Top 5 Reasons You Need an Immigration Attorney to File for a K-1 Visa

The K-1 Visa, or fiancé Visa, allows the fiancé of a United States citizen to come to the USA in order for the couple to get married.

After the marriage, the foreign fiancé needs to adjust their status to obtain Legal Permanent Residency (LPR) and in 3 years after obtaining LPR status, the fiancé would be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

The U.S. citizen in the couple will initiate a K-1 visa by filing Form I-129F with the USCIS. Once Form I-129 has been approved by USCIS, the initial petition for the K-1 fiancé petition is forwarded to the National Visa Center and also to a U.S. embassy abroad.

The foreign fiancé must attend an interview where they will need to provide the proper documents to show a bona fide relationship as well as other documents. After the documents have been approved by the U.S. embassy, the K-1 visa will be issued. The normal amount of time that the foreign fiancé has to get married to their U.S. citizen fiancé is 90 days.

As soon as the fiancé from the other country gets to America, the couple must get married as soon as possible. In addition, the foreign fiancé has to pass a criminal background test and provide proof of COVID vaccination. There must not be any immigration bars such as a criminal conviction or fraud-based bars. 

From start to finish, the entire process of getting a K-1 fiance visa is extremely complicated and stressful. An expert immigration attorney, who knows the K-1 visa process, will save you all that stress and get you to the end of the process in a smooth and timely manner. 

Here are the top five reasons that you should use an immigration attorney to obtain your K-1 Visa:

1. First, your attorney will ensure that the forms you fill out are completed correctly and that all of the necessary documents are submitted right the first time. Every case is different, so that’s why having an attorney is crucial because they can check for errors and help you fill out the forms correctly. This is so you don’t have to experience unnecessary delays due to missing or incorrect information on the documents. Your lawyer will be able to spot any problems with your K-1 fiancé case that you may have overlooked.
2. The next step in the process is making sure that you meet a number of requirements. Your attorney will make sure that the U.S. citizen is not sponsoring their fiancé for a K-1 Visa. Another rule is that the couple has to plan on getting married within 90 days of the immigrant’s arrival in the United States. 
3. Another important reason you should use an attorney when processing your K-1 visa is that the timeline to obtain the K-1 visa could be very different depending on where you are filing. Some embassies have an organized and streamlined way for the K-1 visa and other places drag out the process. The timeline for obtaining the K-1 visa usually takes 4 to 10 months. 
4. The forms and documents that are needed for the K-1 visa process are extensive and quite confusing. Below is a sample of the forms and documents that you are going to need:

• I-129F: This form lets the government know that you intend to bring your foreign partner to get married and adjust your status.
• G325A: This is biographical information provided to the government. You must submit this form for both the U.S. citizen and their foreign-born fiancé. The information has info on whom you have worked for in the past and prior residences.
• DS160: This form shall be filled out online after your case has made its way to the embassy abroad. The questions in this form are extremely detailed so you should plan on doing a lot of research to get all of the information needed to fill out this document properly.
• I-134: When the foreign national fiancé goes to the interview at the embassy, the U.S citizen needs to fill this out in order to prove that they have the ability to support their fiancé.

5. Below are the documents that you are going to need to submit for the K-1 process:

• Passport-style photos- These are submitted at the time of filing the I-129F petition or when the foreign fiancé goes to the embassy abroad for an interview.
• Birth Certificates- These need to be from both the citizen and non-citizen who plan on getting married in America.
• A statement with intent to marry- You must file this along with the I-129F stating that you will marry 90 days after you arrive in America.
• Divorce decrees- Both members of the union must submit proof of divorce
• Proof of meeting at least once within the last three years- You should submit copies of your documents such as plane tickets, passport stamps and pictures that you have together as a couple.
• Copies of convictions-if the fiancé has had criminal convictions you will need to bring copies of the dispositions.
• Police clearance certificate- The foreign spouse will also need to get a police clearance certificate from any country where you have lived for more than six months or after turning 16. You must also provide your home country, where you lived, and for how long.
• Medical Exam-after the case is forwarded to the embassy abroad, the foreign fiancé must have a medical examination submitted.
• Passport-You should bring any prior U.S. Visas and copies of your passport bio pages.
• Proof of relationship-at this point, there is no surefire way to prove your relationship. Because of this, you should bring as much evidence as possible. Some examples would be photos, emails, WhatsApp conversations, receipts of presents to each other, phone call logs and even letters from friends and family confirming the relationship..

As you can see, the K-1 visa process is extremely detailed and something that you want to process as smoothly as possible. With a timeframe of 10-15 months, it would be wise to submit all of the K-1 visa paperwork correctly the first time. One wrong move and that timeline is going to be way longer than you would want it to be. 

An expert immigration attorney will walk you through the process step by step and ensure that every detail in the K-1 fiancé visa is perfectly done. The attorneys’ at MC Law Group are the perfect fit for obtaining a K-1 visa. For more information or to start the K-1 visa process, call (702) 258-1093.

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