How to Help Your Fiancé Become a Permanent U.S. Resident

While studying, working, or visiting overseas, you might meet a person you want to marry and spend the rest of your life with them. Many United States citizens experience this kind of situation. These individuals want to then know how they can arrange for their fiancés to move to the United States upon returning. 

The Citizenship and Immigration Services have a detailed process for permitting individuals foreign nationals to move in the States to marry and obtain permanent residency eventually. You can consult a professional immigration lawyer from Clearwater Florida to know the details. However, you may find some useful information about the process in this article.

The Initial Step: Fiancé Visa 

The first step to begin the process of relocating your fiancé to the U.S. is to obtain a “fiancé visa.” The American citizen must attain Form I-129F that is Petition for Alien Fiancé(e). Under Form I-129F, a K-1 fiancé visa is available to the fiancés of the United States citizens who are living outside the U.S. It is a non-immigrant visa that permits them to enter the U.S. to marry you and pursue status adjustment to become a lawful permanent resident. This visa is given to those foreign nationals only who come to get married to their fiancé who is a U.S. citizen within 90 days of arriving. 

Eligibility Requirements

You and your foreign fiancé need to follow the following basic requirements:

• You and your fiancé must be single and eligible to marry under US law. This involves same-sex couples as well who are eligible for the K-1 fiancé visa, whether or not the foreign national’s home country recognizes same-sex marriages.
• If either of you has been married in the past, you will submit death or divorce certificates for any previous spouse.
• The sponsoring partner must be a citizen of the United States. U.S. green card holders are not eligible to apply for fiancé visas. There are No Fiancé Visas available for foreign nationals who want to marry U.S. residents but only U.S. citizens. 
• You need to prove the authenticity of your relationship with your fiancé via correspondence, photos, and statements from the people who as a couple know you and witnessed your relation. 
• It is great to have a concrete wedding plan in the U.S. You can prove this through venue reservations, invitations, bills of shopping for weddings, and other things to show that the wedding is a real and specially planned event and not just a vague dream. 
• You and your fiancé have to marry each other within 90 days of your fiancé’s arrival in the United States.
• The couple must have met each other in person at least once in the past 2 years. However, this requirement can be waived off in cases of extreme hardships to the U.S. partner or for religious concerns.
• The citizen of the United States must meet certain income requirements as well. When applying for a fiancé visa, he or she should be earning a minimum of 100% of the federal poverty guidelines. And when the foreign partner applies for his or her green card then earning 125% of the federal poverty guidelines.

Next Step

The foreign spouse must apply for Form I-485 for permanent residence as soon as they get married. The fiancé has the right to apply for work and accept any employment offer. If the permit of 90 days is over and the couple didn’t marry within these days and the visa expires, it cannot be renewed.

To Wrap Up

The process of bringing your fiancé who is a resident of another country into the U.S. to marry him or her has small pitfalls and the process is complex. The reason being said, an experienced immigration lawyer in Clearwater Florida is a wise decision. A skilled attorney can make sure all the forms are filed in compliance with the rules & regulations.