The k1 fiance visa process requires extreme precision and execution to avoid costly delays. Every requirement should be reviewed in exhausting detail and each agency that is involved must be reviewed. Failure to follow the fiance visa requirements and process or a failure to know which agency does what is a recipe for disaster.
The first agency that an applicant will deal with is the United States Citiizenship and Immigration Service or USCIS. This agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security or DHS. The DHS has exclusive authority to approve or deny a fiance visa petition. Therefore it is imperative that a USA citizen know exactly how this agency works. The entire process starts with the filing of a petition known as the I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiance. This petition is filed together with the G-325A, Biographical Information form. These three forms are the only forms needed to be filed; the other documents submitted are specific to the petitioner and beneficiary. Birth certificates, passports, passport photographs, divorce decrees, affidavits of intent to marry are a few of the documents needed to ensure approval of the petition by the USCIS. If you are unsure about whether you have the correct documents you may consult the instructions to the I-129f, which is available on the USCIS website, or you can consult with an immigration attorney that files fiance visa petitions on a regular basis. Other documents that should be submitted with the I-129F petition are bona fide evidence and evidence of the couple’s in person meetings. Evidence that prove meeting overlaps with bona fide evidence. Examples of evidence that would fall into this category include, photographs taken together, plane tickets, sample emails and an itemized telephone call history.
The next agency that comes into play is the National Visa Center (NVC). The fiance visa petition is sent to the National Visa Center after the USCIS approves it. The NVC conducts a background check on the fiance using a few federal criminal background check databases and, if all goes well, opens up the State Department case file. The NVC is not part of the Department of Homeland Security. The NVC is part of the United States State Department. The NVC is the first agency within the State Dept. That deals with the petition, the other being the Immigrant Visa Unit within the US Consulate in the beneficiary’s home country. The NVC assigns a Case Number to the file and then sends the petition to the US Consulate having jurisdiction over the petition.
The last agency that is involved in the process is the US Consulate. The Immigrant Visa Unit in the US Consulate will receive the petition and then contact the beneficiary to schedule their interview.