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If you plan to prepare and submit your own K1 Fiance Visa application without the help of an experienced professional, you will need to start by identifying which forms to use. You can find a copy of the forms that you will need along with their instructions at www.uscis.gov. Once on the web site, click the tab for forms and look for:
  • I-129f Petition for Alien Fiance(e)
  • G-325A Biographic Information (one for each person)
I suggest that you download the forms and their instructions and read the instructions carefully. Take your time and if you are unsure of a question, stop and read your instructions again. Its important to get it right!

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I’ve been assisting couples for many years who live in different countries and wish to get married. In most cases, the couple have met online, or through a friend or relative and wish to apply for a K1 Fiance Visa so they can get married and live together in The United States as husband and wife.  Nearly all of these relationships have been genuine and have passed the test of time. With few exceptions, the couples that I have worked with over the years have stayed together, raised families and are enjoying their lives together. I haven’t stayed in touch with everyone that I have helped obtain a fiancé visa, but I do hear from many and it always makes me feel good to see them doing well. Its not easy to blend different cultures and races, so making it work takes real love. Of course, there is always the possibility of fraud and it’s a legitimate concern for Immigration, but by in large, these relationships are genuine and work out well. In some ways, I think the process of waiting for a Fiance Visa and the time spent talking with each other while being apart may actually be beneficial to the relationship. Its hard to be apart from someone you care about and only being able to talk with each other because you are separated by great distances seems to really help the couples get to know and understand each other before living together as husband and wife. Although unscientific, my K1 Fiance clients seem to stay together longer and are generally happier than some of the folks in my neighborhood who met in a more traditional manner, and who didn’t have to go through the hard process of being apart from each other at the beginning of their relationship.
If you have questions about the K1 Fiance Visa, please feel free to call me anytime toll free at 1-888-515-3529. I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Attorney Jeff Pettys

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Does my fiance or spouse need to get a Police Report to get a K1 Fiance or Marriage Visa?
The answer is Yes. Every foreign fiancé or spouse who has applied for a K1 Fiance Visa or a Marriage Visa must apply for and obtain a police report from every country he or she has lived  for more than 6 months after the age of 16. The CEAC has specific instructions for obtaining a Police Report. These instructions can be found at:  http://www.travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/Supporting_documents.html
I would suggest taking steps to obtain your Police Report after receiving your initial approval from USCIS. The report should be good for up to one year and you will need it to finish your application for a K1 Fiance or Marriage Visa. In the case of a Fiance Visa, you will likely submit it just prior to your Embassy interview or at your interview. For a Marriage Visa, you will typically submit it with all your other required documents directly to the National Visa Center as instructed.
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Learning to understand English is an important step in the Immigration process. Most if not all immigration proceedings will include an interview of the foreign national and that interview will be conducted in English. Every applicant for a K1 Fiance Visa or Marriage Visa will be interviewed at the end of the process by a US Embassy employee and that interview will be conducted in English. For this reason, its important that the foreign fiancé or spouse learn to speak and understand English. For some that have studied English in school, this may not be a problem. However, for those fiances or spouses who’s English is not so good, I recommend that you work on your English while your immigration papers are being processed. There are many English classes and courses that you can buy online or attend in person. One English course that I really like is offered by a company called Pronounce English and you can find their company web site at www.pronounce-english.com. Its an inexpensive app for your smart phone or tablet and it seems to work great!  You simply download the materials and start learning! At $39.95, its a steal.
If you ever have any questions about the K1 Fiance Visa or Marriage Visa process, you are welcome to call me anytime toll free at 1-888-515-3529.
Attorney Jeff Pettys

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The real advantage of the K1 Fiance Visa is the relatively quick processing time for acquiring the visa. From start to finish, it takes about 6-7 months. By contrast the CR1 Marriage Visa takes 12- 13 months to obtain. The process of acquiring a K1 Fiance Visa begins with the filing of the I-129f Petition for an Alien Fiance with USCIS. If all goes well, you should have your initial approval in about 4 months. Then the application is sent directly to the US Embassy closest to where your fiancé is living. In about 30 days, the US Embassy will contact your fiancé and provide him or her with their instructions for continued processing. Once all US Embassy forms have been submitted, the Embassy will schedule the Fiance Visa interview. Most interviews are schedule within 30 days of completing the Embassy requirements. The process of working with the US Embassy takes about 2-3 months in total. Once approved, the Visa will be delivered to your fiancé in about 10 working days.

If you have questions about the K1 Fiance Visa or would like to discuss the benefits of a CR1 Marriage visa, please feel free to call me toll free at 1-888-515-3529.

Attorney Jeffrey C Pettys

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Yes. Once your fiancé arrives in the United States on a K1 Fiance Visa, he or she can immediately apply for permission to work by filing form I-765, Application for Work Authorization. If your fiancé applies for work authorization upon his or her arrival and before getting married, the permission to work would be good for about 90 days.

The better approach is for the fiancé to get married first and then apply for his or her Legal Permanent Residency and work authorization at the same time. Waiting to marry first and then filing for your work authorization along with your application for Legal Permanent Residency will give you permanent permission to work, so long as you remain a Legal Permanent Resident and/or Citizen of the United States. Plus, if you file for your work authorization along with your request for legal permanent residency, USCIS will waive the $380 filing fee normally charged to file form I-765, Application for Work Authorization. That’s a big savings.

If you have any questions about obtaining permission to work while in the United States on a K1 Fiancé Visa, you are welcome to call me anytime toll free at 1-888-515-3529.

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Spring is a busy time of the year for our office. In part because it coincides with graduation. And for this reason, I get lots of calls and questions from foreign students earning their degrees at US Universities, who have fallen in love with a US citizen and wish to get married and stay and work in the US. The good news is that in most cases, the student can get married, stay and apply for an Adjustment of Status to become a US Legal Permanent Resident.

Students typically enter the United Sates on either a J-1 Exchange Visa or an F-1 Student Visa. There are a few alternative procedures that a student can choose from depending on the type of visa originally granted to the student.

F-1 Visa

F-1 Visas are issued to students who wish to enter the United States to study at the high school level, college, conservatories and language schools. F-1 Visas are generally valid for the time period of study, including a brief grace period after the completion of the student’s course of study. Students on an F1 Visa can marry while in school and apply for their Legal Permanent Residency. Once issued, the student can live and work in the US without issue.

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USCIS requires a passport style photo for each K1 Fiancé and/or CR1 Marriage Visa application. The processing of your application may be delayed if you do not submit the proper type and size photo. Therefore, its important that the photo that you submit meets the visa requirements.
I recommend that you use a professional passport picture service, but in the event that you try and do the photos yourself, the photos must meet the following basic requirements:
  • The passport photos must be in color
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Many of my clients who travel overseas to spend time with their fiancés or spouses while waiting on a K1 Fiance or CR1 Marriage Visa, become fathers. After all of the excitement, the question becomes…….What do I need to do so my child can travel to the US with my fiancé or spouse?

The child of a US citizen born overseas only needs a US Passport to travel to the US. To obtain a US passport for the child, the couple must first file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) with the nearest US Embassy and follow all the required instructions.

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Only a US citizen can petition a fiancé for a K1 Fiance Visa. As you may expect, the Petitioner will have to demonstrate that he or she is a US citizen to obtain a Fiancé Visa. You can submit the following documents to prove your US Citizenship:
Copy of your Birth Certificate
Copy of your Certificate of Naturalization
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