Frequently Asked Questions of K-3
Visa and K-4 Visa Application and Other Related Issues
Q: What is a K-3 visa?
A: K-3 visa offers an opportunity for a spouse of a United States citizen to travel to the United States, so that the family can be together in the United States during the commonly lengthy wait for the USCIS to process the "immediate relative" immigrant visa petition. Once issued, the spouse would be able to travel to the United States to be with the United States citizen petitioner, while awaiting approval of the immigrant visa petition through which the non-citizen spouse will apply for permanent residency.U.S. citizen spouse's children can come to the United States on nonimmigrant visas (K-4 visas) and wait in the United States to complete the immigration process. Before a K-4 visa can be issued to a child, the parent must have a K-3 visa.
Q: What is the purpose of K-3 non-immigrant visa for U.S. citizen spouse?
A: The purpose of the K-3 visa is to promote family reunion and serves as a temporary remedy for the long delayed family based immigration petition process. It allows the alien spouse to stay in the U.S. while waiting for the result of the pending immigration petition. The alien spouse may obtain work authorization during the waiting period.
The Legal Immigration Family Equity Act and its amendments (LIFE Act) established the K-3 nonimmigrant category within the immigration law that allows the spouse or child of a U.S. citizen to be admitted to the United States in a non-immigrant category. The K-3 visa allows the spouse or child to complete processing for permanent residence while in the United States. It also allows those admitted in the category to have permission for employment while they await processing of their case to U.S. permanent resident status.
A K-4 visa is a version of the K-3 visa for unmarried children under the age of 21. Before a K-4 visa can be issued to a child, the parent must have a K-3 visa or be in K-3 status.Q: What are the benefits of a K-3 visa?
A: The benefits of a K-3 visa include:a) Backlogs on adjudicating visa petitions filed by United States citizens for their immediate relatives can exceed a year and half at some of the USCIS Service Centers, and immigrant visa issuance by a consulate can routinely take another six months. The K-3 visa, intended to improve the speed with which a family can be united in the United States, can substantially shorten that lengthy waiting period for U.S. Citizen spouses to enter the U.S.
b) Once admitted to the United States, the spouse issued K-3 visa will be eligible to adjust status to permanent residency. This is a significant benefit because of enhanced procedural safeguards available to persons who adjust to permanent resident status, in contrast to persons who must apply for immigrant visas abroad.
c) Additionally, upon entry, the K-3 visa holder will be eligible to work in the United States. If the United States citizen petitioner is low-income and unable to meet the minimal income level necessary to submit the I-864 Affidavit of Support form that is required before a non-citizen can be approved for residency, then the K visa holder's ability to work is a great advantage, because when calculating income, the United States petitioner can include the non-citizen beneficiary's income if the petitioner and the beneficiary have lived together for six months.
Q: How to file the K-3 visa?
A: The K-3 visa is available to the spouse of a U.S. citizen who may choose to enter the U.S. as a nonimmigrant and then adjust status to Lawful Permanent Resident. The K-3 process requires that the petitioner file Form I-130 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Relative), as well as Form I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiancé/Fiancée). The I-129F filing must await the issuance of the Form I-130 receipt notice by the USCIS.Q: What is the distinction between a K-1 and a K-3 visa? and who is qualify to apply for the K-3 visa?
A The K-1 visa is for the purpose of admitting an alien fiancé of a U.S. Citizen, while a K-3 visa is for the purpose of admitting the alien spouse of a U.S. Citizen for whom a family based immigrant petition (Form I-130) is pending.The K-3 visa is available to the spouse of a U.S. citizen who may choose to enter the U.S. as a nonimmigrant, and then adjust status to Lawful Permanent Resident. Although initially designed to overcome long delays associated with the traditional immigrant visa process for the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the experiences and concerns soon revealed that the K-3 visa process is complicated, and often takes longer than was first anticipated.
An alien admitted to the U.S. as a K-3/K-4 nonimmigrant will be authorized to work after filing an I-765 application with the USCIS.Q: What are the requirements of the K-3 visa? and how to file the K-3 Visa application?
A: K-3 visas are issued to U.S. citizens' spouses who are outside the U.S. The minor children of such spouses who will accompany them to enter into the U.S. may apply for a K-4 visa. The requirements of the K-3 visa include:
1) The alien spouse of U.S. citizen must be outside the U.S.;
2) An immigrant petition (Form I-130) for the benefit of the spouse must have been filed when the I-129F (K visa petition) is filed;
3) The U.S. citizen spouse must file an I-129F petition (K visa petition) with the USCIS and have it approved;
4) If the marriage occurred outside the U.S., the K visa must be issued by the U.S. consulate in the country where the marriage occurred.
