A mail–order bride is typically a woman who has listed herself in various catalogs and a man selects her for marriage purposes.
If you have found your soulmate but she is a foreigner, then you better get going with the paperwork to get her to the United States. Although she is your bride, she is also an immigrant in legal terms, so you have to make sure she gets the K-1 visa. Let’s find more about what is mail order bride.
Here are the steps that you should follow to get the process of Mail-Order Bride going swiftly:
- First Step
The first step is filing a petition i.e. Form I-129F with USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) office, under the jurisdiction of the state where you live. They will then ask you to prove certain facts about yourself, like if you are a US citizen and that your fiancée and you are single. In case this is your second marriage, then you will be asked to prove the previous marriage(s) was terminated legally with supporting documents. In addition, you will be asked to show some proof of your current relationship with your fiancée.
- Background Verification
The background check is an important part before the US agrees to your K-1 visa application. There are chances you may not get in some cases. Thus, your future wife should have no criminal records or background. Other cases when K-1 visa gets rejected are – dangerous mental/physical disorder, communicable disease, drug addiction, prostitution, trafficking, etc. They will also check if she has ever tried to enter the US illegally.
- Proof of Love
You can prove your love or meeting with your fiancée via itineraries, passport stamps, boarding passes, etc. You should have met her two years prior to filing the petition. You can also show other proofs of a long-distance relationship, like emails, copies of phone bills, letters with postmarks, etc.
- Can you appeal a denial of the visa application?
In case your petition gets denied, you can appeal the decision within 33 days from the date you receive the denial letter. You will have to fill the complete USCIS Form I-290B at the same office which denied the visa. From there, the appeal goes to Washington D.C., where the application gets reviewed again by the Administrative Appeals Unit.
- When Petition gets Approved
On approval of the petition, USCIS forwards the application to the American consular office in the bride-to-be’s home country. From there she will have to do the required paperwork to apply for a K-1 visa by providing supporting documents – valid passport, divorce or death certificate of the previous spouse, birth certificate, medical examination, vaccination records, financial evidence, etc.
- All Done
You have to marry your fiancée within 90 days after she enters the US, and there will no extension to this time. if this does not happen, she will be deported.
- Working In the US
Your fiancée can apply for a work permit on entering the US, which will be processed after the 90-days time limit.
- Married
Once you are married you should apply for permanent resident status for your wife, by filing Form I-485. After two years of being a “conditional’ resident, your wife can then apply for the status of “Permanent Resident Status”.