I-130 Visa

In any marriage based immigrant petition, the first step is always to file an I-130 immigrant visa. The I-130, also know as a marriage visa, is filed by the U.S. citizen spouse. At time of filing the Petitioner will need to prove to USCIS that he/she and the foreign national entered the marriage in good faith and not strictly of immigration purposes. Proof can be provided in the form of evidence of the relationship prior to the marriage. Time and place of the marriage is usually not an issue with a marriage based visa petition.

The second step in the green card process is usually either Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing. If the foreign national is in the United States, he/she has the option of either filing for an adjustment of status here in the United States or applying for an immigrant visa at a Consulate abroad via consular processing. If foreign national decides to file for Adjustment of Status, he/she would file an AOS Application along with the I-130 Marriage Petition. Once the petition is filed, the foreign national may have restrictions on travel outside the U.S. He/she will have to apply for Advance Parole, a form of travel permission, before any travel outside the United States can take place. If the foreign national leaves without permission, the application is deemed abandoned. The foreign national would apply for Advance Parole along with the Adjustment of Status Application. Once both, I-130 and I-485, applications are processed the Petitioner and Beneficiary will have to submit to a joint marriage interview before an immigration officer. When approved, the foreign national’s passport will be stamped and he/she will receive a physical card in the mail. It is very important that any application for advance parole is filed prior to the expiration of the foreign national’s current I-94. It is important to note that if the foreign national has incurred any unlawful presence in the United States then any travel outside the United States, even with an approved advance parole, is prohibited. If the foreign national leaves the U.S. then he/she may become subject to the 3 or 10 year bar. Please consult a qualified visa attorney before making any travel arrangements.

If the foreign national decides to apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad, then the Petitioner would file what is called a stand alone I-130 Marriage Visa Application. Once the petition is approved, the application will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) for processing. NVC will request documentation and once submitted will send the application to the U.S. Embassy having jurisdiction over the Beneficiary’s place of residence. The foreign national will have to submit to an interview at the Embassy. Once interviewed and approved, the foreign national’s passport will be stamped and he/she will have six months within which to move to America. The foreign national will enter the United States as a green card holder and receive a physical card in the mail. Unlike the requirement to obtain an advance parole for travel, a foreign national with just a stand alone I-130 pending has no restrictions on travel. For example, foreign nationals from Visa Waiver countries have traveled in and out of the United States while their I-130s have been pending. They do have to show non-immigrant intent via ties to the foreign country including children, work commitments and a return ticket.

Visa Lawyer Group is an immigration law firm that provides legal assistance to clients around the world. Our immigration lawyers can be contacted to work on a variety of immigration related issues. For more information please schedule a free consultation, email us at info@visalawyergroup.com or call us at (845) 353-3500. Our immigration and visa lawyers are based in New York with offices in Nyack and Manhattan. Learn more about Visa Lawyer Group.

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.

Making a case for your I-130 Marriage Based Visa and K1 Fiance Visa application

Every marriage based or fiancé(e) based visa application requires the visa applicant to prove the bona fides of the relationship. Every I-130 marriage based application requires that the petitioner and beneficiary prove to USCIS that their marriage is a bona fide one and every K1 Fiancé(e) visa application also requires the U.S. citizen petitioner to prove the bona fides of their relationship. What exactly are the bona fides of a relationship and how do you prove it? In Latin, bona fides literally means good faith and the online Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines it as the fact of being genuine. In immigration proceedings, the burden of proof is on the petitioning United States citizen and his/her spouse or fiancé(e) to prove that their relationship is genuine. A large percentage of immigrant and non immigrant petitions are initially approved based on the paperwork that is submitted to USCIS. Therefore it is extremely important to include documentation of a valid relationship.

For a marriage based petition including a copy of your valid marriage certificate usually suffices. But including documentation that shows proof of marriage is always helpful. This can be anything from copies of your wedding invitation, receipts from the caterer, and photographs of the wedding to evidence of a joint checking or savings account. A letter from both spouses documenting the relationship leading up to the marriage can also be included.

While a marriage certificate can suffice as evidence in an I-130 immigrant visa application, same cannot be said about a K1 fiancé(e) visa application. In order for a K1 fiance(e) visa application to be approved, immigration officers rely heavily on the documentation that is submitted supporting the petition. For example, a letter of intent to marry from both the United States citizen and the foreign national fiancé should always be included. For proof of relationship be sure to include any evidence that proves the length and strength of the relationship. This proof can include copies of telephone bills showing phone calls back and forth, copies of emails between each other, receipt of engagement ring (if available) and documents showing preparations for a wedding in the United States. Use your imagination and be creative with the evidence your submit. Packaging a petition, marriage or fiancé(e), should be done very carefully because a small mistake can cause undue delay or even an outright rejection.

What is a marriage visa? What is a K-3 Spousal visa? Is there a difference?

Simply enough, a marriage visa is an immigrant visa that allows the spouse of a U.S. citizen to enter the United States to live here on a permanent basis. It is also wildly popular as an I-130 and IR-1 but at the end of the day, they all mean the same thing. The process starts here in America with the U.S. citizen spouse; he/she has to file a petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A marriage visa can be processed in one of two ways; if the foreign national spouse is in the United States on a valid visa, then the marriage visa petition can be filed concurrently with an application to adjust status. If the foreign national spouse is outside of the United States, the marriage visa petition is filed alone and the adjustment process is done overseas in what is called consular processing. Either way, the process can take anywhere from six to nine months. There have been instances in the past where the processing of the I-130 would take more than five months. This delay in processing affected those couples who were proceeding with consular processing. Therefore, Congress introduced and put to use the K-3 visa category. A K-3 visa is a non-immigrant visa category allowing foreign national spouses’ who already had a marriage visa petition filed on their behalf to travel to America and wait of the processing here. This category was introduced for the sole purpose of bringing married couples close together. It is not an alternative to filing a marriage visa petition. In fact, an applicant cannot qualify for a K-3 spousal visa unless an I-130 marriage visa petition has been filed first. The spouse can enter America on a K-3 and remain here until the I-130 is finished processing. Once the I-130 is approved, the spouse then has to file for an adjustment of status. It used to be that K-3 visas were processed faster than I-130 and therefore were more preferable. But now, the processing time for both types of visa is approximately the same time making the K-3 obsolete. It is cost prohibitive to file for both an I-130 and K-3 especially when they are both taking the same amount of time to be approved. If an I-130 is approved before a K-3, the U.S. Consulate will not go forward with the K-3 and will continue on to process the marriage visa.