Klara27

Hi

I am currently stuck in an airport about to take a flight to Mexico to circumvent the travel ban currently effective in the Schengen area. 

I've been under the impression so long as you stay in a non restricted country, like Mexico, you'll be able to enter the US on an ESTA even when you don't have the K1 visa yet. But the officer just told me a need a waiver for that. 

I'm confused, have I misunderstood the entire situation? 

We waited way too long for our NOA1 as well. We ended up sending another one and get a reply 4 weeks after. I am guessing it got lost in the post. 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/national-interest-exceptions-for-certain-travelers-from-china-Iran-india-brazil-south-africa-schengen-area-united-kingdom-and-ireland.html

I just saw this update from 27th of May. Does this mean that we now can travel to the US without having to stay 14 days in another country? I am in the middle of a K1 process and live in a Schengen country.

Hello!

I'm from an ESTA country but also a country that is currently affected by the travel restrictions. Therefore, I am going the Mexico 14 days  and then into America route. I know that you have to have proof that you indeed intend on returning home, and one of these is your ticket to return to your country. Here is my question: Would I need a round-trip ticket or is an onward ticket enough? I don't intend going back to Mexico to return to my country, and will be flying home from the US - but I've heard about a situation where a person in my situation was detained in Mexico City because she didn't have a roundtrip but just an onward ticket. My plan is to buy a one-way to our destination in Mexico, a ticket to the US and a ticket home and present them to both Mexican and American immigration.

We received our NOA1 text the 6th of May but still haven't gotten any paper NOA1. 

Should we be worried? 

I am visiting my fiance on a ESTA this September.  

There are two things I'm worried about: 

Travel restrictions: I am from a Schengen country and thus affected by the current travel restrictions. The plan currently is to go to Mexico for 14 days before entering. We already got our NOA1.

I am fully vaccinated and will of course get tested before entering both Mexico and the US. 

The K1 process: I also have an official statement from my job saying that I will be returning to my job after my ESTA runs out. I have my lease on my apartment as well and my job contract. I will also have a return ticket to prove that I am returning to my country before my ESTA is over.  

My questions are: is there anyone who has done the same thing as I have under the same circumstances as me (travel restrictions, K1 process)? 

Do you have any advice for what else I can do to heighten my chances of success? 

I am so happy I could cry. After our first application we sent back in the beginning of March never got a reply, we finally had our check cashed for our second application today.

4/15 - Sent

4/18 - Recieved

5/04 - Check cashed

While I appreciate all of your comments and I completely agree that patience is our best weapon, there is no way at this point it has not got lost in mail. It may be true that the app isn't entirely correct, but everyone in the March filer threat have, at this point, gotten their NOA1s. We have still to this day not heard a single thing. 

And yes, a couple of months ago, when the pandemic was a lot worse, it did indeed take months before people got their NOA1s - now the situation in completely different and the processing time according to the app and according to people who sent in their applications in March, is three weeks. 

Thank you, that is very nice of you. 

We don't really have a choice but to send in two. At this point there is no way they have it. They are processing applications from April 3rd and we haven't even had money withdrawn. 

We did talk to an USCIS advisor before doing it, and he said if they got two they would call us and let us know.. but I guess not? 

I wonder if it matters that they have two applications and two case numbers. In the end there'll only be one visa. 

If you look at the case-tracker app you can see that applications are being handled within 3 weeks of being received. I am fully aware of what the USCIS website says. The link you provided is from 1/8 and therefore not up to date with the current progression. 

Nope. 3 weeks currently.

As we to this date still haven't heard a thing we sent in a second application. 

I'm joining this one. We sent ours the 15th of April. This is our second application. We sent one the 3rd of March which we are we are sure has been lost since we've heard nothing. 

Fingers crossed for this one. 

At this point, I am 100% sure that our application got lost. We sent it the 3rd of March and we've heard absolutely nothing. We sent a new one a couple of days ago.

