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Fiancée Visa Process Information (K-1 visa) & Adjustment of Status (“Green Card”)

Below, we provided a brief but very useful overview regarding a Fiancée Visa Process. We summarized answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) we receive daily from our clients. We hope that you will find this information helpful too!

If you have any additional questions, would like to schedule a legal consultation or need legal assistance, you can contact our immigration attorney directly at Attorney@law-visa-usa.com or/and you can schedule a telephone consultation with our immigration attorney. We speak fluent Russian, and can communicate directly with your fiancée from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan or other Former Soviet Union country throughout the entire process. In most cases, we can email and call them directly to instruct them in regard to the proper documentation and visa application process.

Fiancé(e) visa or K-1 visa can be used by a U.S.A. citizen to bring to the U.S.A. his or her foreign fiancé(e) for the purpose of marriage. Upon arrival in the U.S.A., a foreign fiancé(e) should either marry his/her American fiancé(e) within the first 90 days after arrival in the United States, or must leave the country. If the couple changed their mind and decided not to marry, fiancé(e) visa status cannot be changed to any other visa/status in the USA. If the couple did not get married, then the foreign fiancé(e) must leave the USA and go back to her or his native country. This visa is a Petitioner-specific, and issued only to those who show a true intent to get married.

Fiancée visa is a non-immigrant visa. However, the procedures of applying and obtaining of a fiancé(e) visa make it very similar to an immigrant visa. K-1 visa is issued if the petitioner (USA citizen) can show that he/she met in person with his/her foreign fiancée within the previous two (2) years; intends to marry his/her foreign fiancé(e) within the 90 days of her/his entry to the USA; they are involved into a serious and genuine fiancée relationship; etc.

The USA citizen can petition his/her foreign fiancé(e) by filing the USCIS Form I-129F with all supporting forms and documentation with the appropriate Department of Homeland Security / USCIS Service Center. This petition can be filed only in the USA; it cannot be filed with any US Embassy or Consulate abroad. Initially, this petition should be filed and approved in the USA. Only a US citizen has right to apply for a Fiancée visa for his or her fiancé(e), a lawful permanent resident in the USA cannot petition for his or her fiancé(e) from abroad.

The petition has to be supported by certain documentation and copies of many documents, for example: Forms G-325A (Biographic information), one for each party; birth certificate of American citizen; or Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States; or Certificate of Naturalization of American citizen; passport of American citizen; birth certificate of a foreign fiancée; passport of a foreign fiancée; evidence of legal ability to marry (e.g. evidence that the parties are unmarried, single, divorced or widowed; over 18 years of age; etc); evidence that parties met in person within the previous two (2) years (e.g. photos together, letters, tickets, itinerary, etc); evidence of seriousness of fiancée relationship and intentions to get married (e.g. emails, letters, chats; photos of a couple together; personal declarations; letters of intent to get married; wedding invitations; honeymoon plans, for example, contract with the resort; etc).

When a fiancée visa petition is approved by the USCIS (Department of Homeland Security) it will be transferred to the NVC, National Visa Center (the Department of State). After that, the approved petition is sent to the appropriate US Embassy or Consulate abroad, usually, in the native country of the foreign fiancé(e). Typically, the US Embassy or Consulate will contact the foreign fiancée directly by sending her/him a packet with the forms and information required to prepare for the interview.

We can make this entire lengthy visa process to move smoothly for you and your foreign fiancée, as we have assisted numerous couples in the past, and know how exactly the process works, and what is needed to have the Petition and Visa approved.

Below, is the list of some of the required documents for a fiancée visa interview in the US Embassy or Consulate in the foreign fiancée’s home country:

• Valid and unexpired passport;
• Birth certificate (and certified English translation);
• Police clearance(s) from all districts/countries where foreign fiancée lived since obtaining age of 16. Police certificates or clearances are required from all places where he/she lived for more than 6 months (if in her native country), and where he/she lived for more than 1 year (if in a foreign country).
• Certified divorce decrees or certificates of death, if fiancées were ever married and divorced before, or when prior marriage ended in death of a spouse.
• Medical examination and vaccinations records. Please keep in mind that you should not open the sealed envelope with the results of the Medical exam.
• If a foreign fiancée has a minor child who is going to the USA with her (on a K-2 visa), the child must have a valid passport, birth certificate and the results of his/her medical examination. If the child is over 16, then he or she will need a police clearance as well.
• Evidence to show validity and seriousness of fiancée relationship, for example: photos of the couple together, letters and emails, telephone bills, airline tickets, etc.
• Affidavit of support, form I-134, executed by American citizen fiancé(e) on behalf of his/her foreign fiancé(e), plus all required supporting documentation (e.g. letter from current employer; tax returns for the previous year; bank statements if appropriate, etc).
• Please note that all required documents in foreign language must be accompanied by certified English translations. Notarization is rarely required. The documents can be translated by any person (not necessarily a certified translator) who certifies that she is proficient in both languages and therefore is qualified to translate. However, a foreign fiancée shall not attempt to translate her own documents.

Upon arrival in the USA, a fiancée visa holder has two options: she/he can either marry an inviting US citizen within the 90 days from the day of their entry to the USA; OR if parties changed their mind and no longer desire to marry each other, then a foreign fiancé must leave the USA and go back to her native country by the end of the authorized period of stay (which is normally 90 days for a fiancée visa holder).

Please note that upon admission to the USA, your foreign fiancée may apply for a SSN and a work authorization permit which could authorize her/him to work for the first 90 days. After marriage, you can apply for adjustment of status (Green Card and a Work Permit valid beyond first 90 days, which is usually valid for one full year). Typically, couples select to wait until they are married and apply for adjustment of status and a work permit together.

After marrying a US citizen, a fiancée visa holder who intends to reside in the USA permanently, has to apply for adjustment of status to a lawful permanent resident status (apply for a green card) based on her/his marriage to a US citizen. Please keep in mind that marriage to a US citizen by itself and without petitioning with the Department of Homeland Security does not confer on a foreign spouse any rights on permanent residence in the USA. To obtain a permanent resident status (green card), a foreign spouse has to apply for adjustment of status with the USCIS (Department of Homeland Security).

If you require a legal advice, consultation or legal assistance with a Fiancée Visa or/and Adjustment of Status (Green Card), we would be happy to help. Please contact us directly for a quote. Our legal fees are very reasonable and affordable, and we can offer a flexible payment plan. If we represented you and your foreign fiancée throughout the Fiancée Visa process, typically, we offer a reduced legal fee for legal assistance with the Application for Adjustment of Status (“Green Card”) after the marriage.

We can make this entire lengthy visa application process move smoothly for you and your foreign fiancée. We have assisted numerous couples in the past, and know how exactly the process works, what is needed to have the Petition and Visa approved, and how to improve your chances of approval. In addition, we speak fluent Russian, and can communicate directly with you or/and your fiancée from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan or other Former Soviet Union country throughout the entire process. If properly applied for with all supporting paperwork and required evidence, fiancée visas (K-1 visas) have the highest success rate amongst other non-immigrant visas.

As a last note, I want to briefly discuss Premarital Agreements. In my practice, I have observed at least several instances of foreign women brought to the United States on a Fiancée visa who had an advance notice of a Premarital Agreement, and who later tried to back off and refuse to sign the agreement, or insisted on making significant changes to the agreement shortly before marriage in the USA.

Be diligent and protect your assets if you plan to marry a foreign national in the USA, or bring a foreign fiancée on a Fiancée Visa. If you are a reasonably wealthy man or have some assets that you don’t want to lose in case of divorce and property division (pension, 401K, a house, etc), one of the main issues you should discuss with your foreign fiancée before you file the I-129F, Fiancée Visa Petition, should be a Premarital Agreement! The best Premarital Agreement takes into consideration both parties’ interests, not merely US citizen spouse’s, but at the same time protects integrity of a US citizen’s assets in case of divorce. If you see that your foreign fiancée, who does not bring any assets to the marriage, but nevertheless, becomes difficult and will likely refuse to sign a reasonable Premarital Agreement, you might be better off to move on and look for a wife somewhere else. This is especially true if you are from one of the Western “Community Property” States, which are: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin. In these States, it’s not uncommon to have marital or even pre-marital property divided into half in case of divorce, even if the marriage was of a short duration.

Make sure that your Premarital Agreement is: 1) prepared by a qualified Attorney in your State (jurisdiction); 2) you pay for legal advice, not merely look up information on Internet or bug lawyers for free telephone consultation (they deserve to be paid for their time and expertise); 3) have your Premarital Agreement TRANSLATED to Russian (or native language of your fiancée) by a qualified translator or lawyer in the USA (NOT in Russia), a translator could be a licensed bi-lingual lawyer (this way you can assure an ACCURATE TRANSLATION of ALL LEGAL TERMS which will stand in court if needed later); 4) send or give your fiancée a DRAFT of the Premarital Agreement BEFORE she came to USA on K-1 Fiancée visa, so she has time to review it and provide her objections or suggestions, and document the fact that you gave her the draft on a certain date (it will reduce chances of her coming to USA and then later refusing to sign the Agreement or claiming that it’s unconscionable or she is being forced into signing); 5) hire her a SEPARATE lawyer here in USA who can explain the terms of the agreement to her BEFORE she signs it (usually, it will cost you only a few hours of a lawyer’s time, but it helps to bulletproof the agreement for court in case of any future problems; before you hire her a lawyer, ask your lawyer to suggest you someone he or she knows, as it will help if both lawyers can easily work together); 6) don’t sign the Premarital Agreement in Russia or other FSU countries (do it in your lawyer’s office in your State in the United States, having your attorneys present in person, an interpreter can be present via teleconference); 7) never sign the Premarital Agreement in counties where it’s not recognized by law (even though it might seem convenient if you are having your marriage abroad at some exotic island in Caribbean or Indian ocean); 8) and, of course, don’t forget to sign the Premarital Agreement BEFORE the marriage takes place.

As a US-trained and licensed bilingual attorney (Russian-English), I have assisted numerous couples in the USA in having their Premarital Agreements translated to Russian (certified notarized translation). As an interpreter, I assisted through teleconferencing and in person in negotiating and signing of the Premarital Agreement between Husband and his lawyer and Wife and her lawyer in several different States. During signing of the Premarital Agreement an interpreter can be present via teleconference to your lawyer’s office. Most of the couples I assisted to either as an Immigration Lawyer or as a Legal Translator or Interpreter go on to have happy and successful marriages, but occasionally all extra legal precautions could be a real lifesaver.

If you have any additional questions or need legal assistance with a Fiancé Visa Petition, I-129F, or Application for Adjustment of Status, I-485, or any other related legal matters and immigration petitions, you are welcome to contact our office directly at Attorney@law-visa-usa.com and you can schedule a telephone or email consultation with our immigration attorney. We speak fluent Russian and English, and would be glad to offer a consultation in either language!