K-1 or Fiancee Visas

Hong Kong Fiancee Visa Preparation

Immigrant Visa Categories: K Visas - Fiancée Visas

A fiancée of a U.S. citizen who wants to travel to the United States to marry and take up permanent residence after marriage must obtain a K-1 visa.

To qualify for a K-1 visa, the following conditions are necessary:

• One party is a U.S. citizen
• Both parties are legally free to marry, that is to say neither party is currently married
• Both parties have met in person within two years immediately prior to the filing on the petition.
• The marriage will take place within 90 days of the fiancée entering the United States on the fiancée visa

Where should a fiancée petition be filed? The first step in applying for a fiancée visa is for the U.S. citizen (the petitioner) to file Form I-129F with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) in the U.S. The petition cannot be filed in Hong Kong.

Can my children be included on a fiancée visa petition? Unmarried children under the age of 21 are eligible to derive status from the fiancée visa petition filed on behalf of their parent and their names should be included in the petition. If the U.S. citizen is the natural father or mother of the child, the child may have a claim to U.S. citizenship – please contact the American Citizen Services unit for further information.

How long does it take to process a fiancée visa? The average processing time of the application ranges from approximately six to nine months. Once a petition has been filed, the petitioner may track the status of the pending case online at the USCIS website. Applicants who are missing documents at the time of their interview can expect to experience delays in the visa process.

What if I want to get married in U.S. and then return immediately to my residence in Hong Kong or Macau? If you plan to return to your permanent place of residence outside the United States after the marriage ceremony in the United States, you should apply for a B-2 visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program.

What can I expect from the application process? Please see the section entitled "Applying for an Immigrant Visa" for details of the application process. Once the visa petition is approved by USCIS, it will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) in New Hampshire for additional processing. If your fiancée is resident in Hong Kong or Macau, the petition will then be forwarded to the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. Once you have been notified that the visa petition has been forwarded to Hong Kong, you may wish to begin collecting the documents required for the visa interview process, as certain documents may take a while to obtain.

Below is a short youtube video that describes how to get your Fiancee Visa

-

After your petition is approved, your fiancee must obtain a visa issued at a U.S. Embassy or consulate abroad. Your fiancee must remain unmarried until the arrival of the fiancee in the U.S. The marriage must take place within 90 days of your fiancee entering the United States. If the marriage does not take place within 90 days or your fiancee marries someone other than you (the U.S. citizen filing the petition), your fiancee will be required to leave the United States. Until the marriage takes place, your fiancee is considered a nonimmigrant. A nonimmigrant is a foreign national seeking to temporarily enter the United States for a specific purpose. A fiancee may not obtain an extension of the 90-day original nonimmigrant admission.

If your fiancee intends to live and work permanently in the United States, your fiancee should apply to become a permanent resident after your marriage. (If your fiancee does not intend to become a permanent resident after your marriage, your fiancee/new spouse must leave the country within the 90-day original nonimmigrant admission.) For information on applying for permanent resident status while your new spouse is in the U.S., please see Becoming a Permanent Resident (Immigrant) While in the U.S. Your new spouse will initially receive conditional permanent residence status for two years. Conditional permanent residency is granted when the marriage creating the relationship is less than two years old at the time of adjustment to permanent residence status. For more information, please see Removing Conditional Resident Status (from Marriage).

Expert Tip # 8

Send copies of all supporting documents you attached to the I-129F, and I-134 to your Fiancee. She should review these and be intimately conversant with their contents. She should bring all of these documents to her interview at the consulate. For some documents she may be required to present originals, or certified copies of originals, make sure she gets these well in advance of her interview. A check list of what documents to send is included in Fiancee Visa Secrets eBook
More Expert Fiancee Visa Tips