My name is Yakov Spektor and I’m one of the partners at the law firm of Spektor, Spektor & Berman, the immigration lawyers. And today we will talk about love, and specifically the K1 visa.

You’re about to get near to your sweetheart who happens to be a US citizen or you are a US citizen yourself who wants to get married to a foreign sweetheart.

Both of you want to settle somewhere in the United States together forever as soon as possible. You want to get your papers done, your green card, so that you can start working in the United States from day one and contribute to the family budget.

K1 Visa Requirements

Well, how would you begin? And this is when many people remember that there is such thing as Fiance Visa. Now, a fiance visa allows a fiance of a US citizen to come to the United States to get married.

But in many cases against a visa is not that necessary. How do you know if you do need that K1 Visa? Ask yourself a simple question. Is there a way for me and my fiance to get together, whether it’s in the United States or another country, and get married?

Once you are married, your husband or wife can apply for you to come to the United States as a green card holder right away, which means you will be eligible to start working.

Now someone who comes with a K1 Visa, however, will only be able to begin working after a few months at best because more steps will need to be taken.

K1 visa processing time

Currently, it doesn’t take that much longer to file a petition based on your marriage, maybe just a few months longer than the fiance visa, so it might make sense. Now, if you do go The Fiancee Visa route, don’t forget that once you come in here, you will have to get married within 90 days, and then apply for your green card. That’s more time and more expensive.

But if you come here as a green card holder right away, you save yourself. However, if there is no way for you and your fiance to get together to get married in the foreseeable future, a fiance visa might be necessary.

Now you should know that there are requirements even for a fiance visa, for example, the government usually wants to see that you and your fiance physically met each other in the last few years. There are some exceptions to that rule, but not that many.

Filing a petition

Well, the process is much simpler than getting married and bringing your spouse here in the green card. It’s still quite complicated. You will still need to file a petition for your fiance and then your fiance will need to attend an interview with the counselor.

Figuring out the best way forward can save us thousands and thousands of dollars. Thank you for reading. Have a great day.