Fiancee visa process Philippines
Love and Marriage … and Migrating to the
U.S.
The K-1 Visa, this visa is for
persons coming to the United States to marry U.S. citizens and reside in the
U.S.
With the K1 fiancee visa you, as an
American citizen, can marry your Filipino fiancee in the United States.
In order to qualify for a Fiancee
Visa, you must meet the following main requirements:
- You are a U.S. citizen
- You have met your fiancee within the previous two
years
- You and your fiancee are both legally free to marry
- You and your fiancee both have a serious intention
to marry within 90 days of your fiancee’s arrival in America.
To begin the
Philippines
Fiancee Visa process, the petitioner must first submit an application to the
USCIS. The petition must
be filed in the United States and cannot be filed in the Philippines. The
petitioner and fiancee will need to file numerous forms and
documents with the USCIS in order to
prove that the petitioner and fiancee qualify for the
K1 Fiancee Visa.
The waiting time for the USCIS to approve a K1 visa can be typically about 6
months, depending on the backlog of cases pending approval in the USCIS Regional
Center. The case will be further delayed by any error in the petition, which
typically doubles the normal waiting time for visa approval.
What Documents Do
You Need to Show That You Are a U.S. Citizen?
A. If you were born in the United States, give USCIS a copy, front and
back, of your birth certificate.
B. If you were naturalized, give USCIS a copy, front and back, of your
original Certificate of Naturalization.
C. If you were born outside the United States and you area U.S. citizen
through your parents, give USCIS:
1. Your original Certificate of Citizenship, or
2. Your Form FS-240 (Report of Birth Abroad of a United States Citizen).
D. In place of any of the above, you may give USCIS a copy of your valid,
unexpired U.S. passport issued with a validity period of at least five years.
You must submit copies of all pages in the passport.
What Documents Do You Need to Prove That
You Can Legally Marry?
A. Provide copies of evidence that you and your fiancée have personally
met within the last two years; or if you have never met within the last two
years, provide a detailed explanation and evidence of the extreme hardship or
customary, cultural or social practices that have prohibited your meeting; and
B. Provide original statements from you and your fiancée whom you plan to
marry within 90 days of his or her admission, and copies of any evidence you
wish to submit to establish your mutual intent; and
C. If either of you is of an age that requires special consent or
permission for you to marry in the jurisdiction where your marriage will occur,
give proof of that consent or permission; and
D. If either you or your fiancée were married before, give copies of
documents showing that each prior marriage was legally terminated.
Application
Procedures for the K-1 Visa Manila Philippines
STEP 1: File the Petition. File the
I-129F petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
office that covers your permanent place of residence. The Form I-129F is
available at the Department of Homeland Security public queries window or Window
44 at Embassy Manila. The petition must be filed in the United States.
STEP 2: USCIS approves the
petition. Once the petition is approved, USCIS sends it to the National Visa
Center (NVC). NVC forwards the petition to the Embassy in Manila. This process
generally takes 4-6 months.
NOTE: Approval of a visa petition
does not necessarily mean a visa will be issued. Only a consular officer at the
Embassy may determine a person’s eligibility to receive a visa.
STEP 3: The applicant is notified.
When the Embassy receives the approved petition, it schedules the applicant for
medical examination and visa interview. The applicant will be notified of the
appointments and will be provided instructions on how to apply for the visa.
NOTE: It is important that the petition has the beneficiary’s correct address
and contact number, otherwise the Embassy will not be able to send the K1
packet, the medical and visa interview appointments to the beneficiary. The NVC
and the Embassy must be informed of any change in the beneficiary’s address.
STEP 4: Apply for the visa. After
the applicant pays the non-refundable application/processing fee and completes
the required medical examination at St. Luke's Medical Center Extension Clinic,
she appears at the Embassy for the scheduled visa interview with all the
required documents. Interviews of K1 applicants are scheduled only on Fridays.
NOTE: Approval of a visa petition does not necessarily
mean a visa will be issued. Only a consular officer at the Embassy may determine
a person’s eligibility to receive a visa. Approval of a visa petition
is based on the visa interview, documents submitted by the applicant and any
relevant information available to the Embassy, and determines the applicant’s
eligibility to be issued the
K1 visa.
US embassy personnel are aware that many people come to America on temporary
visas and then disappear once they are in America. If the application is
approved, the visa will be delivered to the applicant's residence by a
guaranteed courier service in 7 to 10 days.
Children (unmarried and below 21
years of age) of a
K-1
visa applicant may derive immigration benefits from the same
I-129 petition and are issued “K-2” visas.
