Title: What
are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: jb on June 17, 2006, 08:06:06 AM
For the purposes of
this discussion I will assume the questioner is a citizen of the USA.
The K-1 Fiancée Visa is a non-immigrant, family based visa,
the
object of which is to allow the petitioner to bring into the USA for a
period of 90 days, an individual of foreign nationality for the purpose
of marriage. The K-1 visa is not intended to replace the B-1 Tourist
visa as a extended method of courtship.
The paperwork requirements for the K-1 visa are fairly straight
forward, and the instructions that accompany the form I-129F are
written with the do-it-yourselfers in mind. Virtually anyone who can
read and follow instructions can file this package by themselves. There
may be some circumstances where a man may want to use the services of
an attorney for the preparation of total petition package; however,
unless your life is extraordinarily complicated I recommend you give
this a try on your own first.
There are new requirements that are directly related to the
International Marriage Broker Act, the specifics as yet are not clear.
This is a new wrinkle in the paperwork, and so far I've not seen or
heard from anyone who has successfully complied with the new demands.
However, any man who has a public record of spousal abuse will probably
not be eligible for a K-1 visa. The thrust of this new K-1 visa
requirement is quite clear, wife beaters need not
apply ~!
The Form I-129F and all other needed forms may be downloaded for free
at the following:
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/index.htm And specifically, the
Fiancée Visa form, I-129F at:
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/files/I-129F.pdf
There is a $170.00 non-refundable fee charged for filing this form.
The physical requirements for filing this petition are also fairly
straight forward in that the petitioner and the Fiancée must
have met in a face-to-face situation within the previous two year
period, photographic proof of the meetings, i.e., pictures showing the
two people together should be provided with the filing. Both parties
must be single and free to marry and show evidence of that fact,
usually this is done by providing photocopies of divorce decrees.
Additionally, the couple will also submit personal biographical data
using the USBIS Form G-325A. The couple must have come to a mutual
agreement to marry, submit a sworn affidavit to that effect, and be
prepared to do so within the allotted 90 days granted by the terms of
the visa. Should the couple not marry within the 90 days, the visa
expires, and the foreign national must return to her/his country of
origin.
There will be additional documents required by the U.S. Department of
State at the time of the Embassy interview before the
Fiancée
Visa will be granted; notable is that the petitioner must show evidence
of an ongoing relationship with the fiancee, this is usually
accomplished with photocopies of airline ticket receipts, phone bills,
copies of e-mails, and other documents showing the close personal
relationship between the American citizen and the foreign born
national. One must also demonstrate financial responsibility and the
ability to support the new immigrant at some level of lifestyle above
that of the National Poverty Guidelines. This will be accomplished with
the use of IRS Form 1040's, bank statements, or other documentation
showing the fiscal solvency of the petitioner. That number is currently
pegged at 125% of the minimums, however I urge anyone earning that
level of income think carefully about the financial burden you are
willing to undertake. The total number of dollars invested, start to
finish, will be many hundreds, if not many thousands, before your
bride-to-be becomes a Lawful Permanent Resident. If you do not have
adequate savings and funding in hand, you will likely find the entire
process of immigration sponsorship to be mentally frustrating and
financially back breaking. Many good loves have been lost for lack of
money.
The US Citizenship and Immigration website is an excellent source of
information with many links to pertinent information, most useful is
the Immigration Laws and Guidelines. This area of the website provides
information on laws, regulations and interpretations controlling
immigration and the work of the immigration-related bureaus of the
Department of Homeland Security. You can learn how immigration laws are
made and how regulations are developed. You can explore agency and
judicial interpretations of those laws. You can also find the handbooks
and guidelines used by immigration officers in the performance of their
duties as well as guides created to help you through the immigration
process. As you embark on what will ultimately be a 5 to 8 year journey
with your foreign born spouse, from the initial filing of the I-129F,
right up to the time she is sworn in as a citizen of this country, this
website will be one of your most valuable resources. I strongly suggest
that you bookmark the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration website among
your favorites, and get to know how to navigate through it. There is
even a section in the handbook which describes what kind of folder and
binder you should use when submitting this form.
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: engaged on August 12, 2006,
04:28:06 PM
JB,
Helpfull to those starting.
