American citizens in Kentucky often seek to have their foreign fiancés come to the United States so they can marry and live their married lives together.
As noted by MarketWatch, a popular form of visa entry into the United States is the K-1 Visa, also known as the fiancé visa. The Department of State reports that the top three countries of origin for fiancé visas that the U.S. issues are the Philippines with the most visas, followed by the Dominican Republic and Vietnam.
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, once a person obtains his or her K-1 Visa, there is a 90-day window of time in which to get married. If the marriage does not take place in that time frame, the visa expires and cannot be extended. The fiancé would then have to leave the country or be in violation of immigration law, which could result in deportation. Such violation could also cause difficulties later when trying to secure a visa.
Once the marriage takes place, the fiancé can start the process of applying for a green card, providing for permanent residency in the United States. He or she can remain in the country while the green card application is pending. The fiancé can also apply for an approval to work in the U.S. and such approval will last 90 days. However, the work approval time can be extended upon request.
Another important benefit to the fiancé visa is the ability to apply to bring over the fiancé’s children who are single and have not yet turned 21 years of age.
The K-1 visa remains a very utilized method of uniting the soon-to-be-betrothed when one is a foreign national living abroad that wishes to move to the U.S. to begin a married life.