5) The child must be outside the U.S. and will accompany K-3 visa applicant or holder to come to the U.S., and the child must be unmarried and under 21 years old.The K-3 process requires that the petitioner file Form I-130 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Relative), as well as Form I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiancé/Fiancée). The Form I-129F should be filed after Form I-130 has been received by USCIS.
Q: I am U.S. citizen, what are the requirements to get my spouse a U.S. visa?
A: To obtain an immigrant visa for your spouse, you must meet the following requirements:
1) You must be legally married. Merely living together does not qualify a marriage for immigration. Unmarried partners are ineligible to sponsor visas to the United Stated;
2) In most cases, you must have a residence in the U.S. to apply;
3) You must be 18 years old before you can sign the Affidavit of Support, which is a form that will be required later in the process.
Q: Why the K-3 visa application requires I-130 filing?
A: The Form I-129F K-3 nonimmigrant petition for the spouse of a U.S. citizen must be filed after the filing of the I-130 immediate relative petition. There is no need to wait for a decision on the I-130. The K-3 case is filed using Form I-129F, as is the K-1 for fiancé/fiancées. The purpose of the K-3 visa category was to provide a faster avenue for the immigration of spouses of U.S. citizens, if the foreign national resided abroad.
Prior to the creation of the K-3 category, the only option was the Form I-130 petition for immediate relative. The processing times for I-130s, combined with the waiting times for interviews at the consulates, often left couples separated for more than a year. The K-3 processing was supposed to be much faster than the I-130, and, thus, was an attractive option for many couples in this situation.Q: What are the limitations of K-3 visa?
A: The USCIS only admits K-3 spouses for a two-year period. The USCIS may grant extensions of K-3 visas in two-year increments if the marriage-based I-130 visa petition, the adjustment of status application, or the immigrant visa petition is still awaiting adjudication.
Also, the law does not allow non-immigrant aliens to change to "K-3/K-4" status while they are in the U.S. It is solely available to those outside the U.S. for the purpose of family reunification with the U.S. citizens. Further more, K-3/K-4 visa holders may not change to any other non-immigrant status while they are in the U.S. If a person is temporarily barred from entering into the U.S. for previous violation of U.S. immigration law, she or he cannot use K-3 visa to enter into the U.S.Q: I am seeking a K-3 visa to bring my spouse into the U.S. Why do I file a “Petition for Alien Fiancé”?
A: The K-1 visa for alien fiancés of U.S. Citizens has been available for many years, but the K-3 visa has only been available since December 21, 2000. Since that time, the USCIS has not created a new form for “Petition for Alien Spouse”, but has just used the “Petition for Alien Fiancé” (Form I-129F) to adjudicate these requests.Further, they have not yet adapted the Form I-129F to accommodate a “spouse” instead of a “fiancé”, and simply instruct petitioners to provide information and documentation about the spouse seeking a K-3 visa in every place that “fiancé” is mentioned in the form.
Q: As American citizen, how to get my spouse a U.S. immigrant visa, and bring my wife to the U.S. to live?
A: One method is that you can "sponsor" your spouse's immigrant visa for entry to the United States. If you follow this process, your foreign spouse will complete the visa process completely outside the U.S., and then arrive in the U.S. and obtain permanent residency status immediately. You will need to submit an immigrant Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-130, to USCIS.
After the Form I-130 approval by USCIS, the National Visa Center and the U.S. Embassy will complete all the necessary administrative processing, your spouse will be granted an immigrant visa. Your spouse will receive an IR-1 (Immediate Relative) or a CR-1 (Conditional Residency) visa. An IR-1 visa allows your spouse to immigrate to the U.S. A CR-1 visa will be given to you if your marriage is less than 2 years old. It is conditional for two years.Q: If my wife cannot wait too long to complete the immigrant visa process outside the US, how to bring my wife to the U.S. to live?
A: You spouse can apply for a K-3 visa. The K-3 visa is a non-immigrant visa. K-3 visas are granted normally within a few months. Your spouse should use the K-3 visa to start the process outside of the U.S., then travel to the U.S. to complete the immigration process. In this case, the K-3 application must be made in the country where the marriage took place.
If your marriage took place in the U.S., your spouse must apply for a K-3 visa through the U.S. Embassy in the country of his or her residence. Furthermore, the U.S. citizen needs to file form I-129F also on alien spouse's behalf. After the K-3 visa has been issued, the alien spouse can travel to the U.S.Q: I am U.S. citizen and now live outside the US. How to bring my wife to live in U.S.?
