Immigration Timelines, an Overview

[username33]

Some of you know I'm a writer working on a book-length project about MOBs and the year I spent living in Ukraine. Not sure if it's going anywhere, but I'm still at it. Currently, I'm trying to get a better understanding of how long you have to wait for a RW to get into the states with or without a Green Card.

In my case, I married my wife in Russia in late July. Her interview at the embassy is in late October. I was able to do a DCF, as I was then living in Russia. So, if all goes well, she'll have her GC and visa after 3 months or so.

How long would it have taken if we'd married in Russia, but I'd filed in the states?

She could have gotten a K-3 visa in about two or three months, I suspect, and then she could've come to the states and waited for her AOS, right? From what I've read here, this can take as long as a year or even a year and a half?

And I believe that's the same as it would be if someone got a K1 (after how long of a wait, a month or two?) and then got married in the states and filed all the necessary paperwork.

I know it's complicated -- far more complicated than a marriage involving Americans -- but I didn't need an immigration attorney. Have others felt it necessary to use one? And if so, why? Is it because you're paperwork has been hung up, or you want to make sure it doesn't get hung up?

[Jet]

How long would it have taken if we'd married in Russia, but I'd filed in the states?

She could have gotten a K-3 visa in about two or three months, I suspect, and then she could've come to the states and waited for her AOS, right? From what I've read here, this can take as long as a year or even a year and a half?

Your timelines are quite "lite"! The service centers are taking anywhere up to 1 month to issue a receipt for the I-130 application. National benefits center is reporting they are working on petitions filed in the first week of April '06 (these are notoriously inaccurate BTW) which is about 6 months. Another month to get from Chicago through NVC and on to the Embassy, and 2 months till the interview date from there. All in all, 10 months from initial application to visa issuance, not 2 or 3. BUT this is in a nearly constant state of flux, and that timeline could be cut in half, or even double, at virtually any time.

And I believe that's the same as it would be if someone got a K1 (after how long of a wait, a month or two?)

ROTFLMAO that's *too* funny!  Anywhere from 4 to 14+ months depending on state of residence.

If you wanted to make a general blanket statement, I think you'd be safe in asserting that the average time a couple waits to be together stateside is 10 to 12 months for either "K" type visa.

I know it's complicated -- far more complicated than a marriage involving Americans -- but I didn't need an immigration attorney. Have others felt it necessary to use one? And if so, why? Is it because you're paperwork has been hung up, or you want to make sure it doesn't get hung up?

Of the people we've helped, it has been either a matter of time management (getting it done quickly) or being intimidated by the complexity of the application (getting it done correctly). Nearly anyone can do it themselves, but a quick browse through the immigration attorneys' websites reveals many attempts to intimidate potential self-filers by making the process sound even more complex than it really is.

[jb]

Username,

If you are writing a book, and you want it to reflect the real immigration timelimes for visa issuance, I suggest you discard the notion of "2 or 3 months", to put that in print would be very misleading.  In truth, the timelines, on average, seem to run 8 to 12 months (+/-) for the K-1 visa, and generally a month or two longer for K-3 visas.  In my case, the K-3 visa was 14 months in coming.  So,,, getting married in Russia gets you married faster however it does not get you together faster, or even as fast as applying for the K-1 visas.  K-3 visa applications are processed differently than K-1s in that after marriage the applicant must submit the I-130 to his Regional Service Center and wait for the NOA, then submit the I-129F with copies of the I-130 NOA to the special Service Center located in Missouri created for that purpose.   The address is actually a bank in Chicago which strips out the fee and deposits it in the US Gov's account before forwarding the package on to the Missouri Service Center.

Regarding the AOS, as noted by Jet, much of that depends a persons location within the US.  Traditionally the fastest Service Center was always Vermont, so folks in the Northeast sailed through much faster than other areas.  One of the slowest has always been the Texas Service Center with California running a close second.  Probably attributable to the large hispanic immigrant numbers in these areas whose applications bog down the flow of paperwork.  Nebraska seems to be a mystery most of the time with no known reason why they are either fast or slow.  You should also know that the USCIS website is often updated with faulty, and very often, overly optimistic information and the timelines listed for each Service Center DO NOT reflect the actual waiting times for most cases.

