Length of time visa is valid

[katfly 0]

Hi there,

Apologies if this question has already been answered somewhere else, but could anyone confirm whether the K1 visa expiry date is 6 months from the day you receive the visa itself, or 6 months from the day of your medical?

I've come across some conflicting information from different countries and it would be great to know what applies to beneficiaries from the UK.

Thanks in advance for your time and help!

Katherine

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Hi there,

Apologies if this question has already been answered somewhere else, but could anyone confirm whether the K1 visa expiry date is 6 months from the day you receive the visa itself, or 6 months from the day of your medical?

I've come across some conflicting information from different countries and it would be great to know what applies to beneficiaries from the UK.

Thanks in advance for your time and help!

Katherine

London embassy website http://london.usembassy.gov/faq-imm-proc.html#iv062

[katfly 0]

Thanks for the link Nich-Nick, much appreciated!

The wording is quite vague in that it says "normally issued" and "maximum validity", both of which suggest there are exceptions to the six month rule. If anyone has personal experience of shorter validity periods, and what might have been the reason they received one, I'd love to hear from you.

The reason I'm asking is I have a fixed term employment contract that ends in October and I didn't think I'd have my K1 until around that time because of the CSC delays... but now they've speeded up and we have our NOA2 (not complaining about that!)... I guess if I don't arrange my medical until June/July, I'll be ok for a 4-6 months validity.

Thanks again for your help!

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Thanks for the link Nich-Nick, much appreciated!

The wording is quite vague in that it says "normally issued" and "maximum validity", both of which suggest there are exceptions to the six month rule. If anyone has personal experience of shorter validity periods, and what might have been the reason they received one, I'd love to hear from you.

The reason I'm asking is I have a fixed term employment contract that ends in October and I didn't think I'd have my K1 until around that time because of the CSC delays... but now they've speeded up and we have our NOA2 (not complaining about that!)... I guess if I don't arrange my medical until June/July, I'll be ok for a 4-6 months validity.

Thanks again for your help!

Immigrant and fiancé visas are normally issued for the validity period of the medical examination, the maximum validity of which, is six mnths. K3 & K4 visa holders are issued a visa valid for travel for two years. Please refer to the individual sections for further information.

To me it says the visas are issued for the validity period of the medical. That means six months after the medical is signed off (because it's valid 6 mo.) the visa ends. It will never be more than 6 months. BUT the exception is the K3/K4. (K3/K4 have can continue to travel and reenter the US on that visa. The K1 or CR1 must use their greencard or Advance Parole travel document to reinter the US after POE, not their visas)

The parentheses are my general knowledge of visas stuck in to fill out their brief statement. Does that help?

If for example you have your medical on May 1 and your interview on July 1. Your visa will be issued for use until Nov 1, not the full six months past the interview. It's been a change that has kinda slipped in in the last year I think. Not sure of the date exactly. I know we had some discussion of this and London interviewees confirmed it was six months from the medical on their visa. If somebody got their visa maybe two years ago, then don't go by their experience because this is newish.

[katfly 0]

That helps a lot - thank you again!