K-1 Visa: Fiance(e) Visa
The K1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa for fiancé(e).
A fiancé (e) is a person who is engaged or contracted to be married.
If you are an American citizen and you want your foreign fiancé(e) to travel to the United States to marry you and live in the U.S., you must file a Petition for Alien Fiancé (e) in the United States.
K1 Visa - Requirements
- You must be a US citizen.
- The marriage must be legally possible according to laws of the state in the United States where the marriage will take place.
- Both you and your fiancé(e) need to be unmarried. Otherwise, any previous marriages must have ended through divorce, annulment or death.
- In general, the two people must have met in person within the past two years (some exceptions apply).
- The marriage must take place within 90 days of your fiancé(e) entering the United States. A fiancé(e) may not obtain an extension of the 90-day original admission.
- The fiancee visa petitioner must meet the minimum income requirement.
- Your fiancee must enter the U.S. within six months of receiving the fiancee visa.
After
the USCIS approves the petition, it sends the petition to National Visa Center for processing, prior to sending it to the embassy or consulate where your fiancé(e) will apply for a K-1 nonimmigrant visa for a fiancé(e).
The K-1 visa allows a fiancé(e) to enter the U.S. one time only. If your fiancé(e) leaves the United States after entering on a K-1 visa, he(she) may not re-enter on the same visa.
After marriage, your spouse must apply to become a permanent resident or to Adjust Status with the USCIS office that serves the area where you live in the United States, if she/he intends to live permanently in the U.S. Your fiancé(e) will receive conditional permanent residence status for two years. After this period you can apply to remove the conditions.
The length of time to process a K-1 application varies from case to case according to its circumstances.
You may also apply to bring your fiancé(e)'s unmarried children, who are under age 21, to the U.S.
Contact our Immigration Division when Applying for a K-1 Visa
It is not uncommon for the visa to get delayed because of mistakes done during the application process. If you are considering bringing your foreign fiancé(e) to the U.S. to marry you contact our immigration attorneys at (407) 245-1232. You can also send us an e-mail at Immigration@NeJameLaw.com or fill out our online form. We have helped thousands of couples in the past and will be very happy to help you too.
