Where are K-1 Visa Processed?
K-1 visa is a visa type offered to persons who want to get married to a citizen of the United States. Under the visa, the engaged couple should get married within 90 days of the beneficiary entering the United States. Just like all the other visa types, getting a K-1 visa can be a bit challenging if you do not know where to start. One of the questions most people want to know is where the K-1 visas are processed. In this post, RunRex aims to answer this question by highlighting the entire petition process.
Stage One
The first step in the application involves the United States Citizen petitioners preparing and submitting the I-129 visa petition on behalf of their fiancé to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. They will begin by visiting the USCIS website to download the I-129F Form to commence the visa petition process. Once they have obtained the form, they will fill it up correctly and carefully to ensure that there are no mistakes made. Normally, a minor error can lead to a petition being delayed or even rejected.
Once the Form I-129F has been appropriately filled, the next thing is for them to gather all the supporting documents to accompany the petition. These documents have to be filed together with the Form I-129F. These documents include proof that you have met the fiancé in person in the recent past, proof that indeed you want to get married, proof that you, the petitioner are a U.S. citizen, two passport photos for you and your fiancé and the filing fees. Once all these items are ready, they should be mailed to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to commence the processing of the petition.
After a couple of weeks, the USCIS will issue the petitioner via a mail with a Notice of Action to confirm that the petition has been received. It is the first Notice of Action. The second one will be issued a few months later by the USCIS to inform them of the approval of their I-129F petition. At this point, the USCIS will transfer the visa petition to the National Visa Center. The Center will then forward the request that has already been approved by the beneficiary’s home country. The petitioner will be informed of this transfer again.
Stage Two
When the U.S consulate receives the petition from the National Visa Center, they will inform the beneficiary of what to do next. They will ask them to complete Form DS-160 online, pay the visa application fees and schedule an interview with the embassy. They will be informed of the documents they will be required to bring to the embassy and how to get a medical examination.
At this stage, the petitioner will have to file the Affidavit of Support using Form I-134 and, also, Form I-134 which they will have to mail to their fiancé as this is one of the documents they will need to carry to their visa interview. Also, they may need to send their beneficiary fiancé the documents they used to file the visa petition. These documents may be required by the Consular Officer to confirm that both parties are honest and are clear to get married by the law. Once all the records are set, then the fiancé beneficiary can go for the visa interview.
Stage Three
At this point, the fiancé beneficiary will now attend the interview at the United States embassy or with their United States consulate. They have to carry the required documents with them for the interview including the medical exam report. The embassy will decide on whether to give you the k-1 fiancé visa or not after the interview. Once the beneficiary has received the visa, they must make a point of getting to the United States within six months after issuance. When they get there, the petitioner and the beneficiary fiancé have to get married within 90 days.
The issuance of the K-1 visa is a process that goes through the hands of some people. The process will first begin with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to begin processing the information. After they have received and processed the petition, they will forward the approved petition to the National Visa Center. The National Visa Center will ensure that the processed petition makes it to the fiancé beneficiary’s home country. At this stage, the petition will be in the hands of the Consular Officer. They will conduct the Visa interview and determine whether or not you should be granted the visa.
Knowledge of the entire process and the roles of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, The National Visa Service and the United States Embassy of the beneficiary’s home country can go a long way in helping an applicant know what to expect. All these organs have specific roles in the entire process and collaborate to ensure that successful applicants get their K-1 visa and find their way to their loved ones.