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THE SPOUSAL/MARRIAGE VISA (K3 VISA)
The Marriage visa option
The K3 (Marriage/spousal visa) option enables the spouse of a US citizen to enter the Unietd States after which they are able to file for a green card either in the United States, through what is known as the 'adjustment of status' process or even return to their home country to pick up their green card at a later date from the local US consulate or Embassy.
Basically, the K3 visa was devised to circumvent the long backlogs which had developed in the processing of marriage green cards for overseas spouses of US citizens. In short, the K3 visa offers the overseas spouse of a US citizen a quicker route of entering the US.
Like a fiancée visa (K1 visa) a K3 visa is obtained through a staged process as follows
 | The US citizen spouse files an immigrant petition with the USCIS (US immigration authorities) in the US. |
| Once the receipt notice is returned by the USCIS for the Immigrant petition the US spouse files a K3 visa application with the USCIS (National benefits Center) for a K3 visa |
| Once the application is approved in the US, the approval notice is transmitted to the US consulate or Embassy on the overseas spouse's home country |
| The overseas spouse is required to undergo a medical examination, submit more forms to the local US consulate or Embassy (including an affidavit of support executed by the US citizen spouse) and be interviewed at the Consulate/Embassy |
| If granted a visa, the overseas spouse can enter the US for a period of 2 years during which she can apply for a Green card |
Note that only spouses of US citizens (Not permanent residents) are eligible for K3 visas. Unmarried children under 21 years old are also allowed to accompany the fiancée.
The Green card application is a separate application which normally follows the arrival of the spouse in the United States.
As stated above the US citizen will be required to execute an affidavit of financial support for the fiancée and the fiancée will be required to undergo a medical examination prior to the interview at the relevant US consulate or Embassy