U.S. citizens
who have married a foreign national of
another country, or who are engaged to a
citizen of another country can obtain visas
allowing their husband, wife or fiancée to
legally enter the United States.
A spouse is a legally wedded husband or
wife. Living together does not qualify a
marriage for immigration.
Common-law spouses may qualify as spouses
for immigration, but only if the laws of the
country where the common-law marriage occurs
recognizes common-law marriages and grants
them all the same rights and obligations as
a traditional marriage.
The Sheena
Law Firm can help a United States citizen
who is seeking the non-immigrant spouse visa
to bring a foreign spouse and the visa for
any children, into the United States. The
visa application must be filed in the
country where you were married.
Two
ways for an American citizen to bring your
foreign spouse to the United States to live
are:
Immigrant visa for a Spouse of a
U.S. Citizen An immigrant
Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-130
is required.
Nonimmigrant visa for spouse
- Two petitions are required:
Petition for Alien Relative Form
1-130
Petition for Alien Fiancée Form
I-129F
It is
important to note that application for the
nonimmigrant visa for spouse who married a
U.S. citizen must be made and the visa
issued in the country where the marriage
took place. After visa processing, and the
visa is issued, the spouse can travel to the
United States to wait for the processing of
the immigrant visa case.
To
overcome the presumption of marriage fraud,
we help with documentation to prove that
neither of you is already married (any
divorces are final and not pending), and
that you married for love and affection
(not as a sham marriage or financial
arrangement to gain unlawful entry to the
United States).
If you are a
U.S. Citizen, once you file a Petition for
Alien Relative, your spouse is eligible to
apply for a nonimmigrant K-3 Visa. This will
entitle him or her to come to the U.S. to
live and work while the visa petition is
pending. It is not necessary for your spouse
to obtain a K-3 visa in order to come to the
U.S. to live and work. Your spouse may wait
abroad for immigrant visa processing.
However, seeking a K-3 visa can be a method
for him or her to come the U.S. more
quickly.
It is important to keep families together,
and we will work hard to do just that for
you. We will assist you in every step of the
process so you can look forward to being
reunited with your loved ones.
The Sheena
Law Firm
can walk you through the paperwork and help
you choose the options that best suit your
circumstances. We also coach all parties
prior to the interview, and deal with any
problems that may arise.
If you have
questions or
concerns about
family-based visa
matters including
waiting periods,
work authorization,
adjustment of
status, returning
residents, waivers
or counselor
processing, please
call The Sheena Law
Firm today.
