True love may pave the way for a ticket to the United States.
An alien who is the fiance(e) of a U.S. citizen petitioner may be issued a K-1 visa which will allow entry to the U.S. for the purpose of marrying the U.S. citizen petitioner.
To qualify for a K-1 visa, the petitioner and the alien must satisfy the following requirements: (i) the parties have personally met within two years preceding the date of filing of the petition; (ii) they must have a bona fide intention to marry; and (iii) they are legally qualified and actually willing to conclude a valid marriage in the U.S. within ninety days after the fiance(e)’s arrival.
The requirement for a personal meeting
within two years preceding the filing of the petition may be waived by the INS
if the parties can establish that the meeting would result in extreme hardship
to the petitioner or would violate the traditional customs of the beneficiary’s
foreign culture or social practice, as in marriages arranged by parents. Health
reasons, travel restrictions or financial burdens are circumstances that may
merit a waiver based on extreme hardship.
The documentation necessary to prove
contact and intent to marry includes, among others, photographs of the parties
being together, letters, e-mail, telephone bills and affidavits of relatives
who have personal knowledge of the relationship.
If the alien beneficiary has minor
children, the children can come with the principal beneficiary under a
K-2 visa, either accompanying or following to join within one year of the
issuance of the K-1 visa.
If the alien or the petitioner fail to
marry within 90 days of the alien’s arrival, the alien then becomes subject to
removal. A K-1 visa holder will not qualify for an extension of stay or change
to another immigration status, i.e. B-2, H-B1 or employment based immigrant
petition. If the alien marries another U.S. citizen instead of the petitioner,
the alien cannot apply for adjustment of status while remaining in the U.S. The
only way for a K-1 visa holder to adjust status to permanent resident in the
U.S. is by marriage to the petitioner within 90 days of arrival.
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The Life Act which amended the
Immigration Act has expanded the eligibility for a “K” visa to provide for a
new temporary status for spouses of U.S. citizens and their minor children who
are outside the U.S. waiting for the approval of their permanent resident visa.
K visa used to be limited to fiancees of U.S. citizens who enter the U.S. to
marry the U.S. citizen sponsor.
In the past, when a U.S. citizen marries
an alien outside the U.S., the alien spouse usually had to wait for many months
in his/her home country while waiting for the approval of the immigrant
petition and the issuance of the
permanent resident visa. This temporary status relieves the unwanted
separation between newly married couples.
To obtain a K visa, the U.S. citizen must
first file an immigrant petition for the alien who is outside the U.S. After
the immigrant petition is filed, the K visa petition must be filed in the U.S.
by the U.S. citizen spouse. If the marriage occurred outside the U.S., the K
visa must be issued by the consulate where the marriage occurred.
K visa holders are entitled to be issued
work authorization pending adjustment of status to permanent resident.
(Any questions pertaining to this article
may be addressed to 703 893 0760)
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