The Fiancé Visa Process
Immigration law is a complex branch of the U.S. legal system, as multiple specific requirements have to be met for any person to lawfully enter and remain in the United States. Our office often works with residents in the U.S.—green card holders and citizens alike—who seek to bring their fiancés or spouses into the country so that they can live together. The criteria for bringing a partner into the U.S. are more lenient than those for unmarried immigrants, but the fact remains that there are strict rules in place to determine who is and is not eligible for entry. The videos below will further explain the requirements that you must meet if you want to bring your fiancé(e) or new spouse to the U.S. and begin your lives as a married couple, side by side.
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Fiancé Visa Requirements
The fiancé visa requirements are as follows: You must be a US citizen in order to file for a fiancé visa for your partner. If you have a green card, you have to have had it for five or more years in order to file for citizenship. As a citizen, you can sponsor someone for a fiancé visa.
Also, one of the other important fiancé visa requirements is that the US citizen and their foreign-born fiancé meet in person within the last two years. That requirement is almost never waived. I always encourage any citizen who’s serious with someone to meet – many times, they come into my office, and it’s this exact scenario. They met on the Internet. They’ve been Skyping. They’re crazy about each other. I have to give them the good news and the bad news.
You have to plan a trip. Whether it’s Korea, or Ukraine, or Philippines, get a ticket. Plan your trip. Take lots of pictures. Meet the family because you do have to prove to immigration when you file a fiancé visa that you have met in person within the last two years. You have to show the bona fides of the relationship. All these pictures, and your receipts, and your passport stamps, and receipts from the hotels, and pictures of the parties, those are all perfect evidence of bona fides of your relationship.
The best advice for someone seeking a fiancé visa is document your relationship. If it’s another six months or a year until you become a citizen, continue to document your relationship. You can print out the texts. If you’re sending any money abroad, you can keep evidence that you’ve sent money, or gifts, or packages abroad.
As soon as possible, file for your N-400. It takes about four to six months. Once you’re a citizen – of course, in the mean time, make plans to meet. Absolutely make plans to meet in person even while you have your green card. Then when you’re a citizen, you can discuss your case with an attorney.
They can come here. You can plan to marry. You must marry within 90 days in order for the fiancé visa to go well and for your foreign-born fiancé to file for adjustment of status.
K-1 Non-Immigrant Visa
The fiancé(e) K-1 non-immigrant visa is for the foreign-citizen fiancé(e) of a United States (U.S.) citizen. The K-1 visa permits the foreign-citizen fiancé(e) to travel to the United States and marry his or her U.S. citizen sponsor within 90 days of arrival. The foreign citizen will apply for adjustment of status to a permanent resident (LPR) with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Because a fiancé(e) visa permits the holder to immigrate to the U.S. and marry a U.S. citizen shortly after arrival in the United States, the fiancé(e) must meet some of the requirements of an immigrant visa. Eligible children of K-1 visa applicants receive K-2 visas.
K-1 Non-Immigrant Visa | Can I Come to the U.S. to be Married if I’m Not a Citizen?
If your fiancé(e) is a U.S. citizen but you are not, you may apply for a K-1 visa (the “fiancé(e) visa”) to travel to the U.S. and marry your fiancé(e) within 90 days of arrival. You will apply for adjustment of status to a permanent resident (LPR) with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Because a fiancé(e) visa permits the holder to immigrate to the U.S. and marry a U.S. citizen shortly after arrival in the United States, the fiancé(e) must meet some of the requirements of an immigrant visa. Eligible children of K-1 visa applicants receive K-2 visas.
If you are currently in a relationship with a foreign national and are ready to start your new life by bringing them to the United States, contact experienced New Jersey immigration attorney Susan Scheer to start the process. Our New Jersey fiancé visa lawyer has over 20 years of experience helping immigrant families stay together.
Requirements To Bring Your Fiance to The USA
This past month I had several clients come to my office with the same question: they had met a foreign-born individual who they had fallen in love with, either on vacation, or a business trip, and they had decided to get married. They wanted to get married here in the US and they wanted to bring in their foreign-born sweetheart on a Fiance Visa. They asked me for my advice and this is what I told them: in order to bring someone to the US on a Fiance Visa, number one, it has to be a US citizen petitioner, not a Green Card petitioner. Number two, you had to have met in person over the last two years; it cannot be a romance on the internet or over the phone. Number three, you have to be able to show that you can support the individual and it will not become a public charge and you have to provide a lot of documentation that it’s a bona fide relationship and that it’s based on love, not just a desire to bring someone over to the US as a friend. If you accumulate all these documents, you will have no problem bringing your fiance over to the US. At the interview, many times the US citizen attends because it lends credence to the fact that it’s a real relationship.
I Received My Green Card Through a Previous Marriage. Can I Sponsor My New Spouse?
This is a complicated question to answer. Immigration generally holds to the rule that, if you got your green card through marriage, you must wait five years until you can convey any sponsorship benefits on a subsequent spouse. There are several exceptions, one of which involves demonstrating that your first marriage was in fact bona fide and not performed merely to avoid immigration laws. The most common example of evidence for this argument is birth certificates of children born during this marriage. The second exception would entail the death of the first spouse, in which case there would be no issue of bona fide. But in general, if you did not have any children together, and if your marriage was terminated through divorce and not death, then you must wait five years before you can sponsor your spouse-to-be. You can get married at any time, but it will not be possible to get approval from immigration if you do not wait five years.
The Requirements for Bringing Your Fiancé(e) to the U.S.
In order to bring someone to the U.S. on a fiancé visa, the petitioner must be a U.S. citizen—not a green card petitioner—and the couple must have met in person within the previous two years. It cannot be a romance over the Internet or on the phone. In addition, the petitioner must demonstrate that he or she can support the fiancé and that the fiancé will thus not become a public charge. There will have to be a lot of documentation that it is a bona fide relationship based on love rather than the desire to bring someone to the U.S. as a friend. If you accumulate all these documents, you will have no issue bringing your fiancé over to the U.S. The petitioner often attends the interview with immigration, as this lends credence to that fact that it is a real relationship.
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Obtaining Permanent Resident Status for Your Fiancé(e)
We often help clients obtain fiancé visas for their sweethearts abroad, who then come into the U.S. on a K1 visa. The next question is: What do we do now? It is important to remember that, within 90 days of entering the U.S., you must get married in order to keep the fiancé visa alive. You marry within 90 days, and then you file the adjustment of status paperwork with the local immigration service. In approximately three or four months’ time, you will be scheduled for your spouse interview. Assuming that all goes well and you bring with you lots of bona fide documentation of your marriage, proving that your marriage is real and not just a friendship, your immigration interview will go well, and the adjustment of status will be approved.
Can I Obtain a Fiancé Petition for a Significant Other if I Have Never Met Her or Him in Person?
Sadly, no. The requirements for a fiancé visa are as follows: you must be a U.S. citizen in order to file for a fiancé visa for your partner, and you and your fiancé must have met in person within the last two years. That latter requirement is almost never waived. I always encourage any citizen who is serious with someone to plan a trip, get on a plane, take a lot of pictures, and meet the fiancé’s family because you will have to prove to immigration when you file a fiancé visa that you have met in person within the last two years, and you have to show that the relationship is bona fide. All these pictures, receipts, and passport stamps are all perfect evidence of a bona fide relationship.
