Of all the years I can remember, this year has got to be one of the most memorable for fiance visas. I mean, in just the span of 3 months, we’ve already got so much news and headlines regarding visas and immigration.
I’m going to recap all the major things that potentially impact fiance visa applications and timelines… and then give you my opinions on all of them.
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❑ Public charge
The whole bewildering news about public charge is kind of just spurred on by the media. It’s true that public charge is a big issue and you have to have enough financial support to show during your K visa interview.
However, that was ALWAYS the case. In fact, in my older articles, you often heard me talk about “public charge” and the “totality of circumstances”. The “new” public charge rule isn’t really a new rule. It’s just a re-emergence of a long-held policy — that all new immigrants should be self-sufficient (or at least supported by a sponsor).
So, yes, you should be conscious of your I-134 Affidavit of Support more than ever before. My website and online courses dive deep into this topic (along with public charge and “new” policies).
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❑ Health Insurance
The whole thing about health insurance is not new, either. Embassy officers always had the authority to ask people whether they had adequate medical coverage if/when they got to the US. President Trump has only brought this more into the limelight because he says that foreigners receive expensive medical treatment and don’t pay for it causing taxpayers to suffer.
As of right now, there’s a new form DS-5540 “Public Charge Questionnaire” which is not explicitly required for fiance visa applicants, but may be requested IF the Embassy officer specifically asks. So, you don’t have to necessarily go to the interview with the DS-5540, but you should be aware of it. I’ve written a small step-by-step guide on filling this form out. Right now, this is a relatively “new” form so many of us won’t have all the answers to your questions or doubts.
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❑ Form I-944
“Declaration of Self Sufficiency” is now required for all fiance visa applicants when they submit their I-485 Adjustment of Status for a Green Card.
This form will ask about your household, assets, debts, health insurance coverage, past public benefits used, financial situation, even your credit card score (if available) as a way to help the USCIS determine if you’re going to be a public charge, and thus approving or denying your permanent residency.
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❑ Coronavirus
COVID-19 affects fiance visa applicants. Currently, the US Department of State restricts against international travel and is restricting direct flights from affected countries. Since mid March, there have been almost no international travel to the US aside from returning US citizens, family members, LPR, or those exempt.
If someone, let’s say a fiance visa approved applicant, was to try to come to the US before his/her visa expired, he/she would have to travel through different countries before being admitted in.
So, if you’re from an affected country and worried about your visa, please note:
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■ Most Embassies are temporarily shut down and K-1 visa interviews are cancelled
Due to the outbreak, embassies are operating on an emergency-only basis. If that’s the case with your locality, you are probably going to be rescheduled for your interview.
The Embassy will handle the details but you should check their website for updates. Most fiance visa applicants are being emailed by the consulate and told that their interviews are canceled indefinitely. You will have to be patient and wait until the Embassies open up again for routine interviews. We don’t currently have an estimate of when they will reopen. In my opinion, it may be sometime in June 2020.
Until then, if any of your documents are expiring, you should email the consulate to keep them in the loop. You may not get quick responses from them because they’re operating with a lighter workforce.
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■ If your I-129F and I-797 is expiring before you get an interview
If your I-129F validity date is expiring and you have not yet been able to make an appointment for your visa, you should email the consulate.
As of yet, the US DHS has not commented on what will happen to pending cases. However, in my experience, most likely the US Consulate will extend everyone’s validity date to make up for the time.
To ask for an extension (“revalidation”) see here.
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■ What if my K-1 visa is approved but I can’t travel to the US due to travel restrictions?
If your K-1 visa is approved but you cannot travel to the US, you will have to immediately inform the US consulate. They may work with you to reissue the visa or perhaps offer solutions.
As of right now, the US DHS hasn’t commented on what will happen to those visas who are expiring due to no fault of the visa holder. Will they reissue the K visa? will they forgive? we don’t know yet.
As per official FAM rules and regulations, if “circumstances beyond your control” prevent you from traveling and using a visa, the Consulate may reissue with certain exceptions.
Most nations have barred non-essential travel abroad. For example, Canada’s and Mexico’s border to the US are strictly for essential travel only.
From what we can tell, K visa entry at the Port of Entry is deemed non-essential. However, you should check official sources to verify this for yourself for the latest updates.