The best advice one can give to anyone considering this venture is to submit applications properly, and sit back and wait for the results to happen.  Whatever timeline a man gets will be up to the USCIS, whenever they get around to finishing their coffee breaks and decide to do a little actual work. 

In other words, nobody really knows how long it will take.

[Goombah]

Suggest you go to http://www.visajourney.com - they keep great records of actual immigrations.  e.g.  Data, not opinion.

FYI:  We filed for her K1 in May 05, she got her Visa in December 05, we married in Feb 06, filed her I-485 in early April 06, and just got our interview date in mid November.  She is Russian.  We are in the mid-west (St. Louis, Missouri), filing K-1 stuff through Nebraska, I-485 in town.

[jb]

Goombah,

With May to Dec as your timeline you were right on the cusp of the 8-12 months I mentioned above.  As I said, Nebraska has always been a wildcard from my observation in the years I've been around the boards.

The point I was trying to make for username33, was that for the accuracy sake of his book, the 2-3 months figure, from filing the I-129F to visa issuance, was not even in the ballpark.

[username33]

Great, thanks for the help. The reason I brought it up today is that a friend who is Chinese and married an American 18 months ago spoke of getting her visa "very shortly" after requesting one at the embassy, and then receiving her Green Card upon arrival. I'd told her that things had changed, especially if you were coming from a country that is apparently on the USA's enemies list.

I haven't been researching the timeline and complexity of the immigration process till now, so forgive my errors. I do want to make some general blanket statements, because if I don't know they're all taking this long, someone who didn't spend a year in Ukraine doesn't know either -- and I think most Americans would be shocked to learn what so many men and women are going through. I think it's ridiculous that I have to wait as long as I do. But I have been reading here and there on this site, and I know others have been waiting a year and a half. I thought that was the extreme; not the average. I'll look forward to hearing more about this, and if my book gets picked up (it's as much about me as anything else; the proposal is going out in the coming weeks) I'd be very interested in collecting some of the horror stories and raising awareness.

Your timelines are quite "lite"! The service centers are taking anywhere up to 1 month to issue a receipt for the I-130 application. National benefits center is reporting they are working on petitions filed in the first week of April '06 (these are notoriously inaccurate BTW) which is about 6 months. Another month to get from Chicago through NVC and on to the Embassy, and 2 months till the interview date from there. All in all, 10 months from initial application to visa issuance, not 2 or 3. BUT this is in a nearly constant state of flux, and that timeline could be cut in half, or even double, at virtually any time.

ROTFLMAO that's *too* funny!  Anywhere from 4 to 14+ months depending on state of residence.

If you wanted to make a general blanket statement, I think you'd be safe in asserting that the average time a couple waits to be together stateside is 10 to 12 months for either "K" type visa.

Of the people we've helped, it has been either a matter of time management (getting it done quickly) or being intimidated by the complexity of the application (getting it done correctly). Nearly anyone can do it themselves, but a quick browse through the immigration attorneys' websites reveals many attempts to intimidate potential self-filers by making the process sound even more complex than it really is.

[username33]

"If you are writing a book, and you want it to reflect the real immigration timelimes for visa issuance, I suggest you discard the notion of "2 or 3 months", to put that in print would be very misleading."

I was mixing apples and oranges, I'm afraid. Typing while tired too. Because I DCF'd my paperwork, I was wondering how long it might have taken if I'd gone the K3 route, instead of married in Russia.  I just assumed she would've been interviewed in the same amount of time for the K3 as she will be for the CR1. But I got my points mixed up and portrayed them poorly.

I appreciate the input

[username33]

Suggest you go to http://www.visajourney.com - they keep great records of actual immigrations.  e.g.  Data, not opinion.

FYI:  We filed for her K1 in May 05, she got her Visa in December 05, we married in Feb 06, filed her I-485 in early April 06, and just got our interview date in mid November.  She is Russian.  We are in the mid-west (St. Louis, Missouri), filing K-1 stuff through Nebraska, I-485 in town.

Thank you. Do any of you have any idea how the timelines changed (read, got longer) after 9/11? Was the change noticeable and immediate?

[username33]

Username,

 folks in the Northeast sailed through much faster than other areas.  One of the slowest has always been the Texas Service Center with California running a close second.  Probably attributable to the large hispanic immigrant numbers in these areas whose applications bog down the flow of paperwork. 

