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K1 Visa- Eligibility and Immigration Process

Author: James Marshall
by James Marshall
Posted: Jun 13, 2019

With a K1 visa, a US citizen can sponsor his/her fiancé to enter and stay in the United States for a period of 90 days. However, the sponsor and the fiancé must be married within a period of 90 days. If marriage and other legal formalities are not possible within the stipulated period, it becomes necessary to apply for an extension.

The K1 visa is one of the best possibilities of obtaining permanent residency status legally in the United States. After a legal marriage ceremony, the spouse can apply for a Green Card or permanent residency. You can also apply for an AOS or Adjustment of Status and obtain a green card after marriage. All green card holders can live and work in the United States permanently.

Visa Eligibility

While the K1 Visa allows the US citizen to sponsor his/her fiancé and allows them to enter and stay in the country until a period of 90 days. However, both the partners who are engaged must be married within this period. Only a US citizen can sponsor his fiancé and apply for a K1 visa. Another important requirement for applying a K1 visa is that both the partners must be unmarried during the period. It is also important to end any prior marriage legally before applying for a K1 visa. In case the previous marriage is not annulled or the divorce process is incomplete, the sponsor is not eligible to apply for the fiancé visa.

The relationship must be legitimate and the fiancé must be above 18 years of age and not related by blood. You can prove the legitimacy of the relationship by providing photographs, written statements from relatives and friends, wedding engagement photos and so forth. Both the partners should have met in person at least once in two years before applying for the fiancé visa.

Both partners must also sign a statement, which indicates the authenticity of the relationship by intending to get married within a period of 90 days when the sponsored fiancé enters the country. When the visa is approved, the fiancé can enter the country and remain for four months from the approval date of the visa. However, it is to be noted that the fiancé will lose the K1visa status if the marriage is not legalized within four months from the date of visa approval and the sponsored fiancé will have to leave the country with immediate effect.

Sponsored fiancés can seldom apply for another temporary visa during this period. Once the marriage is legalized, the fiancé can apply for a permanent green card. The sponsor can apply for a marriage green card after the wedding and it needs to be sponsored by the same person who sponsored the K1 visa.

Olvis Immigration and Travel is one of the leading visa processing companies in the USA and the Philippines offering services such as fiancée K1 visa, IR1 visa, CR1 spousal visa, tourist visa and special resident retiree’s visa (SRRV). To know more, visit https://www.olvis.com/about-us/why-choose-us/.

About the Author

I'm an freelance copywriter and I write on a variety of topics.

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Author: James Marshall

James Marshall

Member since: Oct 11, 2016
Published articles: 9

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