Applying For A Spouse Visa
There are two ways of applying for a spouse visa to bring your husband or wife to live in the US. 1. You may sponsor your spouse's immigration application. If you use this method for applying for a spouse visa then your spouse will finish the entire immigration process without entering the US. Once he or she lands in the US permanent resident status is granted immediately. You will be required to submit an "Immigrant Petition for Alien Relative", also known as Form I-130. After USCIS, the US Embassy, and the National Visa Center have finished all the required processing and administration tasks, your spouse will be granted the immigrant visa that will either be an IR1 (Immediate Relative, that allows your spouse to move to the US) or a CR1 (Conditional Residency, applies if your marriage is less than two years old, the visa stays conditional for 2 years).
2. The other way of applying for a spouse visa is to go for a K-3. This is a non-immigrant visa and is typically granted in a few months. Your spouse will start the K-3 process outside of the US and then arrive in the US to finish this process. The K-3 application is to be made in the country of marriage regardless of your spouse's citizenship. In case the marriage was in the US then your spouse will have to apply for the K-3 visa through the US Embassy in his/her country of residence. The application needs to include the "Petition for Alien Fiancé(e))" or Form I-129F. K-3 is a new type of visa and though it mentioned fiancé it is still applicable to spouses. Once K-3 visa has been issued your spouse can come to the US. You need to meet the following criteria before applying for a spouse visa. 1. Your marriage must be legally recognized. Living together does not count and being married. Unmarried partners cannot sponsor immigration visas for the USA. 2. You need to be living in the USA in order to sponsor immigration to the country. If you are a US citizen or permanent resident but stay out of the country then the rules are different. 3. You must be 18 years or older to sign the Affidavit of Support. In case you intend to stay outside the US with your spouse indefinitely then you can skip applying for a Green Card because it gets canceled if you spend more than 6 months outside the US anyway. |
