What is a K-1 Visa?

The K1 visa is also known as the fiancé visa. The K-1 fiancé visa allows a foreign citizen, who must be a fiancé of a US citizen, to enter the country to get married. The marriage should be done within 90 days of the arrival. It is technically a nonimmigrant visa that allows the temporary stay for some time, but it creates a pathway to be a permanent resident through marriage. After getting married, the foreign spouse can also apply for a green card. It's not that easy to get the K-1 visa because, as of 2025, one in four K-1 visa applications is rejected. 

A Guide to the K-1 Visa

1. Eligibility: The sponsor should be a citizen of the United States, and both people should be legally eligible to get married. The marriage should be done within 90 days of the K1 fiancée visa. The sponsor must meet all the requirements of Income. The partners of the same sex are also eligible regardless of the laws in the home country of the foreign fiancé. 

2. K-1 Visa Cost: The price of a K-1 visa would be around $940, and here is the breakdown of the amount: $675 for the form filing, $200 for the medical examination, and $265 for the application fee. You can get a discount of $50 if you fill out the form online. 

3. Processing Timeline: The approximate time taken by the K-1 visa process would be 8-11 months. The time taken by each step of the process is: For I-129F Processing time is around 8-11 months, the processing time for the National visa center is 4-6 weeks, and the approximate time for Embassy processing and interview is 4-6 weeks. One more information about processing time is that USCIS updates this quarterly, so current reports say that it typically takes around 6 months for a K-1 visa.