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Fiancée Visa Process Information (K-1 visa)

Below, we provided a brief but very useful overview regarding a Fiancée Visa Process. We summarized answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) we receive daily from clients in our immigration law practice. We hope that you will find it helpful too!

If you have any additional questions or need legal assistance, you can contact our immigration attorney directly at Attorney@law-visa-usa.com or/and you can schedule a telephone consultation with our immigration attorney. (P.S.: Foreign languages - We speak fluent Russian, and can communicate directly with your Russian or Ukrainian fiancée throughout the entire process).

Fiancé(e) visa or K-1 visa can be used by a U.S.A. citizen to bring to the U.S.A. his or her foreign fiancé(e) for the purpose of marriage. Upon arrival in the U.S.A., a foreign fiancé(e) must either marry his/her American fiancé(e) or leave the country. If the couple changed their mind and decided not to marry, fiancé(e) visa status cannot be changed to any other visa/status in the USA. If the couple did not get married within the 90 days following the entry of a foreign fiancé(e) to the USA, then foreign fiancé(e) must leave the USA and go back to her or his native country.

Fiancée visa is a non-immigrant visa. However, the procedures of applying and obtaining of a fiancé(e) visa make it very similar to an immigrant visa. K-1 visa is issued if the petitioner (USA citizen) can show that he/she met in person with his/her foreign fiancée within the previous two years; intends to marry his/her foreign fiancé(e) within the 90 days of her/his entry to the USA; they are involved into a serious and genuine fiancée relationship; etc.

The USA citizen can petition his/her foreign fiancé(e) by filing the USCIS form I-129F with all supporting forms and documentation with the appropriate USCIS Service Center. This petition can be filed only in the USA; it cannot be filed with any US Embassy or Consulate abroad. Initially, this petition should be filed and approved in the USA. Only a US citizen has right to apply for a Fiancée visa for his or her fiancé(e), a lawful permanent resident in the USA cannot petition his or her fiancé(e) from abroad.

The petition shall be filed with one of four USCIS Service Centers in the USA. The petition has to be supported by certain documentation and copies of many documents, for example: forms G-325A (Biographic information), one from each party; birth certificate of American citizen; or Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States; or Certificate of Naturalization of American citizen; passport of American citizen; birth certificate of a foreign fiancée; passport of a foreign fiancée; evidence of ability to marry (e.g. evidence that the parties are unmarried, single, divorced or widowed; over 18 years of age; etc); evidence that parties met in person within the previous 2 years (e.g. photos together, letters, tickets, itinerary, etc); evidence of seriousness of fiancée relationship and intentions to get married (e.g. emails, letters, chats; photos of a couple together; personal declarations; letters of intent to get married; wedding invitations; honeymoon plans, for example, contract with the resort; etc).

When a fiancée visa petition is approved by the USCIS (the Department of Homeland Security) it will be transferred to the NVC, National Visa Center (the Department of State). After that, the approved petition is sent to the appropriate US Embassy or Consulate abroad, usually, in the native country of the foreign fiancé(e). The US Embassy or Consulate will contact the fiancée by sending her/him a packet with the forms and information required to prepare for the interview.

Below, is the list of some of the required documents for the fiancée visa interview in the US Embassy or Consulate:

• Valid and unexpired passport;
• Birth certificate (and certified English translation);
• Police clearance(s) from all districts/countries where foreign fiancée lived since obtaining age of 16. Police certificates or clearances are required from all places where he/she lived for more than 6 months (if in her native country), and where he/she lived for more than 1 year (if in a foreign country).
• Certified divorce decrees or certificates of death, if fiancées were ever married and divorced before, or when prior marriage ended in death of a spouse.
• Medical examination and vaccinations records. Please keep in mind that you should not open the sealed envelope with the results of the Medical exam.
• If a foreign fiancée has a minor child who is going to the USA with her (on a K-2 visa), the child must have a valid passport, birth certificate and the results of his/her medical examination. If the child is over 16, then he or she will need a police clearance as well.
• Evidence to show validity and seriousness of fiancée relationship, for example: photos of the couple together, letters and emails, telephone bills, airline tickets, etc.
• Affidavit of support, form I-134, executed by American citizen fiancé(e) on behalf of his/her foreign fiancé(e), plus all required supporting documentation (e.g. letter from current employer; tax returns for the previous year; bank statements if appropriate, etc).
• Please note that all required documents in foreign language must be accompanied by certified English translations. Notarization is rarely required. The documents can be translated by any person (not necessarily a certified translator) who certifies that she is proficient in both languages and therefore is qualified to translate. However, a foreign fiancée shall not attempt to translate her own documents.

Upon arrival in the USA, a fiancée visa holder has two options: she/he can either marry an inviting US citizen within the 90 days from the day of their entry to the USA; OR if parties changed their mind and no longer desire to marry each other, then a foreign fiancé must leave the USA and go back to her native country by the end of the authorized period of stay (which is normally 90 days for a fiancée visa holder).

Please note that upon admission to the USA, your foreign fiancée may be granted a work authorization permit which would authorize her/him to work for the first 90 days (after that, you can apply for a work authorization document). It could be very helpful considering the expensive adjustment of status filing which follows.

After marrying a US citizen, a fiancée visa holder who intends to reside in the USA permanently, has to apply for adjustment of status to a lawful permanent resident status (apply for a green card) based on her/his marriage to a US citizen. Please keep in mind that marriage to a US citizen by itself and without petitioning with the Department of Homeland Security does not confer on a foreign spouse any rights on permanent residence in the USA. To obtain a permanent resident status (green card), a foreign spouse has to apply for adjustment of status with the USCIS (Department of Homeland Security).

Most immigration attorneys charge from $1,500 to $2,000 in legal fees for assistance with a fiancée visa process. Our legal fees are much lesser than this (because we practice from the small law office and have low overhead). Please contact us directly for a quote. Please note that there are additional expenses involved into a fiancée visa process (these additional expenses are not included into attorney fee), such as: filing governmental fees (currently, $170); medical examination fee (about $100); vaccination fees; visa issuance fee ($100); airfare and other travel expenses for your fiancée to come to the USA after she/he gets her/his visa; etc.

If properly applied for with all supporting paperwork and required evidence, fiancée visas (K-1 visas) have the highest success rate amongst other non-immigrant visas.

If you have any additional questions or need legal assistance, you can contact our qualified and licensed immigration attorney directly at Attorney@law-visa-usa.com or/and you can schedule a telephone consultation with our immigration attorney. (P.S.: Foreign languages - We speak fluent Russian, and can communicate directly with your Russian or Ukrainian fiancée throughout the entire process).