Transcript of the above video: 

It would seem layoffs at USCIS may have an impact on the K-1 Visa process. For those who are also interested in US Immigration - especially here on YouTube - we do some on this but it's very narrow at this point. My whole scope of practice with regard to US Immigration Law is purely Thailand, occasionally Cambodia, Laos, but mostly just Thailand at this point; it's its own little niche, I'm happy with it. That said, there are other folks out there especially on YouTube, Jim Hacking is a great example of a guy who's keeping up with this constantly, much more aware of domestic factors in the United States than I am just by dint of his geographical location. But even beyond that, he's a very learned guy. I have followed him over the years and found a lot of insight on his channel, so tip of the hat to you sir. That said, let's get into this. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from immigrationimpact.com, quoting directly: "While Federal Firings Focus on Immigration Processing, Funding for Immigration Enforcement Expands - I should say that's the title. Quoting directly: "In recent weeks, significant personnel reductions throughout the federal government made in the name of eliminating "waste" have caused concerns about the government's ability to continue providing timely services. Agencies that provide Immigration related services have not been spared from these cuts, including those within the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and the Department of Justice. These layoffs, part of the Trump Administration's broader federal workforce reduction initiative spearheaded by Elon Musk, are poised to negatively impact processing within the legal immigration system. However, the enforcement arm of DHS such as U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, have been reportedly spared from these cuts. As a result, while agencies that handle Immigration benefits face staffing shortages and mounting backlogs, Immigration Enforcement is said to receive unprecedented funding and support from other federal law enforcement agencies, exacerbating the challenges for non-citizens seeking to travel to the US." 

So the point of that excerpt is they are spending a lot of money and resources on enforcement and they are not really overly interested overly interested in processing for benefits. What does this mean? Well the K-1 I expect as a practical matter probably won't have a ton of impact on it in terms of processing time to get them into the United States, but as we have discussed in other videos, once you are in the US, you have to go through the adjustment of status process to Green Card status in order to maintain lawful status in the USA. I do expect moving forward that is probably going to be a more time-consuming process, if for no other reason than the fact that they are prioritizing enforcement over issuance of benefits. So, I think that alone is probably going to cause the K-1 Visa process to at least well, I shouldn't say the K-1 Visa process, excuse me. That process I'm kind of anticipating looking roughly similar moving forward, so as a practical matter, getting that person into the United States may not change a lot. Getting their Green Card once in the US, that could be a different matter.