Alex Halow Immigration Attorney — www.k1fianceevisas.com
Member of AILA, American Immigration Lawyers Association

K1 Fiancee and K3 Spouse Visa Resources:

On this web site, you will find a wealth of information and resources about the K1 (a.k.a. "K-1") fiance / fiancee visa and the K3 (a.k.a. "K-3") spouse visa, as well as information about how to hire me to represent you.

If you already know about the K1 and K3 visas, and have decided you want professional help navigating the immigration process, click here to read about my flat fees, or here to read why you should hire me. I can help you no matter what state you live in or the country where your fiancee or spouse lives.

If you are still investigating the K1 fiancee or K3 spouse visa or just want more information about them, please take a look around my site: you will find all the basic information you need, as well as links to other useful resources. I recommend that you start by reading this page, then work through the links to the left in order so that you get a full overview of both the K1 fiancee and K3 spouse visas, as well as the services I offer.

K1 Fiancee Visa Basics and Eligibility:

The K1 fiancee visa is available only to a fiancee (the term "fiancee" will cover both "fiances" and "fiancees" throughout the rest of this web site) of a U.S. citizen. It is usually the best option for immigration for an international fiancee who is currently outside the U.S., as well as for many of those who are here on a tourist or other type of non-immigrant visa.

If you are a U.S. citizen who is engaged to a citizen or national of another country, you can petition for a K1 fiancee visa. On approval, the K1 fiancee visa will allow your fiancee to travel to the U.S. for a period of up to 90 days. Your fiancee may be able to obtain temporary permission to work when they arrive. Provided that you marry within 90 days of your fiancee's arrival, they will be eligible to become a legal permanent resident and can obtain obtain a longer-term work authorization while they are waiting for the necessary paperwork to process through.

Eligibility for the K1 fiancee visa depends on the following requirements:

• the visa sponsor must be a U.S. citizen, and the beneficiary must be their fiancee;

• both the U.S. citizen and foreign fiancee must be free to marry, meaning that they are not currently married to other people and have no other impediment to marriage (prior marriages that ended in a legally valid divorce or annulment, or because the other spouse passed away, are not a problem);

• the U.S. citizen and foreign fiancee must have met in person within the two years before the K1 fiancee visa petition is filed unless either:

  (a) meeting your fiancee in person would violate strict and long established customs of your fiancee's foreign culture or social practice; or

  (b) the U.S. citizen can establish that complying with this requirement will result in extreme hardship to them (please note that financial hardship alone is not considered to be an "extreme hardship" by the USCIS); and

• you and your fiancee must intend to marry within 90 days of your fiancee entering the U.S. using a K1 visa.

Additional Requirements and Restrictions under "IMBRA":

On March 6, 2006, a new law took effect that requires additional disclosures from K1 visa sponsors and places restrictions on the number of times a single sponsor can use the K1 visa process. This law is the "International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005" (also known as "IMBRA"). Although most of the provisions of IMBRA are directed at a broadly-defined class of "international marriage brokers", its direct effects on K1 visa sponsors are dramatic.

The additional requirements and restrictions enacted in IMBRA include the following:

• IMBRA limits the number of K1 visa petitions a sponsor can file or have approved without seeking a waiver of the limits. A sponsor will need to seek a waiver of the limits if either:

  (a) they have filed two or more K1 visa petitions at any time in the past; or

  (b) they already had a K1 visa petition approved within the past two years.

  Waiver of these limits is at the discretion of USCIS, but ordinarily can be granted where "justification exists." However, if the visa sponsor has a criminal history including violent offenses, the waiver will only be granted in "extraordinary circumstances."