Very interesting.

[username33]

BUT this is in a nearly constant state of flux, and that timeline could be cut in half, or even double, at virtually any time.

This seems to me one of the greatest horrors of marrying a foreigner. You just don't know when your life can begin. You're put on hold. It's like you're being audited by the IRS, and you don't know when the process will begin or end. It's something no American marrying in American can comprehend. And it's wildly unreported, I think.

[Goombah]

Thank you. Do any of you have any idea how the timelines changed (read, got longer) after 9/11? Was the change noticeable and immediate?

I wasn't in this game back on 9/11/2001 - thats over 5 years ago and I'd suggest not relavent.  However, when EMBRA passed, there was a multi-month screw-up that delayed many couples.  It was pretty ugly, but you might want to ask some that went through it (I got lucky, she came here a bit before that passed).

Kevin

[jb]

Username33,

Not all immigrant brides are created equal.  If, for example, you wanted to bring home one of those leggy brunettes from Argentina, or Brazil, all that would be required is to waltz into the local American Embassy with all the paperwork, i.e., marriage certificate, birth certificates, certified copies of your divorce decree if applicable, completed I-131, etc., and your bride would have her visa affixed to her passport the same day.  You could fly her home with a conditional GC (CR-1) straight away.

We can only dream of such service extended to our FSU ladies.

[ConnerVT]

If I remember correctly, jb was in the air (or very recently back on the ground) when 9/11 occurred and all the flights over the US were grounded.  But the after effects of that event were certainly a wake up call to the many agencies involved with US immigration, although some of them are still walking around half asleep.

For a K-1 (or even a K-3) to be processed, it requires the coordination of a number of federal agencies, not just USCIS.  The State Department, FBI, CIA, (well, all of the alphabet soup security agencies), even Border Patrol, each have a hand in it.  Since 9/11, each realignment and reorganization has injected delays into the process of legal immigration.

Sometimes, even when things move quickly, something unforeseen will cause a major delay.  In my wife's case (then my fiancee), her K-1 application sailed through the VSC and NVC in just over 2 months time -- only to be held at the embassy in Moscow for an unexplained 6 month period while they conducted "security checks"...

[jb]

If I remember correctly, jb was in the air (or very recently back on the ground) when 9/11 occurred and all the flights over the US were grounded.

That's true, I was still in the air on my way back from Moscow when it went down.  I got an involuntary vacation extension in Canada for 3 days, IIRC.  In fact, 9-11 was my wake up call to go ahead and ask the woman for her hand in marriage.  I knew things were gonna change, immigration-wise, post 9-11.  I flew back a few months later and we married in Moscow.  CaptB was there at the wedding to be my best man. 

Wow~! that all seems like another life time ago now.

[Jet]

Thank you. Do any of you have any idea how the timelines changed (read, got longer) after 9/11? Was the change noticeable and immediate?

Relating to the FSU the exact day that immigration changed forever was July 22, 2002. It was most certainly noticable and immediate as MANY women were actually stranded in Moscow for months on end due to a Congressional mandate on immigration procedure that the Embassies were required to follow even though there was not yet a mechanism in place to actually comply. Women who had their interview and were approved for the visa, turned in their passports fully expecting to pick them up in the afternoon of the same day (as had always been the practice prior to that date), only to be strung along day by day, week by week, for months (The final visas from that day's interviews were issued sometime in January 2004 - some 6 months after they'd been approved). By the time Liliya and I got to the Embassy interview in Aug 2003, most of the kinks had already been ironed out WRT the new procedures.

[Vaughn]

  We had to wait 10 weeks for our visa in late 2002 - not too bad, and we were fortunate enough to have prior warning of the delay.

  So, 9/11 caused an eventual slowdown. Then IMBRA. Would
it surprise anyone if another "unforeseen" event rattles the
timeframe cage in the future? And we've only mentioned USA
occurences....

[jb]

Unfortunately I foresee the current debate on Illegal Immigration as a major player in future immigration activity.  Whenever we see a crisis, either real or imagined, it seems we get a whole raft of new rules and regulations to contend with.  It always seems to take the USCIS by surprise and there are the usual delays while they get their act together.

