K-2 Visa for Children of US Citizens
A K-2 visa allows the children of a K-1 fiance visa holder to enter the United States until an immigrant visa becomes available. To be eligible for one of these nonimmigrant visas, the applicant must be under the age of 21 and the K-1 applicant’s unmarried child.
Children of a fiancé(e) may be granted a K-2 visa through their parent’s fiancé(e) petition. The petitioning US citizen is required to include the names of the children on the I-129F petition. After the fiancé(e) and American Citizen marry, the fiancé(echildren )’s must obtain a separate Application to Register Permanent Residence (Form I-485) or an Adjustment of Status.
Within one year of the visa’s issuance, the children have the option of accompanying or joining the K-1 parent. If the children choose either of the previously stated options, no additional petition is required. If the child(ren) exceeds the one-year limit, a separate immigrant visa petition will be required. Again, the child must be unmarried in order to qualify for the K-2 visa. Furthermore, the marriage between the fiancé(e) and a US citizen must take place before the child reaches the age of 21. The previous age limit was 18, but the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) raised it to 21.
The Advantages of the K-2 Visa
The K-2 visa provides a number of benefits. You can live in the United States with your parent on a K-2 visa until they marry. By completing and submitting Form I-765, you can apply for work documents, also known as an EAD. Once the K-1 visa holder marries a US citizen, you are permitted to study in the country and apply for permanent residence. It’s best to speak with a K-2 visa attorney to learn about other benefits available only to K-2 visa holders.
K-2 Visa Restrictions
This visa has a few disadvantages. If you have a previous immigration violation that has temporarily or permanently barred you from entering the United States, you may not change to another nonimmigrant status or enter the country. If you find yourself in this situation, contact a K-2 visa lawyer right away to discuss your options.
Requirements for a K-2 Visa
A K-2 visa application must include the following forms:
- DS-160 Form (completed online) accompanied by a recent photograph
- Passport (valid) (valid)
- Birth certificate copy
- Form I-134, Affidavit of Support, and sponsor documents completed
- Medical examination
- Other documents may be required, depending on the circumstances. To find out what those are, contact a Tahmidur Rahman Remura Wahid Law Group K-2 visa lawyer.
Interview for K-2 Visa
The consulate or embassy in the United States that is processing the K-1 fiancé(evisa )’s will almost certainly require all K-2 children over the age of 14 to attend the consular interview with their parent. This may include asking the child questions to help verify the fiancé(erelationship )’s with the US citizen, so keep this in mind before showing up for your interview.
Here are some examples of possible questions:
- What is the name of the person your parents are planning to marry?
- Have you ever met the individual?
- Can you tell me anything about this individual?
- Honesty is the best policy in all consular interviews (and all immigration dealings). Answering a question with “I don’t know” is far preferable to making up an answer or exaggerating the truth, as this could jeopardize your ability to apply for additional visas or change your status to legal permanent resident.
Processing Time K-2
Processing times for any visa or green card are rarely fixed. These times are usually determined by the caseload of the service center that is handling your petition. The I-129F,
four to six months to process.
Despite the fact that premium processing (the optional service that reduces processing time to 15 calendar days) is available for many visas and green cards that use the I-129 and I-140 petitions, the K-2 uses the I-129F, which is not eligible for premium processing.
Because the two are linked, expect your K-2 visa processing time to be the same as the time it takes to adjudicate your fiancé(eK-1 )’s visa.
What Is the Cost of a K-2 Visa?
The K-2 comes with several costs, including:
The $535 I-129F filing fee
A $85 biometrics fee is possible.
The embassy may charge a fee of $265.
Other expenses may include travel expenses and attorney fees. Visit our fees page to see our flat K-2 rates.
Green Card to K-2 Visa
Obtaining legal permanent residence through the K fiancé(e) visa is a relatively simple process. When you marry a US citizen, you become an immediate relative of that citizen, which has certain advantages. Unlike other family-based green cards (such as the F1 or F2), which require you to wait until your priority date is considered current before filing to adjust your status, the USCIS states that “immigrant visas for U.S. citizens’ immediate relatives are always immediately available.”
This means that if you and your U.S. citizen fiancé(e) marry within 90 days of your arrival in the United States, an immigrant visa number will be available immediately without having to deal with priority dates. You must file an I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status in order to apply. This can take up to six months to complete, and no premium processing is available. You must submit an application for yourself as well as each of your K-2 children.
Once your I-485 is approved, you will become a legal permanent resident, and your marriage-based green card, as well as green cards for your K-2 children, will be mailed to you within six months.
You will no longer be considered an immediate family member if you are over the age of 21 and unmarried. Instead, you will be eligible for the F1 green card. However, depending on your country of origin, this visa is subject to priority date waiting times that can last several years.
K-2 Visa Frequently Asked Questions
The following are some frequently asked K-2 visa questions. For more information, please contact a Tahmidur Rahman Remura Wahid Law Group K-2 visa lawyer.
Q. How long can I stay on a K-2 visa?
A K-2 visa allows you to stay in the United States for up to 90 days, beginning on the day you enter.
Q. What if my parent (a K-1 visa holder) does not marry their fiancé?
If the K-1 parent visa holder does not marry within 90 days, the K-2 visa holder must leave the United States within 30 days.
Q. Is it possible to extend your stay on a K-2 visa?
If your K-1 visa holder parent does not marry, you may not apply for an extension of stay on a K-2 visa.
Q. Is it possible to study or work on a K-2 visa?
A K-2 visa allows you to study and work in the United States. To be able to work, you must first file the necessary documents in order to obtain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs).
K-4 Visa
Children do not require separate Petition for Alien Relative, I-130 petitions; however, the petitioner must ensure that all of his or her children are named on the Petition for Alien Fiance, I-129F petition.
Before his or her children can be granted permanent residence, the petitioner must file separate I-130 immigrant visa petitions. They must file Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status with the USCIS Office that serves the petitioner’s area when they adjust status in the United States. According to immigration law, children must be unmarried and under the age of 21.
How Tahmidur Rahman Remura Wahid Immigration Law Group Immigration Lawyers Can Assist
The process of obtaining a K-2 visa and adjusting your status to green card is lengthy and complicated. A simple mistake on a petition or filing the wrong fee to the wrong place can cause your immigration to be delayed, costing you both time and money. Hiring an immigration attorney to assist you with your case is the best way to avoid these pitfalls.
For years, Tahmidur Rahman Remura Wahid Law Group’s experienced team of family-based immigration lawyers has assisted people like you in making the transition to the United States through marriage. We will be with you every step of the way, from filing the petition to dealing with any obstacles that may arise.
You can contact one of our attorneys by completing this simple contact form and scheduling your consultation with our office today. If you are an immigrant fiance looking to bring your children to the United States, the K-2 visa is the way to go.
The K-3 nonimmigrant visa is intended for the foreign-citizen spouse of a US citizen. This visa category is intended to shorten the physical separation between foreign-citizen and US citizen spouses by allowing them to obtain a nonimmigrant K-3 visa overseas and enter the US while their immigrant visa petition is being processed.
Following petition approval, K-3 visa holders apply to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjust status to permanent resident (LPR).
Because the spouse of a U.S. citizen applying for a nonimmigrant K-3 visa must have an immigrant visa petition filed on his or her behalf by his or her U.S. citizen spouse, a K-3 applicant must meet some of the requirements of an immigrant visa while the petition is pending approval.
It should be noted that under U.S. immigration law, a foreign citizen who marries a U.S. citizen outside the United States must apply for the K-3 visa in the country where the marriage occurred.
K-4 visas are issued to eligible children of K-3 visa applicants. Both the K-3 and K-4 visas allow their holders to remain in the United States while their immigrant visa petitions are being processed by USCIS.
How is a spouse defined in US immigration law?
A spouse is a legally married man or woman.
Marriage does not qualify for immigration simply because the couple lives together.
Depending on the laws of the country where the common-law marriage occurs, common-law spouses may qualify as spouses for immigration purposes.
Only the first spouse may qualify as a spouse for immigration in cases of polygamy.
Immigration law now recognizes same-sex marriages for the purpose of immigrating to the United States. K-3 Visa Eligibility Requirements
The visa holder must be the legal spouse of an American citizen. (Please keep in mind that spouses of permanent residents are not eligible for a K-3 visa.)
The visa holder must currently reside outside of the United States.
Certain income requirements must be met by the US citizen. The current adjusted HHS poverty guidelines will be used to determine this.
