Get Married Abroad or Bring Your Foreign Fiance to the U.S.?

If you are a U.S. citizen interested in the best strategy to obtain an immigrant visa (lawful permanent residence and a green card) for your spouse or fiancé(e) and any children, you likely already realize the need for careful planning. The process is complex and requires navigation of the narrow confines of U.S. law and the immigration bureaucracy.

Contrary to the belief of many U.S. citizens in this situation, your spouse or fiancé, and any of his or her foreign-born children, are not automatically guaranteed a green card based on marriage to a U.S. citizen. They will need to go through a lengthy application process to show their eligibility as well as admissibility to the United States. But you do have some choices regarding which application process to follow. The following discussion provides an overview of the options available, including:

• getting married overseas and obtaining an immigrant visa to enter the United States as a lawful permanent resident
• getting married overseas and obtaining a nonimmigrant (K-3) visa with which to enter the United States and then applying to adjust status to become a permanent resident, and
• getting a a nonimmigrant (K-1) visa to enter the U.S. as a fiancé, then getting married and applying to adjust status to become a permanent resident.

In choosing between these three possibilities, you will want to consider factors like your appeal rights, whether any children can accompany your fiancé or spouse, whether you can have an attorney present, and how long the process will take in total.

Getting Married Overseas: Choice of Two Visa Options

If you marry outside the United States and that is where your new spouse lives, you will have two choices:

1. Your spouse can remain outside the U.S. and go through the application process for an immigrant visa and then use it for U.S. entry, or
2. You and your spouse can apply for a K-3 nonimmigrant (temporary) visa, which allows entry while the initial I-130 visa petition is being processed, and allows your spouse to perform the final portions of the application process within the United States.

In either case, your first step will be to submit Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). See our overview on that process for tips on what to expect. And keep reading for more detail on both these possibilities.

Applying for an Immigrant Visa From Outside the United States: Overview of the Process

If your spouse plans to apply for an immigrant visa then, upon approval of the USCIS I-130 petition, the case will be forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC), which will issue a packet of forms and instructions. Your spouse will complete some required documents, pay the appropriate fees, undergo a medical examination, and be fingerprinted for a criminal background check. You will need to submit an Affidavit of Support proving that your income is sufficient to keep your spouse off public assistance.

After completing the above (assuming the background check comes back clean), the NVC will forward the case to the appropriate U.S. consulate or embassy abroad. Your spouse will be notified to appear for a visa interview. You can find information pertaining to the interview process in, What Happens at The Green Card Marriage Interview?

Upon completing the interview, your spouse will hopefully be issued an immigrant visa. You can, if you wish, accompany your spouse to this interview, but you cannot bring an attorney along. With the immigrant visa, your spouse can enter the U.S. as a permanent resident. The actual green card will arrive some weeks later by mail.

Applying for a K-3 Nonimmigrant Visa From Outside the United States: Overview of the Process

If you marry outside the U.S. but want to do most of the processing for the green card inside the U.S., you could potentially apply for a K-3 visa; though you should realize that this option doesn't save as much time as people originally thought it would, and therefore is rarely used. But we'll describe it here regardless.

The idea would be that, after you file Form I-130 with USCIS and get your receipt notice, you send another petition to USCIS, on Form I-29F. (It's the application for a fiancé visa, but don't be confused. What you're applying for is a hybrid of the fiancé and marriage-based visa.) Once the I-129F is approved, USCIS sends word to the NVC, and your spouse completes some paperwork, pays fees, and attends an interview for a K-3 visa at the U.S. consulate or embassy abroad. The consulate must be in the same country as you got married.

Upon approval, your spouse can enter the U.S., at which time he or she should immediately file an application for adjustment of status. This requires filing Form I-485 and numerous other relevant forms and documents, including a medical exam and an Affidavit of Support proving that your income is sufficient to keep your spouse off public assistance, with USCIS (in other words, isn't likely to become a "public charge").

Your spouse will be called in for fingerprinting (biometrics) shortly thereafter, and have to pass a background check. Next, your spouse will receive an interview notice. You and your spouse will be able to attend the adjustment interview together, at a USCIS office, with an attorney present if you wish. Your spouse's permanent residence may be granted at that interview or shortly thereafter.

Bringing a Fiancé(e) to the United States

The K-1 nonimmigrant visa permits the foreign citizen to enter the U.S. specifically for the purpose of marriage, with the option of applying to adjust status in the U.S. after the marriage. In order to qualify for the K-1 visa:

1. The foreign fiancé(e) and the U.S. citizen petitioner must have met in person within the past two years (with a few exceptions possible, such as for hardship to the U.S. citizen), and
2. You must marry your fiancé within 90 days of that person entering the U.S as a K-1 nonimmigrant.

For more information on the basic qualifications, see Who Is Eligible for a Fiancé Visa.

