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Where do my K-1 Visa Fees Go?

K-1 petitioners and their beloved beneficiaries face a number of hurdles to bring the foreign fiance(e) to the U.S. A significant one is financial given the expense incurred of travelling to a foreign country to meet one another. Add in phone bills, English classes, obtaining documents and translations, and the amount can be substantial.Having to pay the USCIS filing fee of $455 along with the Department of State visa fee of about $100 just adds to the hardship. While the $455 paid to the USCIS goes to the effort required to adjudicate the I-129f at the Vermont or California Service Center, what do the visa fees paid to the U.S. Consulate apply to?

A recent study authorized by the Dept. of State identified one hundred and three activities required to process an application for a K1-category fiance(e) nonimmigrant visa. 103! Most K-1 couples think that the K-1 petition submission to the USCIS is the crucial stage of the K-1 process where the USCIS determines the couple’s eligibility for the visa. Who knew that the receipt and preparation for the K-1 interview overseas could be so complicated?

A closer look identifies the key activities and events that take place to process a K-1 visa stamp. They include but are not limited to the following:

–Pre-processing of the case at the National Visa Center, where the petition is received from the Department of Homeland Security, packaged and assigned to the appropriate embassy or consulate; and

–Intake and review of materials required for a K visa that are not required for other nonimmigrant visas, such as the I-134 affidavit of support and the DS-2054 medical examination report;

–Conducting an interview of the K visa applicant;

–Collecting biometrics from the K visa applicant;

–Actual adjudication of the application;

–Requesting legal opinions from headquarters as necessary;

–Investigating possible fraud in those applications; and

–Producing the physical visa, affixing it to the applicant’s passport, and returning that product to the applicant.

As the number of fraudulent K-1 fiance(e) petitions increase, the amount of time and energy required by consular officders to review and process these will undoubtedly increase. While K-1 visa fees have held steady since January 1, 2008, the Dept. of State proposed increasing visa fees. In our next newsletter, we’ll discuss the new fees and when they will take place.If you are interested in applying for a K-1 fiance(e) or K-3 spousal visa, contact our law office to see how our firm can prepare the best petition to maxmimize your chances for success. Visit us at www.myfianceevisa.com

This entry was posted on 26. March 2010 at 19:25 and is filed under a fiance visa: interview tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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Where do my K-1 Visa Fees Go?

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