TiffAndMike

Congratulations! What processing center had your case?

It's not 2 months longer. It is 5 to 6 months longer. According to when I applied, my case was supposed to of been adjudicated next month and now the estimate is the end of February. I even have an email from USCIS that states it is now taking 15.5 months. And you can go look for yourself on the USCIS website, it clearly shows how some petitions have speed up while others had drastically slowed down. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/historic-pt

Go to USCIS's website and you will see it for yourself. You will see how certain petitions have drastically speed up while others have drastically slowed down. Sign up for emails from USCIS and you will recieve all kinds of emails about what they are now implementing. And look on government websites pertaining to Homeland Security. You will see where it clearly states that USCIS decides where to allocate it's own staff. It isn't because of the application fee going up. They have been giving priority to cranking out new voters, granting work permits and dealing with all of Biden's immigration executive orders. Have you not noticed that every single time there is a new executive order by Biden pertaining to immigration that our wait times go further up? Those are the absolute reasons why they are taking so long. They don't care about us.

For those who might benefit from this: My husband has a pending I-130 and his ESTA expires this month. When he came to visit me last month, we applied to renew his ESTA and it was approved within 4 hours. Yes, you can renew a ESTA with a pending I-130.

Make sure to fill out the page number, item number and part number on the last page

If you've been waiting for 10 months now, I'd assume that you are a November or December filer then? I'm a December filer myself (priority date Dec 7) and I too have been waiting 10 months. So trust me, I'm just as flusterated as you are. I hate being separated from my husband who happens to be German. I know when we both filed, it was only taking 11 months at the time. Unfortunately, USCIS has decided to prioritize other petition types over I-130's. It sucks but there is nothing we can do about it. I can tell you from personal experience that even if you put in an expidited request, USCIS will not look at it anytime soon nor will they approve it. I tried for an expidited request for medical reasons back in March and they denied it MONTHS later. And I BARELY did not qualify for it. Your situation will definitely not qualify for it. You and I are getting closer to our approvals and eventually they will happen. Believe me, I know this waiting is awful.

On the I-130 petition, you do list the beneficiaries employment history.

Give it a little time and the estimate will jump back down. I constantly upload evidence to them and it does the same to me. Their estimates are a joke and don't mean anything.

Right now, USCIS is taking up to 16 months to process the majority of petitions. It seems like most people on here are getting approved in about 14.5 months. You will be filing after everyone else on here has done so don't automatically expect the same time frame for yours to be processed. USCIS may finally speed up or they might get further backlogged. I petitioned in the beginning of December 2023. When I submitted mine, USCIS was only taking 11 months. Since then, they have drastically slowed down and now I'm sitting at 14.5 months, despite what the time frame was at the time I petitioned. USCIS can allocate their staff any time at their own discretion. In other words, they can speed up one type of petition while allowing a different type to continue to get backlogged. That is what has been happening with the I-130'S. USCIS is just the first step of the entire process. The rest of the process seems to go quite a bit faster. With the NVC, how fast they work depends on how fast you get them all the documents they need. I'd say probably around 2 months, if you are prepared with all the required documents. For the part of the world your fiance is in, the consular interview typically takes about a month to 3 months from the time NVC finishes with your case. Being that your fiance is in Finland, she will probably either attend her interview in the UK or in Frankfurt, Germany.

I forgot to add, he and I have been together for slightly over 2 years, married for 1 now. We see each other twice a year

If you haven't seen each other in person and you are legally married, then that would be a super huge red flag. You are expected to of consumated your marriage. That is stated in USCIS documents. That's kinda of hard to do without seeing each other. I am 19 years older than my husband but that's my only red flag. I am not worried about it though as we have plenty of proof that our marriage is 110% legit and we are both in it for the right reasons. We have both met each other's family as well. Before he and I ever got engaged, he came here on the visa waiver and spent almost 3 months with me. On his 2nd visit, we got married in Vegas. Since then, I've been to visit him once and he has been to visit me once. my thoughts to you would be to consider a K1 visa instead of a IR1/CR1 visa. You only have to meet in person once and once she arrives, you have 90 days to marry or not. Besides, the wait time for an IR1/CR1 is significantly longer these days compared to a K1. While someone might be great over the phone or on paper, doesn't mean they will be that way in person. You need to spend an extended period of time living with someone to see their true self. You don't want to just jump being marrid and living with someone for it not to truly work out. Divorcing if it don't work out is the least of what you'd have to worry about. You actually have to sign a 10 year contract with the government which you agree to be financially liable for her. If you divorce and she goes on food stamps, section 8, ect., YOU have to pay the government back for the support she receives from them. Before my husband and I ever got engaged, I researched everything and I made 110% sure that our relationship was worth the risk.

How long did it take Potomac to transfer it to Texas?

I'm a December 2023 filer and I'm still waiting on my approval as well. Last time I checked, it's taking 15.5 months to process I-130s. My husband is a German citizen, so we will going through Frankfurt as well. As far as cases filed after ours getting approved first, I think that it really depends on which service center ended up with your I-130 and if they have enough sense to transfer it to a more efficient service center when they get so backed up. Potomac has mine and they are beyond slow. Hopefully they end up transferring it. And hopefully as soon as the election is over, they speed up the processing times for I-130s.

