Fiance Visa With Child
The Fiance Visa with child is a special non-immigrant visa (K-2 visa) in United States. It allows the foreign nationals who are engaged to the US citizens and have the U.S. citizen kids with them to enter the country. To apply for this type of visa, they need to submit an I-129F form (with required supporting documents) to the USCIS on behalf of their children.There are many steps required to successfully obtain a fiancé visa with a child, and the process can be very confusing. To make matters worse, obtaining a fiancé visa in such a circumstance doesn’t guarantee that you’ll then receive your fiancé’s green card at the end of the process.
Fiance visas allow U.S. citizens traveling abroad to bring their foreign partners back home to the United States. Your American relationship is a new and exciting partnership and you want to begin sharing life together, but your partner needs some help before immigrating. Who helps couples who are in this situation? What will help you get through a fiance visa petition?A K-1 Fiance Visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows the foreign national fiancé(e) to enter the United States – with the specific intention of marrying his or her U.S. citizen petitioner within 90 days of entry into the country and subsequently apply for an Adjustment of Status to become a permanent resident (Green Card holder). All immigrants, including fiancés of citizens, have to meet certain requirements to be eligible for a visa or green card. One of these requirements is that they are not “intending immigrants” — that they are planning to return home after visiting the United States. This requirement is usually met by coming on a temporary visa and planning to depart after the wedding ceremony.
Fiance Visa With Child
Bringing Children Along on a K-1 Fiance Visa (K-2 Visas)
Steps to obtaining K-2 visas for children of someone entering the U.S. on a K-1 fiancé visa.
By Ilona Bray, J.D.
Need Immigration Help? We’ve helped 85 clients find attorneys today.
Please answer a few questions to help us match you with attorneys in your area.Of what country are you a citizen?
Select an answer Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas, The Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China, People’s Republic of Colombia Comoros Congo (Congo Kinshasa) Congo (Congo Brazzaville) Costa Rica Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea (North Korea) Korea (South Korea) Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste (East Timor) Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
If you receive a K-1 fiancé visa with which to enter the U.S. and get married to a U.S. citizen, your unmarried children under the age of 21, whether or not they are the biological children of your U.S. citizen fiancé, might be eligible to accompany you. They will be given “K-2” visas for U.S. entry. The term “children” includes not only natural children, but adopted children and any born out of wedlock, if your home country legally recognizes them as yours.
Don’t be confused by the fact that already-married applicants for U.S. green cards need to prove that their children fit the definition of “stepchildren,” by showing that the parents’ marriage took place before the children turned 18. You, as a fiancé visa applicant, don’t need to fit those criteria. The only reason we even mention it is that immigration officials themselves sometimes get confused about it and try to deny K-2 fiancé visas to children who are over 18 but still under age 21. If this happens to you, understand that the official has gotten the laws mixed up, and point to the immigration regulations at 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(k)(3).
K-2 Visa Application Process
Your children will have to go through the same (or a very similar) visa application process as you. At the beginning of the application process, all the U.S. citizen sponsor needs to do is to include the children’s names in Part 2 of the Petition for Alien Fiancé (Form I-129F) that the U.S. citizen files with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The consular officials that will ultimately handle the case (after USCIS approves the I-129F and forwards the file) should send extra sets of the various required forms for the children to fill out.
If you do not receive these extra forms, contact the consulate. For young children, it’s okay for a parent to fill out a form and even sign it on their behalf. (Just sign your name, then write Parent of [name of your child].)
The children will have to prove that they are not inadmissible to the U.S. and that they will be financially supported along with the immigrating fiancé. Each child will need to show proof of their relationship to the immigrating K-1 parent, such as a birth or adoption certificate (possibly with English-language translation).
You will also need to gather many of the same documents for the children as you do for the main applicant, such as medical exam reports, photos, and passports; and to pay individual visa fees.
After you get married and apply for a green card (to “adjust status” to lawful permanent residence), your K-2 children may apply along with you. Each will need to submit (by mail) a separate application for adjustment of status to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Act Quickly If Any of Your Children Will Turn 21 Soon
For planning purposes, note that the children must remain unmarried and under age 21 right up to the day they enter the United States on their K-2 visas. Fortunately, if you alert the immigration authorities to an upcoming 21st birthday, they can usually speed up the processing for you.
(Unfortunately, a law you might have heard of called the Child Status Protection Act does not protect children on fiancé visas from the loss of visa rights caused by their turning 21.)
CAUTION
Check your own country’s law on removing your children if their other parent is staying behind. If you are planning to bring children to the United States who are not the biological children of your fiancé, it will be up to you to comply with your country’s custody requirements. Even if the children are legally in your custody, you might need to get written consent from the other parent for you to take the children out of your country.