A K-3 nonimmigrant visa will allow the foreign spouse to unite with the U.S citizen spouse in the U.S. while waiting for his or her background check to obtain permanent residency, which could take several months, and sometimes years depending on the foreign national’s country of chargeability (i.e. the country in which the foreign national is born, different from the country of nationality). Dependents of the foreign national spouse (unmarried children under 21) can come to the U.S. with the foreign national spouse as K-3 visa holders.  Though, if the children of the foreign national spouse are also children of the U.S. spouse, and said children were under the age of 18 at the time the U.S. spouse became U.S. citizen (whether by birth or through naturalization), the child may already be U.S. citizen under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.  If so, the child may obtain a passport at the U.S. consulate and come to the U.S, granted that the managing conservator parent agrees.

Similar to the K-1 application, even if the USCIS approved the K-3 visa application, the U.S Consulate will have the final decision whether or not to grant a visa. Every year, thousands of fraudulent immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions are filed with the USCIS or the U.S Consulate.  The crucial question for an I-130 petition for a foreign national relative spouse and the K-3 nonimmigrant visa is whether the couple entered a bona fide marriage, or that the marriage is out of convenience for the purpose of obtaining a green card.  The applicant and the beneficiary must demonstrate that they willfully entered into a bona fide marriage.  For the same reasons stated, the U.S. citizen petitioner and the beneficiary receive professional representation and heavily document their applications.  The experienced immigration attorneys at Garg & Associates, PC will be able to identify your qualifications and assist you in filing proper documents to show that you have met those qualifications.

Even if the USCIS approves the K-3 visa application, the U.S Consulate will have the final decision because the power to grant or deny a “visa” is solely in the discretion of the U.S. Consulate abroad, which is part of the U.S. Department of States’ functions. The reasons for such denial could be one of any number of reasons.  First, a denial may be because of a statutory requirement, such as the foreign national failed to show that he or she met certain requirements.  Second, the USCIS or the U.S. Consulate may determine that the application is a fraud.  Like any other immigration applications, K-3 non-immigrant visa applications are full of fraudulent applications for those who seek to come into the U.S. but those not intend to maintain such status.  Here, the foreign national may seek to enter the U.S. and remain here as an overstayed foreign national.  The U.S. government is mindful of these fraudulent applications.  Thus, it is important that a foreign national filing for a K-3 non-immigrant visa receive professional representation and heavily document their qualifications.  The experienced immigration attorneys at Garg & Associates, PC will be able to identify your qualifications and assist you in filing proper documents to show that you have met those qualifications.

Contact the Immigration Lawyers at Garg & Associates today for more on K-3 visas and how to get them.