Simplifying the Immigration Process
At Immigration Visa Direct, we provide consultation to American citizen petitioners and their Filipino or Filipina fiancé(e)s, including but not limited to filing petitions with the USCIS, responding to requests, and coordinating interviews with the U.S. embassy in Manila. We are here to guide you through the complete immigration process including filing and interviewing, ensuring a smooth application and processing of your K1 Visa.
Why Choose Our Services?
Headquartered in Manila, we are a group of licensed American visa lawyers with over 20 years experience assisting American citizens and Filipino/Filipina petitioners through the K-1 visa process.
With our main office located in Manila, we are one of the few if not the only K-1 visa U.S. immigration firm that has actual U.S. immigration lawyers working full-time in the Philippines and in the United States enabling us to provide round-the-clock support for our K-1 visa clients.
K-1 Visa Frequently Asked Questions
What is a fiancee visa for?
A fiancee visa is a K-1 nonimmigrant visa that allows your fiancee to come to the United States and stay for 90 days upon entry within which you should marry each other.
Once the marriage has taken place, the American spouse may petition the foreign spouse for a Green Card or permanent residence in the United States where the latter can remain while the application is being processed through the USCIS.
Is my fiancee eligible to work?
Your fiancee after admission to the U.S. may seek permission to work by filing an Application for Employment Authorization using Form l-765 with the proper USCIS Service Center that exercises jurisdiction over your place of residence. Your U.S. immigration lawyer based in Manila or in the U.S. can efficiently guide you through the process.
How long can my fiancee work for?
A work authorization issued based on a K-1 nonimmigrant visa shall be valid for 90 days of your fiancee’s entering the United States. Your fiancee may apply to extend the work authorization simultaneously with his or her application for Green Card or permanent residence using the forms l-765 and l-485 when marriage has already taken place.
Does a fiancee visa expire?
The validity of k1 fiancee nonimmigrant visa lasts for 90 days without extension. If marriage has not taken place, your fiancee should leave the United States at the end of K1 visa validity, otherwise he or she will violate the U.S. immigration law – which could result to deportation or removal. A deportation or removal proceeding could affect your fiancee’s eligibility for any U.S. immigration plan in the future.
Can my fiancee’s children enter the U.S.?
You may included in your petition the names of your fiancee’s children on Form l-129F if they are below 21 years of age and unmarried. A K-2 nonimmigrant visa shall be issued to the qualified children of your fiancee.
What happens if there’s a mistake on my application?
A simple mistake could adversely affect your fiancee’s eligibility to immigrate to the United States or could delay the process. It is always advised to seek legal opinion or find a U.S. immigration lawyer who can accommodate your needs. Bridgeway Immigration Consultancy, a consulting firm with a team of experienced American immigration lawyers in Manila Philippines and the United States, can provide you immigration consultation during your initial assessment session.
Contact a U.S. immigration attorney in Manila or abroad now and avoid delay in the process.
Eligibility Requirements
To file a petition for a fiancé(e) visa, you demonstrate that:
- You as the petitioner are a citizen of the United States.
- You plan to marry within 90 days from the time your fiancé(e) entered the United States.
- There are no legal impediments for you and your fiancé(e) to marry each other. Any previous marriages must have been terminated legally by divorce, death, or annulment.
- You must have met each other in person at least once within 2 years of filing your petition for K-1 visa.
Your U.S. immigration lawyer can still process your petition for K-1 fiancee visa even though you did not qualify for the 2 year meeting requirement.
U.S. immigration law provides two exceptions that require a waiver, which your U.S. immigration lawyer can prepare for you.
Two Exceptions to 2 Year Meeting Rule
- If you can demonstrate that the 2 year meeting rule would result to extreme hardship to you.
- If the requirement to meet within 2 years of filing your petition would contravene any stringent and long established customs of your or your fiancee’s culture and social practice.
K-1 Visa Limitations
Prior to 2006, U.S. citizens had no limits on the number of K-1 fiancee visas that they could file for during their lifetime. Thus, if the American sponsor filed for a K-1 visa for his Filipina fiancée and either the marriage did not push through or it ended in divorce, the U.S. citizen was allowed to file for another K-1 visa without limitations.
Limitation on K-1 Visa Petitions
However, as a result of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA), US citizens are now limited to the number of K-1 visa petitions that they may file for during their lifetime.
