Fiancé Visa Lawyer: K-1
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The United States government allows US citizens to sponsor their loved ones, who are citizens of other countries, to come to the United States to get married. This, as it turns out, is one of the common ways international couples use to get married within the United States.
The K-1 fiancé visa makes it possible for the alien to enter the United States and marry their US citizen fiancé within 90 days of entering the country.
In the event that the couple changes their minds and no longer wishes to marry, the law requires the alien to leave the United States within the period prescribed by the visa (90 days). Otherwise, they risk facing a deportation hearing.
The time frame for the fiancé to enter the US depends on several factors, including the foreign fiancé’s country of origin and the US citizen’s state of residence.
To be eligible for a fiancé visa:
- The petitioner must be a United States citizen;
- The couple must intend to marry within 90 days of the fiancé’s admission to the US on a K-1 nonimmigrant visa;
- The petitioner and the fiancé are legally free to marry (meaning that any prior marriages have been legally terminated); and
- The petitioner and the fiancé met in person at least once within the two-year period prior to filing the petition. This requirement may be waived by showing that an in-person meeting would violate an established custom of the fiancé’s culture or social practice or that an in-person meeting would place an extreme hardship on the US citizen applicant.
To qualify for the K-1 fiancé visa, you must meet ALL of the legal requirements listed below:
- Your fiancé must be a citizen of the United States of America.
Both (the US citizen and the foreign fiancé) must be free to marry, which means that any previous marriage must have been legally terminated by the death of the ex-spouse, or by divorce or annulment. - The two must have met in person at least once in the previous two years. The only exception is if doing so would be contrary to custom or tradition, or if doing so would have subjected the US citizen to extreme hardship.
- The two of you (the U.S. citizen and your foreign fiancé) must have a current goal of getting married as soon as the foreign fiancé has obtained a visa and must be willing to marry within 90 days of the foreign fiancé’s entry into the United States Joined.
- You, the foreign fiancé, must never have been convicted of a crime and must never have been unlawfully present in the United States. You also must not have spent more than 6 months as a tourist in the country. The foreign national must also not have a history of deportation, removal, and detention by the Department of Homeland Security. You can get exemptions for all of the above, so be sure to check with us beforehand.
- The fiancé who is a citizen of the United States must have filed taxes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) within the previous 3 years. He or she must also be in paid employment (or self-employed). Your income must be at least equal to the minimum income level as outlined in the United States Poverty Guidelines. These guidelines are always changing, so it is necessary that you always review them with your attorney.
- The United States citizen fiancé should not have previously filed more than one K-1 fiancé visa application. You also should not have had a K-1 visa issued within the past two years. Please note that you may be able to get a waiver of this requirement, but you should check with us carefully first.
- In the event that the United States citizen fiancé has previously been convicted of any of the following crimes, certified copies of all records (police and court). ) highlighting the final charges and sentences:
- Sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, dating violence, stalking, elder abuse, domestic violence.
- Murder, incest, torture, manslaughter, rape, manslaughter, sexual exploitation, abusive sexual contact, peonage, hostage-taking, slave trade, involuntary servitude, kidnapping, kidnapping, false imprisonment, unlawful criminal restraint, or an attempt to commit any of the crimes mentioned above.
- Crimes related to alcohol or other controlled substances, in which you have been convicted on more than 3 occasions and in which these crimes have not been the result of a single act.
K-3 Petitions
K-3 visas are for the foreign spouse of a US citizen. They were created to shorten the physical separation between a foreign citizen and their US citizen spouse. After entering the United States, the alien may apply for adjustment of status to permanent resident (Green Card holder) so that they can live permanently in the country.
US citizen petitioners filing K-3 petitions on behalf of their spouses must also disclose certain criminal convictions. However, there is no limit to the number of K-3 petitions a person can file.