US K1 Fiancée Visa

What is a K1 Fiancée Visa?

The K1 Visa is designed to allow you as an American citizen to bring your Thai fiancée to the US with the intention of marriage. Once granted, the K1 visa holder will have to fly to the States within six months of issuing the visa. Upon arrival in the USA, you and your Thai fiancée should marry within 90 days as the visa is valid only for the same period. Then later on, you can file for an adjustment of status if she wants to remain in the US. Otherwise, she needs to depart from the country on or before the visa expires.

What are the K-1 Visa Requirements?

• You must be an American citizen to petition for the K1 Visa
• You and your Thai fiancée must be free to marry. If one is previously married, show a certificate proving that the previous marriage is null and void
• You must have met your Thai fiancée in person during the last two years (an exception is such as those pertaining to religious rites)
• You and your Thai fiancée must pass a criminal record check
• Your Thai fiancée must pass a medical exam from an accredited health institution
• You must meet the financial requirements for the K-1 Visa (US petitioner is eligible to meet the income requirement, which is 125% of the poverty line depending on your home state)
• You must have the intention to marry your Thai fiancée within 90 days of arriving in the United States

What are the steps in obtaining a US K-1 Fiancée Visa?

1. As a first step, you must lodge the K-1 Visa petition to the USCIS Service Center with jurisdiction over your place of residence. This will be submitted to the USCIS Service Center located in either Vermont or California.

After you file the I-129f petition with the USCIS office the waiting begins. It usually takes USCIS about 2-3 months to process the I-129f petition. However, the processing time depends upon where the petition was filed. At the time of this writing, the Vermont Service Center has a faster processing time than the California Service Center while filing the petition in Bangkok can expedite the process, if you are allowed to file there.

2. If the petition is approved it will be forwarded to the National Visa Center. At the National Visa Center (NVC) your Thai fiancée's I-129F petition will be further processed. Basically, NVC does a background check to see who the Thai fiancée beneficiary of the K1 Visa and verify if she is admissible to the USA. It usually takes NVC approximately 4 weeks to process the petition.

3. After that, they will inform you by letter that the petition is being forwarded to the US Embassy in Bangkok or the US Consulate in Chiang Mai. They will also give you and your fiancée a BNK number. This number is your Thai fiancée's ID number which will also serve as the reference number when you set an appointment and this also makes future correspondence easier.

4. When the US Embassy or Consulate in Thailand receives your Thai fiancée's K-1 petition from NVC they will send her a letter containing a list of documents that your fiancée will need to collect for the interview at the Embassy. The letter will state that the Thai fiancée must collect these documents BEFORE sending back a response requesting an interview date.

5. Once the interview is completed the Consular official will likely tell your Thai fiancée either that the petition is approved or request more information using a 221(g). A 221(g) is a document the Embassy will give to your Thai fiancée containing a list of other documents that she must provide before the Visa will be granted. A 221(g) is often requested in Thailand because of a name change.

It is not uncommon for Thais to change their given names and might have done so at many points in their lives. Because of this, the Embassy wants to see all of the official name change certificates in order to make sure that the person seeking to immigrate to the US is in fact who they say they are. There are many other reasons that the Embassy may request a 221(g), but name change seems to be the most common.

6. In situations where there is a need for more documentation and this has been duly fulfilled and sufficient, the US Embassy or Consulate officials will finally issue the visa. For a K-1 Visa, a conservative estimate of the turnaround time is approximately 5 business days.

7. Once the Embassy has affixed the visa on the Thai Passport, the Embassy officials will inform the Thai fiancée to come pick it up any day after 3pm. If you have a US attorney working in Bangkok, then he or she can pick it up on the fiancée's behalf. How long is the K1 Fiancée Visa valid?

The visa is valid for 6 months. Upon entry to the US, you are given an allowable stay of 90 days where you and your Thai fiancée must get married within this period.

How long is the visa processing?

It takes about 6 months from the time you lodge the K1 Visa petition with USCIS to the time your Thai fiancée obtains the actual K1 Visa at the US Embassy in Bangkok. It will really depend on how long it will take for the USCIS and the foreign consular to process the application. Errors made by the petitioner or the fiancée can also further postpone the process, so it’s best to avoid that. It is important to make sure everything is correctly filled out and all the necessary documents are submitted.

Can a K1 Fiancée Visa be extended when marriage does not occur within the 90-day period?

The K-1 visa cannot be extended beyond the 90-day period. The visa is only good for one entry into the United States within six months of its issuance. The visa is issued only when both parties are fully aware that they must marry within 90 days of the fiancée’s arrival in the United States. Though you are not required to wed, your fiancée will be sent back to his/her country abroad if the wedding does not occur within the allowed time.

What are the reasons why the US K1 Fiancée Visa may be rejected?

US K-1 Fiancee visa can be rejected if:

1. the relationship with your Thai fiancée is not proven to be genuine
2. the Thai fiancee is inadmissible to the US on certain grounds

What are the grounds for inadmissibility?

• health issues (ex. communicable disease of public health significance, inability to receive vaccinations, physical or mental disorders)
• involvement with or use of drugs, controlled substances, or chemicals
• a criminal record
• involvement in prostitution
• likely at any time to become a public expense (in the event, the US citizen cannot support the foreign fiancé(e)/spouse)
• violations of any immigration law (including being removed from the US, being unlawfully present in the US, entering the US illegally, and misrepresenting or omitting facts on or in connection with a visa application)
• seeking to enter the United States to engage in any unlawful activity

The granting of a visa can be delayed if the US Consular Officer has concerns regarding any of the issues above and/or needs additional information.

What if the Thai fiancée was considered inadmissible?

A glimmer of hope is there if your Thai fiancée was found inadmissible. They are entitled to obtain a waiver of the grounds of inadmissibility. If the visa was denied in the Embassy or Consulate in Bangkok, an I-601 waiver form must be filed before the USCIS Bangkok District Office. However, this form can only be filed after a consular official has concluded that a ground of inadmissibility exists as per the Immigration and Nationality Act.

According to the said waiver of grounds of inadmissibility, the consistent refusal to allow the Thai fiancée to enter the United States will cause "extreme hardship" to the U.S. Citizen. The term "extreme hardship" is never defined in the statute. Although, it can be implied that the hardship must be above mere everyday difficulty to equate with the term "extreme." This "extreme hardship" must also fall upon the US citizen, and not the Thai fiancée, in order to entitle the latter to a waiver.

The importance of hiring a K1 Visa attorney

Alternative visa assistance services do not offer the same competent advantage that a law firm does. Apart from the knowledge and familiarity with the immigration laws and the overall application process, a reputable law firm can offer sound legal advice particularly in special cases.

Obtaining a fiancée visa without any legal assistance is possible; thought it may be very strenuous especially when it comes to making sure all the documents are in order. Without a lawyer’s assistance, you have to rely only on information on the internet, which may be outdated as immigration laws and procedures are constantly changing.