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The K1 is a nonimmigrant visa that permits foreign-born fiancé(e) of a US citizen to enter the United States and marry their partner. As a US citizen, you can bring your spouse to the United States, get married and live together permanently in the country.
You are to get married within 90 days after your fiancé(e) arrives in the US. Once you become a married couple, your fiancé(e) (now spouse) can adjust their status to become a lawful permanent resident.
The K1 visa is strictly for US citizens – a green card holder is not eligible to use the visa. It is also for engaged (not married) partners who are ready to get married in the United States within 3 months. If you are already married or want to marry outside the US, the K1 visa is not for you. You may qualify for a similar visa, which is the K3 Spousal visa. If your K3 spouse has a dependent child, the child may also come to the US on a K4 Visa.
As a nonimmigrant visa, the K1 is temporary and only useful for a short-term basis. However, it is one of the fastest and easiest routes to permanent residence and citizenship thereafter.
Both partners will undergo a series of the application process to obtain the K1 visa. After a successful application, the foreign fiancé(e)e will receive the visa, which they will use to travel to the United States. If you don’t get married within 90 days after the arrival of your partner, the foreign partner may have to depart the United States. This is because the visa automatically expires after 90 days and cannot be extended.
The K1 visa application process involves five major stages, starting from visa application to the green card process.
The US citizen will initiate the process by filing a K1 visa petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). To do this, you will submit Form I-129F Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) to the USCIS office in your area. The purpose is to establish that a genuine relationship exists between you and your foreign partner, and you intend to get married soon. You will submit relevant documents that will help you prove the genuineness of your relationship. If the I-129F application is approved, USCIS will forward your case to the National Visa Center (NVC).
The second phase of the application will be complete with the NVC. After receiving your case, the NVC will notify your fiancé(e)e to file an official visa application. He or she will also be asked to schedule an interview with a consular officer in a US embassy or consulate in their country of residence. After a successful application process and visa interview, the foreign spouse can enter the US before the expiration of their visa. Once in the United States, you can get married any time within 90 days.
Below is the breakdown of the steps involved:
After entering the US on a K-1 visa, your fiancé(e)e will have to seek admission at the port of entry. Much like any visa, the K-1 visa does not guarantee admission to the US. A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer will decide whether to admit your fiancé(e)e.
If CBP grants your fiancé(e)e admission, you and your fiancé(e)e will have to marry each other within 90 days.
The first requirement for the K1 visa is that one of the engaged partners must be a US citizen. However, there are other requirements to fulfil in order to obtain a visa.
The Petitioner Must Be a US Citizen
As the petitioner who wishes to bring your fiancé(e)e to the US, you must present proof of US citizenship as part of the requirements for the visa. This could be your US passport, birth certificate, or certificate of citizenship.
You Must Meet the Definition of a “Fiancé(e)”
Both partners must meet the definition of “fiancé(e)e” under the United States immigration law. It implies that both the US citizen and the foreign partner must have been legally free to marry at the time the K-1 visa petition was filed and must have remained so thereafter. This means none of you is currently married.
If any of the partners had been in a marriage before, the previous marriage must have been legally terminated (by death, divorce, or annulment) before requesting a K-1 visa. In addition, the marriage must be legally possible in accordance with the laws of the US state in which the marriage will hold.
In general, the partners must have met in person within the past two years. However, if certain circumstances, such as extreme hardship or cultural factors, have prevented the two partners from meeting in person, USCIS may grant an exception for this requirement.
You Must Meet the K1 Visa Income Requirements
You (US citizen) are required to show the adequate income required to meet your financial needs and that of your fiancé(e). You will submit Form I-134, Affidavit of Support. USCIS will use the information in the form to determine if you meet this requirement.
This is similar to the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support filed for a family-based green card application. However, while the I-864 requires a minimum of 125% of federal poverty minimum income, I-134 only requires 100%. This is to ensure that you both can live above the poverty line on your current income.
If the foreign fiancé(e)e has a child who is unmarried and under the age of 21, the child may be eligible to come to the United States on a K2 visa. Their names must be included in the Form I-129F application if you wish to bring them to the United States. They may also apply for a green card after you and your fiancé(e)e have married each other. Please note that they must remain unmarried in order to be eligible for a green card application.
You will have to pay for the following services: