K1 Visa

As the top Fremont immigration law firm, the Law Office of Tricia Wang is committed to resolving your family immigration case in the smoothest and most cost-efficient way possible. Our K1 visa attorney and staff speak English, Mandarin, Marathi, Cantonese, Taishan Dialect and Japanese! If you are a U.S. citizen and have a fiancé(e) overseas, we are the right choice for you!

The fiancé(e) K-1 nonimmigrant visa is for a foreign-citizen fiancé(e) of a United States citizen. The K-1 visa permits a foreign-citizen fiancé(e) to travel to the United States and marry his or her U.S. citizen sponsor within 90 days of arrival. Eligible children of K-1 visa applicants receive K-2 visas.

Both the U.S. citizen and the K-1 visa applicant must be legally free to marry at the time the petition was filed and must have remained so thereafter. Generally, the foreign-citizen fiancé(e) and U.S. citizen sponsor must have met in person within the past two years of filing the petition.

Process of Applying for a K-1 Visa

Before filing for a K-1 Visa, the couple in question must have seen each other in person within 2 years, prior to the filing. It is important to collect evidence of having met in person prior to filing and include this evidence with the petition. Failure to provide evidence of having met in person can result in a RFE (Request for Evidence) later in the process.

An American citizen begins the process of petitioning for a K-1 visa by filing a petition with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, together with the required fees paid. During this process, the petitioner may receive a RFE if sufficient proof about the relationship or the accuracy of information is not provided. Once a visa petition has been approved or denied by the USCIS, a notice is sent to the petitioner notifying them of the approval or denial of the petition. Approval of the petition does not necessarily ensure that a visa will be granted. If the petition is approved, it is then sent to the National Visa Center of the State Department, which in turn forwards it to the Embassy or Consulate nearest to the foreign fiancé(e). You will then need to schedule a medical exam and an appointment for a visa interview at the Embassy.

Prior to the interview, the foreign fiancé(e) will have to apply for the K1 visa. If he or she does not apply for a K-1 visa during the four-month period after the approval of the petition, the petition will expire and the U.S. petitioner will have to start the process again unless an extension is applied for and granted. At the visa interview, a Consular officer reviews the documents submitted by the American petitioner and his or her foreign fiancé(e). The Consular officer looks for evidence of a relationship, and asks the foreign fiancé(e) questions to determine that a bona fide relationship exists between them. Typically, fiancé visa applicants should bring to the visa interview evidence of their relationship, such as photographs together, correspondence between the two, evidence of remittances to the fiancé(e), phone bills showing calls to each other, etc.

Once the interview is finished the Consular officer issues the visa if the officer is convinced of a bona fide relationship exists that meets all legal requirements. The officer may also request that further evidence be submitted before making a decision. If the Consular officer does not think the relationship is bona fide or finds some legal impediment to issuing the visa, the petition will be returned to USCIS and recommended for revocation and no visa will be issued.

The total time from filing of the initial petition to the actual issuance of a visa can vary, but recently the average time for such petitions is around eight months. With our 25 year experience, you are definitely in good hands. We are the best reviewed immigration lawyer in Fremont, California and have 100% success rate on K1 visa applications! Call us by phone now at (510) 791-0232, or chat with us on Wechat at: TriciaWangLawOffice (you may also find our wechat barcode to scan at the bottom of the page).

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