Fiancee Visa

Introducing A Visa Designed For Fiancees Who Wish To Come To The United States

The best option for most individuals wishing to bring their fiancee to the US is to apply for the K-1 Fiancee Visa Petition. To apply for this visa, you will need to file numerous forms and documents with INS in order to prove that you and your fiancee qualify. You must show that:

• You have met your fiancee in person within the last two years.
• You and your fiancee are both legally free and able to marry.
• You and your fiancee have a serious intention to marry within 90 days of her arrival in America (although you are not obligated to marry).

You may obtain the physical forms yourself from INS, though the included instructions leave a lot of room for error if you’ve not applied for such a visa before. Once you complete all the forms and gather all the required documentation, you must submit these to the appropriate INS office. If your application is complete and there are no errors, it will be approved in four to eight weeks. If your application is deficient in any way, the INS will send a request for additional documents or will return your application in its entirety for resubmission. You must then wait another four to eight weeks for approval, but INS may return your application yet again if there’s another deficiency, and then you must repeat the cycle. However, the INS has no discretion to turn down an application that is complete, accurate, meets the requirements of the K-1 visa, and is not deemed fraudulent.

Once approval has been received you will need to send your fiancee the original approval notice and a copy of the affidavit of support which they will take to the US Embassy having jurisdiction over the petition. This greatly speeds up the process when they make a physical appearance at their office. She can schedule her medical and interview appointments in the Embassy.

Typically, the fiancee receives her visa after the interview appointment is finished and is free to travel immediately to the United States. The process of obtaining the medical and interview appointments can take anywhere from three to six weeks from the date she first makes physical contact at their office. This whole process to get her to the USA from filing to approval takes about three months or less.

Once your fiancee arrives in the United States, her visa is stamped with a date 90 days from the date of her entry into the U. S. she must either marry you by this date or leave the United States. Extensions are not permitted.

If you do not marry your fiancee, and she returns home you must start all over again the entire process. You can file another fiancee visa petition with the INS to bring her back. If you marry your fiancee, you must adjust her status to conditional permanent residency.

The “conditional” nature of the status means that your wife must wait two years, and you and your wife must go for an interview with the INS to demonstrate that your marriage is genuine, before your wife is eligible to apply for citizenship like other permanent resident aliens.