K1 - Fiance Visa
Spending time apart from the person you love is difficult.
You have found the love of your life, want to live together and enter the United States, but your fiance is not a US citizen.
If you want to be together with your fiance in the United States you can initiate the K-1 visa process.
Who Qualifies or is Eligible for the K-1 Visa for the US?
The K-1 fiance visa is a nonimmigrant visa (temporary visa) which is available to individuals or family members who wish to enter the US with the intent of marrying a US citizen.
To be eligible for the K-1 visa, applicants should intend to be married within 90 days of their arrival in the United States. The US citizen must also have been legally free to marry prior to applying and must continue to remain so thereafter.
The US Citizen must have met (in person) with the individual they wish to sponsor within the past two years. An exemption can be granted based on extreme hardship for the US citizen sponsor to have personally met the foreign-citizen fiance(e).
An exemption may be granted if it is against the applicant or US citizen’s culture for the two individuals to meet before the marriage takes place.
What is the K-1 Visa?
The K-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for foreign nationals who are engaged and will be married to a citizen of the United States. Eligible children of K-1 applicants receive K-2 visas to accompany the applicant to the US.
What is the Processing Time for the K-1 Visa?
The processing times for fiance visas vary depending on several factors such as:
- The office or service center responsible for processing the file
- The type of non-immigrant visa
- Fiance visa interview wait times (if applicable)
- Whether the applicant can qualify for an expedited interview appointment
- Whether Expedited processing is available
- Whether Premium Processing is available
- Providing insufficient or incomplete documents can lead to delays in processing and even denials
Top 10 Reasons for Refusal of the K-1 Visa Application
While there are many reasons why your K-1 application could be refused, we have listed the ten most common here:
- Current and or past immigration status and history for the US or abroad, including overstaying and unauthorized employment
- Insufficient funds to support themselves during their stay
- Incorrect or incomplete petition
- Insufficient supporting evidence
- Conflicts with travel documentation
- Health concerns
- Suspicion of malicious intent
- Problems with a background check
- Criminal history/Being convicted of a crime/Suspected or known ties to terrorism
- Material Misrepresentation