K1 Fiancé (e) Visa

K1 Fiance(e) visa is a nonimmigrant visa, issued to the fiancé(e) of a United States citizen to enter the United States to marry him/her. As per K1 visa, a foreigner can enter United States to marry his or her US citizen petitioner within 90 days of entry. Failing to do so would require the fiancé to leave the country. Once married the status of the foreign citizen will be adjusted to become a lawful permanent citizen of USA.

Requirements for K1 Visa: In order to apply for a K1 Fiance(e) visa, both fiancées must be legally eligible to be married in the state of residence. Both the partners need to be of legal age to get married and not already married to each other or any body else. It is important to note that anybody who has an untreated communicable disease, addicted to illegal drugs, criminal history or persons who have previously been deported from the US, or engaged in any act of terrorism are ineligible for any immigrant visa. Both the fiancées should be capable of providing certain documents, such as birth certificates, identity cards, and divorce decrees or annulment records to prove they are eligible to marry.

In order to obtain a K1 Fiance(e) Visa, you need to follow the following steps.

• First, the US citizen has to file a petition for K1 Fiance(e) Visa for his/her fiancé to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once the petition is approved, the fiancé can complete the process to obtain the K1 visa.

• Once the petition for K1 Fiance(e) Visa is approved, additional documents are needed to be submitted to the US embassy. Medical test and visa interview is conducted and the applicant has to attend both.

The Filing Process:

• The first step of filing the fiancé visa petition is to submit a petition to the USCIS.

• The petitioner submits form I-129F, Form G-325A Biographic Information, relevant fees and any other related document if needed to the USCIS Service Center.

• Once the petition is approved by the USCIS, the  U.S. petitioner receives Form I-797 from USCIS as the first and second Notice of Action.

• The USCIS then forwards the petition to the National Visa Center.

• The file will then be processed by the National Visa Center. After running preliminary background check on the beneficiary, the approved petition will be forwarded to the embassy of the beneficiary as per the form I-129F.

Once the local embassy receives the file and process it, they will send a package to the applicant/beneficiary with a checklist of documents that needs to be collected and submitted immediately to the embassy and few documents would be required during the visa interview. Once the checklist is completed and immediate documents are submitted by the beneficiary to the embassy, the consulate will send a letter confirming the date and time of visa interview. Meantime a medical test will be conducted and the report will be submitted to the consulate. On the day of the visa interview the interviewing officer will review all documents and ask all relevant questions to take a decision. Once approved the K1 fiance(e) visa will be issued within a week depending upon the embassy.

The beneficiary can now travel to USA within six months of the K1 visa being issued. Shortly after arriving in US, the fiancée needs to apply for Social Security number. The couple must get married within 90 days of activating the K1 visa. Once married, the foreign citizen can apply for an Adjustment of Status (AOS) to become a permanent resident of USA. It is very crucial to file for the AOS before the K1 expiry date, otherwise you will be asked to leave the state.