The K-1 fiancée visa is a means by which a foreign person is allowed to enter the country with the intention of marrying a citizen of the United States. Once the two parties are married an application is filed to adjust the status of the foreign person to become a citizen
of the United States. There are a few steps to filing a K-1 fiancée visa and the individuals wanting to engage in this activity should be aware of what they are.
Step One: Generally, the first step is for the U.S. citizen to file a petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). When the USCIS approves this application the foreign fiancée will be allowed to begin the process of obtaining the fiancée visa. If you
would like to avoid any problems in filing your petition, you should contact a professional immigration attorney.
Step Two: The US citizen must then submit Form I-129F Petition, along with Form G-325A Biographic Information, to include any applicable filing fees that are currently being charged.
The amount of these fees and any other information that’s pertinent can be obtained by contacting the USCIS Service Center.
Step Three: Approximately a few weeks later the US citizen will receive Form I-797, the first Notice of Action (NOA) from the USCIF service Center. This is essentially notification that their petition has been received by the USCIF.
Step Four: Times can vary, but soon thereafter the US citizen will receive a second NOA notifying them that the petition has been approved.
Step Five: It is at this stage that the USCIS Service Center will forward the application to the National Visa Center.
Step Six: The National Visa Center will then start the process of performing preliminary background investigations on the fiancée applying for citizenship. They will also forword the approved Form I-129F two the fiancée’s specific embassy. The embassy will then process it locally under their own specific set of rules.
Step Seven: The embassy will send all required documents to the fiancée and the US citizen, along with instructions as to which forms need to be returned immediately to the embassy, and which would need to be brought to an interview when it takes place.
Step Eight: Once all documents have been received by the embassy they will contact the fiancée and the US citizen as to the date and time of their interview.
Step Nine: At this stage the fiancée will be required to attend a medical review.
Step Ten: It is now time for the fiancée to attend the visa interview. The officer conducting the interview will ensure all documents are in order, ask all needed questions and make a
decision on the petition. If the petition is approved than the visa will be issued either immediately, or within a few days.
Step Eleven: The fiancée should now make their travel to the US within six month’s. It is at the Port of entry that the immigration officer will review and finalize the paperwork, thus allowing the fiancée to enter the United States properly.
Step Twelve: As soon as possible the fiancée should apply for a Social Security number once inside the US. It is at this point that the fiancée and the US citizen should apply for their marriage license. In some cases some states have a certain waiting period that must be adhered to before applying for the marriage license. It’s advisable to make sure what this waiting period is before applying for the marriage license.
Step Thirteen: It’s now time for the couple to be married and live their life together. The couple should be advised that the marriage should take place within 90 days of obtaining the K-1 fiancée visa. Also, if the fiancée will be assuming the name of the US citizen, then any name changes should be done at this time.
Step Fourteen: The final step in obtaining citizenship for a foreign fiancée is to apply for an Adjustment of Status (AOS). The AOS must be applied for the four the K-1 fiancée visa expires, it should be noted.
For More Information, Contact:
Fresno Immigration Attorney Phillip Kim
(559) 761-9742
https://phillipkimlaw.com/