It is best that persons subjected to the waiver should seek advice from a K-1 visa lawyer.
What are the limitations?
The limitations imposed by the IMBRA include up to two fiancée visa petitions during a U.S. citizens lifetime or one K-1 visa within two years of each other.
When is a waiver required?
A U.S. citizen who has already exhausted their limitations may seek a waiver which the adjudicator may grant provided that the American citizen does not have a history of violent criminal offenses.
Who may file a waiver?
Such waiver should properly prepared by a K-1 visa lawyer Philippines and be placed with the original petition and detailed by explaining the circumstances surrounding the waiver request with any supporting evidence.
Upon review, the adjudicator will consider the following:
- If there are any unusual circumstances such as death or incapacity of the prior beneficiary;
- A history of domestic violence by the US citizen petitioner;
- Any pattern of serial petitions for different beneficiaries at the same time of filing and later withdrawing petitions or obtaining approvals every few years.
Supporting Documents
Examples of the type of supporting documents that a K-1 visa lawyer should include:
By utilizing the services of a competent K-1 visa lawyer Manila, an American immigration attorney can properly advise the specific documentation needed to justify the reason for a waiver.
Examples of what a U.S. immigration attorney in Manila should supply include a death certificate, police reports, or medical reports regarding the death or incapacity of an alien for a prior K-1 fiancee visa Philippines.
Besides a filing limit, the IMBRA requires the US citizen petitioner to disclose information the criminal convictions.
IMBRA vs Mail Order Bride
The legislative intent behind the IMBRA involved two cases-
- Susanna Blackwell in 1995 and
- Anastasia King in 2000
Facts of the Case
Both were foreign women petitioned by their U.S. citizen fiancé’s and were murdered. Using Blackwell and King, the federal government drafted the IMBRA as an intention of stopping “mail order brides” by prospective husbands with a history of criminal offenses.
Other Required Disclosure
Specifically, the IMBRA requires the US citizen fiancé to disclose any of the following criminal convictions:
- Domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, dating violence, elder abuse and stalking.
- Homicide, murder, manslaughter, rape, abusive sexual conduct, sexual exploitation, incest, torture, trafficking, peonage, holding hostage, involuntary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, and false imprisonment.
- Crimes related to a controlled substance or alcohol where the US citizen petitioner has been convicted on at least three occasions.
Getting Help from a K-1 Visa Lawyer
American citizen petitioners who have a conviction listed and are filing for a K-1 visa are strongly encouraged to consult with a U.S. K-1 visa lawyer Philippines for advice and competent assistance on disclosing these convictions.
Same Sex K-1 Visa
On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling declared that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (commonly referred to as DOMA) was unconstitutional. DOMA, which was enacted on September 21, 1996 restricted the federal government to define “marriage” as a union between one man and one woman.
US Visa Application Procedure
Same Sex Couples and Partners for K-1 Visa
While individual states passed laws legalizing same-sex marriages, the fact that DOMA prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions meant that same-sex couples were denied federal benefits including social security and the ability of an American citizen to petition his/ her same-sex partner for immigration purposes. With Section 3 of DOMA over, same-sex couples now have the right to petition their Filipino/ Filipina partner for a K-1 visa.
Advantage of US Immigration Lawyer in Manila
An American citizen and their same-sex Filipino/ Filipina partner looking to avail of our services will take comfort in knowing that they will be working with a US immigration lawyer who is on the ground in Manila, Philippines. Because the ability for an American citizen petitioner to bring his/ her LGBT same-sex Filipino partner to the United States for the purposes of marriage is extremely new, it is strongly advisable that the parties consult and engage the services of a professional instead of doing it on their own or engage the services of an unlicensed immigration consulting firm.
LGBT American and Filipino couples
LGBT American and Filipino couples who choose to engage our K-1 visa services will receive personalized attention from an American U.S. immigration lawyer in the Philippines starting from the filing of the actual petition with United States Citizen and Immigration Services all the way through visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
Because the ability of an LGBT American citizen to petition his/ her same-sex partner for a K-1 visa in the Philippines is extremely new, it is strongly advisable that a couple consults and retains a US immigration lawyer in Manila, Philippines instead of attempting to perform the process on their own.