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How does the fiance visa work?

On Behalf of | Sep 13, 2021 | Immigration

Many Americans find love with people from other countries. In some cases, the relationship may progress to the point where they decide to make things permanent and get married. If you want to bring your fiance into the United States, it’s important to know about the fiance visa.

What is the fiance visa?

The fiance visa is also known as the K-1 nonimmigrant visa and is one of the family visas that potential immigrants can obtain. It allows you, as an American citizen, to bring your foreign fiance into the country so that you can get married. The purpose of the visa is specifically to get married within 90 days of your fiance entering the country. The marriage must be made in good-faith, and the two of you must have every intention of starting a life together as a married couple. The K-1 visa cannot be used solely to bring the person into the country without having the intention to be married.

What is the eligibility for the fiance visa?

You must meet eligibility criteria in order to bring a foreign fiance into the country. Those criteria include the following:

• You’re a citizen of the United States.
• You and your fiance plan to get married within 90 days of their arrival into the country on the K-1 visa.
• You and your fiance are both single and are free to legally marry in the U.S.
• You and your fiance have met in person at least once over a period of the last two years before you filed a petition for the visa. However, you can have the in-person meeting requirement waived based on certain factors, such as if it would cause extreme hardship to you or if it would go against the customs of your fiance’s foreign culture or social practices.

What if you don’t marry within 90 days?

If you and your fiance do not marry within the stipulated time frame, your fiance will have to leave the country at the end of the 90 days as the family visa expires and cannot be extended. If they don’t leave once the 90 days are up and you haven’t married, they are at risk of being deported and may not be able to return.

Many Americans have lived happily ever after once their fiance has legally entered the U.S. with a family visa. As long as you marry within 90 days of receiving the visa, you can look forward to building a life together.