Caboose29

11 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

Hahaha. We're on the same checking schedule  I just posted in the Dec thread that yesterday there was a ton of Dec 21 and today I'd seen some Dec 24. 

 

So . . . on Monday of this week they were at the end of November. By Monday/Tuesday of next week my guess is they'll be at the end of December which means they could be through January filers by March 10th, maybe sooner. IF they keep up this pace. 

Maybe early Feb filers will see something by mid March.

 

And USCIS updated processing times to approval to 5.5 to 7.5 months. If that stays on track or speeds up a little (they're doing late July now) could we see NOA2 by July???

 

I'm not counting on anything but . . . fingers crossed! 

Oh, that would be amazing!!  My Christmas wish this year, is to have my fiancee here stateside by the holiday.  I'm an optimist, but also a realist.

On 2/25/2021 at 7:39 AM, Gail and Derrick said:

I'm tracking numbers each day and they've about doubled in the last week. That said, I only started tracking the week before that so my data  set has a large margin of error!

Just checked again this morning.  Saw a couple from December 24th.  I think it's funny.  On the page that shows they're received your application, they give you a 30 notice to contact them if you've not heard from them by then.  All those dates are already about a month old. 😀

Most recent receive date I've seen so far is December 18th, at least for 129s.  I hope they keep this pace up, or accelerate it!!

49 minutes ago, millefleur said:

It is very strange. It looks like since January 2021, Moscow has slowed down a lot. It does not look like a single CR-1/IR-1 or K-1 was issued in January:

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/JANUARY 2021 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/JANUARY 2021 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

 

Did I read that right?  They did no K1 or CR1, but processed 56 B2s?!?!?

I can see why it would be unnecessary, but I don’t see the harm in sending it either. My situation made it prudent to retain an immigration lawyer, and she sent in my 134 with the K1 package. I would assume it could help streamline the process. Besides, I’d rather go through the hassle of doing as much of the paperwork at once, up front then have to do more later. 

If you’re seriously considering Turkey then head over to the Turkey forum on Trip Advisor. You’ll get the most accurate information than anywhere else. The resident members are EXTREMELY helpful. 

I met my fiancée in Istanbul in December. It was pretty painless. They don’t need visa to go to Turkey. USC needs e-visa that can be had online in 5 minutes. We booked a townhouse through Airbnb. It was a safer bet due to the hotels closing on short notice. Plus with the closed restaurants, having a full size kitchen to cook and eat in was fun. We got to try actually living together for those two weeks. We cooked together and grocery shopped together. 

17 minutes ago, ELLENN said:

Hi, 

I got interviewed. I was asked the reason of B1/B2 cancelled. Since I didn’t get any notice for the reason. So I said I don’t know. Then the officer gave me a paper which says “additional process”. What should I do? Does anybody have this experience? 

I’m wondering the same thing. My fiancée was in the middle of applying for a B2 when COVID shut everything down. After that time, I proposed and submitted my K1.  I’ve been told it doesn’t matter at this point, but she is wondering if she should cancel her B2 app or not. We’re wondering what the repercussions will be at the interview. 
 

BTW, congrats on getting your interview!

3 hours ago, Trumann said:

So, we called to find out what is going on with our case, they said that all documents are temporarily not considered in Texas due to weather conditions. I hope they will resume work soon🙏

That might have been true last week. We had record low temperatures, snow, and intermittent power outages. But as of last Sunday we are back to normal. Snow is long gone. 

I just started the process. My K1 was delivered to the dropbox only last Thursday. I hope and pray by the time mine gets to NVC that the embassy is much closer to normal capacity than it is now. 😒😒

25 minutes ago, Chauncey said:

It's one of these I think

 

26 minutes ago, Gail and Derrick said:

Yep. I saw a couple of Dec 10 yesterday! Hope they keep picking up speed

How are you able to see?  How can I view their progress??

Mine shows delivered as of 2/11/21. I too hope we don’t have to wait till May for our NOA1s. 

On 1/31/2021 at 10:48 PM, Esth3r said:

Ours was received at the Lewisville centre on the exact same date as yours. I’m expecting a receipt sometime around March so not thinking about it too much now. 

 

And my fiancé and I are gonna start staying in countries that are open at the moment for as long as tourist visas allow us to stay there while waiting for the K1 to process- we’re looking into Dubai and Turkey and hopefully by the middle of this year more countries start opening up too. It’ll be good to stay together or we would have to wait it out for a year or more apart

I don't know anything about Dubai, but I met my fiancee in Istanbul in December.  It was relatively painless, and fun, even with the curfews. I easily recommend meeting in a 3rd country.

