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Many of my clients who have fallen in love with someone from the Philippines, file for a K1 Fiance Visa so their fiancés can to come to the US to get married. Applying for a K1 Fiance Visa seems to be the most popular course of action for most couples to get married and live together in the United States. The K1 Fiance visa works great, but there is another very good option to consider. You could get married in the Philippines and apply for a Marriage Visa instead.

If you get married in the Philippines, you will need to file for a CR1 Marriage Visa instead of the K1 Fiance Visa. The overall costs and processing times are similar, but the CR1 Marriage Visa has one big advantage over the K1 Fiance Visa, it comes with a Green Card. Once the Filipino spouse arrives in the United States on their CR1 Visa, USCIS will send him or her their Legal Permanent Residency Card (commonly known as the Green Card).

If you decide that you would like to get married in the Philippines and then apply for a CR1 Marriage Visa, you need to review the rules for getting married in the Philippines. You can find the most current rules and the steps for getting married in the Philippines by visiting the US Embassy site for Manila, Philippines at:  http://manila.usembassy.gov/marriage.html.

There are rules for a church wedding and for a civil wedding. Either way, you should carefully review the steps for each and follow all procedures. Make sure you allow yourself enough time in the Philippines to complete all the required tasks and waiting periods.

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The process of applying for a K1 Fiance Visa starts with the submission of the I-129f Petition for Alien Fiance form and all the required documents with USCIS. After receiving approval of your I-129f form, you will next have to submit forms and documents directly to the US Embassy closest to where your fiance resides.  Until recently this next step required the submission of several more forms depending on the location of the US Embassy. To help stream line the process, The State Department has created and new online form called the DS- 160 Non Immigrant Visa Application form. The new online DS-160 application replaces the following older forms; DS-156, DS-157, DS-158, and DS-3031.

 To start working on the new online DS-160 Non Immigrant Visa Application form, you will need to go to:  https://ceac.state.gov/CEAC/ and then click on the link for the DS 160 form. You will be required to select the US Embassy location where your fiance resides. This will be the US Embassy that will process your finace visa. Once you have selected the proper US Embassy location, you will be given an Application ID number which you must keep. I suggest you write down the number and further print the Application ID certificate for your records. You will need this Application ID number to login to your online form each time you work on it. You will also be asked for your USCIS approval receipt number which you can find on your USCIS I-797 Notice of Action approval receipt. As you proceed through the form, you will be asked a number of questions and then when each page is complete, you can proceed to the next page. You cannot proceed to the next page until every question is fully answered. If you need to exit the form to get the answer(s) to a question you cannot answer on the spot, I suggest you save the form and then return later with your answer(s) to continue.

As a suggestion, I would have a copy of the beneficiaries passport bio page as this will be needed at some point to finish the form.

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A K1 Fiance visa is a type of visa that gives the fiance of a US citizen permission to enter the United States for the sole purpose of getting married.

There are some basic requirements that must be met in order to qualify for a K1 Fiance Visa. Here they are:

  • The petitioner (the person who files the visa application for his or her fiance) must be a US Citizen.
  • The couple must have met in person at least once within a two year period of time preceding the filing of the fiance visa application.
  • The couple intend to get married within 90 days of the fiance’s arrival in the United States.
  • The petitioner must be able to demonstrate an ability to support his fiance by showing that he or she earns 125% above the poverty guidelines for whatever size family they will become once married.

Once you have met the requirement of a Fiance visa, you must next prepare and file the required forms and supporting documents. You will first be required to file forms and documents with USCIS.  The forms that must be filed with USCIS are the I-129f Petition for Alien Relative form, and a G325A Biographic Information form, for each person. For a specific discussion of what documents must be filed with your forms, please see our next article titled, ” Supporting documents for the K1 Fiance Visa”.

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In order to qualify for a fiance visa, you must meet the following requirements:

1. You must be a US citizen

2. You must have met your fiance in person within the previous two years

3. You and your fiance are legally free to get married

4. You earn at least 125% above the Federal poverty guideline for your size family (or co-sponsor)

5. You and you fiance have the true intent to get married upon your fiances arrival in the US within 90 days.

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Adjusting status to become a Legal Permanent Resident while in the United States on a Visa Waiver requires careful thought and analysis.

USCIS and the US State Department is particularly sensitive to matching a persons true intent when entering the United States with the appropriate type of visa or special entry permission, like a Visa Waiver. It is an absolute “no no” to use a Visa Waiver to enter the United States for the purpose of getting married and applying to become a Legal Permanent Resident (immigrant). To do so would likely constitute fraud. The visitors intent at the time of entry is the issue.

