The firm offers a comprehensive K1 visa service at all stages of the application process. This complete start-to-finish solution covers every step from the initial petition filing to the issuance of the K1 visa.
Final approval of a fiancee visa involves a multi-step process and clients should know in advance what exactly the service covers and how much it would cost. Our full representation guarantees that the K1 visa attorney will:
If you are an American citizen and want to bring your foreign fiance or fiancee to the US to get married, you have to complete the required K1 visa process. You can initiate this process by filing a K1 petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For purposes of this filing, you are considered the petitioner and your fiancee is the beneficiary. An approved K1 petition becomes the legal basis for your fiancee to apply for a K1 visa at an American consulate abroad.
You must have met your fiance in person within the past two years, but in some cases a waiver of this requirement may be available. You must get married within 90 days of your fiancé or fiancée’s entry into the US. After the marriage, your spouse can apply for a green card via the adjustment of status process.
Legal ability to marry
You and your fiancee must demonstrate that you have a bona fide intention to marry, and are legally able and actually willing to conclude a valid marriage in the United States. The question of whether you and your fiancee are legally able to get married is governed by US state law of the jurisdiction in which the marriage is to be concluded. Whether you have legal capacity to enter into a valid marriage can be a complex inquiry. For example, your fiancee may lack legal capacity due to a previous marriage which has not been legally terminated. In order to be legally terminated, any previous marriage must have ended through divorce, annulment, or death. The validity of a divorce decree is governed by the law of the country of residence at the time of the divorce.
You and your fiancee must be legally free to marry at the time the K1 visa petition is filed. If you file the petition when you or your fiance is still married to someone else, the K1 visa will be denied, even if a divorce is obtained after the visa petition filing.
Meeting requirement
You and your fiancee must submit sufficient evidence that you have met in person within the two years immediately prior to the filing of the K-1 visa petition. This requirement will not be satisfied if you meet after the visa petition is filed. The evidence that the meeting took place must be verifiable and well documented. In some instances, a waiver of the two-year meeting requirement may be available due to extreme hardship or long-established custom. The USCIS is strict about enforcing the requirement and an exception is difficult to obtain.
While you are required to document your courtship and relationship, no formal engagement ceremony is required to qualify for a K1 visa.
Filing limitations on K1 petitions
The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) imposes both time and numerical limitations on the number of K1 petitions an American citizen may file. You cannot file more than two K1 visa petitions during your lifetime. Also, if you have previously filed a K1 visa petition and it was approved, another petition cannot be filed within two years of the filing of the previous petition.
A waiver of the application of those limitations may be available. However, except in extraordinary circumstances, an exemption cannot be granted if you have a record of violent criminal offenses. Extraordinary circumstances may exist when you were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty and were not the primary perpetrator of violence in the relationship.
In addition to imposing time and numerical limitations, IMBRA also requires the USCIS to maintain a database to track repeated K visa petitions. Upon approval of a second petition for a K-1 or K-3 visa filed by the same petitioner, USCIS will notify the visa petitioner that relevant information has been entered into a multiple visa petition tracking database. USCIS will enter all subsequent K1 or K3 petitions filed by that petitioner into the database. When a subsequent petition for a K-1 or K-3 visa is filed less than ten years after the filing the first petition, USCIS will notify both the petitioner and the beneficiary of the number of previously approved petitions listed in the database.
Burden of Proof for K1 visa
You have the burden of proof to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that your fiancee is entitled to receive a K1 visa.
Once your application package is received, it will be checked for completeness, including submission of the required initial evidence. Then USCIS will conduct background checks on you and your fiancee. If the file is complete and your case is approvable based on the initial evidence, and there is no evidence justifying a referral to Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS), the petition should be approved.
When required evidence or documents are missing from your file, or when information already submitted is not sufficient or persuasive, USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence (RFE). If a RFE is issued in your case, you will be provided sufficient time to respond to the request.
