How Does the Fiancé Visa Process Work?

As a citizen of the United States who is engaged to a non-citizen, you may wish for your fiancé to change their immigration status. Luckily, the fiancé visa is a tool that can be used to start your life together. Follow along to find out how the fiancé visa process works and how a proficient Lyndhurst fiancé visa attorney at The Law Offices of Salvatore A. Falletta, LLC can guide you throughout.

By definition, what is a fiancé visa?

First of all, a fiancé visa, otherwise known as a K-1 nonimmigrant visa, can be used so that your non-citizen fiancé can travel to the United States, and so that you can get married within 90 days of their entry. And once you get married, your fiancé can then apply for an adjustment of status and work toward the path of naturalization. Notably, there are certain eligibility requirements for a K-1 visa, and they read as follows:

• You must be a citizen of the United States, and not a green card holder.
• You must earn a certain amount above the federal poverty line.
• You and your fiancé must be legally allowed to get married in the United States.
• You and your fiancé must have met at least once in the last two years, unless there is a relevant long-established custom at play.
• You and your fiancé may have to provide proof of a legitimate relationship, such as divorce certificates from any previous marriages, photos together, correspondence receipts, written statements from loved ones, etc.
• You and your fiancé may have to provide proof of legitimate wedding plans, such as invitations, venue reservations, etc.

So long as these requirements are satisfied, your fiancé should obtain this visa with little to no issues. However, it is important that you do indeed get married within these allotted 90 days. Failure to do so will require your fiancé to leave the United States within the next 30 days.

How does the K-1 visa process work?

Importantly, just because your petition gets approved does not automatically mean that your fiancé will be granted their K-1 visa. Rather, they may have to undergo a medical exam and an interview with a consular. As far as the interview goes, a consular will ask questions to assess your fiancé’s moral character and their seriousness about your marriage. Examples of questions they may ask are as follows:

• What is your fiancé’s employment history?
• What is your fiancé’s employment history?
• Has your fiancé ever been married before?
• Have you ever been married before?
• Have you ever been to the United States before?
• Do you have any relatives in the United States?
• Do you have any children?
• Do you have a criminal history?

To best prepare for this process, we recommend that you work with a talented attorney from our Lyndhurst family & individual immigration law firm. Call us today.