K1 Fiancee Visa

The K-1 Fiancé(e) visa is a nonimmigrant visa which allows the fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen to enter into the U.S. so that they can get married in the U.S. The foreign national Fiancé(e) can then proceed directly to applying for lawful permanent resident status or the “green card” through the Adjustment of Status process. The U.S. citizen does not have to follow the regular process of filing a Form I-130.

The K-1 Fiancé(e) process involves several steps:

1. The U.S. citizen Fiancé(e) must file the Form I-129F with USCIS
2. Once the Form I-129F is approved, the foreign national Fiancé(e) must obtain the K-1 visa at a U.S. Consulate or embassy
3. Once the foreign national obtains the K-1 visa, they must enter the U.S. before the visa expires

Once the foreign national Fiancé(e) enters the U.S. with the K-1 visa, the couple must get married within 90 days. As long as the marriage occurs within 90 days, the foreign national can move on to filing for Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) to obtain the green card.

The eligibility requirements for the K-1 are:

1. The foreign national must be engaged to a U.S. citizen;
2. The US citizen and foreign national must both be eligible to marry in the U.S. (this also means that any previous marriages have been terminated by death, divorce or annulment);
3. The foreign national and U.S. citizen intend to marry within 90 days of the foreign national entering the U.S. with the K-1 visa; and
4. The foreign national and U.S. citizen have met each other at least once, in person, within the past 2 years.

OR

Check My Eligibility

Yes, there is a process to waive the in-person requirement. You can request that the requirement be waived if:

1. Meeting in person would be a violation of strict and/or established customs in yours or your fiancé(e)’s culture, religion, social practices, etc.
2. Meeting in person would result in “extreme hardship” for the U.S. citizen. Extreme hardship generally refers to circumstances that would make it nearly impossible, unsafe or somehow unreasonably difficult for the U.S. citizen to travel to meet the fiancé(e). Some examples of extreme hardships:

   a. Medical issue- The U.S. citizen has a medical issue that makes travel nearly impossible or dangerous (this could be a physical or mental health issue)

   b. Extreme financial hardship- this usually entails an unexpected or extreme circumstance that would make it financially prohibitive to travel- examples would include a sudden loss of employment or substantial increase in expenses, civil and/or political unrest in the foreign national’s country that would make travel there expensive, etc. Simply not being able to afford to travel may not be sufficient.

   c. Safety concerns- There are safety concerns in the foreign national fiancé(e)’s home country which would make travel there dangerous or impossible. You may also want to show that travel to a third country is also not possible.

Yes, there are some limitations to the K-1 visa category. These include:

1. The K-1 visa holder cannot change to any other status once they are in the U.S. They can only file for Adjustment of Status to lawful permanent resident based on the marriage to the U.S. citizen who filed the Form I-129F.
2. The K-1 is a single-entry visa. This means if the foreign national fiancé(e) leaves the country after entering on the K-1, they cannot re-enter without obtaining a different visa or apply for the K-1 visa again.
3. If the K-1 visa holder and US citizen marry after 90 days, then the U.S. citizen must file the Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative.
4. The K-1 process can only be utilized for the fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen. There is no separate category for the fiancé(e) of a lawful permanent resident or green card holder.

1. A K-1 visa is usually issued with a validity of 6 months. You must enter the U.S. before the expiry date shown on your K-1 visa
2. After your arrival in the U.S., you have 90 days to get married or you must return to your home country. There is no legal way to extend the 90-day limit
3. Once the marriage has taken place in the U.S., you need to apply to adjust to permanent resident status.

The K-1 fiancé(e) visa processing times vary depending on different factors including which service center the petition has been assigned to and general processing time trends. You can check current processing times here. Once the I-129F is approved, the K-1 visa is usually processed in 3-6 months, on average.

To apply for a K-1, a petition, the Form I-129F, Petition for Alien fiancé(e), must first be submitted by the U.S. citizen fiancé(e) to the USCIS. The following documents need to be included with the petition:

1. Proof of the US citizen’s citizenship (U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, Naturalization Certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, Consular report of Birth Abroad or other comparable evidence)
2. Proof that you both are legally able to marry (age for getting married, proof of termination of all previous marriages- divorce/annulment decree, death certificate, etc)
3. Evidence that the U.S. citizen and foreign national have met, in person, within two years of filing the petition (or request for a waiver of the in-person requirement)
4. Statements from the U.S. citizen and foreign national stating their intention to marry each other within 90 days of entry to the U.S.

Note: When the USCIS approves the petition, it sends the petition to the U.S. Consulate abroad, which will issue the K-1 visa. The consulate determines whether the foreign fiancé(e) would be eligible to receive an immigrant visa, before approving the K-1 visa

You must keep in mind that:

1. As a U.S. citizen, you are financially responsible for your K-1 fiancé(e)
2. If for any reason you do not marry your K-1 fiancé(e) and they depart the U.S. within the 90 days, they are not precluded from returning on another K-1 visa and you are not precluded bringing the same fiancé(e) or another fiancé(e) person to the U.S. on a K-1 visa
3. A U.S. citizen can only file 1 K-1 petition within a 2-year period. Additionally, there is a lifetime limit of 2 petitions that a U.S. citizen can file. The lifetime limit can be waived if you can show a compelling reason.

No. The U.S. recognizes marriages from all over the world. The legal requirement is that the marriage must be legal in the place where it happened. It must also conform to the laws of the state in which the U.S. citizen and you intend to reside.