When the visa petition cannot be approved due to failure to establish eligibility, or when the adjudicator intends to rely for denial on evidence not submitted by you, USCIS may issue a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). The NOID gives you a reasonable chance to resolve the adjudicator’s concerns about lack of evidence or about apparent ineligibility. You are given a second chance to overcome any deficiencies in the application.
When the visa petition is clearly not approvable and the filing is categorically ineligible for approval, the USCIS will issue a denial. In this case USCIS is not required to issue a RFE or NOID prior to issuing a denial letter. The adjudication officer must clearly explain the specific reasons for denial.
K1 visa petition approval and validity
The approval of a K1 visa petition is valid for a period of four months. An expired petition may be revalidated for a period of four months if you are free to marry and intend to marry each other within 90 days of your fiancee’s entry into the United States. However, the longer the period of time since the filing of the petition, the more the consular officer will be concerned about your intention to get married.
The approval of a K1 visa petition is automatically terminated when the American citizen dies or files a written withdrawal of the petition before the prospective spouse arrives in the US.
Appeal of denial of a K1 visa petition
If USCIS denies your K1 visa petition, you have the right to appeal the unfavorable decision. The denial of your I-129F petition can be appealed to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). Only the US citizen who filed the petition can file an appeal. The foreign fiancee is just a beneficiary of the K1 petition and does not have standing to pursue an appeal.
K1 visa processing at the National Visa Center
The National Visa Center (NVC) is part of the Department of State and is responsible for initial processing of K1 visa applications. USCIS will forward your approved K1 visa petition to the NVC for further action. The NVC will conduct background checks on your fiance and will forward the case to the appropriate consulate abroad.
K1 visa consular processing and interview
The US consulate will notify your fiancee when it receives the file from the NVC. The consulate will mail an instructions packet directly to your fiance. When your fiance or fiancee has assembled all supporting documentation required for visa issuance, he or she must notify the embassy. Your fiancee must also submit a K1 visa application and pay the filing fee. The consulate will then mail another packet which contains the scheduled visa interview date and instructions for completing the required medical exam.
Your fiancee must appear for a personal interview at the consulate. The consular officer will review the K1 visa application and supporting documents, and will ask questions about the relationship. During the interview your fiancee bears the burden of proof to establish that he or she is entitled to receive a K1 visa. If your fiance does not satisfy this burden of proof, the application will be denied. The government does not have an obligation to investigate all aspects of the application. You and your fiancee have to prove your case. The consular officer does not have to prove that your fiance is ineligible for a visa; rather, your fiance or fiancee has to prove that he or she is eligible for the visa.
Grounds of inadmissibility and waivers
The most common inadmissibility grounds are prior immigration violations, criminal record, certain medical conditions, and misrepresentation in connection with a visa application.
In some situations the law provides an opportunity for people who have been found inadmissible to apply for a waiver. It is necessary to establish that denial of admission of the foreign fiancee would impose extreme hardship on the US citizen fiance or other qualifying family member. A waiver application can only be filed after the K1 visa interview. Even though your fiancee may know in advance about the need to seek a waiver, there must be a formal finding of inadmissibility by a consular officer.
The approved I-129F petition is sufficient evidence that your fiancee qualifies for a K1 visa classification. However, consular officers have independent authority to determine the validity of the relationship.
If the interviewing officer has evidence that the relationship is not genuine, he or she will deny the visa. In addition, the consular officer has authority to return the petition to USCIS for review and possible revocation. The returned petition will be accompanied by a written report citing specific factual evidence that warrants revocation. The fiancee visa applicant will receive an explanation of the legal and factual basis for the visa denial and petition return.
You should try to avoid this outcome. The entire process is very slow and can take from several months to over a year. Your fiance or fiancee should be ready for the interview and prepared to present evidence and answer questions about every aspect of your relationship.
Admission in K1 visa status and conditions of stay
The K1 visa allows your fiancee to make a one-time application for admission to the US at a port of entry for a period of six months. Possession of a K1 visa does not guarantee admission. The inspection immigration officer at the port of entry has authority to determine whether your fiance qualifies for admission. Once admitted to the US, your fiancee is in valid K1 visa status for 90 days only. If the marriage does not occur within this 90 day period, the K1 visa holder must leave the country. If the foreign national fails to depart, he or she is subject to removal or deportation.
