K visas are issued to two groups of people: K-1 visas for U.S. citizens’ fiancés who are outside the U.S. and K-3 visas for U.S. citizens’ spouses who are outside the U.S. The minor children of accompanying fiancés or spouses apply for K-2 or K-4 visas respectively. The purpose of the K-1 visa is to allow the alien fiancé who lives outside the U.S. to travel into the U.S. to marry the citizen fiancé.

In order to utilize the K-1 visa, the alien fiancé must be outside the U.S. TheU.S.citizen must file the K visa application in theU.S.and upon approval, theU.S.consulate where the alien fiancé is located is notified. Normally, an interview is conducted at the U.S. consulate before the K visa is issued. Finally, once the visa is issued, the alien fiancé can enter the U.S. and has ninety days to marry the U.S. citizen. He or she then files an immigration petition and adjustment of status application or immigrant visa application to become a permanent resident. SMA assists in both the domestic (K visa application preparation) and the international segments (consular interview) of this process, including the adjustment of status to permanent resident and eventual citizenship application, should the beneficiary desire to do so.

The purpose of the K-3 visa is to promote family reunion and serves as a temporary remedy for the family-based immigration petition process, which may be extremely slow. It allows the alien spouse to stay in the U.S. while waiting for the result of the pending immigrant petition and allows the alien spouse to secure a work authorization during the waiting period. To apply for the K-3 visa the alien spouse must be outside the U.S. If the marriage occurred outside the U.S., the K visa must be issued by the U.S. consulate in the country where the marriage occurred.