The process of obtaining an I-129 visa waiver form requires you to gather many documents, proof of payment for your stay in America, as well as medical records that prove you’re healthy. You will also have to appear in person at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate where you are applying for the visa.
The length of time it takes to get this paperwork completed and processed depends mostly on how quickly your country’s embassy can verify all of these things about you. Some countries make you wait anywhere from one week up to several months, even years, before they send their approval to come to America!
There is nothing you can do to speed up the processing of your visa application while it is still being reviewed by foreign officials, but there are some ways to help mitigate the stress of waiting out the process here in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not as quick as some make it out to be when it comes to processing I-129 Visas. This includes both submitting your documents at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in person, via mail, or over the phone.
It also takes time for an employee to actually review all of the documents you send through either channel and determine if they are valid. By law, employers must verify that each job position requires a visa before granting one.
This can range from verifying whether or not someone has work authorization to confirming that every position exists and has adequate staffing. It’s important to note that most positions requiring a nonimmigrant worker status will have their employment certified by DHS, but the other position needs may not.
Making this verification depends on how well trained your new hire is in the organization and what level of certification they hold.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for processing I-129 Visas at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. Due to high demand in recent months, however, DHS has opened its own visa service centers outside Washington D.C., where I-129s may be processed as quickly as possible.
You can learn more about our nationwide network of VSCs here. But if you are looking to expedite the processing of your I-129 immediately, there are some things you can do before arriving in country.
We have created an easy to use tool that can help. Visit i129tool.usitakeourtime.com to find out when your I-129 will be reviewed in one of these new VSCs. You will also need to upload your I-94 card record and proof of employment or residence status using this website!
This article contains links to an external site operated by another party. Although we strive hard to ensure that they are top quality sites, we cannot guarantee that material posted to the linked page is appropriate or acceptable in nature. Therefore Desert Lion Consulting recommends that you review the legal disclaimer and terms of use for both sites directly from the source websites.
While there are many moving parts in immigration, one of the most important groups that play an integral role in how quickly you can move forward with your plan is the visa office.
Visa offices have limited staffing at any given time. Only certain positions exist to process immigrant visas, so even though there may be more than one person working under a single supervisor, only one person actually gets to work on immigrant applications while the rest help hold down the fort until someone else comes into their shift.
This means that it’s up to each individual employee whether or not they decide to put in extra effort to complete their tasks as efficiently as possible. It also means that even if employees are trying hard to keep up, they might not know what the next step is since there is sometimes a delay in getting this information.
There are several different factors that determine how long it takes for an employer to get a job offer letter and start employment paperwork from another department within USCIS. These include things such as the number of people applying for jobs, the type of position being applied for (such as medical doctor versus warehouse worker), and the workload of the already overburdened staff member.
Once again, none of these things matter unless someone outside of the company decides to make it matter. If a higher level manager does not give his/her full support to the current employee, then the waiting period will grow longer due to having to deal with additional red tape.
The next step in process of obtaining a work visa is to have your documents certified by an embassy or consulate. This is typically done through a third party document certification company, such as International Certification Services (ICS), Global Migration Group (GMG) or Vital Source.
These companies will send professionals to you location to take official pictures of your documents, interview you for possible reasons they might get rejected, and then certify that everything looks okay and if anything seems suspicious they will tell you about it!
This whole process can take anywhere from one day to weeks depending on the number of people working on your case and the amount of documentation needed.
If you have an I-94, it must be updated when your visa expires. You will also need to show proof of having lived in the United States for at least 30 days after your expiration date. This is called a “conditional resident status” or “CRST” (for conditional residence status trip).
If your I-94 does not have enough time left on it before your current visa expires, you can reapply for a new one. This process usually takes around two weeks, so make sure you do this well ahead of your departure!
You will need to bring your old I-94 with you during the appointment to prove that you have lived here before. Many employers require this as part of their background check procedures too.
It is our utmost priority at US Immigration to process your visa as soon as possible after we receive all of the required documents, but unfortunately, due to current volume, it may take longer than expected.
We ask that you be patient during this process as everything can go wrong even months later. If there was an emergency situation or issues arose, we would notify you immediately.
But for everyday situations such as yours, we make every effort to get your visa processed within one business day. This has been the case for over two years now and will continue to remain so until we have enough staff to handle the workload.
If you notice any delays beyond this, then please do not hesitate to contact us via phone or email to ensure your visit is planned properly.
An I-129F petition is the most common type of I-129 visa. This document asks to classify your visitor as an immigrant or nonimmigrant. If you are seeking employment in the United States, then this document is necessary to confirm that your employee status has been verified.
The second most common type of I-129 visa is the B1/B2 tourist visa. These visas are only good for 90 days and can be extended once within 30 days of arrival. Most people who obtain a B1/B2 visa enter the country for tourism purposes (check out all the beaches!).
The third kind of I-129 visa is the F2A job seeker visa. Like the B1/B2 visa, these documents verify your job position but it also verifies that there are open positions at your destination.
Recent reports of long processing times for I-129 visa applications are alarming to all immigrants. Companies that offer assistance with these forms receive a high volume of calls due to lack of clear information about this process.
Many employers help their employees apply for an I-131 work visa by prepping them as agents or representatives of the company, helping them fill out the form and answering any related question you may ask. Because of this, there is no standard way to be hired as an agent or representative of a company.
Some companies require you to be sponsored by your employer while others do not. Some only accept graduates while others will accept anyone seeking employment in the US. It is up to each individual business to determine what requirements they have for being an agent or representative.
Sources say that some agencies take several weeks to even a few months to get paid properly. Many workers are left waiting and struggling to pay bills during this time because there is no clear information about how income is distributed once payments are made.
This article will go into detail about who can be helped if you need additional information or someone to aid you in applying for this visa.