A: If you want to bring your foreign spouse to the U.S., but you are currently living outside the U.S., you must submit a visa petition (Form I-130) to either U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or directly to the U.S. Embassy where your foreign spouse resides.
Once the form I-130 visa petition is approved, the foreign-born spouse will receive a packet from the National Visa Center (NVC), which is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The packet informs the foreign spouse of the various documents which must be presented at the immigrant visa interview abroad (e.g., passport, police clearances, results of medical examinations, etc.). The packet includes certain documents requesting biographic data that must be completed, signed and forwarded to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. Usually, the foreign-born spouse is interviewed and granted an immigrant visa within three to six months.
If you and your spouse are planning to remain outside the U.S. indefinitely, it is not recommended that the alien spouse applying for a U.S. Green Card. The Green Card could be cancelled at the Port of Entry to the U.S. if the alien spouse has spent more than six months outside of the U.S. The Immigration Officer at the Port of Entry will have to determine if the U.S. is your main home, so be prepared for a lot of questions.Q: I am U.S. citizen and my spouse already lives in the U.S. How to file Green Card application for my spouse?
A: If you both already live in the U.S., the U.S. citizen must submit a Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) to appropriate U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) center to prove that the marriage is genuine. Attached to the Form I-130 petition are the following items:1) Biographical forms (forms G-325A) for both the husband and the wife with photos attached;
2) Proof of the petitioner's citizenship. This can take the form of a U.S. Passport, a Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship, or a certified copy of the citizen's birth certificate;
3) A copy of the marriage certificate;
4) Certified copies of the documents that terminated any previous marriages of the husband or wife, including final divorce decrees, and certificates of annulment or death.
At the same time, the foreign-born spouse, assuming he or she entered the U.S. lawfully, should submit an application for adjustment of status (Form I-485), which is an application for a Green Card. Normally, the alien spouse will also have to submit form I-485 with photos, an affidavit of support from the U.S. citizen spouse, application for employment authorization (optional), an application for a travel permit (known as "Advance Parole", operational) - assuming the non-citizen spouse has not been in the U.S. unlawfully for 180 days or more.
Q: I just married to a U.S. citizen, and I want to apply for K-3 visa to enter U.S. to wait for the immigration process. I have 2 boys. Do we need to file separate Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) to for the boys?
A: To enter U.S., your children do not need separate Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) to be filed. You should name all of your children on the Petition for Alien Fiancé, I-129F petition. If you do not name the children on the I-129F petition, USCIS may find it difficult to prove their identity as children of a K-3 applicant or person in K-3 status.The children will get K-4 visa. When they adjust status in the United States, they must file Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status with the USCIS Office that serves the area where you live. Remember that in immigration law children must be unmarried and under 21 years of age.
Q: We just married, and we don't want to be apart for so long. What can we do to avoid this?
A: You should apply for the K-3 visa in order to work and live legally in the US, while waiting your permanent residence.Sometimes in order to avoid a lengthy separation, a couple may return to the U.S. immediately after the marriage (using a visitor visa), and proceeds to file the necessary applications once they are both in the U.S. Often the USCIS does not like this, and it is not uncommon for the USCIS to stop the foreign-born spouse at the Port of Entry, and exclude him/her from the U.S. as an intending immigrant. However, if the foreign-born spouse manages to enter the US, USCIS will not deny his or her application for a Green Card solely because he or she entered the U.S. on a temporary visa, when their real intent was to remain permanently in the U.S.
Q: We haven't been married very long. Does that matter for my wife to get Green Card?
A: If the marriage is less than two years old when the foreign-born spouse becomes a permanent resident, the Green Card will expire after a two-year period. Both spouses must submit a joint petition (form I-751) to remove the two-year condition. You should do this 90 days before the Green Card expires.
If the marriage has ended because you got divorced, your U.S. citizen spouse has died, or due to abuse in the marriage, the foreign-born spouse may eligible to apply for a waiver of the joint petition requirement. However, these waivers could be difficult to get.Q: How to maintain the K-3 non-immigrant Status? and can I travel outside of the U.S. while in K-3 status?
A: The spouse of a U.S. citizen admitted with a K-3 visa is authorized to remain in the U.S. for a period of 2 years specified on his/her Form I-94. She or he may file the immigration petition and adjustment of status application or immigrant visa application to become a U.S. permanent resident.The K-3/K-4 holders may travel outside of the U.S. and return using their nonimmigrant K-3/K-4 visa (if it is still valid) for a short trip, even if they have filed for adjustment of status in the U.S. prior to departure.
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