Salt Lake City Immigration Attorneys for K-3 Visas
At Keen Law Offices, LLC, we are committed to assisting our clients with resolving their immigration legal issues. One of the most common issues we see in the cases that our clients bring to us involves the situation in which a U.S. citizen has married a foreign national and wants to help him or her to immigrate to this country. The processing time for an IR-1 visa for an immigrant spouse can take up to several months or even longer, meaning that the husband and wife may be prevented from reuniting in the United States and beginning to build their life together in this country for a substantial amount of time.
The solution to this situation is to apply for a K-3 nonimmigrant visa. The K-3 visa is a nonimmigrant visa that exists for the express purpose of reducing the amount of time that couples in your position must wait before reuniting. Once the foreign national spouse has received a K-3 visa, he or she may then lawfully enter and remain in the United Sates while awaiting the approval of the immigrant visa petition. As soon as the petition has been approved, he or she may then apply at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for adjustment of status to become a lawful permanent resident.
K-3 Visa Requires Two Sponsorship Petitions
Before the foreign national may apply for the K-3 visa, the citizen spouse must sponsor the other party by submitting a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative for the purpose of obtaining an IR-1 visa. Next, that person must file the Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiance. In the event that USCIS approves the I-130 petition prior to the I-129F form, it will no longer be necessary to apply for a K-3 visa, and the applicant will be directed to instead request the IR-1 visa. The children of the K-3 visa holder may accompany him or her to the U.S. with the K-4 visa, provided that they meet the eligibility requirements for this type of visa.