No extension of stay is allowed for K1 visa holders. In addition, your fiancee cannot change status to another non-immigrant visa category such as a student visa, tourist visa, or work visa. The K1 visa holder cannot marry a US citizen different from the one who filed the K1 visa petition and cannot adjust status on a different basis.
Entry on K1 visa allows your fiancee to work after an employment authorization document (EAD) is obtained from USCIS. Your fiance is also eligible to apply for a social security number. It is also possible to enroll in school while in valid K1 visa status.
Obtaining a green card
Your fiancee does not automatically obtain a green card after you get married. The fact that a marriage takes place within the requisite 90 day period does not by itself extend the K1 visa holder’s legal status in the US. If no further action is taken, your spouse will fall out of status and will begin to accrue unlawful presence upon expiration of the 90 day K1 visa period.
Your spouse needs to file an application for adjustment of status prior to the expiration of the K1 visa status. You are required to sponsor your husband or wife for permanent residence by executing a legally binding affidavit of support. The affidavit of support required for adjustment of status is different from, and is in addition to, the one needed for the consular interview during the K1 visa application. Different requirements and guidelines apply to the two types of affidavit of support.
While the adjustment of status application is pending, your spouse can obtain a work permit. In addition, your spouse can apply for advance parole if he or she needs to travel abroad.
Removal of conditions on permanent residence
When your spouse finally obtains a green card, your marriage will most likely be less than two years old. In that case, your husband or wife will receive a conditional green card, which expires in two years. In order to remove the conditions on your spouse’s permanent residence, both of you need to file a joint petition within the 90 day period before the second anniversary of the date your spouse became a green card holder. You need to establish that your marriage is genuine and that you did not marry simply to obtain a green card.
Naturalization and US citizenship
When three years have passed since your spouse became a green card holder, he or she may apply for naturalization.
Your fiancee’s children under the age of 21 qualify to enter the US on a K2 visa. A separate K visa petition is not required if the children accompany or follow to join their parent within one year from the date of issuance of the parent’s K1 visa. The K1 fiance and the children do not have to enter the US at the same time. The K2 visa allows the children to remain in the US for 90 days while waiting for the marriage of their K1 parent. The children can obtain work authorization and enroll in school.
K1 visa and online dating services
If you met your fiancee through the services of an international marriage broker, you must indicate that fact on the K1 visa petition and provide the contact information of the dating service. “International marriage broker” means a US- based or foreign entity that provides dating services between US citizens and foreign nationals. Exempt from this definition are (1) nonprofit cultural or religious organizations and (2) entities whose principal business is not to provide matchmaking services between US citizens and foreign nationals.
IMBRA requires international marriage brokers to conduct a criminal and marital background check for the US citizen client and provide the information to the foreign national client before contact can be established.
During the past few years several state laws have been passed that impose background reporting requirements similar to those contained in the federal IMBRA statute. Online dating services which do not fall within the ambit of IMBRA may nevertheless be subject to the various state law requirements.
Disclosure of convictions
MBRA requires that a K1 visa petitioner submit with Form I-129F information on any criminal convictions of the petitioner for certain crimes of violence.
If you indicate that you have been convicted for one of the specified crimes, or if USCIS independently ascertains through background checks that you have been convicted, you will be required to submit certified copies of all court and police records showing the charges and dispositions for every conviction. This is required even if your records were sealed or otherwise cleared. This information becomes a part of the K1 visa petition file. If the petition is approved, your criminal background information must be provided to the Department of State. The Department of State will disclose this information to your fiance or fiancee during the consular interview. The name and contact information of any victim will remain confidential, but your relationship to the victim (i.e., spouse, child, etc.) will be disclosed.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (Adam Walsh Act) bars US citizens convicted of specified offenses against a minor from filing K1 visa petitions.
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