And THIS is exactly why I will never vote Democrat. I'm a swing voter who was actually going to vote for Kennedy before he suspended his campaign and took his name off the ballot in Texas. After the utter misery of the LEGAL immigration experience, Trump is getting my vote now, despite the fact that it was Harris' office that forwarded my email complaint to USCIS about the never ending processing times for I-130's.

Good news for all of you May 2023 filers who have your petitions at Potomac Service Center. They are currently processing May 14,2023 and earlier I-130's. After emailing President Biden, VP Harris and the CIS Ombudsman, I got an email back from Kimberley Coleman-Bearden, Chief USCIS Contact Center stating this.

N-400 is for becoming an American Citizen. The reason why those are being approved at rapid pace is because the Biden/Harris administration has been trying to crank out as many new voters for the Democratic party as possible before the November election. And yes, I am pretty sure all USCIS made all of it's employees focus on that and all the other abuse of power executive actions that Biden/Harris put into place when it pertains to anything related to immigration. This is why all of our petitions keep taking longer and longer to process.

The USCIS just needs to be sued. Everyone needs to just ban together and sue them in a class action lawsuit. They are getting beyond ridiculous with their processing times and putting all other petitions first. 16 Republican lead states just filed a law suit on the Biden administration and the head of homeland security over their latest "parole in place" program for illegal spouses of citizens scheme. I actually just got off the phone with my states attorney general's office, talking to them about how every time a new "parole in place" scheme comes into play, our processing times go up even further. The funny and sad thing about this is I wasn't the first person to call them today saying the exact same thing. I asked to see if my state can sue USCIS on behalf of us because of the way they keep doing us, cause at this point, it's gonna take 5 years to get any of our petitions approved. They aren't allowed to disclose what lawsuits they intend to file, so they couldn't tell me a yes or a no on this. If you live in one of those 16 states that likes to sue the federal government, contact your attorney generals office and be very vocal about this.

Pretty sad it's costing you 6k to get USCIS to do a job you paid them to do.

Yes I know green card holders can not vote. I am referring to the N-400 petition that turns LPR's into Citizenship. Those are being cranked out at rapid pace. And by my comment about rewarding people who broke the law, I am talking about illegals who are married to Americans, so-called "refugees and asylum seekers". USCIS is putting their manpower towards getting them work permits at rapid speed. The more employees that are processing all that, the less that are processing ours, even though we are law abiding citizens.

I absolutely love you and your partners story. I'm a December 2023 filer myself. I kinda like to snoop through posts in different months to give myself an idea of how much longer I actually have to wait during the never ending time frames USCIS keeps giving us. I have been and will continue to advocate for all of us about the ridiculous way USCIS is handling our cases. If you want a partner in crime to help you bring about change, pm me. I can tell you what I've done, show you emails I have sent and recieved, etc. to fight this nightmare of an immigration system.

They don't care about us who actually obeyed the law. They are putting all their manpower into those that broke the law and to crank out new voters at rapid pace. Hopefully after the election infection is over with, they will pick up the pace

I'm not an extremist in any way. I'm actually a swing voter. The executive orders that biden keeps putting in place are making each and every one of our petitions take longer and longer. Every time he adds another "parole in place" program, he is rewarding illegal aliens who broke the law while punishing those of us who are obeying the laws wait longer and longer to be reunited with our loved ones. Idk who it offends at this point, I am sick of being separated from my husband and the never ending wait times created by Biden and his administration. So I'm gonna say "Let's Go Brandon" as much as I want.

Your situation is different than many of us in this thread. The IR1/CR1 threads are mainly for I-130's where our spouses are in their home countries while we wait to go through the immigration process. Our spouses will be doing their immigration interviews in other countries. You are doing an Adjustment of Status (AOS) because your spouse is currently in the USA. Your wife's immigration interview will be done here in the states. The only thing that your situation has in common with ours is that you have to fill some of the same forms as we do, like the I-130. You will find more answers to your questions in the AOS forums here on Visa Journey. We can speak on the vaccines though as our spouses are required to take the same vaccines that your wife is being subjected to. If it has been a year or longer since she last took the covid vaccine, she will be required to have a another covid vaccine. As far as the kids, I'm not sure on that one as I am not petitioning for any children and haven't looked into their vaccine requirements. There is a set of requirements of vaccines that they are required to have though. And I do know that certain vaccines are required for children to attend and enroll in school.

Personally I am not anti-vax but I am anti-covid vax due to the fact I feel that the vaccine was too rushed and there are no long term studies on any long term side effects it may cause. I am a US Citizen and it is not required of me to have it, so I refuse to take. Your wife however is from a different country and is trying to become a legal resident in the USA, so she does not have the same luxury to pick and choose what vaccines she and her children are willing to take. If she wants to stay here and live here with you, she has to take the vaccines that our government says she has to take. My husband wasn't all too happy about having to get all the vaccines that was required of him, nor did I personally think that he should have to take ones that are not required of me or that I refuse to take, but that is just the way it is. He wants to be here with me, so he compiled and took the vaccines. A waiver not to take it on based on religious grounds will be denied. You have to be against ALL vaccines due to religion. You can not cherry pick which ones your religion allows you to take. And the fact that the government has documentation of her having all the previous vaccines makes makes the religion claim null and void. Unless you have medical documentation that states that she almost died or had a severe allergic reaction from taking the previous covid vaccine, you will probably be denied for an exemption . She took the previous covid vaccine in a different country and would not receive the same one as she did over in Europe so maybe she might be able to tolerate the version she receives in the USA.