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■ Should I file my I-129F packet with the USCIS even though they’re partially shut down?.
Yes, the USCIS is currently adjudicating all fiance visa petitions. You should still submit your application without waiting. In addition, everyone who has already filed their petition are being processed… in fact, many are being approved during the partial USCIS shutdown.
The only aspect of the USCIS being halted are in-person interviews. They are suspended. This doesn’t affect the K visa process, however, but it does affect those applicants who applied for the I-485 adjustment of status and haven’t gotten a green card interview yet.
In addition, it’s believed the NVC is also operating on a lighter capacity. This may men extended delays due to shutdowns. You may try to call the NVC for updates.
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■ If I’m infected with the coronavirus, can I still get a K visa? or will I be refused?
Being infected, currently or in the past, with COVID-19 is not grounds for fiance visa denial. However, that’s only pertains to being granted a visa.
Most nations, including the US, have a restriction of anyone entering who is infected before being quarantined. You have to check local and governmental travel restrictions whether you can actually travel to the US.
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■ What if I’m in the US but we can’t marry due to courthouses shutting down?
As you know, fiance visa applicants must marry within 90 days of arrival into the US otherwise they’re “out of status” and must depart for not fulfilling the K visa requirement.
However, currently many US courthouses are closed and no one can seem to get access to a marriage license or certificate. This means K visa applicants are being forced out of compliance at no fault of their own.
To me, clearly the USCIS will have to extend the date for all cases who are affected by the shutdown. In other words, the USCIS will likely forgive and still accept anyone who didn’t get to marry within 90 days.
But this is a speculation and we’ll find out what the USCIS decides to do. But judging from what the USCIS has already done — by extending several other time-sensitive issues — it seems appropriate to expect K visa applicants to be granted an extension for marriage.
Please Note: New York Governor’s Executive Order now allows remote (video) marriage licenses and marriages via video conference. If you’re closing in on the K visa 90-day rule, please see to these strategies to stay compliant with the USCIS rules.
In addition, many K visa holders are reporting being able to marry. They have called many nearby city halls or city clerks and asked for exceptions. Many city halls are allowing marriage either in person or remotely. It’s still up to the K visa couple to get married. Make every attempt to research and find a civil office willing to get you a marriage license + certificate.
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■ If I take stimulus money or collect unemployment, will that be a “public charge” for the K visa?
Public charge, as we’ve explained above, is how the USCIS or US Embassy determine the likelihood of someone going on public benefits.
Currently they have an extensive list of what’s considered public charge. But what about the stimulus check? or what about being unemployed and collecting unemployment due to COVID-19 shutting down the economy?
As per the USCIS policy, unemployment is not a public benefit. And since this is an unprecedented time in recent history, we’re convinced the USCIS and US Embassy may make several exceptions to the current rules of public charge specifically due to the impacts of COVID-19. The US DHS hasn’t commented on this yet.
As for the stimulus check you’ve been seeing by the IRS, as of right now, it seems this will not be counted as a “means-tested” benefit for K-1 visa couples. It should not impact or harm your public charge going forward. This applies to both K visa applications and adjustment of status, I-485.
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Hello! I have a question that I am hoping you can answer. My fiance is a US citizen and I am from Canada. We received our I-797 approval back in October and are of course now playing the waiting game due to the NVC being short staffed in lieu of Covid. We are trying to still make wedding plans and are wondering- if the approval of the K1 visa doesn’t happen by the wedding date, are we still able to legally wed that day or do we need to postpone? Our wedding plans are still planned for 6 months from now, but if the NVC and embassy are processing that much slower, can we use a marriage license that is dated prior to the visa approval to apply for an adjustment of status or will that interfere with the visa and the adjustment to permanent resident? We are looking to try and find a way to not have to postpone our wedding unless we absolutely have to.
Thank you,
Devyn
Hi Prem,
My daughter was all ready to travel abroad to meet her Fiancée and then COVID-19 came up. She cant travel & also due to Pandemic conditions in Fiancée country it makes it more difficult. Her visit was necessary for the physical meeting evidence.
The question is that can she submit I 129 with a Wavier ( Under difficult circumstances)? What is required to mention or submit proof for the wavier.
Many Thanks
P.Malik
Hi Prem,
I hope you are safe during these trying times. I was hoping to ask a few questions in the comments section of your website but I couldn’t find an appropriate topic for it.
