Basics of a fiancé(e) K visa to immigrate to the United States

by
Alex T. Roshuk, Attorney
(http://www.roshuklaw.com)

If your fiancé or fiancée is from an economically depressed country, or outside the

Visa Waiver program states and has never previously been to the United States,
most likely there is only one U.S. visa that she or he can obtain easily. That is a
fiancé(e) or K-1 visa; if you intended spouse has a child or children under the age
of 21 they can also be admitted under the K-2 category.

The K visa category was intended for individuals who had developed a relationship
overseas and now wanted to plan to get married in the United States. It has come to
be used by many Americans seeking a spouse overseas who use the visa process as
a means to induce the immigrant into a marriage that includes the benefit of
permanent residence status in the United States. This is legal as long as the marriage
is not entered into solely to confer an immigration benefit. In other words their is
nothing wrong with entering into a marriage with the hope that you will live with
your future spouse as husband and wife in the United States. Our office encourages
individual petitioners to develop a strong relationship with their intended spouse
before bringing them to the United States as recent changes in immigration law and
procedures have lengthened the wait for the fiancé(e) visa.

Alternatively you can marry your intended spouse in their native country, or country
of residence, but in most cases you will either have to reside in that country before
being eligible to marry (such as in most of the newly independent states) or the U.S.
consular officials in a particular country may not allow you to make a consular
application for your spouse and you will have to file an I-130 petition in the United
States after the marriage is solemnized in your spouse’s home country. A recent
change in the immigration law has created the K-3 and K-4 visa categories similar
to the K-1 and K-2 that allow for a multiple entry visa that allows for work
authorization until the green card is approved by USCIS.

After obtaining the K visa for your spouse you will have to file her application to
"adjust status" in the US after marriage. It generally takes longer (at least two years
in some cases) for the adjustment of status application to be approved to obtain the
green card. During that time your spouse may not be able to travel without an
advance parole document (if they were not out of status in the USA and subject to
the three or ten year “barred” periods). They will also be able to request a work
permit while the application is pending.

Requirements for the petitioner

1. You must be a US citizen. Permanent residents of the U.S. are not allowed to
obtain fiancé(e) visas under the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
2. Both you and your fiancé(e) must be free to marry. If either of you have been
previously married, you will have to be either divorced, widowed, or had your
marriage annulled. If the divorce of your intended spouse is not finalized, you must
wait until they receive a final decree before applying.

3. You must have met your intended spouse in person within the previous two years
unless you have some special reason that exempts you from such a condition. In
most cases this means that you must travel to your fiancé or fiancé(e)’s home
country or arrange to meet in a third country. Our service highly recommends that
you spend the time to get to know your intended spouse by visiting them on
multiple occasions; visit their home village, town or city, meet their family and
friends and learn as much about them before bringing them to the United States.
Remember they cannot adjust their status from a K visa to any other visa besides
marriage to the sponsoring American citizen so coming to the USA will be a life
change for them.

4. You must meet the minimum income requirement for the petitioner to insure that
your spouse to be will not become a public charge (a link to the poverty guidelines
can be found on my website: http://www.roshuklaw.com/fiancee-visa/).

Please contact me for more information: +1(718)788-6696.