K-1 Fiancé Visas: Do I Have to Wait 2 Years After I Meet My Fiancé Before I'm Able to File a Petition?

In a previous post, we covered the 2 year meeting requirement for fiancé visas. More specifically, we touched upon the evidences that you must submit to establish that you and your fiancé have met in person prior to filing a K-1 visa petition. We often get questions related to the actual timing of the 2 year meeting requirement and filing the petition. We'll see questions like, "I've just visited my fiancé overseas and would like to petition for them, do I now have to wait 2 years before I can file?" or "It's been about 6 months since I've met my fiancé, do I have to wait a year and half before I file?" Since a lot of our immigration laws require a bit of waiting, these are certainly valid questions to be asking as you anticipate filing a K-1 petition.

Fortunately, for anyone looking into this process, the 2 year meeting requirement is not a waiting period, but more like a deadline. You have 2 years from the date you met your fiancé in person to file the K-1 petition. You actually do not need to wait to file. Once you have met in person, you can file immediately. So, for example, if you meet your fiancé in their home country on January 1, 2023, you would have until January 1, 2025 to file the K-1 petition. Meaning, you can file at any time after you've met during that two year period up until that deadline date. If you fail to file within those two years, you would need to meet each other in person again to "renew" the filing period.

Using this as an example, if you met your fiancé on January 1, 2023 and you did not see each other again and then file the K-1 petition on February 25, 2025, USCIS would deny your application, since it would be greater than 2 years since your in-person meeting. Also, it is good to note that the 2 year period will automatically renew every time you meet your fiancé in person. So, let's say you meet on January 1, 2023 and then you have another trip and meet again on June 15, 2023, you will now have a new 2 year period that extends until June 15, 2025 within which to file the K-1 petition.

Ideally, once you and your fiancé meet in person, you will want to file the K-1 petition shortly thereafter. This will ensure that the necessary evidences are preserved (ticket stubs, emails, text messages, pictures, etc.) and everything is fresh in your minds when preparing your petition. Obviously life circumstances can get in between filing timely, but ultimately you want to get your petition filed well within the two years as the current wait times for processing K-1 petitions is somewhere between 4 and 20 months (as of 09.28.2022) depending upon your location and which service center is processing your petition.

If you have any questions about the K-1 fiancé visa process, please do not hesitate to give us a call at (212) 547-8857 or schedule a consultation online and we'd be happy to discuss these issues further and help you reach a resolution. Our experienced immigration attorneys are here to provide the advice you need.

Disclaimer: This blog post and similar posts are not to be considered as providing legal advice. The discussion here is meant for educational and informational purposes only and shall not create an attorney-client relationship with the readers of this content.