and trustworthy attorney about your case before making any conclusions.
Get a lawyer...its going to a be long haul...maybe you dont fit the criteria...maybe you do.

Whoa! You need to take this very seriously. Worry about it later?
That is a recipe for disaster and even a real chance that he will never be able to live here with you (at least not legally).
If you interviewed ONE attorney and didn't like them, keep looking....Im not sure what you mean by "all about the money"....yes professionals need to be paid. Good ones will end up saving you money. You cant expect them to work for free. However, you can check that they have fair rates by comparing them and going with recommended ones. You do not need them to be local to you as immigration law is federal so they can be anywhere in the country. Try Michael Cho in Los Angeles, his fees are really low compared to many others,...he knows what he is doing for complex cases (helped us), he replies efficiently to emails and calls, and he works over the internet and keeps all your docs scanned and accessible on the internet.
Why did he let his student visa expire? Is there something here he is not telling you? You need a lawyer and he needs to be 100% honest with them about his entire immigration and life history. Just getting married means nothing to USA immigration....if there are any other issues such as visa overstay, prior arrests, anything.....you are in for a lot of work and a long haul and an uncertain outcome.
1. Take this very seriously and get to work on it right now. If his visa is expired, time may be of the essence here. The longer that he is here illegally with worse it is for you guys.
2. Look here and other sites like immigrate2us.net and get a good lawyer....yes they cost money, but a good one is going to save you a lot of money, time, and stress in the long run.
3. Ok, so his visa is expired? Im not sure, but I dont think a work permit is a visa. If his student visa is expired....that may mean he is already here illegally. In that case you may already need a waiver due to illegal presence...it depends..you need a good attorney to help you.
If you are not sure how serious this is, go to immigrate2us.net and check out other peoples stories...you are close to getting burned here if you are not already in a difficult situation.
Good luck...glad you asked here..please take this very seriously if you plan on living a life together in the USA.

I feel your pain.....and I do understand where you are coming from.......been in this process (no, not same sex, but still delays) since May 2013... and not quite there yet....hopeful for another month.
Anyway....
You should visit immigrate2us website if you have not already. There are so many families of all types who have been waiting for 2 years and many times much longer.
The issue with blanket expedites is that there are so many other people who have had a difficult time with various parts of this process and have had delays.....it would be unfair to pick one group over another.
There are people with lifetime bans due to (fairly minor) offenses 15+ years ago...Im not sure if that is constitutional or not....but its immigration law.
I dont think immigration bans and exclusions and processing time mandates are in the constitution....equal treatment yes...
There are just so many people who have waited over 2 years....and sometimes there are good reasons and sometimes there are not.
There are so many points in the process where one could be at 2 years....it could be at USCIS, it could be at Embassy.....
Should there be a separate tracking system to expedite everyone at the 2 year point? Maybe.
Overall the entire immigration process needs to be streamlined and immigration law needs reform at many levels.
Application fees fund the process...perhaps fees should be raised across the board to hire more staff.
Overall in this process my observation is that there are many many USCIS and Dept of State employees that really work as fast as they can. There are also a few employees that slow the process down at various points for many people.....but I can see also how trying to run such a govt dept could be very challenging with pressures from all sides.
Should my K1 case...now in its 11th month, be put on hold while someone else's same sex case (at 2 years for whatever reason) gets taken care of? Perhaps....
The problem with all expedites is that if the staffing level is kept the same, then that means someone else waits longer.
Perhaps you should be lobbying for increased staffing and efficiency at all levels in both the USCIS and the Dept of state? For example at many consulates there is only ONE CO (with local contract staff to help them of course) who handles all the immigrant visas....in a busy embassy, personally, I don't think that is adequate.....
I can tell you American taxpayers dont want to pay for immigrant costs...so the increased costs of an expedite dept need to be borne by the applicants....thus potentially excluding those with lower incomes....or putting excess hardship on them...
Don't get me wrong, Im absolutely sympathetic...Ive wanted an expedite at every stage....but the truth is that the volume of applications often overwhelms the available staff to process them. I absolutely do not believe that USCIS or NVC staff are allowed to be lazy. And Ive see the embassy here and they are very busy...way to busy for only one CO in my opinion.
Personally Id pay an expedite fee, but that would look like favoritism for the well off which creates other concerns....
Its really a complex issue.....bottom line....EVERYONE wants it to go faster.
Have you explored the expedite options that are already available at USCIS and the embassies...? I have spoken with many individuals that have been granted medical expedites, financial expedites, etc.
What stage of the process are you in now?
Best of luck to you....

I feel your pain.....and I do understand where you are coming from.......been in this process (no, not same sex, but still delays) since May 2013... and not quite there yet....hopeful for another month.
Anyway....
You should visit immigrate2us website if you have not already. There are so many families of all types who have been waiting for 2 years and many times much longer.
The issue with blanket expedites is that there are so many other people who have had a difficult time with various parts of this process and have had delays.....it would be unfair to pick one group over another.
There are people with lifetime bans due to (fairly minor) offenses 15+ years ago...Im not sure if that is constitutional or not....but its immigration law.
I dont think immigration bans and exclusions and processing time mandates are in the constitution....equal treatment yes...
There are just so many people who have waited over 2 years....and sometimes there are good reasons and sometimes there are not.
There are so many points in the process where one could be at 2 years....it could be at USCIS, it could be at Embassy.....
Should there be a separate tracking system to expedite everyone at the 2 year point? Maybe.
Overall the entire immigration process needs to be streamlined and immigration law needs reform at many levels.
Application fees fund the process...perhaps fees should be raised across the board to hire more staff.
Overall in this process my observation is that there are many many USCIS and Dept of State employees that really work as fast as they can. There are also a few employees that slow the process down at various points for many people.....but I can see also how trying to run such a govt dept could be very challenging with pressures from all sides.
Should my K1 case...now in its 11th month, be put on hold while someone else's same sex case (at 2 years for whatever reason) gets taken care of? Perhaps....
The problem with all expedites is that if the staffing level is kept the same, then that means someone else waits longer.
Perhaps you should be lobbying for increased staffing and efficiency at all levels in both the USCIS and the Dept of state? For example at many consulates there is only ONE CO (with local contract staff to help them of course) who handles all the immigrant visas....in a busy embassy, personally, I don't think that is adequate.....
I can tell you American taxpayers dont want to pay for immigrant costs...so the increased costs of an expedite dept need to be borne by the applicants....thus potentially excluding those with lower incomes....or putting excess hardship on them...
Don't get me wrong, Im absolutely sympathetic...Ive wanted an expedite at every stage....but the truth is that the volume of applications often overwhelms the available staff to process them. I absolutely do not believe that USCIS or NVC staff are allowed to be lazy. And Ive see the embassy here and they are very busy...way to busy for only one CO in my opinion.
Personally Id pay an expedite fee, but that would look like favoritism for the well off which creates other concerns....
Its really a complex issue.....bottom line....EVERYONE wants it to go faster.
Have you explored the expedite options that are already available at USCIS and the embassies...? I have spoken with many individuals that have been granted medical expedites, financial expedites, etc.
What stage of the process are you in now?
Best of luck to you....

AP can also be used by a CO as a paternalistic method of "protecting" the USA citizen sponsor. They are responsible for all USA citizens, sometimes they want to save the USA fiancee or spouse form themselves....perhaps they feel they know something but just cant prove it....since CO's are immune to legal responsibility, they can take it upon themselves to be paternalistic.
The problem with it is that they don't tell people what is going on...its as if its a national security secret or something.....they should tell you....your case is being reviewed.....expect to wait X months..something like that...telling people nothing is the worst.