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Immigrant Visas: When is One Ineligible?

Certain conditions and activities may make the applicant ineligible for a visa. Examples of these ineligibilities are:

  • Drug trafficking
  • Having HIV/AIDS
  • Overstaying a previous visa
  • Practicing polygamy
  • Advocating the overthrow of the government
  • Submitting fraudulent documents

The consular officer will inform you if you are ineligible for a visa, whether there is a waiver of the ineligibility and what the waiver procedure is.

To determine whether your foreign spouse is eligible for an immigrant visa, please speak with an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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Immigrant Visas: the Difference between IR and CR status

If you have been married for less than two years when your spouse enters the United States on an immigrant visa, the permanent resident status is considered “conditional.” The immigrant visa is a conditional resident (CR) visa, not an immediate relative (IR) visa.

You and your spouse must apply together to the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to remove the “condition” within the ninety days before the two year anniversary of your spouse’s entry into the United States on an immigrant visa. The two-year anniversary date of entry is the date of expiration on the alien registration card (green card).

To apply for either an IR visa or CR visa for your foreign spouse, please speak with an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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Visa Fees for Filing for a Foreign Spouse

Aside from attorney fees, USCIS and DOS fees are charged for the following services:

  • Filing an immigrant Petition for Alien Relative, form I-130
  • Processing an immigrant visa application, for DS-230
  • Reviewing an I-864, Affidavit of Support (for petitions filed in the United States)
  • Medical examination (costs vary from place to place)
  • Fingerprinting fees, if applicable
  • Other costs may include translation and photocopying charges, fees for getting the documents you need for the immigrant visa application (such as passport, police certificates, birth certificates, etc.) and travel expenses to go to the embassy or consulate for the interview. Costs vary from country to country and case to case.

If you need assistance filing to bring your foreign spouse over to the U.S., please speak with an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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Applying for an Immigrant Visa: Required Supporting Docs

An appointment package is sent to the agent or the applicant. (See note below.) The appointment package gives the applicant an interview date and tells you the specific requirements of the visa. It includes instructions on where to go to have the required medical examination. During the interview process, an ink-free, digital fingerprint scan will be taken. Some visa applications require further administrative processing, which takes additional time after the visa applicant’s interview by a Consular Officer.

 In general, the following is required:

  • Passport(s) valid for six months beyond the intended date of entry into the United States
  • Birth certificate
  • Divorce or death certificate of any previous spouse
  • Marriage certificate
  • Police certificate from all places lived since age 16
  • Medical examination
  • Evidence of financial support. A completed  Form I-864 Affidavit of Support from petitioner/ sponsor is required.
  • Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, Form DS-230, both Part I and Part II
  • Two immigrant visa photos
  • Proof of the marriage and the husband/wife relationship
  • Payment of immigrant processing fees, as explained below

An applicant may bring marriage photographs and other proof that the marriage is genuine. Documents in foreign languages should be translated. The consular officer may ask for more information. Take clear, legible photocopies of civil documents, such as birth and marriage certificates, to the immigrant visa interview. Original documents can then be returned to you.

 Note: The National Visa Center sends appointment packages to the agent for applicants in certain countries when the petitions are filed in the United States. The embassy or consulate sends appointment packages to applicants in all other countries. It also sends appointment packages to all applicants whose petitions are already at the embassy or consulate.

If you need assistance bringing over your foreign spouse to the U.S., please speak with an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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Role of the NVC in Processing Immigrant Visas for Spouses

After a Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in the United States approves the petition, it sends the petition to the National Visa Center (NVC). When an applicant’s priority meets the most recent Qualifying Date, the NVC will contact the applicant and petitioner with instructions for submitting the appropriate processing fees. After the appropriate processing fees are paid, the NVC will again contact the applicant and petitioner to request that the necessary immigrant visa documentation be submitted to the NVC.

If you are working with an attorney, the NVC will take the following steps:

  1. Assigns a case number to the petition.
  2. Send the Affidavit of Support processing fee bill and the immigrant visa fee bill to the attorney.
  3. After the Affidavit of Support processing fee is paid, the NVC will send the Affidavit of Support Process and the Applicant Document Process instructions to the attorney.
  4. After the Affidavit of Support and Applicant documents are submitted to the NVC, the NVC will review the information submitted for technical correctness and completeness.
  5. After reviewing the submitted documentation, and the file is complete with all the required documents, the NVC will send the petition to the embassy or consulate where the applicant will apply for a visa when the case file is complete. For certain embassies/consulates, the NVC will schedule the applicant’s interview. Approximately one month before the applicant’s scheduled interview appointment with a consular officer, all interested parties (applicant, petitioner, and attorney) will receive an appointment letter containing the date and time of the applicant’s visa interview along with instructions for obtaining a medical examination.

If you are interested in bringing over your wife or husband to the U.S. on an immigrant visa, please speak with an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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Basics of K-3 Spousal Visas

If you are an American citizen you have two ways to bring your foreign spouse (husband or wife) to the United States to live. They are

  • Immigrant visa for a Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1 or CR1) - An immigrant Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-130 is required.
  • Nonimmigrant visa for spouse (K-3) - It is important to note that application for the nonimmigrant visa for spouse (K-3) who married a U.S. citizen must be filed and the visa must be issued in the country where the marriage took place.  After the visa process has been completed, and the visa is issued, the spouse can travel to the United States to wait for the processing of the immigrant visa case. Two petitions are required:
    • Petition for Alien Relative, Form 1-130; and
    • Petition for Alien Fiancé (e), Form I-129F

 If you’d like assistance bringing over your foreign spouse to the U.S., please contact an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078  or visit our website at www.myfianceevisa.com

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K-3 and K-4 processing in the Ukraine, part II

The US Embassy will ONLY send out the Information packet to the beneficiary containing the application forms. After the interview has been scheduled by the call center NO written notification about scheduling an appointment for a visa interview will be sent either to the petitioner or the beneficiary. The date of the appointment also will not be confirmed by the Immigrant Visa Unit of the Consular Section over the telephone. Those applicants who wish to confirm their date of the appointments as well as re-schedule them should contact the call center.