Because of the pandemic, I got stuck here in the US under a visitor (B1/B2) visa and had to file for an extension of stay (I-539) which is still pending for approval up to this very minute because my I-94 is only valid until May 27, 2020. Do I have to disclose all of these in my I-129F file? What files do I present if I do have to disclose it? Because my application for extension is still pending. I’m sorry to bother you with all these questions, you have been really helpful throughout all this. Thank you!
Hi Prem,
Thank you so much for all the information on your website. It is so commendable that you have used your own personal experience to create this site to help others. I followed the information on your site and it truly did help me prepare for my interview. So, I was granted my K-1 visa in March. The validity of the visa is till August. I am based in India and we went into lockdown on March 24th so all international travel has stopped. I am keeping myself informed on international travel and called the US gov helpline to get information. I was informed that as of now all non immigrant services have been cancelled and there is no intimation of when these services will start. If in the event that international travel does not open up and my visa expires, I will have to fly to Mumbai (which is where the K-1 is processed), present my case to them, they will inform me what supporting documents I need to submit and then process my case again. So what I understand from this is, I will have to take a domestic flight to a high risk city to present reasons for why I could not travel, come back with supporting documents BUT there is no guarantee that I will get the extension? It took us 10 months to get this visa and all we want is to start our lives together. And now due to reasons that are beyond our control, we are back to square one where we may or may not get an extension?
Hi Prem. Been reading on your website a lot lately and seeing a lot of good reviews and advices. I have a question. I have been thinking of moving to a different workplace. I already submitted my i129f. If i move to a different work would it cause delay on my petition for my fiance?. If not what should i do? Should i notify the uscis as soon as i move to a new work place?.. what do i have to do and not cause any delay or problem with my i129f. And does keeping on moving from several employer affect the petition as well?.. should i wait until my petition and fiance got her visa or can i move anytime?. If so please guide with everything we have to do and not cause any delay. Thank you. Appreciate your time.
Hello Prem,I will still say ur site is the best and u are humble in answering everyone.today I will like to ask due to Coronavirus and one can’t get married on time,the I-94 expires in July and when they applied for marriage lincense to get married ,they got a spot on August.what should my brother do..thanks
Hi Prem,
We really appreciate your support for our fiance visa petition. I am from the UK and my fiance is from the USA. Currently we received an approval for the petition, called Notice of action from the USCIS. They said it will now be forwarded to the NVC in USA but we have called them and they just told us to wait. The approval is valid until 16th July 2020 which worries me.
I would also like to be with my fiance and I don’t know how with the travel ban. We have looked at the possibility of him coming here in the UK as soon as this week. I wonder if there is a way, according to the US Embassy only immediate family can go to USA, am I not classified as immediate family if we are due to get married? I have no intention of staying their permanently until we get our paper work approve but with this travel ban we don’t know when we will see each other again.
Any advice would be helpful
Thanks
Joyce
Hey Prem,
Thanks for your prompt answer. This is their answer “She needs to reapply for a visa if her visa expires. We can not issue any new immigrant visas due to Proclamation dated 22 apr2020”. I am not sure if they are referring to the consulate process or the entire process. I would be happy to leave now but our airport is shut down, I am from Tajikistan and I don’t when they will reopen. I agree to take the risks and travel but I don’t know any other way. There are flights available for sale, but not sure if this flights will actually happen. We are so frustrated waiting for the visa almost a year and now this 😑
Hi Prem,
Thanks for your response. I did as you said, due to my visa expiration on the beginning of July. We contacted the embassy and asked for possibilities to extend the visa due to travel bans. They responded that we need to reapply the visa and go through the whole process AGAIN! Its so unfortunate for those who got the visa and were stuck. I feel so frustrated as we spent so much money and time for this and now we have to do it again 😔
Hello Prem,
thank you for the information provided.
I thought to write to you as I have doubts about the I129F form my boyfriend and I filed March 16th 2020.
You mentioned the only process they’ve been halting is interviews but, considering it’s been more than a month that we filed our form, how is it possible we didn’t get a Notice of Action from USCIS?
We’ve been told it could be related to the slowing down of the National mail service, what do you think?
Have you heard of other cases like ours? Do you have any suggestions for what we should be doing next?
