Fiancée Visa (K-1 Visa)

A US citizen who is engaged to marry a foreign citizen can apply for a fiancée visa, which is known as a K1 Visa, to have his or her fiancée legally enter the U.S.  

The  K-1 Visa is valid for 90 days.  The U.S. Citizen and fiancée must marry within that 90 day period. No extensions are permitted for this visa.  If the marriage does not occur within the ninety day period, then the fiancée must return to his or her home country.

To qualify for a fiancée visa, the following requirements must be met:

• The petitioner must be a US Citizen
• The petitioner must have met his or her fiancée within the previous two years
• Both the petitioner and the foreign fiancée must be eligible and legally free to marry
• The petitioner must intend to marry the foreign fiancée within ninety days from the arrival date of the fiancée in the United States.

Typically, the K1 Visa approval time take from two weeks to seven months. Once the US citizen and the fiancée are married, the US citizen must apply for an adjustment of the status of the fiancée, now spouse, to obtain conditional, permanent residence status.