Immigrant vs Nonimmgrant Visa

[JoanBill 0]

Aloha kakou.

Why is the K-1 considered a non-immigrant visa when in fact the beneficiary intends to move here?? I have always wondered that. And besides that, a fellow poster had questions about the DS-230 which is an immigrant application.

Mahalo,

Bill and Joan

[Dan J 277]

Technically its a non-immigrant visa, you dont automatically get PR status upon entry. But you are able upon marriage to adjust status and attain PR status.

[eric_and_teresa 10]

Technically its a non-immigrant visa, you dont automatically get PR status upon entry. But you are able upon marriage to adjust status and attain PR status.

Exactly, K-1 is a non-immigrant visa, because it allows you to enter the U.S. territory just once with the purpose of marrying a USC. Does not give you a Permanent Residency right away. The beneficiary of a K-1 could intend (but not necessarily always) to live in the U.S. in which case, he'd have to apply for AOS to become a PR after the marriage takes place, or he if he has no intention to live in the U.S. he'd just go back to where he/she and his/her spouse will live.

In most cases people do intend to live in the U.S. In those cases, after applying for AOS you'll be become a conditional permanent resident for 2 years, if after those 2 years you're still married to your USC spouse you'll have to file another form and go to another interview and finally you'll receive an unconditional green card. So for what you can see, all of us who are just starting our I-129F process we have a long road ahead!

[lucyrich 19]

Why is the K-3 visa considered a fianceé visa when you must demonstrate that you're already married in order to receive one? So an immigrating spouse is supposed to get a non-immigrant fianceé visa? Who thought THAT was a good idea?

There are historical and bureaucratic reasons that probably almost seemed reasonable at the time.

[Urge To Race 2]

Why is the K-3 visa considered a fianceé visa when you must demonstrate that you're already married in order to receive one? So an immigrating spouse is supposed to get a non-immigrant fianceé visa? Who thought THAT was a good idea?

There are historical and bureaucratic reasons that probably almost seemed reasonable at the time.

K3 is a non-immigrant visa, but not really a fianceé visa. You just use the same form as the fianceé visa. I remember researching this way back when the LIFE Act was new, and they were talking about how the K3 would take awhile to implement since they had to come up with a petition for it. Then they decided to let people petition for K3 using the fianceé visa form I129F since most of the info is the same. They just never went and created a separate K3 petition, just decided that we need to send the I129F to a special lock box in Chicago, IL to start the K3 process.

In short, K3 is not a fianceé visa, it just uses the petition designed for the fianceé visa so that they could start accepting K3 petitions quicker.

[eric_and_teresa 10]

Why is the K-3 visa considered a fianceé visa when you must demonstrate that you're already married in order to receive one? So an immigrating spouse is supposed to get a non-immigrant fianceé visa? Who thought THAT was a good idea?

There are historical and bureaucratic reasons that probably almost seemed reasonable at the time.

K3 is a non-immigrant visa, but not really a fianceé visa. You just use the same form as the fianceé visa. I remember researching this way back when the LIFE Act was new, and they were talking about how the K3 would take awhile to implement since they had to come up with a petition for it. Then they decided to let people petition for K3 using the fianceé visa form I129F since most of the info is the same. They just never went and created a separate K3 petition, just decided that we need to send the I129F to a special lock box in Chicago, IL to start the K3 process.

In short, K3 is not a fianceé visa, it just uses the petition designed for the fianceé visa so that they could start accepting K3 petitions quicker.

Actually the idea behind K-3 was a good idea! The objective of the LIFE ACT was to reduce the separations that the spouses of U.S. citizens have to go through while waiting abroad for an immigrant visa. The LIFE ACT (Legal Immigration Family Equity) expanded the K visa status, that was first only available to fiances, and now it includes spouses of U.S. citizens. With this provision, alien spouses of US Citizens enter the United States faster as nonimmigrants, and once they are in States they apply for immigrant status. But they no longer have to wait for an immigrant visa (which for what I understand takes a lot longer) away from their loved ones.

I agree with Urge to Rage, even when you use the same form for both visas, K-3 is not a fiance visa, it's a Spouse Visa. The procedure is for K-3 is a lot different from K-1. When applying for K-3 the USC (sponsor) must submit a I-130 form (Petition for Alien Relative) and only after the sponsor receives a receipt (Form I-797) to acknowledge the I-130 petition, he is able to submit Form I-129F. Once the I-129F is approved the spouse is able to travel to the US, and wait together for the approval of I-130 and apply later for the AOS. Other big difference is that K-3 is valid for 2 years and it allows you to exit and re-enter the US territory. That's something you can not do with a fiance visa.

[Yodrak 7]

lucyrich,

The K3 visa is not considered a fiancee visa.

Yodrak

Why is the K-3 visa considered a fianceé visa when you must demonstrate that you're already married in order to receive one? .....