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What is the K Visa? The purpose of new K visa is to reunite families
that have been or could be subject to a long period of separation during the
process of immigrating to the United States. Holders of the new K visas will be
able to wait in the US for this process to be completed.
The new parts of the K category are intended for use by both a spouse of a
United States citizen and by the spouse's children. The nonimmigrant visa for
the spouse will be called a K3 visa and the visa for the spouse’s children will
be called a K-4.
The original K (fiance/e) nonimmigrant visa category for the fiance/e of a US
citizen will continue, though it will now be called the K-1 for visa purposes.
The visa for a child who will be immigrating with a K-1 alien will still be a
K-2 nonimmigrant visa.
Who is Eligible?
To qualify for the new K nonimmigrant visa (known as the K3 NIV),the
applicant for the visa must prove:
his/her marriage to a U.S. citizen is valid, and
he/she is the beneficiary of a petition (I-130) already filed with the US
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as the spouse of a U.S. citizen,
but which petition has not yet been approved by INS, and
he/she is also the beneficiary of a special petition filed with and approved by
INS in the United States, and
he/she wishes to enter the United States to await the approval of the I-130
petition by INS or the availability of an immigrant visa.
All four qualifications must be met before overseas processing of the request
for the K visa can begin.
If an I-130 petition for the spouse is already at the overseas post, then an
immigrant visa will be processed instead of the nonimmigrant K visa. If an
immigrant visa based upon the I-130 petition for the spouse has already been
denied, then neither the spouse nor the spouse's children may qualify for a K3
or K4 visa.
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