If a person enters the United States as a visitor under the Visa Waiver program and truly intends to visit with no agenda to get married and then after entering the United States, thereafter decides to get married and wishes to stay, applying for Legal Permanent Residency is a permissible option.

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The K1 Fiance Visa requires the US Citizen and the foreign fiance seeking to obtain a fiance visa, to have met in person within a two year period immediately preceding the filing of the I-129 Fiance Visa application form. The best evidence of a personal meeting is a time stamped picture of the couple together, preferably in front of a well know landmark in the country your claiming to have met in. I recommend that the picture be taken by a camera that automatically time stamps the picture. In the absence of a time stamped picture, you must write the date of your meeting on the back of the picture.

Other good evidence of a personal meeting would be airline ticket stubs, boarding passes and receipts which include the passengers name, and flight information. A copy of your passport entry stamp would also be good evidence as well.  When you enter another country, you will receive an entry stamp bearing the country name and date of entry. Make a copy of this to provide USCIS with your other proof. If you are in the Military, and living in the country where your fiance resides, or where at the time of your personal meeting, a copy of your Military orders or a letter from your commanding offer stating that you were present in a particular location and time of meeting would be good evidence in that case.

Other evidence like, movie, hotel, and restaurant receipts can be helpful as further support, but by themselves will not be sufficient to prove that you met in person.

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A Fiance Visa, sometimes called a K1 Visa, is the type of visa that you need if you have a girlfriend or boyfriend living in a foreign country and you wish for them come to the US so you can get married. This visa requires you to have met one time in person within a 2 year period of time, preceding the filing of your paperwork. You must also show that you (the US Citizen) earns 125% above the US Federal Poverty line to qualify. If you don’t meet the income requirement, you may be able to still apply with the help of a co-sponsor. Getting a fiance visa takes about 8-9 months from start to finish and then once your fiance is in the United States, you have 90 days to get married. Once married, you will then need to apply for your spouse’s Legal Permanent Residency or Green Card as it is often referred to. Continue reading →

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The Parents of a Fiance Visa beneficiary can obtain an Immigrant visa and their US legal permanent residency once their child becomes a US Citizen.  This process takes about three years or more. Once the fiancee enters the United States using his or hers K1 Fiance Visa, and then gets married, the next step is to apply for Legal Permanent Residency. This process takes about 4-5 months. Then after three years as a Legal Permanent Resident, the foreign spouse can then apply for US Citizenship. Once the foreign born spouse becomes a US Citizen (the person who originally came into the US on a Fiance Visa), he or she can apply for an Immigrant visa for his or her parents.

Parents of US Citizens are considered immediate family and therefore are not subject to any of the limitations and caps on immigration. This means that the US Citizen child over the age of 18, may petition to bring his or her parents to the US at any time. The US Citizen child over the age of 18 starts the process by filing a petition to bring his/her foreign national parents to the US. The process differs depending on the location of the parents at the time of the petition filing. If the parent is in the US and had entered the US legally (inspected by an immigration officer at customs) the request for Adjustment of Status can be filed contemporaneously with the Petition for Alien Relative. If the relative is abroad, once the petition is approved, the process continues through the NVC (National Visa Center) and then on the consulate or embassy abroad.

Either way, the parents of a US Citizen child who is over the age of 18, can obtain an Immigrant visa to come to the United States as a Legal Permanent Resident.

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Today, thousands of students from across the world study in the United States and fall in love with a US Citizen and get married. Understandably, the loving couple want to stay together. This can be accomplished.

Most students arrive on either a J1 or F1 Student visa. Depending on the type of visa originally granted to the foreign student, there are a few alternative procedures that apply to a student who wishes to gain Legal Permanent Residency or their Green Card after getting married to a US Citizen.

Students with J-1 Visa

J-1 Visas are issued to Exchange Visitors who are participating in an established J Exchange program pre-approved by the State Department.

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Fiance Visas for same sex couples are now legal.

I recently wrote a piece on the US Supreme Court’s recent ruling against The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  There seems to be some confusion and for that reason, its worth repeating again.

The recent Supreme Court’s ruling against The Defense of Marriage Act gives married gay couples all the federal benefits and rights that straight married couples are entitled to, which includes the legal right to apply for a K1 Fiance Visa, a CR1/IR1 Marriage visa and Legal Permanent Residency for same sex spouses.

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