US Lists 8 Conditions Foreigners With Fiancé Visa Must Meet to Get Green Card
- The US allows citizens to petition for a foreign fiancé to enter the country on a K-1 nonimmigrant visa before marriage
- USCIS has outlined specific conditions a K-1 visa holder must satisfy to become eligible to apply for lawful permanent residence
- Foreigners who do not marry their US citizen petitioner within the required timeframe face strict limitations on their Green Card options
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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has outlined the full set of conditions that a foreign national entering the country on a fiancé visa must meet in order to apply for a Green Card.
Under US immigration law, an American citizen can file a petition on behalf of a foreign fiancé(e), enabling that person to travel to the United States on a K-1 nonimmigrant visa.
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Once admitted, the foreign national has a strict 90-day window within which they must marry the US citizen who filed the petition on their behalf.
What Qualifies a K-1 Visa Holder for a Green Card
After the marriage is completed within that 90-day period, the foreign spouse becomes eligible to apply for lawful permanent resident status, commonly known as a Green Card.
Here are the conditions they must meet:
1. The applicant must file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
2. USCIS has specified that the applicant must be physically present in the United States at the time of filing.
3. An applicant must have entered the country on a valid K-1 nonimmigrant visa.
4. The applicant must have legally married the petitioning US citizen within the required timeframe.
5. The applicant must also be eligible to receive an immigrant visa,
6. The applicant must not be subject to any bars to adjustment of status, and
7. The applicant must be admissible for lawful permanent residence or qualify for a waiver.
8. USCIS also retains discretionary authority in approving each case.
Once the K-1 visa holder marries their US citizen petitioner within 90 days of admission, they are treated as an immediate relative under US immigration law, meaning an immigrant visa becomes immediately available to support the Green Card application.
Green Card: Options for those who don't marry
Foreign nationals who arrive on a K-1 visa but do not go through with the marriage face significantly restricted pathways. USCIS states that such individuals generally cannot use any other Green Card eligibility category to adjust their status.
There are narrow exceptions. Persons granted U nonimmigrant status, which applies to victims of certain qualifying criminal activity, or T nonimmigrant status, which covers victims of severe forms of abuse, may apply for a Green Card through whichever eligibility category suits their circumstances.
Alternatively, a foreign national may choose to leave the United States and pursue a Green Card through a different basis from outside the country.
US announces eligibility for Green Card application
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the United States government published a list of eight categories of people who qualify to apply for a permanent resident card, commonly known as a Green Card.
Eligibility ranges from family ties to US citizenship and employment in specialised fields to refugee or asylum status and victims of abuse.
Source: Legit.ng