Frankly speaking, coming from a State where we have more regulations covering catching fish than we do on catching illegal immigrants, I think it's been a long time in coming, but finally National awareness is starting to heat up on the issue and it cannot but adversely effect legal immigration.  Remember all those new rules and regs that came about when they created the Department of Homeland Security?  Just getting through an airport has become a major hassle these days.

[ConnerVT]

The second (unwritten) half of my earlier post was about illegal immigration, but decided that I didn't want to open that can of worms and sidetrack this thread.  But the two (legal vs. illegal) are certainly interwoven.

The US is just starting to wake up to the problem that has been all too obvious to those living in California, Texas, and Florida.  But we are not yet ready (as a country) to allocate the resources (money and changes) to address it yet.  Although the money saved by controlling the problem would likely be offset by the savings in the human services sector.

After 9/11, it was made obvious that problems do exist in the legal immigration area as well.  Most (all?) of the hijackers entered the country legally (although several were on expired visas at the time of 9/11).  So the (at then) INS had it's feet put to the fire to explain this.  Unfortunately, the answers were to push more papers around on at the issuance part of the process, instead of addressing the bigger problem, enforcement.    The fact remains once an alien (legal or illegal) gets foot on US soil, it is an enforcement nightmare to mandate their deportation.

[jb]

Well, Conner, the topic is, broadly stated; an "Overview of Immigration", I don't see how stating the obvious is sidetracking the thread.  Illegal immigration is as much a factor in the equation as anything else.

As I mentioned above, I have a greater chance of getting arrested for catching undersized fish than an illegal alien has of being caught and deported in the State of Texas.  You are right on the money, it's all a question of our unwillingness to enforce the laws we have.  Writing new laws will not make the problems go away as the new laws are likely not going to be enforced with any more rigor than the old ones were.

Lately we have been sidetracked with the "War On Terror", and I for one, am glad to see attention being focused on the illegal side of immigration.  Legal immigrants typically come here with decent educations, a willingness to learn the language, and with a desire to assimilate into the American mainstream, we cannot say the same for the illegals.  IMHO, illegal immigration is bad for America and should be stemmed, legal immigration is a goal easily controlled.  It's simple, keep out the bad, promote the good.

[jb]

Oddly, I would have thought this thread would have been the subject of hot debate.  Instead we are arguing the relative merits of foreign food on T/G's thread.  I wonder if we have our priorities right around here.

[username33]

Username33,

Not all immigrant brides are created equal.

Why is that you think? The sheer number of women having to be processed from the FSU, or some other prejudice? If it were economic -- the reason for denying tourist visas to RW -- then that should also apply to women from many other countries as well.

I'll have to bounce this question off an embassy official.

[username33]

Relating to the FSU the exact day that immigration changed forever was July 22, 2002. It was most certainly noticable and immediate as MANY women were actually stranded in Moscow for months on end due to a Congressional mandate on immigration procedure that the Embassies were required to follow even though there was not yet a mechanism in place to actually comply. Women who had their interview and were approved for the visa, turned in their passports fully expecting to pick them up in the afternoon of the same day (as had always been the practice prior to that date), only to be strung along day by day, week by week, for months (The final visas from that day's interviews were issued sometime in January 2004 - some 6 months after they'd been approved).

Interesting. Good to know.

[jb]

Username33,

Based on another thread;
http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=2372.0
I get the feeling you are jerking us around a bit.  According to the other thread you are already married to a RW, according to this thread you are writing a book about the subject.

Which is it?

[Bruno]

I get the feeling you are jerking us around a bit.  According to the other thread you are already married to a RW, according to this thread you are writing a book about the subject.

Which is it?

Free info 

Born in West Germany to a Norwegian mother and a Texan father, Username33 spent the majority of his formative years in England. Before taking a Fulbright Fellowship to Ukraine, he had lived in the United States since the age of nine, primarily in northern California. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he attends the PhD program in English literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California. His wife lives in Russia, through no fault of his own. She will be joining him in LA after the guv'ment clears her immigration case.

[Admin]

Username33,

Based on another thread;
http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=2372.0
I get the feeling you are jerking us around a bit.  According to the other thread you are already married to a RW, according to this thread you are writing a book about the subject.

Which is it?

jb, username33 has been here at RWD for quite some time - and has put together a VERY interesting blog. He is a gifted writer and an interesting guy with a lot of talent. I touted his blog many months ago.

FWIW

- Dan