Department of State Issues New Procedures for Certain I-129F Visa Petitions

The Department of States has issued new procedures for adjudication of I-129F at the U.S. Consulates/Embassies around the world. These new procedures apply to K-3 Visa Petitions filed by a U.S. citizen spouse. A K-3 Visa Petition allows the spouse of a U.S. citizen to come to the United States while the I-130 is being processed. In order to qualify for a K-3 Visa, a marriage based immigrant visa petition must first be filed by the U.S. citizen spouse. Once the marriage based visa petition is filed and a receipt notice received the petitioner can file for a K-3 non immigrant visa petition.

Effective February 1, 2010, if the National Visa Center (NVC) receives approvals for both the K-3 non immigrant visa petition and the marriage based immigrant petition at the same time the National Visa Center will administratively close the K-3 visa petition and process the marriage based immigrant visa instead.

If the National Visa Center does not receive both at the same time it will process the K-3 non immigrant visa petition. National Visa Center will send the petition to the Embassy/Consulate in the country where the marriage took place. If the marriage took place in the United States, National Visa Center will send the petition to the embassy/consulate in the country of your nationality.

At the Visa Lawyer Group, our attorneys stay current on all the developing changes to U.S. immigration policies. Ensuring a smooth immigration process is our priority. To learn more about our services or to speak to one of our attorneys, please contact Visa Lawyer Group today.