Fiancee Visa (K-1) vs. Spousal Visa (K-3)

You don't need to marry immediately in your Fiancée's country or the U.S.

You bring your love to the U.S. as your Fiancee, and both of you have 90 days to get married. This allows you both to get to know each other better and make a better decision about marriage, which for most people is a very important life decision. 

You deal nearly exclusively with the U.S. immigration system and U.S. immigration officials here, in the United States. You largely avoid dealing with sometimes arcane and cumbersome legal rules for marriage and immigration in the Philippines.

You avoid dealing with local foreign procedures of marriage in a foreign country.

Your fiancee has a chance to see the country and get familiar with U.S. customs before the marriage.

In general, much less supporting documentation are needed for a K-1 visa, and officials are less picky with the documents than the other way (Philippine marriage and K3 spousal visa).

Allows both of you the option, subject to the filing and approval of I-131 Travel Authorization, to return to the bride's home country for a "show" or fictitious wedding for the benefit of her family and friends.

You need to make a strong effort to convince your lady and her family that your intentions regarding the fiancee visa are sincere and honorable. This is because most ladies and their families in the Philippines are quite conservative and the fiancee visa means that you will be taking her away from her home on a mere promise of future marriage.

Her close family and friends will NOT see your Fiancée get married in the U.S. unless they could manage to obtain another type of visa such as a tourist visa, which is VERY hard to obtain.

Local marriage in a the Philippines can sometimes be accomplished in 12-14 days.

Since with a Spousal visa your wife gains U.S. legal residency immediately, future immigration work is substantially reduced. There is no need to file for the Adjustment of Status Application and wait for months during which time your wife cannot travel freely without obtaining travel parole every time she travels outside of the U.S.

Philippine law prescribes a ten-day waiting period from the filing of the Application to the issuance of the marriage license.

If the contracting parties are between the ages of 18 and 21, they must present written consent to the marriage from their father, mother or legal guardian. While any contracting party between the age of 22 and 25 must present written parental advice, i.e., a written indication that the parents are aware of the couple's intent to marry.

Philippine law requires a Certificate of Attendance in a pre-marital counseling and family planning seminar conducted by the Division of Maternal and Child Health at the Municipal/City Hall in the same municipality or city where the contracting parties applied for the marriage license.

It is a two-step process, instead on one. First, you are required to submit a package for the Form I-130. And, second, upon USCIS Notice of Action, you would need to send I-129F Package. It takes time and a lot of patience from both of you.

This process is very document-sensitive which means that if you are missing a document, you may have to fly back to the U.S. in order to obtain a necessary document before process can be completed.

You might end up paying more for the expenses, for the marriage ceremony, and Embassy visa processing charges and other fees than you would with a K1 visa.