What Is A Fiancé Visa?

A K1 visa is regarded as a fiancé visa that allows a foreign citizen in a courtship with a United States citizen to enter the United States with the main aim of getting married. The foreign-citizen, who is the fiancée, is expected to marry the U.S. citizen who sponsors the Visa. The United States citizen in this process is known as the petitioner.

The foreign-citizen must marry the United States citizen within ninety days from the day they arrive in the United States. The K1 visa is the best way to bring your fiancé to the United States.

Requirements for K1 Visa Eligibility

To be eligible for the K1 Fiancé Visa, you must meet certain requirements:

You must be a Citizen of the U.S.

Currently, the K1 Visa is only available to U.S. Citizens. An individual with a permanent resident may consider filing for a marriage visa called CR1.

Both parties must have met in-person

An essential requirement is seeing one’s fiancée in-person within the past two years of the relationship. It is also advisable to visit the country of the foreign-fiancé. It has always been difficult for a foreign citizen to get a visitor’s Visa called B2. Also, regulation communication by online video, calls, or chat is not accepted as meeting the requirements.

Both parties have no obligation stopping them from marrying each other.

The K1 visa regulation expects both parties to be either single, divorced, or widowed. A K1 visa cannot be filed if there’s a pending divorce by any party.

Ability to support your fiancé in the United States

An individual with the intending purpose of filing a K1 visa must meet the federal poverty guidelines’ requirements to show that he or she is capable of supporting your fiancé. Most United States Embassies allows a co-sponsor and/or provision of other assets to meet the requirements.

No Criminal History Is Found

You will be checked for criminal records such as drugs or alcohol-related offenses three different times, and if found, there could be a waiver on your K1 Visa. But with the help of an experienced attorney, you can overcome the issues.

Processing the K1 Fiancé visa application

The first step to access and obtain a K1 Fiancé visa is by filing a Petition for the foreign-fiancé. The petition should be filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS. It should be directed to the appropriate USCIS service center based on the United States citizen residence location.

A petition like this is called the form I-129F or a Petition for Alien Fiancé. However, this type of petition cannot be filed outside the united states, and its validity lasts for four months once approved by the USCIS. In some cases, a United States Consular officer can prolong the validity of the petition while processing the visa application –