Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), is the first step in obtaining a K-1 visa for your fiancé(e) and their children (K-2), or a K-3 visa for your spouse and their children (K-4).
The current processing time for Form I-129F ranges from 9 to 11 months. Wait times are expected to improve in early 2026, so recently filed applications may be processed faster.
To help applicants stay informed, Track My Visa provides free case tracking and backlog insights for I-129F petitions. By joining our platform, you can follow your case progress, explore real processing patterns, and better understand where your petition stands - all at no cost. Basic tracking and insights are free, forever, as part of our commitment to supporting I-129F applicants.
All I-129F (K-1/K-2) applications are processed at the California Service Center (receipt numbers starting with "WAC") no matter where you mailed your form. You can read more about service centers in our Blog post.
Application flow
All cases start in the Case Received status. A small number of applications are Rejected within a few weeks due to improper filing. The majority of the remaning cases are directly Approved, whereas a small portion are directly Denied. The rest of the applications receive a Request for Evidence. Once USCIS receives the evidence from the applicant, their status changes to Request for Evidence Received. After that, most cases are Approved, while a smaller portion are Denied.
After being Approved, cases must be sent from USCIS to the Department of State's National Visa Center (DOS).
To learn more about each status, visit our FAQ page.
What does the current case backlog look like?
This graph shows the current status of I-129F applications being tracked on Track My Visa.
The backlog helps us understand the big picture. For example, we can see that USCIS generally processes cases in the order they were received.
Newer cases are shown on the right side of the graph. They mostly have the Case Received status. On the other side of the graph, the old cases have mostly all been processed - either sent to the Department of State or Denied.
Near the middle of the graph, you see that USCIS is actively working on cases - turning months from light blues into greens and yellows. Once USCIS starts working on a month, many cases are quickly Approved, while others take longer due to a variety of reasons, such as a Request for Evidence (see our Blog post about RFEs).
The USCIS processing rate for I-129F applications fell significantly at the end of 2024. As a result, wait times jumped from 6 months to almost 10 months. In late 2025, USCIS increased their processing rate and they are now processing more cases than they receive. In 2026, the backlog is decreasing and wait times are dropping.
Like graphs like these? We offer many more free and paid insights, as well as free case tracking!
