What is a Fiance Visa?

A Fiance visa allows a US citizen to bring their fiance who lives in another country to the US to marry their fiance.  The Fiance visa allows your fiance to enter the US and then you need to get married within 3 months of your fiance’s entry.  This will give you the time to marry your fiance and then to apply for a marriage visa for him or her.  Your fiance’s unmarried children under 21 may accompany him/her to the US with a K-2 visa.

Our immigration law firm will take care of the entire process from start to finish with you for our flat fee of $950.

Do You Qualify for a Fiance Visa (K1 Visa)

1. One of you is a US citizen and the fiance is from a foreign county and does not permanently reside in the US or is a green card holder in the US.
2. Both you and your fiance are legally able to marry i.e. you are both single.
3. You have the genuine intent to get married to each other when your fiance enters the US with their fiance visa / K1 visa.  It is good to show that you have set a date for the wedding and made some arrangement as proof for this requirement.
4. You must have seen each other in person within the last 2 years.  (For some couples, meeting each other in person violated their religious or cultural practices, so for this consult our immigration attorney Stefan Coleman on how to obtain a waiver of this requirement).

What Happens After We Get Married

Hopefully you will have married your fiance within 90 days of arriving in the US.  Then your fiance will need to apply for an adjustment of status.  Remember, just because your fiance has married a US citizen does not automatically give  them the right to live legally in the US.  You must file and be approved for their adjustment of status.  As a US immigration attorney, I commonly file an adjustment of status for many my clients.

The Fiance Visa Application Process (Quick View)

1. We work with you and your fiance to prepare the fiance visa petition to a USCIS regional service center in the US.
2. After your fiance visa petition is approved, you will fill out a form sent to you by the National Visa Center.
3. You will bring your documents with you to the US consulate in your home country for an interview.
4. Enter the US with your new fiance visa and get married.
5. Obtain an adjustment of status after you’ve been married to legally stay in the US permanently.

The Fiance Visa Application Process (In Detail)

We work with you and your fiance to prepare the fiance visa petition to a USCIS regional service center in the US.

Your US citizen fiance will file a fiance visa petition.  This petition will prove that:

1.  You have a real intention of marrying one another within 90 days after you arrive in the US.

2.  You are both legally able to marry each other (i.e. you are both legally single).

3.  You have physically met each other within the past 2 years or you prove that this requirement should be waived.

It is critical to have an experienced US immigration lawyer fill out this fiance visa petition for you so that you characterize all your answers appropriately.  There is a big difference in looking at a petition filed by an immigration attorney and one filed by yourself or a petition preparer.  As an experienced immigration attorney, I know what the USCIS is looking for in approving or denying your petition.

We will mail in the petition to the USCIS service center for you.  Within a few weeks after we mail the petition, you will get back a written confirmation from the USCIS that your petition is being processed.  If the USCIS wants more information befor deciding on your case, the USCIS may sen back your petition, forms, and documents and request that you fill out another form called Request for Evidence.  This form will tell you what additional information the USCIS wants to see before deciding to approve or deny your petition.

In rare circumstances, the USCIS will request an in-person interview with your US citizen spouse.  The purpose of this interview is to decipher whether your US citizen fiance’s true intention is to marry you or if it a sham marriage.

Once your fiance visa petition is approved, the USCIS will send a form entitled Notice of Action to your US citizen fiance.  Simultaneously, the USCIS will send a copy of the notice to the National Visa Center which will assign you a case number and transfer the file to the US consulate in your home country.  (An approved visa petition does not mean that your fiance can enter the US legally it is only a prerequisite for fulfilling the rest of the necessary steps so that your fiance can get a fiance visa.

After your visa application is approved, the National Visa Center will send you instructions to complete another form and to submit certain documents.  You must complete this and mail in as quickly as possible since your approval of the fiance visa petition is valid for only 4 months total.

The consulate in your home country will then contact you by mail to set up an appointment.  The appointment letter will include instructions and forms to bring with you to the consulate.  You will be instructed that you will need to get your fingerprints taken and a medical exam.

Checklist for Fiance Visa Interview:

Enter the US with your Fiance Visa:

You must use this fiance visa to enter the US within 6 months of receiving the visa.  You will enter the US and your documents will be inspected by a US border officer.  The border officer has removal powers if he believes you are committing fraud.  Always be polite and considerate when answering the border officers questions.  After your documents get inspected by the border officer, he will stamp your passport to show you are a K1 visa holder and that you are authorized to stay in the US for up to 90 days

Now, all you have to do is get married!  Remember though, that you can only legally stay in the US for 90 days.  That means that you have to get married and apply for your marriage certificate right away because you can only apply for your adjustment of status to stay in the US permanently once you have received your marriage certificate which could take a few weeks.

Does all of this like a lot of work and confusing?  Leave it to the immigration lawyer experts to handle the entire process for you from start to finish.  We charge a flat rate of $965 to do the entire process for you from start to finish.  Give us a call now to get started (877) 333-9427.

1. After your fiance visa petition is approved, you will fill out a form sent to you by the National Visa Center.
2. You will bring your documents with you to the US consulate in your home country for an interview.
3. Enter the US with your new fiance visa and get married.
4. Obtain an adjustment of status after you’ve been married to legally stay in the US permanently.

Checklist for Fiance Visa Petition

1. Form I-129F signed by your US citizen fiance with the $455 fee (check or money order).  Any children accompany your fiance to the US should be listed on this form.
2. Form G-325 A filled out for you and the visa applicant.
3. Form G-325A filled out for your US citizen fiance.
4. Proof of citizenship for US fiance such as a copy of your birth ceritificate, US passport, or naturalization certificate.
5. Proof that you and your fiance can legally marry i.e. if either of you have been married before proof of a divorce decree from that marriage/
6. Proof of your intent to marry: an attached statement from your US citizen fiance describing how you met, why you want to get married, where you plan to marry, etc.  You may want to include actual wedding announcements, catering contract, a letter from your pastor or priest confirming that you are getting married and that he is performing the ceremony.
7. Proof that you have met each other in person such as photos of the two of you, copies of plane tickets, hotel receipts, etc.
8. If you have not met each other for religious or cultural reasons then ou will need evidence to support your membership to that religion and a statement by your clergy stating why you cannot meet in person.
9. One passport style photograph of you and one passport style photograph of your US citizen fiance.  Write your name in pencil on the back of the photo.

Ultimate Fiance Visa Checklist

The Ultimate Fiance Visa Checklis

1. USCIS Form I-134 Affidavit of Support which is signed by your petitioner stating that he/she will support you while you stay in the US.
2. State Department Form DS-1858 Sponsor’s Financial Responsibility
3. Original USCIS NOtice of Action approving your fiance visa petition.
4. Originals of all your documents you submitted in connection with the original visa petition such as your fiances US birth certificate and proof that any marriages he/she have previously had have ended i.e. divorce decrees.
5. Documents to Form I-135 such as proof of US citizen’s employment, copy of their most recent US tax return, and letter from his/her bank confirming accounts.
6. Your original birth certificate
7. An original police clearance certificate (see the instructions from your US consulate in your home country for more information about this).
8. 2 passport size photos of you and your kids if they are coming with you.
9. Results of your medical examination kept in the unopened enveloped.
10. Proof of your relationship to your fiance such as photos of the two of you, copies of emails, etc.
11. Application fee which is currently $131 for the visa.
12. Fingerprinting fee $85.