On 1/12/2021 at 12:23 AM, Caboose29 said:

I’ll be filing mine by the end of the month. If I finish by the end of the year, I’ll be ecstatic, but I’m not holding my breath. 

Well I finally got mine finished and delivered, on 2/11/21.  Looks like I'll be in the February group/thread whenever it gets created.

Does the countdown timer to NOA2 start when USCIS processes the application, or does it start on the date you receive your NOA1?

8 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Go to the website here: https://russia-visacentre.com/en/visa/usa/russia

There's a pop up window where you can subscribe for updates.

 

I've been subscribed for months and barely any news though...

At this point I'll take whatever drivel I can get to get me through these next many months....

1 minute ago, millefleur said:

Lol, you don't want to be a truck driver in Russia, just look for Russian dash cam videos and see why! Why not teach English? That's how I got my work visa there.

I didn't mean to actually become a truck driver.  I was asking because I read the list about what visas they are approving now.  I thought maybe I could get a visa and get to  visit under the guise of being an actual certified international truck driver.😀

To be an English teacher I assume you'd need to have some sort of proficiency in Russian?  I speak next to zero Russian.  I've been taking Pimsleur online for only a few months now, and I'm still only on Level 1.  I don't think they'd approve me for only a 2 week teaching curriculum.

I wonder how much time and money is required to qualify as an "international truck driver"..😁

On 2/3/2021 at 2:06 PM, millefleur said:

Good catch! That was from an email the sent out to people on the mailing list. When I checked their website, it seems they do not mention diplomatic visas in the list.

 

 

How do I get on said "mailing list"??  Thanks!!

I have a question.  Does the "timer" for processing to NOA2 start when they indicate it's received (not just delivered), or does the countdown to NOA2 start with the receipt date on the NOA1?

5 minutes ago, David and Anna said:

*IF* one can find a way to get married soon, then there is no debate imho; CR1 is superior in many important ways (without only 1 *potential* negative - taking longer).

 

And I say this as someone who got our K-1 last month and we have huge (and I mean HUGE) regret.  And we will regret it for the next 1-2 years as we deal with AoS, EAD, AP.  Of course the most painful part is that we would have got our CR1 in about the same time as we got our K-1 and she would be here rather than sitting in a hotel in Mexico right now for 2 weeks.  And then not able to visit her homeland until Christmas and be able work before Christmas and not have to do more forms and money and interviews etc etc for AoS.  Going with a K-1 was perhaps the worst decision of my life.  Its been pure punishment.  (and also know that we would still be waiting on K-1 if we had not sued and won as original plaintiffs in the Milligan case...if we hadn't spent the money to join that and won, we would still be waiting on our K-1 and would have already gotten our CR1).  And k-1's could not visit all year due to covid (ahem) while spouses could.

 

To summarize - *IF* you can get married and do CR1.  Do that.

 

If you cannot find a way to get married soon, then there is nothing to debate.  The K-1 is your only option - the choice is made for you depending upon if you can find a way to get married.

Well said. I hope I don’t regret my choice to go the K1 route. Getting married now in my situation is extremely problematic. So much so, that I think the K1 will be the lesser of two evils...  Only time will tell. 

2 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Yeah, this actually tells me that they're treating K-1's and CR-1/IR-1's more or less the same then...which is basically how it was before. I think for people waiting on K-1, unless you want the added benefit of skipping the hassle with the AOS/EAD card process, it's probably better to just wait out the K-1 and not bother with the extra hoops of tying to get married during the pandemic (not to mention then having to re-file with a I-130, etc.)

 

For anyone who needs their fiancé(e) to work or study immediately, then of course getting married first and re-filing for the CR-1 is a better idea.

 

 

This is precisely why I decided on going K1 in the end.   My fiancée will not need to work right away once she’s here. 

9 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Would be more willing to believe the former. The Moscow Embassy has always seemed way overstaffed to me, compared to the application numbers they get, the Embassy is gigantic and has tons of workers from what I saw.

 

Does anyone know about that the mysterious 4 CR-1's and 1 IR-1 that got issued in December 2020?

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/DECEMBER 2020 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

 

Also apparently 4 K-1 's were issued in December 2020?? Okay then...

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/DECEMBER 2020 - NIV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

 

 

Nice catch!! Inquiring minds want to know. 

3 hours ago, Chauncey said:

What made you decide on K1?

Apparently Moscow embassy is processing or will process K/CR at about the same rate. Taking into account the delay to file the CR1 due to the hassle of trying to get married first, I figured a K1 will probably be faster. It would take me a minimum of 3-6 months to get married if I wanted the CR1 route.