K1 Visas: New USCIS Filing Protocols

This post will briefly look at USCIS's recently promulgated changes to the K1 visa

process and how these changes are likely to impact Americans and their foreign fiancees.In a recent press release from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service it was announced that I-129F petitions will no longer be submitted directly to the Service Center with appropriate jurisdiction. Instead, the I-129f petition will now be submitted to a lockbox facility:"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a change in filing location instructions and addresses for the Petition for Alien Fianc(e) (Form I-129F). The new instructions, dated 6/14/10, are part of an overall effort to transition the intake of forms from Service Centers to USCIS Lockbox facilities. Centralizing form and fee intake to a Lockbox environment allows USCIS to provide customers with more efficient and effective initial processing of applications/petitions and fees."*There are those who ponder the implications of this announcement as changes to processing procedures could have an impact upon USCIS processing times. Prior to the introduction of this lockbox facility, K1 visa petitions were filed with an appropriate service center. In many cases, the processing time at the service center depended upon the overall caseload of that center. Therefore, the processing times had a tendency to fluctuate based upon caseload and petitioners were left in a situation where they could get "lucky" and see their case processed out rather quickly or "unlucky" and see their case processed out more slowly. The creation of a lockbox facility should result in more uniform processing times as the lockbox facility could forward a petition to the service center best equipped to process the case quickly.Those researching the K1 visa for the first time should note that the USCIS adjudication process is only the first step in the overall visa process as approved I-129f petitions are forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) and finally to the Embassy or Consulate with Consular jurisdiction. The Department of State's National Visa Center initiates a security clearance and acts as something of a clearinghouse for approved K-1 petitions routing case files to appropriate Consulates and/or Embassies. Once the case file is received at a US Consulate abroad, the proposed beneficiary will be subjected to the Consular adjudication process which includes, but may not be limited to, an in-person visa interview at an Embassy or Consulate facility. In certain cases, a 221(g) refusal notice is issued by a Consular Officer after interview if further evidence is required for the visa to be issued. That said, in a large number of cases, the visa is granted upon the Consular Officer's finding that the underlying relationship is bona fide and all other requirements have been met.* http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextoid=091a904c2593a210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

K1 Visas: New USCIS Filing Protocols

By: Ben Hart

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