9 hours ago, AishaniA93 said:

You can call USCIS, when you get the robotic voice asking you what you are calling for, say you have lost your case number. That worked for us. Did you file the form to be notified by electronic means? Sometimes they totally ignore that form and just send the paper version (official version) of NOA1 which takes about a week longer anyway. Another way to tell is if you notice your credit card has been charged $535 or your money order has been cashed.

 

We filed in December 2020 and it took almost exactly 3 months for us. I would give it around 6-8 weeks before you get too worried. It will be ok

Can you tell me what you say after you tell the voice you lost it? Because for me it just says that "we can't help you if you don't have a case number" 

9 hours ago, Keithn85 said:

I saw someone earlier in the March 2021 I-129F filers group that just received their NOA-1 from a beginning of March delivery.  As long as you did not receive anything within the first week after you sent it off, it was not completely rejected.  You might just receive the surprise NOA-1 in the mail with no text/email notifications if you signed up for those.  Normally, they assign the case on day X.  If you signed up for notifications with the extra G form, you receive a text/email 2 days later.  Then within 7-9 days you receive the NOA-1 in the mail.  They are all over the place assigning case numbers.  Just know they do backdate it to when they first received it from delivery.  So if yours shows delivered/signed for on March 5th (overnight delivery), then there is a chance it will be either NOA-1 receipt date of March 5th, 6th or somewhere around there depending on holidays.  I say that because the ones I've seen and mine are all spot on with delivery but I do not know everyone's case.

I know this is a ton of information, but i hope this is helpful.  Just take a deep breath, exhale and know you are on the journey with the rest of us.

Thank you, I am just getting very nervous that the post might have lost it somewhere.  No money has been withdrawn and we've heard nothing. And people who sent theirs three weeks ago are getting their NOA1s. 

11 hours ago, payxibka said:

Do you have tracking numbers?  If so you can request a trace from Lockboxsupport@uscis.gov 

Unfortunately not, no. 

My fiance and I sent out 129f on March 4th and we have yet to get our NOA1. I see people who sent theirs weeks after ours getting theirs and I'm getting both frustrated and extremely nervous. 

We can't call the USCIS because we are just presented with a robot voice that requires we have a case number before we can do anything.  

What do we do? Sent in a new one? Wait? 

Any advice is appreciated since I'm ripping out my hair here. 

6 hours ago, ReinaConEddy said:

I sent mine March 10th, it was signed for on the 15th. Based on what others have shared I'm hoping for something by the end of the week. Stay strong!

We sent ours the first week 😔 I'm getting more and more convinced something went wrong as they are already giving NOAs to cases after that 

Anyone else who sent theirs at the beginning of March that hasn't gotten their NOA1 either?

Starting to feel anxious. We sent ours the 8th and haven't heard a thing 😓

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?

Hello there, 

My fiance and I just applied got a K1 visa (we only just sent in the I-129F I couple of weeks ago), but I (the beneficiary) have just received an offer to start on a college in his home state. 

Would it be too risky to apply for the F1 while we are in the early stages of the K1? Would my F1 get denied if they can see I am currently in a K1 process? Would they even be able to see this if out petition have only just been sent in? When they finally process my K1, can they deny either visas if they figure out I'm already on a F1? 

Jorgedig:

Yes, I understand that. My US fiancé is going to petition me for one. Sorry, again, not American so I probably use some wrong terms. 

So, just to clarify, you can petition for the l-129F petition and it can get approved, but it will just be in the pile with the others until K1 visas are processed again?

Hi,

I feel like a complete idiot so please excuse if this question is completely ridiculous (I'm not a US citizen and I am not used to navigating your government sites)

I was under the impression that K1 visas currently are not being processed due to COVID-19. Is this just a complete misconception? I currently live in the EU and I was sure that there was no way I could apply for the K1 visa while the pandemic is still raging. But one of my friends just told me that you actually can apply for the visa, despite the pandemic.

If this question has already been asked a million times I am so sorry!