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Fiances/Fiancees who are engaged to be married to United States citizens may apply for a fiance visa with the BCIS on Form I-129F.
The K-1 Fiance visa is only available to those persons engaged to marry a United States citizen. It is not available to fiances of U.S. permanent residents.
The K-1 visa allows the fiance and his or her accompanying minor children to enter the United States for the sole purpose of marrying the U.S. citizen within ninety (90) days of entry.
The Immigration & Nationality Act provides for issuance of a K-1 visa only after a petition, filed in the United States, has been approved, based upon satisfactory evidence that the parties have previously met in person within two (2) years of the date of filing the petition, have a bona fide intention to marry, and are legally able and actually willing to marry in the United States within a period of ninety (90) days after the alien's arrival in the United States.
The Attorney General may waive the requirement of a prior meeting if it can be shown that it is not customary to meet prior to marriage in an alien's particular culture or religion.
It is important to note that the marriage must take place within ninety (90) days of entering the United States. If the marriage does not occur within this time frame, the alien and his or her accompanying children will be required to depart the country. Further, the I-129F petition must be filed with the BCIS in the United States and not with a foreign consulate abroad. The only exception to this general rule is in the case of a U.S. citizen petitioner/fiance residing abroad. In this case only the U.S. citizen may execute the I-129F petition before a U.S. consulate official who will then forward the petition to a BCIS office in the United States for adjudication.
Once the marriage in the United States has taken place, the alien must apply for “adjustment of status” through a local BCIS office. Following approval of that application, the alien will receive conditional permanent residence status for a period of two (2) years. It is incumbent upon the conditional permanent resident to petition the BCIS for removal of the condition within ninety (90) days of the second anniversary date of receiving permanent residence. Proof of the continuing viability of the marriage will be required to support the petition for removal of the condition.
Most BCIS Service Centers will adjudicate a K-1 fiance petition within six (6) months. Once BCIS approval has been secured, the case will be transferred to the United States Consulate nearest the alien's foreign residence for processing the fiance visa. A medical examination will be required prior to scheduling the alien fiance visa interview. Typically, the entire K-1 fiance visa process takes between seven (7) and ten (10) months from the date of BCIS filing through to the final visa interview.
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