What is a K-1 Visa?

If you are a U.S Citizen and your fiancé(e) is overseas and you want to marry in the United States. This visa lets your fiancé(e) enter the United States for 90 days so that your marriage ceremony can take place in the United States. Once you marry, your spouse can apply for permanent residence and remain in the United States while the USCIS processes the application.

While the K-1 Visa is legally classified as a nonimmigrant visa, it usually leads to important immigration benefits and is therefore often processed by the Immigrant Visa section of United States Embassies and Consulates worldwide. If the non US Citizen fiancé(e) has a child (under 21 and unmarried), a K-2 non-immigrant visa may be available to him or her. Be sure to include the names of the children on the I-129F petition.

What are the basic eligibility requirements for a fiancé(e) petition? 

You must be a U.S. citizen to file a fiancé(e) petition. In your petition, you must show that: 

• You are a U.S. citizen;

• You and your fiancé(e) intend to marry within 90 days of your fiancé(e) entering the United States;

• You are both free to marry; and

• You have met each other in person  within 2 years before you file this petition. However, there are two exceptions which require a waiver:

– If the requirement to meet your fiancé(e) in person would violate strict and long- established customs of your or your fiancé(e)’s foreign culture or social practice; or
– If you prove that the requirement to personally meet your fiancé(e) would result in extreme hardship to you.


Sources:
VisaJourney
Travel.State.Gov
USCIS

Related Posts: The First Step: Filing the Petition
                            Getting Married on a K-1 Visa

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Getting married on a K-1 Visa

After two vacations to the Philippines, Greg and I decided to start the K-1 process. It is also known as the Fiance(e) Visa, a faster visa process than the Spousal Visa and it requires the applicant to marry the U.S Citizen fiance(e) within 90 days after the applicant's U.S entry.  This way we weren't rushed into marriage first  -- main reason why we chose it. 

We waited seven months from date of filing to visa approval but average wait time is 4-6 months. We wanted to make sure we were ready for the interview and everything fell in place like a puzzle. Surely good things do happen to those who wait. :-) It was a stressful wait, somehow we saw it as a blessing in disguise. We were tested by distance, how far we could endure being apart from each other for a year.

I was quite proud with how we filed the paperwork because there were no lacking documents plus the fact that we didn't hire an immigration attorney and I recommend NOT to get an immigration attorney because you are going to save a lot of money, no arguments and some of them aren't sure of the process itself or even lazy to file your application promptly. For us, the tedious hours of gathering all paperwork were worth it.

So this is just a summary of my whole experience as a K-1 Visa Holder. Below is my K-1 Visa timeline:

03-24-2011 Filed i-129F Petition for Fiance(e)
04-06-2011 NOA1
07-11-2011 NOA2
07-15-2011 NOA2 (Hard Copy)
11-02-2011 Visa Interview
11-25-2011 POE (Chicago)
01-27-2012 Civil Wedding

Related Topic: What is a K-1 Visa?

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