Fiancé(e) Visas – Summary
The fiancé(e) visa is obtained after an interview at a US embassy abroad. The immigrant fiancé(e) must marry the US citizen within 90 days of entry to the United States, and then apply for adjustment of status.
Note: Adjustment of status is also commonly filed for immigrants who have entered the United States with another visa type, such as a F1 (student), J1 (cultural exchange), B2 (tourist), and other employment related visas. For most visa types, it is not permitted that the immigrant have the preconceived intent to file for adjustment of status when entering the United States, however.
Generally, it is required that the US citizen and fiancé(e) meet in person within the two years immediately before the filing of the case.
The fiancé(e) visa is a good option if you are not married yet. Generally speaking, a fiancé(e) visa is also a faster route for getting a foreign partner to the US than consular processing for spouses of US citizens.
If the immigrant fiancé(e) has children, the fiancé(e) visa may be a better option as well. For example, if an immigrant stepchild is already 18 years or older when the marriage takes effect, it may not be possible to bring the stepchild to the United States. However, with the fiancé(e) visa, a child 18 years or older (but under 21) can still immigrate to the United States with a K2 visa.
Most of the time, when an immigrant is already inside the United States, it makes little sense to apply for a fiancé(e) visa unless there is a specific reason to do so, such as for example, when the immigrant must leave the United States or the immigrant is currently in the United States with a type of visa that does not permit adjustment of status, such as a crew member (C) type visa.
