Policy to Bring Your Spouse to Us with Visa

Ways to bring your spouse to the United States

If you are an American citizen, You have two options for bringing your foreign spouse (husband or wife) to the United States to live there:

One option is an immigrant visa for the spouse Of A US citizen

Step 1: File an immigration petition for a foreign relative – the U.S. citizen files an I-130 petition with a USCIS field office in the United States.

Step 2: Apply for an immigrant visa – once the petition has been approved, go to a US consulate in your home country for consular processing and obtain the immigrant visa.

Step 3: File for EAD (Employment authorization card)

Step 4: Request the social security number from the social security office.

Another way is the non-immigrant spouse visa

The K-3 visa is a non-immigrant visa (temporary visit) for a spouse of an American citizen who is allowed to enter the United States while his permanent residence matter is still pending. The K-3 visa must be submitted and the visa must be issued in the country where the marriage took place. Once the visa process has been completed and the visa has been issued, the spouse can travel to the United States to await the processing of the immigrant visa matter.

Step 1: Apply for a K3 visa at the nearest US consulate (unmarried children of the spouse, under the age of 21 can obtain a K4 visa)

Step 2: After arriving in the United States, Apply for The Adjustment of Status (AOS) by filing I-485.

Step 3: File for EAD (Employment authorization card)

Step 4: Request the social security number from the social security office.

Non-immigrant visa for spouses

The Lawful Immigration Family Equity Act and its amendments (LIFE Act) have introduced a new category of non-immigrant in the Immigration Law that allows the spouse or child of an American citizen to be admitted to the United States in a non-immigrant category. Admission allows the spouse or child to complete the processing of permanent residence in the United States. It also allows people registered in the new category to obtain a work permit while waiting for the processing of their file until permanent resident status.

A K-4 visa is a version of the K-3 visa, but for unmarried children under the age of 21. Before a K-4 visa can be issued to a child, the parent must have a K-3 visa or have K-3 status.

The process to bring your spouse to the United States on a K-3 visa

Step 1: Immigration application for foreign parents-Form I-130

You must first file an immigration application for a foreign relative, Form I-130 for your spouse and children, with your local USCIS office in the United States. The USCIS will send you an acknowledgment of receipt (Form I-797). In this notice, you will learn that the USCIS has received the petition.

Step 2: Application for a Foreign Fiancée, Form I-129F

After receiving the acknowledgment of receipt (Notice Of Action Form I-797), you must file the Alien Fiancé petition (Form I-129f) for your spouse and children. Send the I-129f petition, receipts, and a copy of the I-797 Acknowledgement form to USCIS. Please refer to the postal address on your website or on the form.

Step 3: Spouses (and children, if applicable) apply for a visa in their home country

The foreign spouse will go to a US embassy in their home country and apply for the K-3 visa, and their children will apply for the K-4 visa, if applicable.

Step 4: After entering the United States, Request for Adjustment of Status (AOS) by filing I-485

Your spouse must complete Form I-485 to register as a permanent resident or adjust their status with the USCIS office responsible for the region in which you live in the United States. You must complete the Affidavit of Support, Form I-864, with the USCIS in order for your spouse to file for lawful permanent residence (LPR).

Step 5: If you have been married for less than 2 years, submit a file to remove the conditions of your spouse’s permanent status

If you have been married for less than 2 years, you probably have a conditional permanent residence. This means that your new spouse’s green card expires in 2 years. You must file the I-751 petition to cancel this conditional status.

Who is eligible for this visa?

To be eligible for a nonimmigrant K-3 visa, a person must be a person who

• married to a citizen of the United States
• has a petition for a foreign relative (Form I-130) filed by the spouse of the U.S. citizen for the person
• attempts to enter the United States pending approval of the petition and subsequent lawful permanent resident status
• has an approved form I-129f, petition for Alien Fiancé, which has been forwarded to the American consulate abroad, where the foreigner wishes to apply for the K-3/K-4 visa. The Consulate must be located in the country
• where the marriage with the American citizen took place if the United States has a consulate that issues immigrant visas in that country. If the marriage took place in the United States, the designated Consulate is the one responsible for the current residence of the foreign spouse

A person can obtain a K-4 visa if that person is under the age of 21 and is the unmarried child of a foreigner eligible to be K-3.