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Obtaining a CR1 Marriage Visa starts with the submission of the I-130 Petition for Alien Relative form and all the required documents with USCIS. After receiving approval of your I-130 form, you will next be contacted by the National Visa Center who will send you a letter or email instructing you to pay your fees and to submit your Immigrant Visa Application Form and your I-864 Affidavit of Support, along with more documents. The National Via Center has updated their form and is now using an online form called the DS-260. This replaces the older DS 230 form.

To start working on the new online DS-260 Immigrant Visa Application form, you will need to go to:  https://ceac.state.gov/CEAC/ and then click on the link for the DS 260 form. Before you can login to complete your form, you will need your NVC case number your NVC ID number. You can find this on your NVC email or letter. 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.

You will need a copy of your USCIS I-797 Approval Notice and a copy of the beneficiaries passport bio page to complete the form.

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What questions will I be asked at my K1 Fiance Visa Interview?

I get this question a lot. Understandably, my clients are always nervous for their interview and the first thing I tell them is that they have nothing to worry about. When your relationship is genuine and honest, all you really have to remember is to tell the truth. You are seeking a fiance visa because you are in love and want to get married. You can expect that most if not all of your questions will be about your fiance, how you met, what made you fall in love and what are your plans together. Most interviews take less than 20 minutes.

Some typical questions that you might get asked at your fiance visa interview are:


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Today, there are more options than ever to find someone to help you apply for a Fiance Visa or Marriage Visa. There are discount visa processing companies located in virtually every country in the world, numerous attorneys and law firms, friends who have gone through the immigration process and claim to know something about it, and yourself.

Processing your visa paperwork is a very important step to insure that you and your loved one can stay together and become the family that you want to be. No matter who you hire, great care must be given to your application to make sure it is done correctly and timely. And regardless of who you hire, it’s an expensive undertaking. For sure, there are differences in the fees charged by the various service providers for their work, but when you add in the filing fees, its expensive no matter who you chose. I guess what I am trying to say is that this is no time to be “penny wise and pound foolish”. You will always get what you pay for. The lowest that I have found for the discount Fiance or Marriage Visa processing companies is around $500. That’s really cheap. The most expensive I have found for a law firm is around $2700. I think something like $1000-1300 for the legal work is fair.

The question you should be asking yourself is not who is the cheapest service provider, but who provides you with the best value for your money. To determine this, you have to understand what it is you should be looking for and what level of service and care do you really need. 

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Can I use a Co-Sponsor for a K1 Fiance Visa?

 The simple answers is yes. You can use a co-sponsor if the Petitioner of the Fiance Visa cannot meet the income requirements as required. However, keep in mind that each US consulate or Embassy has some say in the matter. Some US consulates and Embassies don’t fully embrace the use of Co-Sponsors for Fiance Visas, but it is allowed. To be considered, the co-sponsor must meet the income requirements for himself/herself, his or her family, the Fiance Visa Petitioner plus the foreign fiance and any children that he or she intends to bring to the US.

The Petitioner must still file his or her I-134 Affidavit of Support and the required documentation along with the same forms and documents for the co-sponsor.

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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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