Dear Atty. Palacios,
I am a US citizen and I have an alien fiancée from the Philippines whom I want to bring to the United States so we can get married. Could you explain to me what my options are?
Robert
Dear Robert:
An individual in your situation must file a nonimmigrant petition for a fiancée classification (K-1) for your fiancée with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once the petition gets approved, your fiancée must file an application for a K-1 visa with the US consulate or embassy.
In order for the petition and the K-1 visa application to get approved, you and your alien fiancée must prove the following:
1. That you are a citizen of the United States;
2. That you and your fiancée have personally met within the last two years; or if you have never met within the last two years, that extreme hardship or customary, cultural or social practices have prohibited your meeting;
3. That you and your fiancée plan to marry within 90 days of her admission;
4. That there are no legal impediments to you and your fiancée’s marriage [This means that both of you are unmarried, or that any previous marriages have ended through divorce, annulment or death.];
5. If you met your fiancée through the services of an international marriage broker, that you have complied with the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) by notifying the USCIS of that fact;
6. If you have ever been convicted of any of the crimes enumerated under the IMBRA [e.g., domestic violence, homicide, crimes relating to a controlled substance or alcohol on 3 or more occasions and such crimes did not arise from a single act, etc.] that you have submitted certified copies of all court and police records showing the charges and dispositions for every such conviction.
Please note that the marriage must take place within 90 days of your fiancée’s entry in the United States . She may not obtain an extension of the 90-day original nonimmigrant admission. Further, she cannot change her status to another nonimmigrant status or adjust to lawful permanent resident status based on grounds other than her marriage to you, the person who filed the K-1 petition in her behalf.
Thus, if the marriage does not take place within 90 days or your fiancée marries someone other than you, she will be required to leave the United States and, if she fails to do so, she will become subject to removal under current immigration laws.
The unmarried children under the age 21of your fiancée, if any, may obtain a K-2 visa and accompany her to the United States.
After your marriage, your fiancée [and her dependents, if any] may apply to become lawful permanent resident(s) of the United States . Upon approval of the adjustment of status application(s) of your fiancée [and her dependents], she [they] will initially receive conditional permanent residence status for 2 years. As lawful permanent resident(s), she [they] will be allowed to live and work permanently in the United States . Please note, however, that during the 90-day period prior to the 2-year anniversary of her [their] greencard(s), you and your fiancée [and her children, if any] will have to file application(s) for the removal of the conditions on her [their] permanent residence.
If you have further questions regarding this topic, please feel free to call us at (818) 956-8844 [ Glendale ] or at (626) 331-8188 [ Covina ] to schedule an appointment for your free initial consultation. You may also visit us www.palacioslawfirm.com.
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Attorney Eugene M. Palacios is the founder and principal of the Law Offices of Eugene M. Palacios, APLC. He has great depth of experience and a successful track record in handling employment and family-based petitions as well as PERM and naturalization applications. He is licensed as an attorney in California and is admitted to practice before US Immigration Courts, the US Central District Court, and California State Courts. He is also an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. His offices are located at 100 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 600, Glendale, California 91203 and at 800 South Barranca Avenue, Suite 250, Covina, California 91723.
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The above article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice for a specific immigration problem and does not create an attorney-client relationship between our office and the reader. It is for informational purposes only and reflects our law firm’s opinions and views on general issues.
( Published on December 20, 2008 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. C2 )
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