Hi Prem,
I had an interview in January and the officer accepted me and told us congratulations but because of our nationality, she told us we have to wait for administrative processing and about 1 month ago I refused. I think Coronavirus affected our process and there is nothing in our update status to explain why am I refused. Do you think is that any chance to revise our documents?
Thank you
Hi Prem,
Thank you so much for writing this. My partner was about two weeks away from finally having her interview at the US consulate back in February and the next thing I knew, my state and city shut down, I was out of work, the consulate in London didn’t even send her any word stating that they were closed, and we only found out that her interview was cancelled at all was when she was scheduling her required medical for the process. The nurse told her /then/ that everything was shut down.
When I contacted USCIS and the NVC to inquire about how COVID was going to affect all of this and was promptly hung up on twice by USCIS, and when I finally got ahold of the NVC, I was just told that “they don’t know”.
Absolutely stricken with anxiety, because I’m sure you know, visas and bureaucratic paperwork is NOT cheap.
Hey Prem,
My fiancé had his interview 4/26/2018 in Afghanistan and they put him in admin process, but we haven’t heard anything since. Every time I email they tell me it’s in admin process just wait. My state governor and senator send the embassy letter and I got the same answer to just wait. In July 2020 it’s gonna be exactly 3 years since we started his case. It’s very frustrating can you give me any advice ? I appreciate you.
Hello,
I commented on another post you did on COVID-19 regarding the validity date for my visa. The NVC approval notice was from December 1, 2019, to April 1, 2020. So that has expired. My fiance had an interview scheduled in London on March 18 that was canceled. We have emailed the USCIS, the NVC, the US embassy in London, and our US consulate in London and all have said we have not contacted the right people to get our validity extended and keep sending us in circles. There was an email that got sent out stating, ” What if my fiancé(e) visa petition expires? If the petition expires before the visa interview, you may revalidate the petition with a letter from the petitioner stating that you both remain legally free to marry and that you will do so within 90 days of your arrival in the United States. You should take the letter with you to your visa interview. ” Is this talking about my NVC approval? I would love some clarity as we have truly emailed everyone we can. Thank you so much for your posts and help- I would not have gotten this far without your help.
Hello Prem! I’m so glad I found your site. I wanted to ask a question regarding applying for a fiance visa. My us citizen bf and i have been planning to file for K-1 visa for a while. But due to the recent pandemic thats going on, he got furloughed from his company. Money isn’t the problem, but we’re just afraid this might affect our application. Will it be better to delay our application until he gets his job back? Thank you so much for your time.
Hello Prem, thanks for all that you do for myself and everyone on this platform. I pray that your wealth of knowledge is increased continually. I hope you’re keeping safe?.
Hola, muchas gracias por sus comentarios y noticias actualizadas. Mi prometido y yo presentamos nuestro caso en noviembre, a principios de marzo recibimos un RFE que ya fue contestado rápidamente porque era bien sencillo, pero aun esta el caso en procesamiento, casi un mes, entiendo que debe haber retraso por la situación sanitaria internacional, sabe usted sobre estos casos? Saludos
Hi Prem,
I recieved my response to the request to my evidence of my form 1-129form fiance visa on 2nd february20.
Still waiting for any new notification,what next should i expect and where should be my form now?
Thanks
Dear Prem,
I have the same issue as a lot of others with icing…
I got my VISA in January, expiration date July 9th (Hungary)
My travel date was May 13th but the flight got canceled.
I rescheduled with the same airline for June 11th.
I recently learned that I am expecting a baby. My fiancé is in the US.
Is there a chance to get a special travel approval if the ban is not lifted?
Thank you,
V
Hi Prem,
I got my visa approved in 20.02.2020 from Almaty. This coronavirus was just starting, so I had plans to travel end of March and everything got locked down. My visa ends 06.07.2020 and I am so worried if the situation will be ok by them. I do not want to go through this process again. So is there any way they will extend the visa time, since I couldn’t travel?
Hey Prem! Thanks for all your valuable help! We have followed all your advice and we got trough the first stage. My fiancé was living in Argentina and we started the process from there.. he was about to have his medical examination and embassy interview, but since he is from Mexico he had to return his country due to the current Covid 19 situation. Do you know something about changing the process from the embassy in Buenos Aires to the embassy in Mexico? Thanks a lot!
