These are USCIS offered Visas

- What is a K Visa?

- Who can use the K Visa?

- K Visa types?

If you are unfamiliar with the process in how you can bring a fiance(e) or spouse from another country to the United States to live with you, then here are your options available only through the USCIS.

The most common questions asked by people that are unsure of the process in getting their loved one from another country into the USA. Up to date answers from USCIS about how to get started.

Definition of K Visa:

The K Visa is offered by USCIS to qualified US Citizens that choose to sponsor either a fiance(e) or spouse to the United States from another Country. The letter (K) Visa is the class of visa which defines the type visa a person will use to come to the USA.

The K Visa family offers two types of visas. Fiance(e) or Spousal.

- K1 is for a US sponsor to bring an Alien Fiance(e) to the US for marriage.

- CR1 is for a US sponsor to bring an Alien Spouse to the US to live.

Hear are the definitions provided by USCIS:

What is a K1 Visa?

The fiancée K1 nonimmigrant visa is for the foreign-citizen fiancée of a United States (U.S.) citizen. The K1 visa permits the foreign-citizen fiancée to travel to the United States and marry his or her U.S. citizen sponsor within 90 days of arrival. The foreign-citizen will then 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 fiancée visa permits the holder to immigrate to the U.S. and marry a U.S. citizen shortly after arrival in the United States, the fiancée must meet some of the requirements of an immigrant visa. Eligible children of K-1 visa applicants receive K-2 visas.

 

What is a "Fiancee"?

Under U.S. immigration law, a foreign-citizen fiancée of a U.S. citizen is the recipient of an approved Petition for Alien Fiancée, Form I-129F, who has been issued a nonimmigrant K-1 visa for travel to the United States in order to marry his or her U.S. citizen fiancée. Both the U.S. citizen and the K-1 visa applicant must have been legally free to marry at the time the petition was filed and must have remained so thereafter. The marriage must be legally possible according to laws of the U.S. state in which the marriage will take place.

In general, the foreign-citizen fiancée and U.S. citizen sponsor must have met in person within the past two years. USCIS may grant an exception to this requirement, based on extreme hardship for the U.S. citizen sponsor to personally meet the foreign-citizen fiancée, or, for example, if it is contrary in the U.S. citizen sponsor’s or foreign-citizen fiancée’s culture for a man and woman to meet before marriage.
 

The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA)

Detailed information about IMBRA requirements is contained in the Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancée, instructions.
 

The First Step: Filing the Petition

* You, the U.S. citizen sponsor, must file Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancée, with the USCIS office that serves the area where you live. See Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancée for information on where to file the petition. Further information is available on the USCIS website under Fiancée Visas. Note: Form I-129F cannot be filed at a U.S. Embassy, Consulate, or USCIS office abroad.

* After USCIS approves the petition, it is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) for processing, and NVC will send it to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where your fiancée will apply for a K-1 nonimmigrant visa.

The Second Step: Applying for a Visa

Once the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where you, the foreign-citizen fiancée, will apply receives the petition from NVC, it will provide you with specific instructions, including where to go for the required medical examination. During your interview, ink-free, digital fingerprint scans will be taken. Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant’s interview by a Consular Officer.
 

Required Documentation

You, the foreign-citizen fiancée, (and eligible children applying for K-2 visas) will be required to bring the following forms and documents to the visa interview:

 

- Nonimmigrant visa applications [DS156, DS156K, DS157]

- Passport with a minimum of six months valid on it.

- Birth Certificate

- Divorce decree if applicable

- Death Certificate if applicable

- Certificate of no marriage

- Police Certificates from your Country

- Police Certificates from other Countries you ever worked in if applicable.

- Medical examination records.

- I-134 with Affidavit of Support documents.

- (2) 2×2 passport style photos

- Evidence of a relationship with the U.S. Citizen, sponsor.

- Payment receipts to all required fees.

 

Note: The Consular Officer may ask for additional information, such as photographs and other proof that the relationship with your U.S. citizen fiancée is genuine. Documents in foreign languages, other than the language of the country in which the application takes place, should be translated. Applicants should take to the visa interview clear, legible photocopies of civil documents and translations, such as birth and divorce certificates. Original documents and translations will be returned.

 

Fees – How much does a K1 visa cost?

Fees are charged for the following services: 

 

* Filing an Alien Fiancée Petition, Form I-129F

* Nonimmigrant visa application processing fee, Form DS-156

* Medical examination (costs vary from post to post)

* Other costs may include translation and photocopying charges, fees for getting the documents required for the visa application (such as passport, police certificates, birth certificates, etc.), and travel expenses to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate for an interview. Costs vary from country to country and case to case.

* Filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status

For current fees for Department of State, see Fees for Visa Services. For current fees for USCIS, see Check Filing Fees on the USCIS website.

 

For more on K1 Visa definitions visit USCIS.gov

 

What is a CR1 Visa?

The CR1 immigrant visa is for the foreign-citizen spouse of a United States (U.S.) citizen. This visa category is intended to shorten the physical separation between the foreign-citizen and U.S. citizen spouses by having the option to obtain a immigrant CR1 visa overseas and enter the United States to await approval of the immigrant visa petition.

CR1 visa recipients subsequently apply to adjust status to a permanent resident (LPR) with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) upon approval of the petition. Because the spouse of a U.S. citizen applying for a immigrant CR1 visa must have a immigrant visa petition filed on his or her behalf by his or her U.S. citizen spouse and pending approval, a CR1 applicant must meet some of the requirements of an immigrant visa.

It should be noted that under U.S. immigration law, a foreign citizen who marries a U.S. citizen outside the U.S. must apply for the CR1 visa in the country where the marriage took place. Learn more in the Applying for a Visa section below.
 

Eligible children of CR1 visa applicants must file separate I-130 petitions together with the parents.

What Is a "Spouse"?

A spouse is a legally wedded husband or wife. 

* Merely living together does not qualify a marriage for immigration.

* Common-law spouses may qualify as spouses for immigration purposes depending on the laws of the country where the common-law marriage occurs.

* In cases of polygamy, only the first spouse may qualify as a spouse for immigration.

* Same-sex marriages are not recognized by immigration law for the purpose of immigrating to the U.S.

The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA)

Detailed information about IMBRA requirements is contained in the Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancée, instructions.

 

The First Step: Filing the Petitions

* You, the U.S. citizen sponsor, must first file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office that serves the area where you live. The USCIS will send a Notice of Action (Form I-797) receipt notice to inform you that it has received the petition. See the USCIS website under CR1 immigrant Visas for more information.

* After USCIS approves the petitions, they will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) for processing.