{"id":6262,"date":"2023-09-27T16:37:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T21:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/?p=6262"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:47:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:47:35","slug":"steps-to-take-before-applying-for-a-k1-visa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/steps-to-take-before-applying-for-a-k1-visa\/","title":{"rendered":"Steps to Take Before Applying for a K1 Visa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getting a visa to come to the United States is no walk in the park. Besides meeting stringent requirements for the various nonimmigrant (temporary) and immigrant (permanent) visas available, one must navigate the complex immigration system to get approved for any of the visas. One of the nonimmigrant visas available for those who qualify is the K1 or <a href=\"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/services\/employment-immigration-lawyers-chicago\/non-immigrant-visas\/spousefiance-visa\/\">\u201cfianc\u00e9\u201d visa<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Kriezelman Burton &amp; Associates, we have experienced <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">immigration<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> lawyers who assist clients in the Chicago area to apply for and obtain both a K1 visa and a green card when they come to the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A K1 visa allows a fianc\u00e9 of a U.S. citizen to come to the U.S. and apply for an <a href=\"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/services\/immigration-lawyers-chicago\/green-cards\/\">immigrant visa (green card)<\/a>. However, both the fianc\u00e9 and U.S. citizen must satisfy various requirements and take the steps necessary to complete the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">process<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of obtaining the K1 visa and the green card after they arrive in the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below are the steps one must take before applying for a K1 visa:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Determine K1 Visa Eligibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. To be eligible for a K1 visa, the following requirements must be satisfied:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The foreigner must be engaged to a U.S. citizen filing the petition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the foreigner and U.S. citizen must be free to legally marry. This means if either or both the foreign fianc\u00e9 and U.S. citizen were previously married, the marriage must be terminated, and you must have proof of the termination (divorce decree) before submitting your application.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the U.S. citizen and foreign fianc\u00e9 must have met each other in person within the last two years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the foreign fianc\u00e9 and U.S. citizen must have intent to get married within 90 days of the foreign fianc\u00e9 entering the U.S.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Filing the Petition<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If the above requirements are met, the U.S. citizen will file a Form I-129F with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and pay the applicable fee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Foreign Fianc\u00e9 Files Form DS-160<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Once the U.S. citizen fianc\u00e9\u2019s petition (Form I-129F) is approved by USCIS, the foreign fianc\u00e9 will file Form DS-160 online. The form is electronically transmitted to the Department of State.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Police Clearance and Medical Examination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The foreign fianc\u00e9 will next undergo a medical examination by a doctor approved by the U.S. Embassy where the foreign fianc\u00e9 lives. The foreign fianc\u00e9 must also obtain a police clearance from every country they have lived in for the previous six years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>K1 Interview<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The foreign fianc\u00e9 will next be given an appointment for an interview with a visa officer at the U.S. consulate, as indicated on Form I-129F.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Admission to the U.S.<\/strong> If the interview is successful and the K1 visa is approved, the foreign fianc\u00e9 will have the K1 visa stamped in their passport. The foreign fianc\u00e9 will then use the K1 visa to enter the U.S.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Marriage.<\/strong> The foreign fianc\u00e9 and U.S. citizen petitioner must get married within 90 days of the foreign fianc\u00e9 being admitted into the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Adjustment of Status.<\/strong> The foreign fianc\u00e9 will start the <a href=\"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/services\/immigration-lawyers-chicago\/consular-processing-and-adjustment-of-status\/\">adjustment process<\/a> for the green card after getting married.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Meet with an Illinois Immigration Lawyer About Your Options<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kriezelman Burton &amp; Associates helps clients with a wide range of immigration matters. If you need help with applying for a K1 visa, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contact<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> our office today to schedule an appointment to learn more about how we can help you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getting a visa to come to the United States is no walk in the park. Besides meeting stringent requirements for the various nonimmigrant (temporary) and immigrant (permanent) visas available, one must navigate the complex immigration system to get approved for any of the visas. One of the nonimmigrant visas available for those who qualify is &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/steps-to-take-before-applying-for-a-k1-visa\/\" class=\"more-link\">Czytaj dalej<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201eSteps to Take Before Applying for a K1 Visa\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":6264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,40],"tags":[9,16,44],"class_list":["post-6262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immigration-law","category-visas","tag-immigration","tag-immigration-attorney","tag-visa","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6262"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11758,"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6262\/revisions\/11758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krilaw.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}