Fiance Visa

The fiance visa, also known as the K-1 visa, allows for a U.S. citizen to petition the U.S. government to allow their fiance into the United States for the purpose of marriage. The K-1 visa is not a temporary visa. The immigrant is classified as a non-immigrant for the purpose of a K-1 visa. After the marriage the nonimmigrant and the U.S. citizen spouse can petition the immigration services to adjust the nonimmigrants status to a conditional visa.

A conditional visa is generally good for two years. Towards the end of the two years the U.S. citizen and nonimmigrant spouse must petition the immigration services for a permanent visa. If granted the fiance is a permanent lawful residence and can start accruing time for citizenship.

A few things to know about K-1 visas. The nonimmigrant must still qualify for entry into the United States. This means no communicable diseases, they are not advocating the overthrow of the U.S government, they are not a security risk, etc. The nonimmigrant must show that they meet all the requirement that are necessary for entering the United States, they do not get special preference for being a fiance to a U.S. citizen.

The application for the K-1 visa takes place in the United States, however, the nonimmigrant will apply for the visa at the consulate or embassy in their home country.

A final few notes, the nonimmigrant and the U.S. citizen should get married within the allotted time otherwise the visa will be revoked. Lastly, the marriage should be entered into with good faith, the immigration services frown upon people getting married for the purpose of obtaining a green card or future citizenship. The are legal repercussions for both the nonimmigrant and the U.S. citizen.

Your past

Immigration is different than most other areas of law in that you past is always there, can always be used against you and there is little you can do to hide it. For example, lets assume you have lived in the United States for 20 years, all of them as a lawful permanent resident. In the past five years you have not committed any crimes, been arrested or detained by any police officer, immigration officer or anyone remotely related to law enforcement. This is of course fantastic for you. Generally, when looking at a lawful permanent residences viability for citizenship the immigration services only look at the past five years.

However, the immigration services can look at events that occurred more than 5 years ago in this case. They could look at a domestic abuse charge from 15 years ago. Or they could see that you had a criminal conviction for a small amount of marijuana (under 30 0z.) They could also look at anything you did outside the United States when determining your eligibility. This may seem harsh or unfair and to a certain extent it is. However, immigrating is a privilege, not a right. A privilege can be revoked for poor behavior or for other reasons that the immigration officer determines is appropriate.

Immigration Forms

In immigration law there are a large number of forms. Each government department that you work with generally has its own forms. This means that an unlucky applicant can be dealing with forms from four or five agencies! Generally each form has a set of instructions that are attached to it explaining what needs to be included.

For example the I-485 form is used for application for permanent residence or adjust status and has a filing fee of $1,010.00. The form comes with 11 pages of instructions informing the applicant of what they need to provide and how they need to provide it. The language can be confusing at times, especially if your command of the English language is weak.

The I-829 form is used by individuals who applied for an EB-5 visa and wish to remove the conditional status of their visa. The filing fee for this form is currently $2,930.00. This form comes with 4 pages of instructions.

As one can see the filing of immigration forms can be very expensive and add up quickly.

Visa Bulletin Dec. 2009

In the family section of the bulletin Visas are being issued to 1st preference individuals who applied during 22 Jan 2004, 15 Oct. 2003, 01 August 1992, 01 Nov 1993 and 22 January 2004 for the following areas China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively. 2nd preferences are categorized as follows: 01 November 2005, 01 November 2005, 01 October 2003, 01 November 2005, and 01 November 2005 for the following areas; China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively. 3rd family preferences are as follows: 22 May 2001, 22 May 2001, 22 August 1992, 15 November 1991 and 22 May 2001 for the following areas; China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively. 4th family preferences are as follows 08 September 1999, 08 September 1999, 15 November 1995, 22 March 1987, and 08 September 1999 for the following areas; China, India, Mexico, Philippines, all other areas respectively.

The employment based Visas can be broken down as follows.

1st preference - current for all areas.
2nd preference - current for Mexico, Philippines, all other areas. 01 April 2005 and 22 Jan 2005 for China and India respectively.
3rd preference - 01 June 2002, 01 June 2002, 22 May 2001, 01 June 2002, 01 June 2002 for the following areas; all other areas, China, India, Mexico, Philippines.
4th preference - current for all areas
5th preference - current

The Diversity immigrant visa lottery is broken down as follows for November 2009.
Africa 17,800 (Except for Egypt[9,100], Ethiopia[9,000], and Nigeria[10,400])
Asia 8,250
Europe 12,400
North America 3
Oceania 675
South America and the Caribbean 725