Laurel Scott
09-13-2007, 05:02 PM
Let me explain the situation with these K3s. The K3 came about when it was taking over two years to adjudicate an I-130 for a spouse of a citizen, but less than six months to adjudicate the I-129F for the fiance(e) of a citizen. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, chose to create a new visa category or more hoops to jump through, rather than trying to make the I-130s go faster. The purpose of the K3 is to get the spouse of a citizen here as quickly as possible while the immigrant visa is in process. They wrote the statute to say that you can file an I-129F for a K3 visa while the I-130 is pending.
The issue becomes - can you file the I-129F for a K3 after the I-130 is approved, but a visa has not been issued. The way the statute is written, the law does not allow for this. However, the letter of the law is in conflict with the spirit of the law. When CIS finally did have an epiphany on how to speed up I-130s for spouses, suddenly all these I-130s got approved and the backlog bubble moved from I-130 processing to consular processing and now instead of waiting two years for your I-130 to be approved, you wait over a year to go through NVC and get your appointment in Juarez. Assuming you're allowed to file your I-129F, you can still get the K3 faster than the immigrant visa, even if your immigrant visa case is finished with NVC processing and you've already been waiting a few months for your consular appointment. The purpose and intent of the K3 visa applies to cases with an already-approved I-130. But Congress did not anticipate this situation and did not specifically create this option when they wrote the statute.
Prior to August 1, 2007, your I-130 and your I-129F for K3 visa went to different locations and were adjudicated independently. If you supplied your I-130 receipt notice with your I-129F, they would adjudicate your case whether or not your I-130 had been approved. I think I even had a few cases where we actually used the I-130 approval notice when filing the I-129F as evidence that an I-130 had been filed. Commencing August 1, 2007 they changed the place where your I-129F is to be sent and they now want you to send it to the office "where your I-130 is pending." The cases are no longer separate and they are rejecting I-129F cases filed after the I-130 is approved and after August 1, 2007.
A rejection is not the same as a denial. In a rejection, they send you back your whole application packet. If you sent a payment, they don't cash it and return it to you. One of the other post Aug 1 changes was that there's no longer a fee required for the I-129F for K3, so there's no fee to return. But if you filed pre-Aug 1 and you paid a fee that has been cashed or accepted, your case is not rejected. But could it be denied?
I've taken a peak at some of my recent approvals. In the past few weeks I have gotten two approvals on I-129Fs filed post-I-130 approval but prior to August 1. On both of them, the decision came in August or September. So, for the moment, I believe they are not denying cases in this scenario filed pre-Aug 1 for which the fee has been accepted.
The issue becomes - can you file the I-129F for a K3 after the I-130 is approved, but a visa has not been issued. The way the statute is written, the law does not allow for this. However, the letter of the law is in conflict with the spirit of the law. When CIS finally did have an epiphany on how to speed up I-130s for spouses, suddenly all these I-130s got approved and the backlog bubble moved from I-130 processing to consular processing and now instead of waiting two years for your I-130 to be approved, you wait over a year to go through NVC and get your appointment in Juarez. Assuming you're allowed to file your I-129F, you can still get the K3 faster than the immigrant visa, even if your immigrant visa case is finished with NVC processing and you've already been waiting a few months for your consular appointment. The purpose and intent of the K3 visa applies to cases with an already-approved I-130. But Congress did not anticipate this situation and did not specifically create this option when they wrote the statute.
Prior to August 1, 2007, your I-130 and your I-129F for K3 visa went to different locations and were adjudicated independently. If you supplied your I-130 receipt notice with your I-129F, they would adjudicate your case whether or not your I-130 had been approved. I think I even had a few cases where we actually used the I-130 approval notice when filing the I-129F as evidence that an I-130 had been filed. Commencing August 1, 2007 they changed the place where your I-129F is to be sent and they now want you to send it to the office "where your I-130 is pending." The cases are no longer separate and they are rejecting I-129F cases filed after the I-130 is approved and after August 1, 2007.
A rejection is not the same as a denial. In a rejection, they send you back your whole application packet. If you sent a payment, they don't cash it and return it to you. One of the other post Aug 1 changes was that there's no longer a fee required for the I-129F for K3, so there's no fee to return. But if you filed pre-Aug 1 and you paid a fee that has been cashed or accepted, your case is not rejected. But could it be denied?
I've taken a peak at some of my recent approvals. In the past few weeks I have gotten two approvals on I-129Fs filed post-I-130 approval but prior to August 1. On both of them, the decision came in August or September. So, for the moment, I believe they are not denying cases in this scenario filed pre-Aug 1 for which the fee has been accepted.