The US citizen must have filed an I-130 petition to sponsor the foreign spouse, which must be pending with USCIS. In other words, the petitioner (the US citizen) must have received a receipt notice from USCIS, but the petition must not yet be approved.
If the foreign spouse has biological or adopted children who will also enter the United States on a K-1 visa, the children must be under the age of 21 and unmarried.
K-3 Visa
How to Apply for a K-3 Visa
Obtaining a K-3 visa involves three major steps. The process will begin with the filing of an I-130 form by the US citizen. While that is being processed, he or she will file an I-129F petition. Once the I-129F form has been approved, the foreign spouse will complete the process at a U.S. embassy or consulate in his or her home country. Each of these stages is described further below:
I-130 Form
The U.S. citizen sponsor must first file an I-130 form, also known as a Petition for Alien Relative, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office that serves the U.S. citizen’s area.
The I-130 form is used to prove that a valid marriage exists between a U.S. citizen and a foreign spouse for the purpose of applying for a permanent immigrant visa. Due to the common fraudulent methods associated with marriage-based green card sponsorship, the USCIS will require the petitioner to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that their marriage is genuine and was not entered into fraudulently for the purpose of obtaining a green card.
In the application form, you will be asked to answer several personal questions. As proof of a genuine marriage, there must also be relevant strong supporting documents. Check out the I-130 document checklist.
Following the submission of the I-130, the USCIS will send a receipt number indicating that the application has been received. However, because immigrant visas can take a long time to process and it’s often not ideal to be separated from family for the entire processing period, the K-3 nonimmigrant visa allows applicants to live in the United States while their application is pending.
Form I-129F
After fulfilling the aforementioned requirements, the U.S. citizen spouse must file an I-129F. Though known as the Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), this form is also used for K-3 spousal visas.
While the I-129F is used to apply for a nonimmigrant visa, it shares many similarities with the I-130 form in that they are both used to establish a genuine marriage relationship. As a result, the US citizen must submit the form along with supporting documents similar to those required for the I-130 form. These are their names:
Proof of citizenship for a US citizen (e.g. passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate).
If either the foreign spouse or the US citizen has been previously married, proof of the previous marriage’s dissolution must be submitted. A copy of the divorce decree, marriage annulment, or death certificate could be used.
The passport of the foreign spouse
Marriage license. If it was issued in a language other than English, a certified English translation must be submitted.
I-979 Form, Notice of Receipt for I-130 Petition
Passport-sized photos of both the US citizen and the foreign spouse Departure/Arrival Record (I-94 form) if the foreign spouse has ever visited the US
The average time to receive a notice is around 30 days. The I-129F form processing time ranges between six and nine months, depending on the workload at the USCIS service center in charge of the petition. Following USCIS approval, the petitions will be forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) for processing. The beneficiary (foreign spouse) will also receive notification that the I-129F form was approved. After being notified, he or she must proceed with the consular processing, as explained below.
How Consular Processing for K-3 Visa Works
If the NVC receives the approved I-129F petition before the I-130 petition, the I-129F petition will be processed. The I-129F petition will then be sent to the US embassy or consulate in the country where the marriage took place by NVC.
If the marriage takes place in the United States, the NVC will send the petition to the US embassy or consulate in the foreign-citizen spouse’s country of nationality that issues visas.
If the marriage occurred in a country without a U.S. embassy or consulate, or if the embassy or consulate does not issue visas, the NVC will forward the petition to the U.S. embassy or consulate that normally processes visas for citizens of that country.
The foreign-citizen spouse will be given specific instructions, including where to go for the required medical examination, by the US embassy or consulate where he or she will apply. The foreign citizen spouse will then be invited to an interview at the US embassy or consulate to determine eligibility for the K-3 visa.
Procedures for Consular Processing
Fill out the DS-160 Application
The foreign spouse must first create an account on the website of the US embassy or consulate that is processing the visa. After that, he or she will download the DS-160 application form, fill it out, and electronically submit it to the Department of State.
When the application form is completed, the web portal will generate a confirmation page with a barcode. The barcode on this confirmation page will be required later to book and attend the visa interview at the embassy.
