Chapter 8 Getting a Visa to Come Marry Your U.s. Citizen Fiancé (k-1)

• Library: U.S. Immigration Made Easy (Nolo) (2023 Ed.)

CHAPTER 8 Getting a Visa to Come Marry Your U.S. Citizen Fiancé (K-1)

A. Do You Qualify for a K-1 Visa?

B. Quick View of How to Apply for a K-1 Visa

C. Step One: Your U.S. Citizen Fiancé Submits a Visa Petition

1. Mailing the I-129F Fiancé Petition
2. Awaiting Approval of the I-129F Petition

D. Step Two: You Apply at a U.S. Consulate

1. Submit Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form Online
2. Pay Your Fees and Schedule Your Interview
3. Preparing for Your Interview
4. Attending Your Interview

E. Step Three: You Enter the U.S. on Your Fiancé Visa

If you intend to marry a U.S. citizen, your fiancé may bring you to the U.S. for the wedding, with a K-1 visa. (See I.N.A. § 214, 8 U.S.C. § 1184, 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(k).) Although it is a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa—lasting only 90 days—we've included it with the chapters on green cards because once you've obtained a K-1 visa, you're close to being able to apply for a green card.

If you are already in the U.S., or if your fiancé lives outside of the U.S. with you, getting a K-1 visa is unnecessary. Instead, you should get married and then apply for a green card as outlined in Chapter 7.

CAUTION

This chapter doesn't cover K-3, so-called "fiancé visas" for people who are already married. If you're not yet married, but might prefer to hold your wedding in your home country, the K-3 visa is an option; though rarely as useful as it was intended to be, as described in Chapter 7.

This chapter covers who is eligible for a K-1 visa and how to apply. Fiancés are fortunate in that there are no annual limits on K-1 visas, and thus no long waiting periods. The first step, fiancé visa petition approval, normally takes five to seven months, though the pandemic pushed that to ten or more months in some cases. After the petition has been approved, the time it takes for the U.S. consulate to issue a visa depends partly on you, since you have to schedule your interview. If all goes as normal, you should have your visa sometime within the four-month validity period of your petition.

Key Features of Fiancé Visas

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a fiancé visa to enter the United States:

• A fiancé visa might be your only option if your U.S. citizen fiancé is unable to travel to your home country to marry you.
• K-1 status lasts for 90 days, which should, if you act reasonably quickly, give you enough time to get married and prepare your green card application. However, K-1 status cannot be renewed or extended.
• Immediately upon arriving in the United States, you may apply for permission to work. It's probably not worth doing that, however, because by the time USCIS makes a decision on your work permit application, your K-1 status will have expired, and your application will be rejected. It's usually wiser to wait until you apply for a green card to apply for work authorization.
• After using a fiancé visa to go to the United States and get married, you have a choice of either returning to your home country or staying and applying for a U.S. green card.
• Your unmarried children under the age of 21 are eligible to accompany you on your fiancé visa (as K-2 visa holders) and apply for green cards after your marriage.

Note: Although the accurate way to refer to both male and female fiancés is "fiancé(e)," we are using the term "fiancé" for simplicity's sake.

U.S. Citizen Petitioners Must Disclose Criminal Records

In 2005, Congress became concerned that immigrating fiancés were particularly susceptible to domestic violence and abuse—particularly those whose engagements were arranged through marriage brokers. (These immigrants are sometimes called "mailorder brides.") In response, Congress passed the International Marriage Brokers Regulation Act (IMBRA).
As a result of IMBRA, the fiancé visa petition (Form I-129F) now asks whether you and your fiancé or spouse met through an international marriage broker. If you did, the immigrant will be asked, at the visa interview, whether the broker complied with the legal requirement to collect information on the U.S. fiancé or spouse's criminal record and pass it to the immigrant. USCIS must also run a criminal background check on the petitioner, and forward the information, along with the approved petition, to the U.S. Department of State, which will then send these materials to the intending immigrant.
In addition, Form I-129F now asks all U.S. citizen petitioners whether they have a history of violent crime and crime relating to alcohol or controlled-substance abuse.

SEE AN EXPERT

Do you need a lawyer? Many people are able to handle the application process for a fiancé visa on their own. However, if you have any trouble dealing with paperwork or understanding the instructions, or have any complications in your case (such as a criminal record, past visa overstays in the U.S., or an immigrating child who will turn 18 soon and therefore no longer qualify as your spouse's stepchild), a lawyer is well worth the price. See Chapter 6 for tips on finding a good one.

A. Do You Qualify for a K-1 Visa?

The main eligibility criteria for getting a K-1 visa are:

• The immigrant's intended spouse is a U.S. citizen (not a permanent resident or green card holder).
• Both members of the couple are legally able to marry (single and of legal age).
• The immigrant has a genuine intention to marry the U.S. citizen petitioner after arriving in the U.S.
• The two members of the couple have met and seen each other in person within the past two years.

This visa is not for use by couples who are simply considering marriage. In most cases, USCIS will accept a signed statement from each spouse simply stating they intend to marry the other within 90 days of the foreign spouse's arrival in the U.S. on the K-1 visa. If USCIS gets suspicious for some reason, you'll need to show proof that you truly plan to get married, such as letters to each other discussing your plans and wedding announcements to friends. One of the most convincing ways to prove this is by showing that you've actually set a date for the wedding, and made arrangements like hiring a caterer. (But leave room for flexibility—you can't necessarily count on getting a visa in time for your planned date.)

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