There are a number of ways to obtain a U.S. visa, including a fiancé or spouse visa. However, while an American citizen or permanent resident who is married or engaged to a citizen of another country might be able to legally relocate his or her spouse or fiancé to U.S., this is not an automatic right. Many misunderstand this law, believing that marriage or engagement opens to the gates for their partner.
In reality, a fiancé or spouse must engage in a multistep application process to procure a visa. This is a complex and time-consuming task that begins by the individual submitting either a fiancé visa petition or an immigrant visa petition. Until this application is approved, your fiancé or spouse cannot legally enter the country.
The immigration office will consider a number of factors to determine if it will grant a fiancé visa. To qualify, applicants must show that they intend to marry a U.S. citizen, that they are legally able to marry and that they have met that person within the last two years.
Applications for marriage-based visas are similar and require proof that the applicant is legally married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, is not married to anyone else and that his or her husband or wife is not married to someone else. In other words, the marriage must be legal and between only the two of them.
Applying for a fiancé or spouse visa can be a long and arduous process, but it is worth it for couples that are then able to legally begin their lives together in the United States. If you need assistance applying for such a visa or appealing a decision from an immigration office, speak with an experienced Florida immigration lawyer at the Law Office of K. Dean Kantaras.