The Information packet contains information on the documentation you must provide at the time of the interview. The medical exams must be performed only by the physician identified in the packet. K3 and K4visa applicants are not required to submit proof of vaccinations or to undergo any vaccinations until they adjust status with the USCIS. Therefore applicants may wish to consider carrying their vaccination records with them to the United States to facilitate this process.

The consulate also sends out the Information packet to the attorneys of record. The alien beneficiary may appear at the Consular Section only when the appointment date is set by the call center. Please note that if the applicant has been qualified for getting the visa at the time of the interview, the passport will be sent back to the applicant through the courier service within 10 business days. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you not make non-refundable flight arrangements or other travel plans until you have your visa in hand.

Aliens who enter the U.S. with a valid nonimmigrant K3 visa will be admitted for a period of 2 years. A minor child entering the U.S. with a valid nonimmigrant K4 visa will be admitted for a period of 2 years or until the day before the alien”s 21st birthday, whichever is shorter. Following the 2-year admission period, a K3 and K4 nonimmigrant may apply with the Service for an extension of stay using Form I-539. Extensions of Stay are issued in 2-year increments. Once the pending immigrant petition is approved, the individuals in the U.S. on the K3/K4 visas may adjust their status to conditional permanent residency.

If you would like to bring over your foreign spouse from the Ukraine, please contact an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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K-3 and K-4 processing in the Ukraine, part I

For Ukrainian citizens who married American citizens either in the U.S. or in Ukraine, the appropriate consulate to apply for K3/K4 visas would be the American Consulate in Kiev, Ukraine.

Applicants for K3 and K4 visas should not schedule an interview appointment before receiving the Information packet from the Consular Section with the instruction to contact the call center and schedule the formal visa interview. The Consular Section will only send this packet upon the receipt of the approved I-129F petition from USCIS. It may take from 2 to 12 months to have this petition approved.

Before notifying the call center that the applicant has obtained all the documents listed in the Information packet, every Ukrainian national must have an international passport valid for at least 6 months at the time of entering the U.S.

During an interview each applicant is required to present the completed and signed form KEV-1 and the original documents together with their photocopies. The consulate does not require the original financial support documents. Petitioners can fax or e-mail them to the beneficiaries. Any document in a foreign language should be accompanied by a notarized/certified English translation. After the interview all originals except the police certificates are returned to the applicant.

When K3 visa applicant has collected all the documents specified in the Information packet, he or she should contact the call center over the phone (044-207-70-71) and schedule the appointment for the formal visa interview. The completed and signed form KEV-1 from the Information packet should be presented at the interview certifying that all required documents have been obtained.

If calling from the United States on behalf of relatives in Ukraine, the telephone number is 1-888-889-3780.

If you need assistance bringing your spouse over from the Ukraine, contact an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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K-3 Spousal Visa Requirements

The purpose of the K visa is to reunite families that have been or could be subject to a long period of separation during the process of immigrating to the United States. Holders of the K3/K4 visas will be able to wait in the US for this process to be completed.

The K3 and K4 nonimmigrant visas allow spouses of U.S. citizens and the children of those spouses who are under 21 years of age and unmarried to enter the U.S. while their permanent visa petition is pending.

Only spouses of U.S. citizens and their children are eligible for the K3 or K4 nonimmigrant classification. Other relatives of U.S. citizens, as well as any relatives of lawful permanent residents, are not eligible.

There are three requirements for an alien to obtain this nonimmigrant classification:

  1. The alien must already be married to a U.S. citizen who has filed a relative visa petition (Form I-130) on the alien’s behalf for purposes of an immigrant visa. An I-130 for beneficiaries may be filed with USCIS in the U.S.
  2. The same U.S. citizen spouse must petition on that alien’s behalf to obtain a nonimmigrant “K3″ visa (Form I-129F). The I-129F must be filed with USCIS in the U.S. only.
  3. The alien must be seeking to enter the U.S. to wait for an immigrant visa.

Once the current I-129F is approved, USCIS will notify the American consulate abroad specified on the petition. If the marriage took place abroad, the USCIS will notify the consulate in the country where the marriage took place.

Applicants for K3 and K4 visas must apply for those visas in the country where the marriage to the US citizen took place.

If you need assistance bringing your foreign spouse over to the U.S., contact an immigration attorney at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

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USCIS Correcting Advance Parole Documents

U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) announced that it will reissue Advance Parole documents (Form I-512) in response to documents that were mailed to applicants with an incorrect issue date of January 5, 1990. All affected documents have been identified and USCIS will automatically reissue documents to individuals who have received a document with the incorrect issue date. All documents continue to be valid as the expiration dates remain accurate, therefore it is not necessary for applicants to contact USCIS regarding their pending application unless their application is outside the normal processing time of 90 days.

If you need to travel urgently and you have received a document with an invalid issue date, then you may travel using the incorrect document. U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has been alerted however, you may be questioned about the issuance date.

If you need assistance with an advance parole application or other immigration applications, please contact our law firm at 626-771-1078 or visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com