Upon receiving your K-1 Visa, you will have six months to enter the United States.

Entering the United States:
Your visa will be in a sealed envelope, and it is important that you present your visa to U.S. border officials without opening it first. The border official will open the envelope and ask you a number of questions before determining whether or not to allow you to enter the country. If the border official finds a reason for why you should not be allowed into the U.S., you could be asked to turn around and board another plane and leave the country. You could be barred from reentering the U.S. for the next five years.

Once the border official decides to let you into the United States, your passport will be stamped, designating your K-1 visa status, and you will receive an I-94 card that will allow you to stay in the United States for 90 days. You can also ask the official to grant you the authorization to work while in the U.S.

Once You Are In the United States:
You will have 90 days to submit your application for permanent residency. The sooner you get married, the more time you will have to receive your marriage certificate and prepare your application for submission. If the border official who let you into the country did not give you an Employment Authorized stamp, you can apply for a work permit that will allow you to be employed in this country. Work permits, however, can take up to 90 days to be approved. It is advisable that you remain in the country until you receive your green card as a permanent U.S. resident. If you have to leave the U.S. before you are married, you will have to request a special travel document. You are only allowed to use your K-1 visa once, and it cannot be renewed or extended.

If you arrive in the United States and decide not to marry your American fiance(e), you will be expected to leave the U.S. when your visa expires.

Children and the K-2 Visa:
If you requested that any of your children accompany you on your K-1 visa and you included their names on your fiance(e) visa application, your children will have very likely received their visa, known as the K-2 visa, at the same time that you did. If they do not enter the country before you do, they will have a year to use their visa to enter the United States. They also have 90 days to file for permanent residency. To qualify for a K-2 visa, your child(ren) must be single and under 21 years of age. In the event that you decide not to marry your American fiance(e), your children will also be expected to leave the U.S. after their 90-day visas expire.

At Sagaria Law, P.C., we represent clients who need the help of an attorney to apply for their K-1 or K-3 visas, and many of the couples that we've helped are now living together in the United States in the metro areas of Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Miami, and Chicago, as well as other cities and towns in the United States. Our immigration lawyers also offer services for helping immigrating fiance(e)s and spouses apply for their green cards and establish permanent residency, once they are in the United States.

If you are a foreign national who is engaged or married to a U.S. citizen and you would like to apply for a K-1 visa or a K-3 visa to come to the United States, please contact Sagaria Law, P.C. today at 1-800-941-6730. You can also contact us online. Your first consultation with us is FREE.