I am a US citizen living in NYC i got married earlier in Jan 2010, I applied for a marriage visa for my spouse i130 in march and they recieved it on March 18, and my case is still pending in USCIS, they havent approved it yet?? would you please tell me how long they take to approve the case and also after they approve then how long the whole process takes???since i am a US citizen they should do it faster, my wife is coming from PAKISTAN. I has been 4 months and i havent heard anything from USCIS, the case is pending
So far your petition is within normal time ranges.
I am a matchmaker and founded http://www.heartofasiaonline.com When marriage results, my couples often ask advice on how to accomplish immigration, and reunite in the USA
The way it works is that two departments of the US Government are involved in the processing of this marriage visa. First USCIS (homeland security) reviews your I-130 marriage visa petition for completeness, and runs a background check on you with the FBI. When you sent in your petition in March, USCIS gave you a receipt, which included a link to their website, where you can go and monitor the status of your case.
When you log in the first thing you read is that they promise to try to adjudicate all cases within 5 months. Further they advise, if your case goes longer than 5 months, send them a message.
Your case so far has been in their hands for only 4 months. So you should definitely be patient for at least another month before becoming concerned.
Note: Recently the times square bomber went through the same process, and came from the same part of the world as your wife. USCIS/HomeLand Security/FBI is catching a lot of heat for that one (probably undeserved ) because of this you should expect extra scrutiny and delay.
Once USCIS approves, and this probably in the next month or so, then they pass the case on to the US embassy in Islamabad. You will have to check with them directly for an estimate of how long
it will take. Most consulates handle their part within 2 to 3 months.
