Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are talking about K-1 Fiancé Visas. For anybody that is going through the process right now, if you are one of my clients, I am here with you, I sympathize, I get it, I don't like this anymore than anybody else. Yeah there is a major backlog and there is even a backlog in the K-1 Visa section; there is a backlog in the Immigrant Visa section as well. I would argue that in Immigrant Visa is more caused by the machinations of the National Visa Center as opposed to certain other things. Long story short, yeah there is a backlog and the question posed by this video is "how and why?" 

In a recent posting on the USCIS website, uscis.gov, the posting is titled: Proposed Fee Rule Frequently Asked Questions, and the question:

Q: How did current backlogs accumulate in the first place?

A: As described in our recent progress report (PDF, 1.08 MB), receipts decreased dramatically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and revenue temporarily dropped by 40%. A hiring freeze and workforce attrition reduced the Agency’s capacity to complete cases, even as incoming caseloads rebounded to Pre-COVID levels. Quoting further: "The hiring freeze was lifted in March 2021,” (think about that for a minute - a year later. This all started in about March 2020, and then a year later the hiring freeze ended. Okay?. Quote: "and USCIS is working to fill current vacancies by recruiting and training new staff - we are hiring!" Quoting further: "To stay on a strong fiscal footing and continue improving our delivery of timely decisions, USCIS needs the resources that this proposed fee rule would provide." 

Yeah, they are talking about raising certain fees; I have seen it across the internet described as "Oh they are raising fees on legal immigrants to pay for illegal immigrants. Hard to argue with that when you look at like where the resources are going to be distributed and who the money is going to be taken from, most notably folks that are applying for things like Green Cards and have to pay a fee to get their Green Card. I have been there in the sense that I have gone through naturalization and the Immigration process here in Thailand and when you get to certain forks in the road and somebody says "we need this amount of money" you don't really get into a whole back and forth about the price and the cost you just pay it because you want to get your status sorted out. It is kind of, I hesitate to say taking advantage of anybody, but you are dealing with people that are in a very precarious position with regard to paying the fees. So yeah I have some concerns about that but I'll leave that for another video. 

Long story short yeah, that is how they are explaining how the backlog started. Now I would also argue the prior Administration made a lot of rule changes that resulted in a lot of quite honestly, calamity in certain circumstances and especially in the context of the K-1 but long story short, this is the reason why we are backlogged. It is just things shut down, they did a hiring freeze and they stopped that a year later and we are still dealing with the aftermath of this. So for those who are going through the process, patience is a virtue; I know that's cold comfort. For those who are looking to get started, look you are going to have to start the clock going at some point and waiting around is not going to make it move any faster in my mind so probably best to get moving on it sooner rather than later if that is your intention but understand we are still dealing with the backlog. I am very much hopeful that this will end by the end of this year.