Applying For The K3 Marriage Visa
October 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The marriage visa, or k3 visa, was established to help families live together while a member(s) of the family are waiting to receive permanent residence or full citizenship within the United States. Obtaining this kind of visa will allow for the spouse to reside in the US and complete their immigration process. If a k3 visa is granted, then children of the applying spouse can receive a k4 visa. This is usually done in tandem with the application for the k3 visa.
There are many benefits in obtaining a k3 or k4 visa. First it allows the spouse to get employment authorization while they are in the process of applying for their k3 visa. This can be done by filing form I-765, the Application for Employment Authorization, and can even be done while their application is pending. Secondly, those applying for a k3 visa have been known to see a more optimal waiting period to enter the US than others.
To be eligible for a k3 visa, more commonly known as the “marriage visa,” the spouse must be legally wedded to a U.S. citizen. In addition, the spouse must already have a green card petition filed and awaiting approval or, alternately, be seeking to come to the U.S. to obtain permanent resident status.
A common law marriage may be eligible, but it is dependent on the laws of that country and its acknowledgement of the common-law status of the couple at the time of the application. Also as a point, since divorce is so high in many countries, be sure to have documentation proving your former marriage, if there was one for either spouse, has been legally terminated in the country where that marriage took place. Not having this information could cause serious delays in your application or risk not getting approved.
The first step in a filing for a marriage visa is for the spouse that is a U.S. citizen to file an Immigrant Petition for Alien Relative form (an I-130) with a U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (the USCIS) office. The USCIS will then send you another form (the I-797) to let you know they have received it.
Once the spouse has received the I-797, he or she needs to then file for a Petition for Alien Fiance (I-129F) for the spouse and any children. Although the form will say “fiancee” on it, just assume “fiancee” means spouse. Then that form is sent to the USCIS office along with the I-797 form that was received after filing the first petition and any other necessary documents.
Once the Petition for Alien Fiance is approved, it is sent to the National Visa Center, which in turn sends it on to the country where the spouses were married. Processes are in place to account for mitigating circumstances that may crop up during this part of the application process. For example, if the couple was married in the U.S., then the petition is simply sent to the visa-issuing bureau (such as a consulate or embassy) in the country of the k3 applicant’s nationality. Alternately, if the applicant spouse is from a country in which the U.S. has no embassies or consulates, then the petition is sent to whichever country issues visas for that country.
In addition, a k1 visa, or fiance visa, is available to a U.S. citizen’s significant other, although there are several additional requirements. If a k1 visa is approved, the fiancee entering the United States can only do so once and a marriage must take place within 90 days. The non-citizen fiance applicant cannot leave the country after entering it without filing additional request forms to travel. Additional paperwork must also be completed for the fiancee to work in the United States while awaiting permanent resident status. Since the fiancee is considered an immigrant by the United States, the k1 applicant must meet all the requirements of an immigrant visa.
There are obviously many steps to obtaining a k3 visa. Sometimes it may seem to challenging or not something you want to risk on just simple clerical errors that can be avoided. The important task of getting your family together may be better placed in the hands of an immigration attorney or immigration service. These agencies have specialized personnel that are focused on the immigration visa process and help people navigate through the green card application process.
William Kolemann has written many articles on immigration over the years with particular interest in the k3 marriage visa procedure and finding a k3 visa lawyer.