If you have a fiancé(e) living abroad and you want to bring them to the United States to marry, the K-1 visa may be the best way to help your spouse enter the United States legally.
If you have a fiancé(e) living abroad and you want to bring them to the United States to marry, the K-1 visa may be the best way to help your spouse enter the United States legally.
Once issued, the fiancé(e) visa (or K-1 nonimmigrant visa) allows your fiancé(e) to enter the United States for 90 days so that your marriage ceremony can take place. Once you marry, your spouse may apply for permanent residence and remain in the United States while USCIS processes the application.
If your fiancé(e) has a child (under 21 and unmarried), a K-2 nonimmigrant visa may be available to him or her. Be sure to include the names of your fiancé(e)’s children on your Form I-129F petition.
Once in the United States, your fiancé(e) may immediately apply for permission to work by filing a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Work permits are valid for 90 days after entering the U.S. However, your fiancé (e) would also be eligible to apply for an extended work authorization at the same time as he or she files for permanent residence. In this case, your fiancé(e) would file Form I-765 together with Form I-485 as soon as you marry.
With the K-1 Visa, the Fiancé(e) status automatically expires after 90 days. It cannot be extended. Your fiancé(e) should leave the United States at the end of the 90 days if you do not marry. If your fiancé(e) does not depart, he or she will be in violation of U.S. immigration law. This may result in removal (deportation) and/or could affect future eligibility for U.S. immigration benefits.
Each K-1 Visa petition is different, The fiancé(e) petitions are processed quickly. The approval is then forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC will then send the petition to the U.S. Embassy or consulate, which will need time to process your K-1 Visa fiancé(e).