In a previous post, we discussed the two year meeting requirement for fiancé visas and the best evidence to prove that you and your fiancé met in person prior to submitting the K Visa application. Although the meeting requirement is quite rigid, there are two exemptions available to those who qualify. According to the immigration regulations, a petitioner (the U.S. citizen) may be exempted from the two-year meeting requirement "only if it is established that compliance would result in extreme hardship to the petitioner or that compliance would violate strict and long-established customs of the beneficiary's (the non-citizen fiancé) foreign culture or social practice, as where marriages are traditionally arranged by the parents of the contracting parties and the prospective bride and groom are prohibited from meeting subsequent to the arrangement and prior to the wedding day."
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If you are recently engaged or looking to become engaged in the near future and your partner is living in another country, now is the best time to start thinking about applying for a fiancé(e) visa to bring them to the United States. As a part of this process, couples are required to collect and submit evidence in support of the fiancé visa application. This includes evidence that one partner is a United States citizen, proof of termination of any prior marriages, proof of an intention to marry within 90 days of the fiancé's admission to the U.S. and more.
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Engagement and marriage to a U.S. Citizen is by far the most direct and immediate path to securing legal immigration status in the United States. For that very reason, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) reviews each and every application under a heightened level of scrutiny in an attempt to uncover any evidence of immigration fraud or misrepresentation. Since the path to citizenship is shortened and simplified for individuals who are married to U.S. citizens, the potential for abuse of the system is intensified. Our current immigration laws were written favorably towards fiancés and spouses in an effort to not only promote family unity, but also to ensure that the law was not a direct obstacle to keeping families together. Given the public policy interests for providing this fast track to fiancés and spouses, it is important to note that, despite increased scrutiny, bona fide relationships and marriages will easily overcome any hurdles faced during the application process.
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