Visa Journey proves helpful too.
http://visajourney.com/forums/index.php?act=home
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: Turboguy on August 12, 2006,
05:32:41 PM
excellentwas an
excellant overview
of the K-1 process, Great job. I would like to re interate what jb said
about lawyers and K-1's. Most people who use one do so because they
think it will be faster and easier. Actually it most always turns out
to be harder and slower not to mention more expensive. When you check
with a lot of people who have done K-1's everyone seems to have had a
bad experience. One of the delays is that instead of just sending
things in you send them to your attorney who leaves them sit on his
desk till he gets around to them and them does so many he is more
likely to make a mistake. Not sure why other than that but if you check
you will find that jb and I are right. The exception might be if you
have some complications.
The one thing I am not so sure jb is exactly right about is when he
talked about the new requirements under IMBRA. When he said someone
with a record of spousal abuse will probably not be eligible for a K-1.
The same problems apply to someone with felony convictions, convictions
for drug use or Alcohol abuse and some other things. I have been
working on reading Gary Bala's blog about IMBRA but there is about 8
hours of reading and I am only 1/4th of the way through. I can be wrong
and if I find I am, I will correct this. I do not think someone with
lets say a conviction or charge for abuse (charges that are dismissed
also apply) is not totally banned from a K-1 visa. The gal you are
sponsoring must be totally aware of your history and all the details of
any problems in your file. Regardless of problems or not, you will need
a criminal background check for any state you lived in as an adult.
They will question the gal about the charges in detail and she must be
fully aware. I am sure the application will be looked at much harder.
It is not from what I have read totally banned. I think too they will
look at the details, and if you have more than one area of problems you
might have a bigger problem getting it approved.
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: engaged on August 12, 2006,
06:04:32 PM
Turbo,
My understanding also, it is mostly a disclosure. The government
decides on approving the visa. The more serious crimes probably result
in automatic denial. Oddly, even accusations must be included. However,
OJ could probably sue for a visa :o.
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: Turboguy on August 12, 2006,
08:41:09 PM
Yes, it is the only
thing I have
ever heard of where it does not matter if you were innocent or guilty.
Just having been charged with the crime is enough. I am sure someone
who shoplifted a cd at age 18 will have a better chance than someone
who killed his wife and that someone with 3 DV charges might want to
chase AW.
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: engaged on August 13, 2006,
09:54:09 PM
The K-1 RFE only
requests
disclosure on convictions not accusations. But I guess the IMBRA rules
requires guys to include all info on accusations. Well, a just God
punishes the false accusers...
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: groovlstk on September 01, 2006,
03:57:23 PM
One thing that I'd
like to add is
that evidently, sending a few photos of you and your girl along with
your I129F is not enough proof to establish having met in the past two
years. On visajourney.com, a number of people reported getting RFEs
(Request for Evidence, i.e., more proof) because they sent only photos
as proof of meeting. Photos are considered secondary evidence. Examples
of primary evidence are copies of your boarding passes, stamped Russian
visa, hotel receipts, etc. I was fortunate in that I saved all my
airline tix/boarding passes just in case my carrier didn't credit my
frequent flyer miles and then forgot to toss them in the trash once I
was credited.
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: Turboguy on September 01, 2006,
06:33:21 PM
In my case I had all
that and more
and they still gave us problems. With us, (the former us anyway) they
looked hardest at phone bills. They also wanted letters and e-mails but
don't seem to rate e-mails too high.
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: ronin308 on September 05, 2006,
12:13:59 AM
While I wouldn't
recommend a lawyer
to my worst enemy, it can be valuable to have someone who's done the
K-1 process look over your packet to make sure everything is correct.
My application was reviewed by the agency we met through and we didn't
have an RFE problem.
I would also recommend to not make changes in your life that require
any corrections to your original filing. In my case I changed my
address before they had started processing. Instead of a 5 month
process it turned into a 13 month process with the idiots sending the
paperwork to another service center on the opposite coast. I only moved
about 60 miles and was even in the same county.
Title: Re:
What are the requirements for a K-1 Visa?
Post by: Turboguy on September 05, 2006,
03:16:39 PM
Anyone who uses a
lawyer unless
they have special circumstanses is making a big mistake. Those who do
use one expect it to be faster and easier. Most of the time it is
slower and harder. The exception to not using a lawyer is when there
are complications to deal with.
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