Difference between K1 and K3 visa

[jpinoy]

My question is, how much faster is the K3(spouse) visa compared to the K1(Fiance) visa.

I keep hearing or reading that you can bring your spouse with you to the US while the papers are getting approved if you go for the K3 visa.

Initially was planning to bring my fiance here to the US and get married, then go back home to the Philippines(that's where I'm originally from) to get married n my province so her and my family can attend the wedding. But I read somewhere that she can't leave the US for 2/yrs after coming to the states and getting married.

How does the K3 visa actually work. Should I just go home to the Philippines, get married, and do the paperwork there to bring her back with me? Is it a fast procedure to do, so she can travel back with me while waiting on the approval process. I read that Husband/Spouse visa have no waiting period, but how fast do they approve the visa to travel with their spouse.

This is where I got some of the info on the K3: https://www.immihelp.com/usa-visas/kvisa/


Any help would be appreciate, or if you need more info, just let me know and I'll provide it.

Salamat po!

[nichole]

K1, K3

The fastest visa is K1 fiancee, but it's not instant. Depending on where you live in the US also matters. There are two service centers, Vermont and California that process K1/K3. Vermont is a couple of months ahead of California right now, no matter what their posted processing times say. Look at the K1 filing instructions on where to mail. In CA people who filed in January are getting initial approval and sent on to the foreign embassy. In VT they are on late March. Once at the embassy, it can take a few more months to issue the visa.

With both K1 and K3, she has to file for Adjustment of Status once in the US. At the same time she can apply for work authorization and the travel document called Advance Parole. Green card processing could take a year I suppose, but the AP document could come in 3 months. It doesn't mean she is guaranteed back into the country, so some people are afraid to use it.

You can't just bring her here to get married. She would have to have a tourist visa. Coming to the US on a tourist visa with the intent to marry is visa fraud. They may not even issue the tourist visa if they think she has intentions to come into the country to marry. (ie, she has a US fiance) Getting married in the US under semi-fraudulent conditions could hinder getting the K1/K3 visa the legal way.

And the very basic info about K1 and K3 visas---they are one-time-use only. You don't go back and forth on them. K1, you enter the US, marry within 90 days, then are allowed to stay while applying for the green card. K3 is the same, but you are already married so skip the wedding requirements.
The CR-1 visa is also for a spouse, but she stays in her country until all the processing is done and she enters the US with a green card, work permit, etc. It takes longer. The K3 was invented to get the spouse in the US to be with her husband while the green card process is stuck in administrative processing. They get to be together while they wait.

The no waiting period means fiancees and wives of US citizens go to the front of the line over somebody trying to get one for their sister or cousin. There is still a wait for the processing to be done. There's thousands of people at the front of the line just like you. There are no number quotas like for work visas and other types. You must be a US citizen by the way. Have you been naturalized? If you are only a green card holder, you get in the "line" a little farther back.

[jpinoy]

This is a good links to get some answers on K1/K3 visa procedure/requirements.
https://www.immihelp.com/usa-visas/kvisa/



Thanks for the reply. I did some research during the weekend and found some stuff out about the visa processes and the diffrences. I knew I should of went into more details in my post, but was @ work and didn't have that much time, kinda rushed on posting my question, sorry bout that. For anyone looking to get their Filipina spouse/finace to the US, get most of you info from the US Embassy in Manila --> http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwh3204.html <-- This link is the IR1/2 & K3/4 visa process, it explains alot.

The fastest visa is K1 fiancee, but it's not instant. Depending on where you live in the US also matters. There are two service centers, Vermont and California that process K1/K3. ....
Yeah, I've come to conclude that alot of the waiting times at the two facilities are not to be trusted and you should just go by your own timeline unless it's really whacked out if a certain process takes too long to happen.

With both K1 and K3, she has to file for Adjustment of Status once in the US. At the same time she can apply for work authorization and the travel document called Advance Parole. Green card processing could take a year I suppose, but the AP document could come in 3 months. It doesn't mean she is guaranteed back into the country, so some people are afraid to use it.
From reading on the gov sites about K3, it seems your safer with a K3 visa to leave and re-enter the US while waiting on AOS to be finished, as you were already married before coming to the US, which in a way should be more solid of evidence(key word, 'should') of a real marriage. I know, there are alot of frauds going on out there.

