The Difference Between a Fiance Visa And Marriage-Based Green Card
The fiancé visa, also known as the K-1 Visa, can be thought of as the first step for couples where one of the parties is still living overseas, but wishes to enter the United States to marry his or her fiancé. Since the K-1 visa is designed to allow the spouse living outside the United States to enter the country for the sole purpose of getting married to his or her fiancé, this visa can only be issued at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate overseas.
In the case of the fiancé visa, the couple must get married within 90 days of the foreign spouse’s entry into the United States. The couple must have also met in person at least one time within the past two years.
The American citizen in the relationship headed towards marriage would file a Petition for Alien Fiance at his local USCIS office. If they approve the petition they would then send it to the National Visa Center for processing where it would eventually land in the overseas embassy or consulate of the country of the foreign national.
At this point the foreign national fiancé would then be able to apply for a non-immigrant fiancé visa. Eventually there would be an interview at the embassy or consulate to collect fingerprints, birth certificates, police certificates and evidence of the relationship with the fiancé.
If the foreign spouse is already living in the United States, the process is a bit shorter because there is no need to apply for the non-immigrant visa. Applying for a fiancé visa requires the foreign spouse to apply and interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in the home country. Having see a few embassies overseas and the seemingly endless lines of people waiting outside of them, I would prefer to deal with the USCIS in this country. I admire the patience of anyone who endures these types of bureaucratic hurdles and delays an embassy or consulate overseas.
The green card application, on the other hand, is filed in the United States only after the foreign spouse has already married a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. This marriage doesn’t necessarily have to be done is the United States, but the foreign spouse does have to be currently living in the United States and marred to a U.S citizen or permanent resident to apply for the green card. In many cases, the foreign spouse might already be living in the United States under a non-permanent resident status under a student visa or an employment-based visa, but wishes to obtain the permanent resident status of a green card holder. Once the non-permanent resident marries a U.S. citizen or permanent resident he or she can then begin the green card application process.
Contrary to what some Americans might believe, simply getting married to a U.S citizen does not automatically confer a green card to the foreign spouse. And even if a green card is granted initially, it is issued “conditionally”, meaning that is good for only two years. After two years the green card applicant must file to have these conditions removed or risk losing his or her original immigration status. There is a lengthy and tedious application process culminating in what is commonly called the green card interview where the couple’s marriage is reviewed and scrutinized by a USCIS officer.
The USCIS officer has been trained to uncover any marriages done for the sole purpose of obtaining a green card for one of the parties. The marriage is simply a charade, intended to fool the U.S government into issuing a green card for a marriage based not on love, but on ulterior motive of obtaining a green card. These “sham” marriages carry severe penalties to both the U.S. citizen and the foreign spouse. The U.S citizen would be looking at a possible felony conviction and the accompanying fines and jail time that a felony conviction brings. It would be a lot easier to just tell the truth and if that isn’t possible then simply withdraw the petition.
