Timelines

Find out how long it takes to get a family-based green card Even if you’re confident that you qualify for a family-based green card, you’re probably eager to finish the process and actually hold the green card in your hand. Unfortunately, family-based green cards are not issued overnight — applying for and receiving your green […]

Unfortunately, no you cannot choose the processing center or USCIS office where your paperwork is sent to. It’s going to be sent to one of two lock boxes either in Phoenix, Arizona or Chicago, Illinois. From here, they’ll receive your documents and then they use a process which we refer to as “load balancing” to distribute them to various centers.

In short, no, calling the USCIS will not speed up the process. It’s best if you just check the status online. You can go to the USCIS website, enter in your USCIS case number and you can obtain the case status right online. Just calling in to the USCIS is probably just going to make you lose your mind and get more frustrated.

Prior to our current era of “extreme vetting“, we were seeing times of six to seven months for a CR1 visa, from the time you mailed it so the USCIS until the time that you had the visa in hand. But now, in 2020, our average timelines have increased to an average of 7-10 months.

This is a question we get frequently. The fact that you are pregnant with the child of a US citizen while you’re awaiting a K1 visa doesn’t have any affect on your visa’s timeline or process. The fact that you are having a child together may help in terms of evidence that your relationship is bona fide, but will not expedite the processing.

The CR1 visa process is quite a bit different from the K1 visa process, specially when it comes to the National Visa Center. As far as processing times, the longest processing time is with the USCIS. You’re looking at easily about five to six months at the USCIS for the removal of conditions.

This question comes to us from Instagram. “My husband and I have been waiting seven months for the migration application. You guys said it would take three to five months. Why are we in month seven and have not received migration response?”

“Why is the USCIS taking so long, compared to the past two years?” Well, great question. Unfortunately, they don’t tell us the reasons for the timelines, so all we’re left to do is speculate. Now, we can probably speculate as good as anybody else, so let me speculate. I would say one factor might be the current administration.