Required
Documents for K1 Visa Applications
When a beneficiary is eligible to apply for an immigrant or K1 fiance visa (that
is, priority date becomes current and/all the pre-processing requirements have
been met), the National Visa Center (NVC) lines up the beneficiary for a visa
interview. The NVC will send the applicant a packet with the visa interview
appointment, information, the application forms and a list of the required
application documents. It is important that visa applicants submit documentary
requirements to NVC to be documentarily qualified for the visa interview,
otherwise they will be found ineligible for visa issuance and be asked to return
to the Consulate for another appointment. The basic documents that an applicant
must submit are:
1. PASSPORT:
Each visa applicant must have a passport valid for at least six (6) months from
the time of the visa issuance. Filipino citizens can apply for a passport at the
Passport Division, Department of Foreign Affairs, Roxas
Boulevard, Manila, Philippines. The
DFA phone number is 02-737-1000.
2. DS-230
Parts I and II:
Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Forms. These forms are
sent to applicants along with their appointment letters. Each family member
applying for an immigrant visa is required to complete these forms.
3. BIRTH
CERTIFICATE:
Each fiancee visa applicant must have a birth certificate issued by the National
Statistics Office (NSO) on security paper. Copies are needed for principal
applicants, derivative family members and petitioners who were born in the
Philippines. You may call the
NSO Information Center at 02-737-1111 or visit their
e-census webpage to inquire about how to
secure a birth certificate. If the NSO does not have a copy of the birth
certificates, you must obtain a statement about its unavailability from the NSO
and a certified birth certificate from the local registrar in the town where you
were born.
4. NBI
CLEARANCE:
Applicants aged 16 years and older must have a valid Record Clearance for Travel
Abroad Purposes from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Clearances
should be in the applicant’s current name, birth certificate name, maiden name
and any aliases or nicknames ever used, including different spellings of all
names ever used. An official letter of explanation from the NBI is required for
any notation of no criminal record, no pending criminal case and no derogatory
record. NBI is located along Taft
Avenue in Manila. For immigration purposes, an NBI
clearance is considered valid only for one year from the date it is issued.
5. POLICE
CERTIFICATES:
A police certificate is required from a country in which the applicant lived for
more than one year (six months if you are applying for a K-1 visa) after turning
16 years old. As with NBI clearances, foreign police certificates should be
obtained in any maiden names, aliases or nicknames ever used while in the
country in question, including different spellings of all names ever used.
Information on how to secure police certificates from countries where these are
available may be obtained by contacting U.S. Embassy Manila’s Immigrant Visa
Branch, or an Embassy/Consulate of the country from which the Police certificate
is required. The State Department's Visa Office offers online information on
availability of country documents including police certificates through its
Country Document Finder.
6. MARRIAGE
RECORDS:
(If applicable) For Philippine marriages, the copy of the marriage certificate
must be printed on National Statistics Office (NSO) security paper. If the
marriage ended by divorce, annulment, disappearance or death of the spouse,
legal and/or civil documentation must be presented attesting to the termination
of the marriage (annulment decree, death certificate issued by NSO and printed
on security paper, a foreign divorce decree, or foreign death certificate).
7. MILITARY
RECORD:
Applicants that have served in the military should present a certified copy of
their military records.
8. SUPPORTING
EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY AND/OR RELATIONSHIP:
Applicants for a K1 visa should be prepared to submit documents that further
establish their identity and/or their relationship with the petitioner or the
principal applicant. Six or more photographs with family members together, taken
over a period of time may help to establish the existence of a relationship.
Personal correspondence, home telephone records, bank records, proof of joint
property ownership and/or joint financial obligations, original baptismal
records, medical record and adoption decrees are often useful.
9. EVIDENCE
OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
Evidence of Financial Support which shall include the I-134 (Affidavit of
Support) which shall be filed up by the petitioner and duly sealed and
notarized, and the petitioner’s income tax returns and W-2’s for 3 previous
years.
How Does Your Spouse
Become a Permanent Resident Without Conditions?
Both you and your conditional
permanent resident spouse are required to file a petition, Form I-751, Petition
to Remove the Conditions on Residence, during the 90-day period immediately
before the second anniversary of the date your alien spouse was granted
conditional permanent residence. Children who were admitted as conditional
permanent residents with your spouse may be included in the joint petition to
remove the conditions.
The rights, privileges,
responsibilities and duties that apply to all other permanent residents apply
equally to a conditional permanent resident to file petitions on behalf of
qualifying relatives, or to reside permanently in the United States as an
immigrant in accordance with the immigration laws.
Notice
Failure to file Form
I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence, will result in
termination of permanent residence status and initiation of removal proceedings.
Fiancee Visa
Preparation Services for U.S. clients
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of the interview can lead to lengthy and grueling delays. Get your bride by your
side quickly by using the professional services of Filipina Fiancee Visa
Service. We are experts with the K1 fiance visa process for the Philippines and
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