• IMBRA requires the visa sponsor to notify USCIS in their petition if they met their fiancee through an "international marriage broker." The definition of international marriage broker included in IMBRA is very broad, and appears to include any dating or introduction website that focuses on introducing U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents to foreign nationals. Although there are some exceptions in the definition, they are relatively narrow, and whether or not a particular introduction or matchmaking service falls under the definition of an "International Marriage Broker" should be determined on a case-by-case basis.
• the visa sponsor must disclose whether or not they have ever been convicted by a court of law (civil or criminal) or court martialed by a military tribunal of any of the following crimes (even if the records of the conviction were sealed or expunged):

  (a) domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, dating violence, elder abuse and stalking;

  (b) homicide, murder, manslaughter, rape, abusive sexual conduct, sexual exploitation, incest, torture, trafficking, peonage, holding hostage, involuntary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprisonment or an attempt to commit any of these crimes; or

  (c) three or more convictions for crimes relating to a controlled substance or alcohol not arising from a single act.

  If the visa sponsor has any criminal history that falls under these categories, they will also have to provide certified copies of any related court and/or police records regarding that criminal history. The petition may be approved, even if this type of criminal history is present. However, any such criminal history will be disclosed to the prospective immigrant.

• if the visa sponsor was convicted of any of the crimes listed above, but they were being battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by a spouse, parent, or adult child at the time of their conviction, they must also state whether:

  (a) they were acting in self defense;

  (b) they violated a protection order issued for their own protection; or

  (c) they committed, were arrested for, were convicted of, or plead guilty to committing a crime that did not result in serious bodily injury, and there was a connection between the crime committed and their having been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.

The object of IMBRA is to address perceived problems with domestic violence when it comes to internationals who are immigrating to the U.S. The concern is that a person who immigrates to the U.S. and ends up in an abusive family relationship will have a much harder time breaking out of the cycle of domestic violence (something which can be difficult enough to begin with), because of possible language or cultural barriers, and because of the fact that they may feel dependent on their abuser for their immigration status. It is hard to argue with the object to IMBRA, but many people feel that the law is too sweeping and has gone too far, even if its goal is a worthwhile one. This has already led to litigation regarding the provisions of IMBRA that apply directly to International Marriage Brokers.

Although the provisions directly affecting K1 visa sponsors are pretty sweeping, my own impression is that the majority of K1 visa sponsors are not going to be affected, because they will not have any criminal history that will need to be reported as part of the K1 visa process. A bigger concern may be the numerical limits that IMBRA places on the number of K1 petitions that a sponsor can file, and how easy or difficult it will be to obtain a waiver of those limits in an appropriate case.

K1 Fiancee Visa Advantages:

One question I am asked regularly is "Why can't my fiancee just come using a tourist visa or on the visa waiver program and marry me?" The problem is that a main condition of both a tourist visa and the visa waiver program is your fiancee's sworn promise that they only plan to visit the U.S., not immigrate here. The Department of State ("DOS") and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") assume that an intent to marry a U.S. citizen is the same as an intent to immigrate. If your fiancee enters the U.S. as a tourist, without disclosing that they are your fiancee and intend to marry you, they have committed visa fraud. If the USCIS later decides that this is the case, they could be removed (i.e., deported) and it will be almost impossible for them to come back, even though they are married to you.

In theory, it is possible for someone to obtain a tourist visa for the express purpose of coming to the U.S. to marry. The problem is, to do this safely, they must disclose their intention when they apply for their tourist visa, and convince the consular interviewer that they truly intend to return to their home country after your marriage. For obvious reasons, this can be difficult to do, because the consulates know that the K1 fiancee visa is available as an alternative. Even if the tourist visa is given, there is also a possibility that your fiancee could be "turned back at the border" when they try to enter into the U.S. if the inspecting officer does not believe your fiancee really intends to return home after your wedding. Finally, if you use this option, your fiancee will have to return home after your wedding, and you will need to apply for a K3 spouse visa or other appropriate immigration visa for them to be able to return to the U.S. -- a process that is just as complicated and lengthy as obtaining a K1 fiancee visa in the first place.

Using the K1 fiancee visa avoids all of the problems noted above, and is the only appropriate way for a foreign fiancee to come to the U.S. to marry.

The information on this web site regarding immigration, K1 fiancee visas, and K3 spouse visas is general, and cannot be substituted for legal advice.