Family-based immigration

Bringing Your Fiancé(e) to the U.S.

Am I Eligible?

If you are a U.S. citizen who wants to bring your foreign national fiancé(e) to marry in the U.S., you may petition (apply) for a fiancé(e) visa (K-1) for your fiancé(e). Both of you must be free to marry. This means that both of you are unmarried, or that any previous marriages have ended through divorce, annulment or death. You must also have met with your fiancé(e) in person within the last two years before filing for the fiancé(e) visa. This requirement can be waived only if meeting your fiancé(e) in person would violate long-established customs or would create extreme hardship for you. You and your fiancé(e) must marry within 90 days of your fiancé(e) entering the United States.

You may also apply (on the same petition) to bring your fiancé(e)'s unmarried children, who are under age 21, to the United States.

Legal permanent residents may not file petitions for fiancé(e) visas, although they may petition for the immigration of their new spouse after the wedding (see Bringing My Spouse to Live in the U.S.).

The Process

After your petition is approved, your fiancé(e) must obtain a visa issued at a U.S. Embassy or consulate abroad. Your fiancé(e) must remain unmarried until the arrival of the fiancé(e) in the U.S. The marriage must take place within 90 days of your fiancé(e) entering the United States. If the marriage does not take place within 90 days or your fiancé(e) marries someone other than you (the U.S. citizen filing the petition), your fiancé(e) will be required to leave the United States. Until the marriage takes place, your fiancé(e) is considered a nonimmigrant. A nonimmigrant is a foreign national seeking to temporarily enter the United States for a specific purpose. A fiancé(e) may not obtain an extension of the 90-day original nonimmigrant admission.

If your fiancé(e) intends to live and work permanently in the United States, your fiancé(e) should apply to become a permanent resident after your marriage. (If your fiancé(e) does not intend to become a permanent resident after your marriage, your fiancé(e)/new spouse must leave the country within the 90-day original nonimmigrant admission.)

Your new spouse will initially receive conditional permanent residence status for two years. Conditional permanent residency is granted when the marriage creating the relationship is less than two years old at the time of adjustment to permanent residence status.

Please note that your fiancé(e) may enter the United States only one time with a fiancé(e) visa. If your fiancé(e) leaves the country before you are married, your fiancé(e) may not be allowed back into the United States without a new visa.

If your new spouse will apply to become a legal permanent resident while in the U.S. but also plans to travel outside the U.S. while the application is pending, see Have a Pending Immigration Application?…Beware of Foreign Travel.

Work Permits

After arriving in the United States, your fiancé(e) will be eligible to apply for a work permit. (You should note that USCIS might not be able to process the work permit within the 90-day time limit for your marriage to take place.) Your fiancé(e) should use Form I-765 to apply for a work permit. Please see Obtaining a Work Permit for more information. If your fiancé(e) applies for adjustment to permanent resident status after the wedding, your fiancé(e) must re-apply for a new work permit.