K1 timeframe

[izzy339]

Hi everyone
I'm wondering if anyone can help me with some info?
My fiancee submitted his petition for a K visa at the Tampa USCIS so that we can marry in the US, I am a UK resident and although they give some timeframes (as a guideline only) on the website for other visa's they make no mention of the K1 Visa.
Has anyone on here filed at Tampa before? and how long between filing till we can expect to hear anything at all? He was able to just walk in and give the clerk the relevent documents and was told everything looked to be in order and that he would hear from them by telephone or letter should they require anything more? we were careful to submit everything they asked for so as not to have to delay uneccessarily.

Any information is greatly appreciated as this is quite overwhelming

Izzy

[nichole]

The form to file for a K1 visa is the I-129F, with lots of other documentation too. And there are only two places that process the I-129F and that is the Vermont Service Center and the California Service Center. So if he filed at Tampa for a fiance, then you've already made a mistake that could make the process longer. They will either send your file to the proper place or send it back. That will delay you. If you will download the instructions for the I-129F, the last page tells where to file depending on what state you live in. There is the form and there are instructions that are separate.

[nichole]

This website has a list of everything that should be filed. If you look down the page to where it says Filing the Application you can see where to file. Florida files at the Vermont Service Center http://immihelp.comhttps://www.immih...-petition.html

[izzy339]

Nicole

Thanks for your replies that was very kind of you, firstly the reason he files at Tampa is that I have a friend who did this also, and to use her words "your lucky as there is a place in Tampa so it's quicker, it only took 3 months for me" so my fiance called the office there and they said just to come up and submit the paperwork to them, which he did, but that would explain why I couldn't find it on the list of visa's for the Tampa area on the list you gave above.
Thing is, we have submitted it now and they have cashed the cheque I guess we have no option now but to wait it out, he called them yesterday and they only told him that he has to wait out now for the letter of acknowledgement.
Thanks again for your help.

Isabel

[nichole]

Well I don't know any reason why the person at Tampa would take the application, but maybe it will get transferred right away and not delay you. You'll get a receipt notice in the mail with a case number on it in probably 10 days. Some people tell me that the back of your check is stamped with your receipt number. If it was being processed at Vermont Service Center, then it would start with EAC2008xxxxxxx. I don't get cancelled checks, but some people can actually view them online and get the number that way.

So once you get that number, EAC2008xxxx or WAC2008xxx, then you can check status online at USCIS.gov (look in bottom right corner of that webpage ) and you can create an account too. They will email you or you can see online when your I-129F is approved. It's not that great because it doesn't change for months and months. They don't give you much in between to give you any clues what's going on with it. If there was something missing from your petition and they needed some other information from you, then the online status would say, "on xxxx date we sent you a notice..." and it goes on to say they need something from you. That's called an RFE (Request For Evidence) but you have to wait on snail mail to know exactly what they need. It's not unusual to not hear about the RFE 3 months after filing. I think they just store the files until somebody finally starts looking at yours.

I would say if 3 weeks pass and you don't get mail that says "we have received your documents and it has a date and an EAC number on it, I would call the USCIS information line and ask them if they have your petition. They never give you very good answers, but I would ask about that because it should come fairly quickly. After that you just wait for so long without any information that you go crazy. Finally that email comes that says Approved. Currently I am seeing people get approved that filed in early to mid May by Vermont. California is catching up after being about 2 months behind Vermont. They are approving some petitions filed in April. That doesn't mean there aren't some filed earlier that haven't been approved. Some take longer or have to go through more name checks or have to supply more information.

Good luck.