Family-based Visas

K1 Visa for Fiance(e)s of US citizens

To qualify for a K1 visa, the applicant must be living outside of the US and intend to marry a US citizen within 90 days of entering the US. The US citizen and foreign fiancé must be free to marry and have met in person at least once within the previous two years, unless meeting would violate cultural practices or result in significant hardship.

K3 and K4 Visa for Spouses and Stepchildren of US Citizens

The Legal Immigration and Family Equity (LIFE) Act amendments of 2000 added the K-3 visa category for foreign spouses and K-4 category for stepchildren of U.S. citizens.  Due to backlogs of immigrant visa petitions (Forms I-130, Petition for Alien Relative), long separation could occur.  To prevent a long separation, U.S. citizens were allowed to file an additional petition on Form I-129F while their Form I-130 was pending to allow their foreign spouses and his/her minor children to come to the United States as non immigrants in an expedited manner.

To qualify for a K3 visa, the applicant/ beneficiary must be living outside of the US, be married to a US citizen and have taken the first step in the immigration process by applying for a visa number (I-130).

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