A common question for those seeking an expedited Marriage visa for their loved one is: why does the K-3 visa use the same application as the k1 fiance visa?
The K3 visa was initially designed as a way of getting spouses of American citizens to the United States in as fast a manner as possible. Back when the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service was referred to as the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the classic I-130 application for an IR-1 or CR-1 Immigrant Spouse visa took as long as three years to adjudicate. This situation resulted in a massive backlog of petitions and is likely a reason underlying INS's reshuffle.
When filing for a marriage visa, the first phase is filing an I-130 petition. Should the couple decide to apply for a faster visa, then they can submit an application to USCIS. This phase can only occur after the initial petition has been received by the proper Immigration office.
In a number of ways, the K-3 visa is somewhat akin to the V visa, a visa category created to ease the backlog of pending Immigration cases. Currently, the V visa category has fallen into increasing disuse due to the fact that it was only available to those who filed a petition before a certain date.
This does not deal with the original question: why submit a K-1 visa application when a marriage visa is being sought? Put simply, it was probably simpler and less expensive to use the I-129f application form rather than create a completely new document to be used exclusively for the K3 marriage visa.
For those uninitiated in dealing with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, filing the proper paperwork is critical to obtaining an approval from the officers working for the Service. Also, depending upon the visa being sought, the analysis differs. Therefore, the burden of proof may be different if one is seeking a fiance visa versus a marriage visa.
It should always be remembered: lying to the United States government is not an effective means of getting a US visa. An approach such as this could result in a finding of legal inadmissibility and therefore cause more work, delay, and hassle in order to ultimately obtain the visa.
(Please note that nothing contained herein should be utilized as a substitute for legal advice. One should always contact an attorney for personalized legal consultation. No attorney-client relationship exists between author and reader.)
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Benjamin W. Hart is an American Attorney in Thailand. He currently works for Integrity Legal (Thailand) Co. Ltd. Integrity Legal can be reached at 1-877-231-7533. See their web presence by clickin these links:
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