You can't just bring her here to get married. She would have to have a tourist visa. Coming to the US on a tourist visa with the intent to marry is visa fraud. They may not even issue the tourist visa if they think she has intentions to come into the country to marry. (ie, she has a US fiance) Getting married in the US under semi-fraudulent conditions could hinder getting the K1/K3 visa the legal way.
Yeah, I should of have been more clear on this, what I meant by bringing her here was thru a K1 visa and get married, then going back home to do a renew of vows of sorts so her family can be part of the wedding in a way. But I was concerned cus with a K1, unless I apply for AP, she can't come back into the US, and with a K3, from reading online, she will be allowed to re-enter the US while awaiting for the adjustment to finish processing.

Can I travel and re-enter the U.S. on my K-3 or K-4 visa?

Aliens present in the United States in a K-3 or K-4 nonimmigrant visa status can travel outside of the United States and return using their K-3/K-4 visa. If they have filed for adjustment of status in the U.S. prior to departure from the U.S. , USCIS will not presume that the departure constitutes abandonment of an adjustment application.

And this is direct from the US Embassy of Manila site: If approved, the K-3 visa can be used to enter and leave the United States for 24 months while the I-130 petition is being processed. Once the I-130 petition is approved, the Filipino spouse may adjust status to a lawful permanent resident.

That link I posted pretty muched answered my questions on K3 visa and it give you the steps and what's required to file and what papers you need to file. Actually, this is the link before that that points you to the type of visa you want and gives you info on the process and mostly answers most of the questions you might have on filing and the procedure.


And the very basic info about K1 and K3 visas---they are one-time-use only. You don't go back and forth on them. K1, you enter the US, marry within 90 days, then are allowed to stay while applying for the green card. K3 is the same, but you are already married so skip the wedding requirements.
The CR-1 visa is also for a spouse, but she stays in her country until all the processing is done and she enters the US with a green card, work permit, etc. It takes longer. The K3 was invented to get the spouse in the US to be with her husband while the green card process is stuck in administrative processing. They get to be together while they wait.
I found more information on the US Embassy site for the Philippines regarding this matter, and it seems that the K1 is a one time use as you stated, but the K3 can be use to travel ouside the without being denied entry as it's treated differently. But then again, ppl seem to be scared to leave... as you stated, but at least you don't have to apply for AP to leave as long as you have already did the AOS.

The no waiting period means fiancees and wives of US citizens go to the front of the line over somebody trying to get one for their sister or cousin. There is still a wait for the processing to be done. There's thousands of people at the front of the line just like you. There are no number quotas like for work visas and other types. You must be a US citizen by the way. Have you been naturalized? If you are only a green card holder, you get in the "line" a little farther back.

And again, I should of have been more clear, sry bout that. Yes, I have been naturalized, been over 20+yrs now, step-dad was in Military. I was looking to apply for my dual-citizenship, so that's y I was asking bout the K3, was planning to go back around Nov. to get married so that will give me time to get things straight with what ever I need to adjust after getting my dual-citizenship. Plus, I'm not sure how much that will affect my fiance/spouse on getting an approval due to me holding dual-citizenship.

Yep, that's what I was reading up on over the weekend, believe me, I spend most of Saturday surfing looking for answers and got most of what I need answered, it's just that it's more reassuring to get real life feedback from ppl that has gone thru all this, and I really appreciate your reply.I was just curious of the waiting period. Right now I'm just in the decideing process of which route I want to take and how long my fiance/spouse is willing to wait for on the process to get done.

Once again thanks for your reply and I also hope that the links I posted will help some ppl out with questions as far as what is needed and what is the best route for them to follow depending if they are married or just engaged.

Also, another advise would be to visite the website of the US Embassy where ur significant other lives and look at how they process the K1/K3 visa, I know it helped me understand it better. Ok, done writing a book. Will post more as I find more things out, or correct me if I'm wrong on what I replied with, would like to see links.

Good luck everyone, as I know I'm not done asking questions, I'm sure of that.