The K1 visa is a very important type of visa for many couples who decide to get married and one partner is a United States citizen while the other is from another country. The K1 visa is a way that allows such couples to get married in the United States by giving the foreign partner permission to travel to the United States in order to marry the United States citizen. People who benefit from this type of visa include: students who met during study abroad programs, military personnel who fall in love while stationed overseas, people who travel overseas for business, and immigrants who wish to marry someone from back home.
What are the requirements for a K1 visa?
There main requirements for a K1 visa include:
- United States citizenship is required to be eligible for file the initial forms for this type of visa.
- You must have a bona fide relationship. This means that you must be planning on living together as husband and wife and having a joint life together. You cannot be planning on marrying simply for immigration benefits.
- You must have met in person at least once in the last two years, unless you qualify for one of the limited exceptions to this requirement.
- You must marry within 90 days of the foreign partner’s entry to the United States.
There are other issues that should also be kept in mind. For example, your fiancee must be admissible to the United States or must qualify for a waiver for any of the grounds of inadmissibility that apply.
How to apply for a K1 visa?
The application process begins when a US citizen files a form I129F with USCIS. The form I129F is a petition that requests that a K1 visa be issued to the US citizen’s fiancee. After the I129F is approved, the application package will be forwarded to the US embassy in your fiancee’s country. Your fiancee will then submit additional forms and documents to the embassy. These documents include the State Department’s visa application forms, a medical exam report and police certificates. After submitting everything to the embassy, your fiancee will be scheduled for a visa interview. If all goes well at the interview, the K1 visa will be approved and your fiancee will have six months in which to travel to the United States.
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Dear Sir/Madam,
We go for I-129F Petition for Alien Fiance(e).
My future husband has already got the notice of action from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on October 18, 2011. As we have the receipt number, we are able to check the process of our papers. It is on the stage of Initial Review. I would like to be informed about the progress of the case on that stage as i know it has some substages.
If I am not mistaken the petition is valid for four months. Can’t we have any problems on it?
Thank You in advance
At the initial review stage, you will not need to take any action unless you receive a Request for Evidence. If you do receive a Request for Evidence, it will be very important to make sure that you submit all of the requested information before the deadline given to you in the notice. If you do not, your petition may be denied.
When your I-129F is approved, the online status should update to indicate that it has been approved. You will also receive an approval notice in the mail. After the I-129F has been approved, your package will then be sent to the National Visa Center and then on to the embassy or consulate where your future husband will do his visa interview. You should receive additional information from the embassy or consulate on how to schedule the fiance visa interview and the steps you will need to take at that stage of the fiance visa process.
If your petition has not yet been approved, you do not need to worry about the four months issue. In general, an approved fiance visa petition will be valid for four months. If yours has not been approved, the four month period has not yet started. If it looks like you will need more than the four months to finish the process after the petition has been approved, you should discuss the issue with an immigration lawyer or the embassy/consulate so that you can get an extension.
Also, please keep in mind that in many cases it takes 5 months for an I-129F to be approved, so your waiting time is not unusual at this stage.