The fiance visa (K-1 visa) is a temporary visa issued to the fiance of the United States citizen in order to enter the U.S. for the purpose of getting married. In this article, I will give you an overview of the top five things you need to know to be successful in your fiance visa application process. If you need any additional clarifications or advice, you are always welcome to contact the Immigration Law Attorney Chicago.
You Have To Be the United States Citizen
As you’re the one who’s filling the petition with USCIS, you’re required to be a U.S. citizen. A person that holds a green card only will not be able to file a Fiance Visa Petition successfully. Therefore, if you are eligible to apply for Citizenship, but you only have a green card, you should seriously consider applying to become the United States citizen.
Meeting Requirement
You must have met your fiancee in person within the last two years. In case you’re childhood friends, but you haven’t seen each other in the previous two years then you won’t meet the requirement. You can prove to USCIS that you met your fiancee in person by showing them:
- Date stamped pictures of two of you together
- Photocopies of dated plane tickets
- Restaurant or hotel receipts
- Passport pages that are showing entry stamps to the country where you two met
Make sure to have an immigration law attorney to review your evidence and determine if it’s strong enough for you to obtain a fiance visa.
Both of You Must be Free to Marry
You and your fiance must be free to get married at the time you file your petition. You should not file a fiance visa petition with USCIS if your fiance has a pending divorce. My advice is to review any previous divorces or annulments with a family law attorney to be sure that you and your fiance are both free to marry each other. It would be much better to wait until you know for sure that your or your fiance’s divorce is final than to file your K-1 visa and to have it denied.
You can not have been convicted of crimes
It’s important to emphasize that the USCIS checks the criminal record of a United States citizen. The U.S. citizen must not have been convicted of certain crimes like domestic violence, dating violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, controlled substance violations, stalking and homicide. In case you’ve had any crime in your past, then it would be great that an immigration attorney reviews the matter before you start filling your fiance visa case.
Just to be safe, it’s better to take some time prior to the case to clear up any criminal issues than to have them come up during the case. Remember, you should never lie to USCIS and always expect them to know everything about your criminal history.
There is a Ninety Day Rule Concerning Marriage
Within the ninety days of your fiance entering the U.S., you will have to get married. Your fiance will be able to marry you only. In case someone else comes along to your fiance, she or he won’t be able to marry them on the fiance visa.
If she/he enters the U.S. on a fiance visa and doesn’t marry you within ninety days, then she/he will have to return to the home country. Make sure to get married within this time period, so you don’t fiance remains legal status. Once you get married, you are able to file for adjustment of status so that she/he may get a green card.
