The federal government isn’t completely heartless. It realizes that love is not always convenient, and that it often happens between two people from different countries. That is why the Bureau of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has a tool – the K-1 visa program – to allow foreign citizens in love with American nationals to enter the country legally.
What Is a Fiancé Visa?
Simply put, a fiancé visa allows an American citizen to sponsor a foreigner who wishes to emigrate to the U.S. in order to get married.
The process isn’t quite as simple, though. First, the Fiancé/K-1 Visa program has some stipulations on who can apply:
- Only those who are legally eligible to marry (the fiancé coming to America must not be married in another country and must be of legal age to marry) can participate.
- The couple must be able to get married within 90 days of the sponsored fiancé’s entry in the country.
In addition, if an applicant has previously applied and been denied a K-1 fiancé visa, subsequent applications might be held to stricter scrutiny than the original one. This is especially true when an applicant has been charged with or convicted of a crime in his or her country of origin or has previously been deported from America.
Plus, some communicable diseases can also keep a foreign-born applicant from entering the country. It can be very helpful to know which disease will bar entry before the application process begins.
Source: “The Role of an Immigration Attorney,” FindLaw