Pay the Visa Processing Fee and Make Appointments
To pay the K-3 visa processing fee, the foreign spouse must use one of the payment options available on the website. The DS-160 application also requires a pre-arranged one-on-one interview at your home country’s embassy or consulate. An immigration medical exam will also be required. The medical examination is performed by one of the civil physicians authorized by the embassy or consulate and must be completed prior to the visa interview date.
Documents for Consular Processing K-3
Documents required for K-3 consular processing may differ depending on the embassy or consulate. The following are the most common items required to complete the application:
- Confirmation of original birth certificate DS-160 form submission
- The visa applicant’s foreign passport
- Immigration medical certificate outcomes
- two (2) passport-sized colored photographs (must meet these requirements)
- If necessary, an affidavit of support (I-134 form).
- Evidence of previous marriage(s) annulment, if applicable
- Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form DS-156 and Supplement DS-156k
- Biographical DS-230 Form Completed
- clearance from a background check
- Participate in the Visa Interview
The embassy will notify the foreign spouse of the interview appointment once the above steps have been completed correctly. The notification will include the date, location, and time of the interview, as well as the items that must be brought with you. If everything goes well and the foreign spouse is granted a K-3 visa after the interview, he or she may travel to the United States.
Application for a Green Card
Now that the foreign spouse has arrived in the United States, the application can be completed by submitting an I-485 form, also known as the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The form can be submitted alongside forms I-795 and I-131. These two forms are used to request an employment authorization document (EAD) and, separately, a travel permit.
While the green card petition may still be pending, the I-795 and I-131 forms are processed within nine months. These will serve as the immigrant’s work permit and travel permit, allowing them to work legally in the United States as well as travel and reenter the country while the green card application is being processed.
Obtaining a Social Security Card
K-3/K-4 visa holders must first obtain employment authorization documents (EADs) in order to receive their social security number. Fill out Form I-765 and an I-485 Adjustment of Status petition to receive this authorization.
Take your marriage certificate to the social security office when you’re ready to receive your card with the correct last name. A K-3 visa attorney can guide you through the process step by step.
The Advantages of the K-3 Visa
Securing a K-3 visa has three distinct advantages over other visa petitions. The first advantage is that the waiting period is usually shorter than for other marriage petitions. The second advantage is that you can apply for a work permit, which is important for many immigrants. You can also bring children under the age of 21 to the United States on a K-4 dependent visa.
K-3 Visa Questions and Answers
Take a look at some of the most frequently asked K-3 visa lawyer questions.
Q. What are the primary requirements for obtaining a K-3 visa?
To be eligible for a K-3 visa, you must be legally married to a citizen, have an I-130 petition filed on your behalf by your spouse (a US citizen), and be seeking to enter the country while your green card petition is being processed. Contact a qualified K-3 visa lawyer or attorney if you believe you meet these three criteria.
Q. How long does it take to process a K-3 visa?
The processing time for a K-3 visa varies by case, but on average, USCIS takes 3-5 months to process, plus an additional 2-3 months at the consulate.
Q. What is the maximum length of stay on a K-3 visa?
K-3 spouses can stay for up to two years, or until their I-130 is approved and they can apply for green cards. If USCIS has not yet approved the I-130 for whatever reason, you may file extensions.
Q. Is it possible to study or work on a K-3 visa?
You can study and work on a K-3 visa by submitting Form I-765, Employment Authorization Document (EAD).
How a K-3 Visa Attorney Can Assist
Tahmidur Rahman Remura Wahid Immigration Law Group’s K-3 visa attorneys will gladly assist you in navigating the process of obtaining a K-3 visa for your foreign citizen fiancé (e). They will prepare and file all necessary forms with supporting documentation, as well as guide you through the entire process. To get in touch, fill out this contact form to schedule a consultation.
K-3/K-4 Nonimmigrant Visas
If you are a U.S. citizen and you filed a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative for your foreign spouse who is abroad, you can also file a Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e). This is the first step for your spouse and his or her children to obtain a visa to come to the United States while you wait for USCIS to make a decision on the Form I-130. Historically, you and your family members might have been separated for some time while waiting for a decision on your Form I-130. Congress sought to resolve this problem by creating K-3 and K-4 nonimmigrant visas to shorten the time your family would need to spend apart. However, because USCIS now takes less time to adjudicate the Form I-130, the current need for K-3 and K-4 visas is rare.