To start the application process, you would need to submit Form I-129F to USCIS. After that is approved, the case will be forwarded to the NVC, which will send your fiancé a packet of forms and instructions. Upon completing and submitting those, your fiancé will be called for an interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy nearest to or serving the area where he or she lives. Assuming that goes well, your fiancé will receive a K-1 visa for use in entering the United States. Because the K-1 visa does not lead directly to permanent residence, fewer questions are asked than with an immigrant visa.

After entering the U.S. and marrying within the 90 days allotted, the foreign-born spouse must then submit an application to adjust status with USCIS in order to obtain a green card. As described above, that will require not only submitting forms and documents, but taking a medical exam and passing a background check and attending an interview at a USCIS office.

Can I Get a Green Card for My Spouse's or Fiancé's Children?

Your stepchildren (your spouse or fiance's minor, unmarried children) might be permitted to immigrate with the parent. However, the eligibility rules and procedural requirements that apply to each category differ and warrant thorough consideration.

Children of Spouse Who Will Receive an Immigrant Visa

If your marriage took place when your spouse's children were under 18, then they qualify as your stepchildren, and can immigrate along with your foreign-born spouse as long as they are unmarried and under age 21 when you file the Form I-130 visa petitions. You will need to file a separate Form I-130 for each child, and each will submit a separate visa application.

Under the Child Status Protection Act, their ability to obtain an immigrant visa will not be affected by them turning 21 after the visa petition has been filed; but they must not marry before obtaining the visa, or they will lose eligibility.

Children of a K-1 Fiancé

The minor, unmarried children of your K-1 fiancé can enter the U.S. on K-2 visas if they remain unmarried and under age 21 through the day they enter the United States. They can also adjust status to permanent resident status along with your new spouse, providing that the Form I-485 application and related forms are filed before each child reaches age 21. (Note that unlike children applying on an immigrant visa, it doesn't matter how old they were when the marriage took place.)

If the adjustment of status application is not filed before a child's 21st birthday, however, the child becomes ineligible to adjust as a derivative of the spouse.

Children of a K-3 Spouse

The minor, unmarried child of a K-3 spouse may be granted K-4 status to enter the United States and attend the wedding. However, USCIS does not provide the same derivative benefits as with the K-2 visa; a K-4 beneficiary risks "aging-out" (losing eligibility for the green card) if he or she turns 21 before adjustment of status takes place.

In addition, if the K-4 applicant is not the biological child of the U.S. citizen, but a stepchild, the qualifying marriage must occur before the child turns 18 instead of 21. For these reasons, if you haven't yet married, the fiancé visa could be the safest way to ensure that an older child is permitted to obtain permanent residency.

Whether an Attorney Can Be Present

Many people prefer to have an attorney's help with applying for a green card. While the attorney can attend the interview if your spouse adjusts status in the U.S., attorneys do not ordinarily accompany people to visa interviews at a U.S. consulate, except at the discretion of the particular U.S. consulate or embassy. (Having an attorney travel to the consulate could be expensive for you to arrange, too.) If you prefer an attorney to be present at the green card interview—particularly if your case presents any complications, such as difficulty proving sufficient income to support the immigrant—the K-1 or K-3 visa might be preferable.

If My Spouse is Denied a Visa or Green Card, Can I Appeal?

If your spouse is denied a visa during consular processing, there is no appeal process. An advisory opinion can be requested through the Secretary of State at the U.S. Department of State in Washington DC. However, even if a favorable advisory opinion is issued, it is not binding on the consular officer.

By contrast, you can appeal a USCIS decision on an adjustment of status application in the U.S. with the DHS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). Again, for this reason, the K-1 and K-3 petitions are often the preferred method of immigrating.

Which Process Is Fastest?

The K-3 visa was designed specifically because of delays in the immigrant visa process, to at least get applicants into the United States more quickly. However, no one visa choice is always faster. The speed depends on how backed up the relevant USCIS office or the consulate in your fiancé/spouse's home country is at the time you apply. If speed is important to you, ask an attorney for the latest information and an analysis of your options.

Two-Year Testing Period for Young Marriages

Note that, regardless of which type of visa you choose, getting a green card through marriage might lead to one of two results in the short term, depending on when the marriage takes place.

Your spouse will receive either permanent residence or conditional residence (which expires after two years unless renewed). If the marriage is less than two years old at the time your spouse enters the U.S. on an immigrant visa or adjusts status, he or she will receive conditional residence. The the marriage is already at least two years in length by the time the immigrant enters the U.S. or adjusts status, the result will be permanent residence.

Learn more about managing conditional resident status.

If You Need Legal Advice

An experienced immigration attorney can evaluate the circumstances of your particular case and provide expert advice as to the method most favorable to you, or help prepare paperwork and facilitate the entire process. If your case involves any special circumstances, or you just need help dealing with the immigration bureaucracy, a lawyer might be well worth the cost.