Hello,
I have submitted all the required documents to NVC on 2/9/2019 , on 28/1/2020 they accepted all documents except one (marriage certificate) Because they need it in both languages Arabic and English.However, I submitted the certificate , they accepted it yesterday and my case transferred from submitted to accepted but they sent me a message to submitted a police certificate even though I sent this documents from the beginning and accepted!!! So what does that mean???
Mr. Prem,
Thank you for always keeping us Informed.During this Time our 129-F was accepted and we received notice on March 19, 2020.I-797
Our Application has been sent to the NVC
We await anxiously from your Forum, as well as what next steps to take from the NVC
Thank you very Much.
Please safety and well wishes to you and Your family.
Chad
Hi Prem,
How are you, and hope your safe at your place by God’s grace.
First of all I would like to thank you for the update as i was just waiting for one from you.
Please help me with my queries. My visa is approved and my visa expires on July 16, 2020. What happens if the travel bans are not lifted before my visa expiration date or you have mentioned US has allowed only essential visas from Canada and Mexico at the Port of entry, so if this is the case for our country too will it take a really long time for me to enter the US. How can i contact the Mumbai embassy and request them to extend my visa if it is about to expire? Or should i go in person to the embassy to get this done?
Appreciate you for the important updates. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Mythili Priya
Dear Prem,
Hope you and your family are doing good. Thank you for your mail in this crisis time with the updates about K1 visa processing. Like you said my K 1 visa interview got cancelled due to consulate shutdown. I had undergone my medical checkup 18 days before my interview date. Could you please reply me with the validity of the medical report and PCC. Also my I129 f got expired
Hi
Regarding the self sufficiency form how would a person that has not worked due to no green card fill out the form ?
Me and my fiancé met on January on a dating application, he visited on March and we got engaged because he wanted to meet my family and we are Muslims if you have to involved family it should be something serious which it is , so luckily we met before the lockdown and we managed to take pictures together and engagement pictures we gathered all the information to apply but we are worried that the fact that we got engaged as soon as he visited and after only 3 months of knowing each other might be a red flag in our file please can you give us any advice about what to do should we apply anyway or wait a little bit longer
Hello all, my fiance got accepted for the k1 visa, she recently got it thru DHL, my question is, will she be able to enter the US, she is a mexican national, thank you
My fiance was scheduled for an interview in Nairobi kenya. But was cancelled due to covid 19. My petition expires in a month and the embassy never provided me with steps to take before expiration. What should I do? Should I request emergency interview?
My name is Juliah. i had my K1 interview in nairobi kenya on 11th December 2019 and my visa was approved at the counter. 3 days i received a mail asking me to send my communication history with my Fiancee and may pick my passport of which i submitted 3 days later. i received a mail on 13th february 2020 confirming they have received my documents after 2 months and until then i haven’t received any notification. what would you take of this case. getting worried as the days go by.
I have a question regarding the qualification of needing to see each other in the past 2 years. My fiancé is from Nigeria and before this corona virus I was making plans to go see him but of course now there is no travel. So I wanted to know should I wait until this is over as I don’t know when it will be good to travel or is there a waiver to complete because of this? We were going to do a tourist visa so we could be together and spend time but we also want to get married so I did not think it would be good to do 2 visas? This is all new to me so I was not sure how to proceed.
My fiance is here in the U.S. currently so our 90 day clock has already begun. But the local government offices are closed. We must apply in person in my state.
I know that k1 visas cannot be extended but what about all of us in this situation because of the pandemic?
My plan is to go ahead and get married even if we go past the 90 days and send a note to USCIS from my local Registrar of Deeds stating the dates that my local government was shut down.
Anyone else in this situation???
Hello Prem.my brother went for interview on last week Sunday in Dubai.he passed the interview he was given a white paper of congratulations.its 7 days now it still says ready.And they sent him email
Again for additional information.Why is that.
Prem thank you so much for your valuable updates and all your assistance through this whole process. You are very helpfull and have a great knowledge with regard to the the K visa.
Once again thank you and please continue to keep me informed.
Regards
Shamala
Hi, my fiancé and I have sent in the K1 visa form to the US embassy in Dallas. Will the coronavirus also affect the application forms?
Greetings