K130 Visa Question For a Friend

[HonkyTonk]

I know nothing about visas I did a GT search of K130 visas and, like a man with a vasectomy, shot a blank.

My friend just married a woman in LAm. He was told the K130 visa is about 14 months right now.

Is there anybody who can actually speed up the process, either lawyer or otherwise? He was told someone could get it done faster, like 8-10 months...for a price.

I claim total ignorance on the visa process. I don't ask for much from the kind Gringos. Can anybody supply any info that I can pass on to a very good friend? It's really not too much to ask...

Thanks!

[GrizGator]

Hi Tonk:

Not sure who is providing the 14 month info. Unless things have changed drastically, that number is way outdated and much too long. We started the process in late September, 2006 and my wife was here in January, 2007. Unless there is some "problem," I doubt he needs a lawyer...assuming he is an organized guy and can read directions. If he has any questions, I'll try to help. You can PM his e-mail address or I can give him mine.

Griz

[HonkyTonk]

Thanks for the response and PM Griz! I'm sure he'll be in touch.

Mil gracias!

If I needed info on this, I would call Nelson. Nelson knows a lot about the visa process.

[Bala]

I will take a moment to answer your US Citizen friend's question, HT.

(By the way, was that your friend who called me a couple weeks ago from Cali where he got married, and who asked me about what documents he should gather before he returned to the USA in order to minimize processing time and potential delays? Perhaps not. I am not sure.)

1. The only way to truly expedite an immigration or visa petition is to show a proven emergency. USCIS calls it "Accelerated Processing". You can read more about the criteria for this program here.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...000ecd190aRCRD

Suffice it to say that it certainly is not easy to meet their criteria. I have only had a couple of cases where they granted such an "expedite", and those involved a medical-type emergency.

2. The bad news. In July 2007, USCIS raised their filing fees for all petitions on the order of up to 200%. Yes, 200%. You can imagine the public outcry. It did no good. They raised it anyway, but did allow about a month's advance warning.

You can guess what happened in that month.

Apx. 3 million new petitions and applications were filed with USCIS by people wishing to "beat" the filing fee increase. Result: processing delays big-time.

Read about that here (USCIS devoted an entire section of their website to explain it and how that were handling it):
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...0045f3d6a1RCRD

Bottom line: They are only beginning to get better caught up now, using the new filing fees to hire some 50 new adjudications officers a month until they reach their quota of some 5000 new officers across the USA. The situation eventually should improve.

3. Current processing time in May 2008: For the CR-1 legal resident visa for spouse of US Citizen (based on the Petition I-130), I estimate currently, start to finish, at about 12 to 14 months for most people on average. (The only exception is if your US Citizen friend is considered a ""resident" of the home country of his spouse, in which case he may be able to file the I-130 Petition directly at the US Consulate - procedure known as DCF or Direct Consular Filing. DCF can cut process time in many, not all, cases on average down to 3 to 5 months or less. If your US Citizen friend is not a "resident" of her country but simply a resident of the USA, he has no choice but to process his petition in the USA through USCIS.)

4. Now for the good news. USCIS recently completed a program called "bi-level adjudication" which allows the following procedure to "speed-up" arrival of your US Citizen friend's wife to the USA, as many people may know.

Your friend files the I-130 Petition for CR-1 Visa for his wife at the appropriate USCIS Service Center, and secures the Notice of Action of Receipt called (NOA1) on Form I-797C. Right now, he may be able to get that receipt in about 3 weeks or less from filing date.

He then files the Petition I-129F for something called a K-3 Spousal Visa for his wife, with extra copy of all relevant documents and copy of the NOA1.

The process time for the I-129F Petition for K-3 Spousal Visa right now is running on average at about 7 to 8 months from filing date. At least that's better than the 12 to 14 months for the I-130 Petition for CR-1 visa. She gets to enter the USA on the K-3 visa, good for up to 24 months, which includes automatic travel permission to return to her home country.

5. More help and info.
Tell your friend that there's a popular website with a lot of free information and postings of shared experiences of self-filers to check out called: Visa Journey.com
http://visajourney.com/forums/index.php?act=home

Be warned however about their disclaimer which says (and I quote):
"Your use of Visajourney.com is at your own risk...
Visajourney.com does not endorse, support, represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any communications or Content Posted via the Service...
Information contained on or made available through VisaJourney.com Websites and Services (including but not limited to the discussion forums) is not intended to and does not constitute legal advice, recommendations, mediation or counseling under any circumstance and no attorney-client relationship is formed. Do not act on or rely on any information from VisaJourney.com Websites and Services without consulting with a licensed attorney as this site is not a substitute for obtaining appropriate legal advice from a competent, independent legal counsel in the relevant jurisdiction."

END

OK? I gotta run. Good luck.

[HonkyTonk]

Gary, I really appreciate all the time you take out of your busy days to help the Gringos with immigration matters! A big thumbs up!!

It wasn't my friend who contacted you, but he might as he wants her here ASAP.

I'll pass this info onto him when he gets back to the States. He belongs in bed right now, not on a computer

[John Wayne]

Originally Posted by HonkyTonk

Gary, I really appreciate all the time you take out of your busy days to help the Gringos with immigration matters! A big thumbs up!!

It wasn't my friend who contacted you, but he might as he wants her here ASAP.

I'll pass this info onto him when he gets back to the States. He belongs in bed right now, not on a computer

I agree HT, a BIG Thumbs up...Thanks Gary for taking the time....