If you wish to marry in the U.S. and take up indefinite residence after marriage, the K-1 fiancé(e) visa is a good option. If you wish to marry outside the U.S. and then travel to the U.S. to become a lawful permanent resident, you will need to follow the immigrant visa process for the spouse of a US citizen.

The time taken for the K1 fiancé(e) visa process varies with each individual case. However, in general, a fiancé(e) visa application should be slightly quicker than an application for an immigrant visa

This is because the immigrant visa process and the K-1 visa process differ in one key aspect- the immigrant vias process involves an integral step where the National Visa Center (NVC) processes the documents for the interview and then sets the interview date. On the other hand, once the Form I-129F is approved, the NVC simply forwards the petition to the U.S. Consulate and the consulate will work directly with the K-1 applicant to process documents and schedule the appointment. Therefore the K-1 visa process is generally quicker.

A conditional resident is someone who obtains a green card that is valid for 2 years, instead of 10 years, which is the standard validity of a green card.

For marriage-based applicants, including those who obtain their green card based on marriage to a U.S. citizen, USCIS will issue a 2-year conditional green card if the couple was married for less than 2 years on the date the green card was approved.

Most K-1 visa holders who marry within the required 90-day period and then immediately file for Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) will receive a conditional green card valid for 2 years.

Those with a conditional green card must file an application for Removal of Conditions to get a permanent, 10-year Green Card. This process was created so that USCIS could do a second check on the marriage after two years to combat marriage fraud, since marriage is seen as a relatively easy route to get permanent residency in the U.S.

The Removal of Conditions (Form I-751) must be filed in the 90-day period preceding the expiration of your 2-year green card. The application must be filed with additional evidence that your marriage was real or bona fide and should be filed “jointly” with the US citizen spouse, unless you qualify for a waiver of the joint filing requirement (you have divorced or your spouse has died but can still show that your marriage was bona fide, you can show that you have been abused or subjected to extreme cruelty by your spouse, or termination of your status would subject you to extreme hardship).

No, if the marriage will not take place within 90 days your fiancé(e)’s arrival in the U.S., the K-1 visa is not the appropriate option for you.

If you simply wish to get married in the U.S. and return back to your country of residence, you may be able to come to the U.S. on Visa Waiver (ESTA) or as a B-2 Visitor. Those coming to the U.S. on a B-2 Visitor Visa or on Visa Waiver should be ready to show that their trip to the U.S. conforms to all the rules related to their visa category- essentially that they are coming to the U.S. for a temporary visit and that they will return to their country of residence after the temporary visit. Marrying a US citizen during that visit is allowed.

Additionally, those who are coming to the U.S. for the purpose of getting married should be ready to provide the reason for their trip to the Customs & Border Protection officer at the port of entry as well as evidence showing that they intend to leave the U.S. at the conclusion of the trip.

Yes, you can file the Form I-129F while your fiancé(e) is in the U.S. and your fiancé(e) can also continue to visit you in the U.S. while the application is pending.
Those who are coming to the U.S. for the purpose of visiting their U.S. citizen fiancé(e) should be ready to provide the true reason for their trip to the Customs & Border Protection officer at the port of entry as well as evidence showing that they intend to leave the U.S. at the conclusion of the trip.

If you are a U.S. citizen and you are able to marry your fiancé(e) abroad, you can follow the process for sponsoring your spouse.

If this is not possible, your fiancé(e) should try to qualify for a nonimmigrant visa or can see if they qualify for one of the several other paths to the green card including one of the employment based preference categories, or through the Diversity Visa Program commonly known as the Green Card Lottery.

A K-1 visa holder is eligible to apply for permission to work once they have entered the U.S. To obtain Employment Authorization your fiancé(e) will need to file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, with USCIS.

Note: The USCIS is currently taking 90-120 days to process EAD applications and the authorized stay for a K-1 fiancé(e) is only 90 days, therefore you may not receive the EAD in a timely manner, The EAD may only be valid for the period of authorized stay.

No, the K-1 petition cannot be filed unless both the U.S. citizen petitioner and foreign national fiancé(e) are legally free to marry. In the case of divorce or annulment, the divorce/annulment must be final and any required waiting periods must have passed.

If you are traveling to the U.S. to marry a U.S. citizen with the intention of returning to your place of permanent residence abroad, you may apply for a visitor (B-2) visa, or if eligible, travel without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program. Evidence of a residence abroad to which the B-2 visa holder or visa wavier traveler intends returning should be carried for presentation to the Customs & Border Protection officer at the port of entry.

No. The K-1 is a single-entry visa. Once you leave the U.S., you will not be permitted to re-enter without another type of visa or on Visa Waiver (if applicable). If you have already filed your Form I-485, Adjustment of Status, you must first obtain the Advance Parole before you can leave the country. Otherwise, it will be considered an abandonment of the Adjustment of Status and you may not be permitted to enter the U.S. You can file for the Advance Parole by filing the Form I-131.

Yes, you can visit the U.S. even if you have an immigrant visa or K-1 fiancé(e) visa pending. When traveling to the U.S. either with a visa or under the Visa Waiver Program, you should carry evidence of your residence abroad and return trip.

No, you cannot change status to K-1 while you are in the U.S. The K-1 visa is solely issued at U.S. consulates abroad. If you are in the U.S. and wish to marry your US citizen spouse, you may be eligible for the I-130/Adjustment of Status process.