K-1 Fiance visa--Can my fiance come to US on a Vistors Visa while K-1 visa is being processed?

Question

My fiance lives in the UK and myself in the US. I will be filing the K-1 Fiance Visa petition and was wondering that while this visa is being processed (6-8 months), can he come and visit me here in the US on his visitors visa (only visits for a week at a time). I've read that it wouldn't be smart for him to visit me while this petition is being processed, but do they really expect fiances to go 6-8 months without seeing each other?? I am hoping there is a way around this. If him visiting me would but a stop or take longer for the petition to process, is there any way for me to visit him with out any problems?? Please help! Thanks!!

Answer 1

NO the K1 process is the way to go and the immigrant must stay in their home country and be interviewed at the local consulate.

If you try and enter with a visitor visa you risk having the K1 denied

Answer 2

The problem is potential visa fraud. In order to avoid this if at all possible the US does not allow visitor visas for people with a immigration visa or a potential immigration visa pending(a K-1 is a potential immigration visa). They see no problem with you visiting him though. Good Luck!

Answer 3

There is no law prohibiting your fiancee from traveling to the U.S. to meet you while an I-129F is being processed, however people generally advise against doing so because to enter with a visitors visa, one must have no *immigrant intent* and with a pending I-129F, this proves a person's *intent* to immigrate to the U.S. albeit, at a later date, but it is still an *intent* regardless.

If this is what you both want to do, then he will need to some strong and significant ties to the U.K. for which he intends to return, such as proof of a lease or mortgage, a letter from his employer stating his return date, proof he his enrolled and has paid for his studies, car loans, off-spring, perhaps a divorce court hearing date or even large sums of money in a U.K. bank account.

He would need to bring any and all documentation which will show he intends to return to the U.K. at the end of his stay.

Just to answer your question, yes the USCIS expects couples to go 6-8 months without seeing each other, for some people this time frame is much, much longer - you are not the only people in this situation.