What are the I-485 Approval Rates for K visa entrants?

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K visa holders must file the I-485, Adjustment of Status, to become Legal Permanent Residents (i.e. “Green Card holders”).

On average, about 35,000 to 45,000 K visa holders enter the US every year and apply for a Green Card… Meaning, these many submit their I-129F petitions, pass the visa interviews, get approved, and enter the US through a Port of Entry.

To become a Legal Permanent Resident after marriage within 90 days, you must file the I-485 paperwork. And because it’s just as important as the visa process, many of us wonder about the outcome. Specifically: 

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● What percent of people get approved for a Green Card?

● What about K visa holders, what are their chances?

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So in this article, we’ll explore approval statistics and what they reveal about how “easy” Green Cards are for Fiance Visa couples.

According to the USCIS, there is a 90% approval rate for the I-485 at any given year. This generally coincides with what my experience has been for Fiance Visa applicants, but not exactly. Some things are still a mystery, which we’ll discuss in this article.

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How many Green Cards are approved every year?

On average, over 1 million new green cards are granted per year. In 2018, for instance, official statistics show that 1,096,611 new Legal Permanent Residents were welcomed ranging from family-based, marriage-based to employment-based immigration and everything in between. 

The top recipients were Mexican, Chinese, and Indian nationals. The largest areas of concentration for newly granted Green Card holders live in California, New York and Florida. These trends hold true for fiance visa holders as well.

Looking at the numbers, it’s clear that only a small amount of the million yearly Green Cards include fiance visa holders. Again, only about 35,000 to 45,000 of them enter the US every year. The majority of new LPR actually consist of family-based, employment-based, and asylees or refugees, etc. (hundreds of thousands per year).

Fortunately, the US Department of Homeland Security (US DHS) didn’t overlook the K visa, and actually offers a bit more detail in terms of statistics for those who adjust status. Let’s take a look.

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How Many Fiance Visa holders get Green Cards?

US DHS immigration statistics up to 2018 are available for the public to view. In that year, there were 29,072 K visa holders who entered the US (known as “admissions” in the fiscal year). That simply means 29,072 people got approved at the US Embassy, took a flight, and entered through a Port of Entry. 

(Note: 2018 was abnormal due to Trump’s tight vetting procedures. Normally, there are about 35,000 – 45,000 K visas issued per year).

In the same year, 26,555 K visa holders (K-1 and K-2) successfully Adjusted Status to LPR. In other words, these many married their US partners, sent in their I-485, and were approved.

The question then becomes: “So what’s the approval rate of K visa holders?”

Is it 26,555 divided by 29,072?

Not really, you see there’s no way of actually calculating approval rates for Fiance visa holders. However, the USCIS does publish numbers in their annual report to give a hint. According to them, for family-based petitions, the overall approval rate is anywhere from 87% to 90%.

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Table 2 in Appendix of the Annual USCIS Report to Congress in 2018 

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So great — does that mean if you are a fiance visa holder who enters the US, gets married and sends out your Green Card application, there’s a 90% chance you’ll get approved?

Not really, we can’t take these figures at face value; we have to realize a few major things first.

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The true K visa Green Card statistics are different (and better)

First of all, the number of people who enter yearly are not necessarily the same who apply or get approved for Permanent Residency the same year. For example, if someone applies in August 2020 and gets approved in August 2021, they are counted as having applied in 2020 and having been approved in 2021. This happens for several reasons: I-485 backlogs, and the fact that the fiscal year of application and of approval are different (a new fiscal year starts on October 1st). 

So we cannot say that since 26,555 out of 29,072 K visa holders were approved in 2018, it’s a 91% approval rate. Some people may be approved the following year. 

Secondly, not everyone who enters the US actually gets married. A small percent of K-1 and K-2 visa holders decide not to marry and return home to their countries. What percent is that? We don’t know. They weren’t necessarily denied a green card, they just didn’t apply. 

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Next, many K visa holders marry in the 90-day period, but decide not to adjust status immediately; they may apply after several months or years. They’ll do this perhaps if they don’t have enough money to pay the I-485 application fees. How many couples apply late like this? We’re not sure, but it’s a small amount… perhaps less than 1,500. 

There is also the point about what happens when a couple withdraws their I-485 petition. According to the USCIS, withdrawals are categorized as “denied”. So part of the sixty thousand (I-485) applications denied in 2018 include those who withdrew their petition. How many exactly were there? We don’t know, but this reduces the % of people who are “denied”.

Next, realize that the K visa is just part of the total number of people who apply the I-485. There are hundreds of thousands of other family-based applicants who skew the number in terms of approval rates. For some categories it may be easier or more difficult to adjust status than the K visa. The 90% approval rating cited by the USCIS shows only the blended rate. 

Next, note a technicality… the number of applications may not necessarily mean the number of people adjusting status. Since derivative children (K-2) can apply with parents, it’s possible that the USCIS counts the family as “one” application. In other words, does a denial of one application reflect the denial of many people or just one person? This is unclear. And if it does include it, then the statistics aren’t really applicable to individual people. 

Finally, a small percent of K-1 and K-2 visa applicants may actually get their green cards denied. Meaning, they sent their I-485 to the USCIS but were rejected. There’s no way of telling exactly how many these are. But from the facts and figures that the US Department of Homeland Security Provides, it seems to be less than 5%.

So you see, even though 29,072 people entered the US with a K-1 or K-2 visa in 2018, and despite only 26,555 getting Green Cards in the same year, we cannot decisively say what percent are actually approved. We must accept the USCIS’s estimate of 90% approval rate.

But I think the rates are actually better than that. In my personal experience dealing with fiance visa couples, the approval rates are likely closer to 95% for K visa holders adjusting status to Legal Permanent Residents.

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Why are approval rates so high?

So clearly, if true approval rates are anywhere from 90%- 95%, that says most K visa applicants are approved. But why is that? 

And why is it that it’s more difficult to get a K visa approved compared to a traditional Green Card?

There’s a very simple explanation for that.

You see, visa issuance and Green Card adjustment follow similar criteria. If you pass the visa stage, then it’s almost certain you will pass the Green Card stage. That’s because the visa process holds you to public charge, inadmissibilities, immigration violations, etc… all of the same things that you’re held to during the Green Card evaluation (INA 212a). So if you’re approved during the visa process, you will likely have no problem passing the Green Card requirements.

In short, visas are typically only approved for those applicants who are likely to be approved for Permanent Residency. That’s why it’s “easy” for K visa holders to get a Green Card once they’re approved a visa.