In our increasingly globalized society, many people fall in love at a distance. Luckily for international couples, the U.S. immigration system allows for a U.S. Citizen to obtain a visa for their fiancé to come to the United States and get married. The K-1 fiancé visa has been popularized in reality TV shows that narrate couples’ 90 days in the United States before they marry, but TV often fails to show how complicated the legal process can be.

The fiancé visa process is a hybrid of other family-based immigration processes—it requires a petition to be filed, establishing the good-faith or “bona-fide” nature of the relationship, and an interview to be set at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad. Similar to consular processing for immigrant visa petitions, each U.S. embassy or consulate abroad has different procedures when it comes to fiancé visas. Applicants typically have to complete a medical examination abroad with an approved immigration clinic, and U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident petitioners have to establish they are financially capable of supporting their fiancé. Once the foreign fiancé arrives in the United States, the couple has 90 days to get married. After that, the applicant will have to file an application for Adjustment of Status to obtain their green card.

Because every relationship is different, our expertise provides a valuable perspective on the breadth and type of relationship evidence that is successful and effective, the particulars of different consular posts, and the ins and outs of the different immigration agencies that touch the case.