How Can I Marry My Fiancée in the United States?
Outline
If your Filipino Fiancée is not a citizen of the United States and you plan to get married in the United States, then you must file a k1 fiancee visa petition with USCIS for the benefit of your Fiancée. Once her fiancee visa petition is approved, your Fiancée must obtain a K1 visa issued at a U.S. Embassy or consulate in her home country. The marriage is required to take place within 90 days of your Fiance entering the United States. If the marriage does not take place within 90 days or your Fiancé marries someone other than you (the U.S. citizen who filed the Petition for Alien Fiancé), your Fiance will be required to exit the United States. Until the marriage takes place, your Fiancé is considered a nonimmigrant. A nonimmigrant is a non-United States born person requesting to temporarily come into the United States for a specific reason. A Fiancée may not obtain an extension of the 90-day original nonimmigrant admission.
If your Fiancée intends to live and work permanently in the United States, your Fiance 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 Fiance/new wife must exit the country within the 90-day original period of time granted.) Please note, your Fiancée 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.
Please note: Your Fiancee may enter the United States only one time with a Fiance visa. If your Fiancee leaves the country before you are married, your Fiancee may not be allowed back into the United States without a new visa.
Who is Eligible
U.S. citizens wishing to get married to a foreign national in the United States may petition for a Fiancée classification (K-1 Visa) for their Fiancee. You and your Fiancé must be free to marry. This means that both of you are unmarried, or that any previous marriages have ended through divorce, annulment or death. In addition, you must also have met with your Fiance in person within the past two years prior to filing for the Fiancé visa. You and your Fiance must marry within 90 days of your Fiancée entering the United States.
You may also apply to bring your Fiancée’s unmarried children, who are under age 21, to the United States at the same time. They must be 20 or younger at the time the petition is filed.
How Do I Apply?
To find out how you can apply to bring your Filipino Fiancee to the United States, please go to the Filipina Fiancee Visa homepage.
How Long Will it Take to Get My K1 Visa Approved?
Approval of this K-1 fiancee visa petition in the United States may take 6-9 months after which it will then be forwarded to the National Visa Center. The National Visa Center they will forward it to the U.S. Embassy in Manila. In each step of the K-1 visa processing, the petitioner will receive a Notice of Action (NOA) to advise him of the status of his visa petition.
Will My Fiancee Get a Work Permit?
After arriving in the United States, your Fiancée will not be able to work until they have received either their work authorization card or their green card. To get these they must file for an adjustment to permanent resident status.
