A fiance of a US citizen may apply for a non-immigrant visa which is called a K-1. Unlike other non-immigrant visas, however, the applicant must prove his intent to stay in the US rather than return to his/her home country. The K-1 visa holder and any children accompanying or following to join the fiance are permitted to enter for a 90 day period during which the couple must marry.
The visa petitioner must show that the couple has met in person in within two years of the date of filing the petition. The couple must show they have a bona fide intent to marry and are legally able and actually willing to conclude a valid marriage within a period of ninety days after the alien fiance arrive’s in the US (or face the requirement to depart the US). A variety of supporting evidence should be submitted including proof of the petitioner’s U.S. citizenship, phone bills showing calls to one another, correspondence between the fiances, photographs of the couple, airline ticket receipts from trips where the couple previously met, etc.
The requirement that the couple have met within the two years prior to the visa petition is intended to deter “mail-order” marriages and can only be waived by the INS if it is established that compliance would result in extreme hardship to the petitioner or that compliance would violate strict and long-established customs of the beneficiary’s foreign culture or social practice. Denial for failing to meet within the last two years does not hurt one’s chances of success if an application is refiled after both parties have met.
A K-1 fiance application is filed with the INS and not a State Department consulate outside of the U.S. However, if the citizen fiance is outside of the US, he/she can execute the K-1 petition before a consular or immigration official abroad who will then forward the petition tothe appropriate INS office in the US for processing.
Both parties must be able to show the INS that they are legally free to marry within 90 days of entering the US (such as showing that they are free of any prior marriages). Unfortunately, the INS is unsympathetic to granting an extension of the K-1 visa beyond 90 days except in extreme circumstances.
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