Fiancee Visa Guide: Requirements
The K-1 Fiancee Visa Program
Fiancee Visa Requirements:
The Fiancee
Visa program has been created by the INS to enable United States citizens to bring their foreign fiancees to the United States for marriage. The rules and requirements regarding eligibility to sponsor a foreign fiancee (fiancé) are not complex: Any unmarried American citizen who has physically met his (or her) foreign fiancee (fiancé) within the last two years is statutorily eligible to successfully petition to bring his foreign fiancee to the United States to marry. If your fiancee has children they can come with her to the United States with a K-2 Visa which is automatically granted upon the granting of your fiancee's K-1 Fiancee Visa. Notwithstanding the above, the Fiancee Visa process is difficult and fraught with pitfalls. The requirements are simple but the process is extremely precise and complex. The INS almost never denies a FianceeVisa petition, it simply fails to approve the petition for technical reasons. It is common for the INS to condition approval of the petition on the submission of new and additional evidence. We have heard that as many as 40% of all Fiancee Visa petitions filed are never approved. It is likely that after months or years of correspondence the petitioner and his foreign fiancee simply give up and conclude that a visa is unachievable. This has never happened to our clients. Not once. Not ever.
Being in a long distance relationship and bringing over a loved one is a stressful situation because of the combination of strong emotions and complex legal requirements involved. In order to ensure that the process moves as quickly and smoothly as possible, you must hire an experienced Fiancee Visa attorney. Your foreign fiancee has put her trust in you to take care of bringing her to the United States. It is important that she not experience the stress of endless delays and uncertainty. You can guarantee that her trust in you is validated by making the process as painless as possible for her. This is important for developing the relationship.
How to Guarantee an Approved Fiancee Visa Petition
Our firm has a streamlined method of achieving a Fiancee Visa which worked for over 400 couples in the year 2001. To commence the process we require biographical information about you and your fiancé. Upon our receipt of this information, we will immediately prepare the immigration documents which require your fiance's original signature. These documents will be express couriered to her to ensure that the petition can be filed quickly. Once we have dispatched your fiance's documents, we prepare the documents which require your signature and express courier them to you. Because the courier time represents the greatest impediment to immediate filing of the petition we send documents for original signature to your fiancé as soon as you hire our firm. Once both packets are returned to our office we prepare the petition for submission to the INS. We also require that you and your fiancé submit documentation to our firm supporting the legitimacy of the relationship which will ultimately become part of the total packet submitted to the INS. We will provide you with a list of the supporting evidence which we require. These documents will include evidence that the two of you met in person in the past two years. Airplane tickets and pictures of you together are commonly submitted pieces of evidence. As soon as we get the signed documents back from your fiancee and from you we send the entire petition to the INS Regional Service Center with jurisdiction over your state of residence.
There are four regional service centers, Vermont, Nebraska, Texas and California. Each Service Center requires a different length of time to complete processing of the petition. We have no control over which regional service center has jurisdiction over your petition and cannot "speed up" the processing of your petition once we send it to the INS. Any firm which implies that it can speed up the INS approval is being untruthful. We achieve your Fiancee Visa as quickly as possible because of our speed, competence and completeness in preparing the petition. Our firm knows how to get these petitions approved. We know what the INS is looking for and provide it to them on the first and only submission.
The Consular Interview for Your Fiancee Visa
After the petition is approved, your fiancee must attend an interview at the American Consulate with jurisdiction over Fiancee Visa issuance for citizens of her home country. As soon as the petition is approved, your fiancee will arrange an interview with the American Consulate where she lives. The interviewer will ask your fiancee questions about her background, you and the petition. Most foreign fiancees find this interview to be extremely stressful because some consular officials have been known to try to "trip up" the foreign fiancee. We minimize this stress by preparing your fiancee for the interview by educating her about the purpose and procedure of the interview. We give her detailed examples of the type of questions the consular official might ask and have even conducted mock interviews for especially anxious foreign fiancees. This education will minimize your fiancee's stress so she can attend the consular interview with confidence. After the interview, the American Consulate will grant your fianceé a FiancéeeVisa so the two of you can be united in the US. We are always excited when clients send us pictures of their new families.
Foreign Fiancees from Second- and Third- World Countries
It is almost impossible for a woman from the former Soviet Unition or from South East Asia to obtain a tourist visa to visit the United States. Most Immigration officials presume that all such women are coming to the United States to get married and therefore almost all Tourist Visa petitions are denied. Do not listen to anyone who tells you that they can get a Tourist Visa for your fiancee. The Fiancee Visa is the only visa that your fiancee is legally eligible for.
Foreign Fiancees from First World CountriesUnlike
brides from Second- and Third- World countries who must get a visa from the American Consulate before they can enter the United States, nationals from First World countries such as France, Canada etc., can easily enter the US under the Tourist Visa Waiver Program. Nonetheless, your fiancé (fiancéé) should obtain a Fiancee Visa because serious immigration consequences can accrue to foreign fiances who enter the United States as tourists.
Permanent Residence After Marriage
After we unite you and your fiancé in the United States you have 90 days in which to
marry. If the two of you decide you don't want to spend the rest of your lives together, the Fiancee Visa holder must leave the US within 90 days of entrance.
If you do marry within 90 days, you must petition to
adjust your wife's status to Permanent Resident also known as "green card"
holder. This Permanent Resident status is conditional upon your marriage
lasting at least two years. For a small additional fee we can prepare the
petition to adjust your wife's status to Permanent Resident. We help most
of our clients navigate the immigration process to Permanent Residency and
citizenship.
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Copyright © 1999-2002 by Deborah A. Weber. All rights reserved.
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