Political and social history of the Fiance K-1 visa process and what’s happening today

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The K-1 Fiancé Visa process has a very interesting history. Congress created the K visa category in response to unanticipated predicaments during the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

Surprisingly today, even though the war has been over for decades, the fiance visa continues to gain popularity. And since it’s a permanent visa category, it’s also subject to changes as laws evolve. 

In its infant years the intent was to pave a way for soldiers to quickly reunite with their foreign partners, but now the focus has shifted to prevent fraud.

So, what was the need for a fiance visa in the 1970’s and how has it morphed into what it is today?

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Difficult for American soldiers to marry and bring their Vietnamese partners to the US

A number of American military personnel, while temporarily deployed in Vietnam, met and fell in love with their local Vietnamese partners (mostly women). Following which, soldiers naturally wanted to marry and bring them to the US.

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However, the betrothed couple’s path was blocked by several bureaucratic hassles and long waiting periods. It turned out that in order to emigrate to the US, the couple must get two types of permissions. 

They had to get an “exit permission” from the Vietnamese government in addition an immigrant visa by the US government. Both procedures required repetitive paperwork including: birth certificates, police clearances, medical exam and more.

As you can imagine, this time-consuming and arduous process left little time for soldiers, who were on quick rotations, to keep up and meet requirements.

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The Fiance K-1 visa was created to help military personnel

Their situation resembled something the US had already seen years ago in World War II. Back then, partners of US military personnel needed quick access to visas, which lead to Congress signing the War brides Act of 1945 and the Fiance visa Act of 1946. Source: Library of Congress 79th-congress

Realizing that it wasn’t possible to get immigrant visa numbers (or visitor visas) quickly enough for Vietnamese cases this time around either, Congress created the Fiance visa so the partners would be considered “non-immigrant” and bypass many obstacles.

Hence Public Law 91-225 on April 7, 1970, gave birth to the Fiancé K-1 visa and was deliberately formed to overcome local governmental and US bureaucratic formalities.

It became part of immigration laws INA 101(a)(15)(K), which was a big deal because it wasn’t a temporary visa category like the ones before, this was here for good.

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What were the I-129F filing requirements in the early days?

In the beginning, papers would have to be filed and the government’s response would take longer than it does in recent times. Nonetheless, any eligible US Citizen could petition their fiancée with form I-129F.

To make it easy for everyone and to streamline the adjudication process, the US borrowed most requirements from existing immigration procedures and applications. 

For example, one of the adaptations was that a fiance visa applicant needed a medical examination, as applicants always had since the 17th century for immigrant visas. And as such, any sort of inadmissibility would lead to denial.

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Filing fees and miscellaneous costs were paid by the couple for administrative upkeep.

Public charge, which is an important concept in immigration, was also adopted. In order to make sure the beneficiary wouldn’t be reliant on the US, officers would check the petitioner’s income, taxes, and earnings to make sure the soldier could financially support his incoming fiance.

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The Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments act of 1986

Unlike the War brides Act or the Fiancé Visa Act of the 1940’s, the act of April 1970 applied to the fiancé of any US citizen, not just members of the armed forces. 

And therefore, as times changed, so did the usage of the Fiance visa. In the mid-1980’s the K Visa became more popular among civilians as more of them traveled overseas for work or study. Naturally, an increasing number wanted to bring their partners home.

However, as the good always accompanies the bad, marriage fraud started to become a real threat to the integrity of the system. Many US citizens reported being scammed by their partners in order to get permanent residency. It reached a point where the US legislated the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments Act of 1986 (IMFA).

Even though this act applies to spousal visas as well as fiance visas, it created two important discerning requirements for the K visa category that still exist today:

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• (1) having met in the last 2 years immediately preceding filing the I-129F petition
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• (2) Conditional 2-year resident status to affirm that the marriage was bona fide

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This was the first, out of many, set of changes the US made to reduce fraud and promote streamlining the process. 

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The Fiance visa continued to mature in the 2000’s 

Over the years, the Fiance Visa process modernized to become more encompassing. Several requirements and questions were added to help verify eligibility. Among them were: the foreigner’s addresses, employment, parental information, education, etc.

However, it wasn’t until the 2000’s when sweeping changes were made. 

An important US federal statute was the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) of 2005. This was in response to two cases where foreign women were abused and murdered by their American spouses (Susanna Blackwell, 1995 and Anastasia King, 2000).

In order to prevent similar incidents in the future, protocols required US citizens to disclose convictions for certain violent crimes, such as domestic violence, assault, battery, elder abuse, child abuse, and offenses related to alcohol or controlled substances. Consular officers would take this history into account and alert the beneficiary if they might face potential abuse in the future.

In addition, the number of I-129F petitions filed in a lifetime was limited to 2 with at least a gap of 2 years between them (multiple filer waivers available) to prevent abuse of benefits.

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Security concerns made the Fiance Visa more visible

Before the shooting in San Bernardino, California (2015), the K-1 Visa was largely unknown. But since the woman involved in the mass shooting was a K-1 Visa holder, however, curiosity was spurred by media.

As a result, the shooting made the K1 Visa not only more visible, but also subjected it to a higher deal of scrutiny. Many politicians successfully called for extra security checks and vetting on every case. While others unsuccessfully called for the Fiance K-1 visa category to be eliminated altogether.

Many questioned how it was easy for a criminal was allowed to get a visa, enter the US, and kill innocent people. Why weren’t there more security protocols in place?

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Mass changes made once Trump became President

During former President Trump’s first few months in office in 2017, executive orders initiated a set of changes known as “extreme vetting” of all immigrants and visitors to the US. In this, background searches and security reviews were required for all. This is a broad topic reserved for a later discussion.

The Travel Ban followed closely in 2017. Although it was meant for a broad range of applicants, it also affected fiance visa applicants. 

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Foreigners in listed countries saw their possibility for a K1 Visa reduced, almost eliminated. Countries like North Korea, Venezuela and Iran were among some of the listed countries in which their citizens have been dealing with more hurdles to get a K1 Visa. Waivers were sometimes offered at the discretion of the Consular Officer.

Keeping up with technology, social media became a target of interest, too. In years prior, social media handles were not required to be disclosed by all. However, in May 2019, Trump ordered the USDOS to ask for social media handles (in form DS-160) for all visa applications.

Although it’s quite flawed, social media vetting is increasingly being employed to investigate applications, verify merits of a bona fide relationship, and scan for security threats.

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K-1 Visa and same-sex couples 

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a federal law passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. According to this act, marriage was defined as the union of one man and one woman, and states could refuse to recognize same-sex marriages. 

However, the Supreme Court cases of States v. Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) made the act unconstitutional. 

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Since gay marriage became a right afforded by federal law, the Fiance K-1 Visa has also become a popular channel for same-sex couples. In fact, it was a welcomed alternative for many couples from countries which did not recognize gay marriage.

Before, same-sex couples would have to marry in a third country and then file for a spousal visa. But now, the fiance K1 visa was also an option in the beneficiaries’ home country regardless of local laws.

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What the future holds for the fiance K-1 visa process

Just like any other immigration law, the Fiancé visa has been amended over the years. It’s subject to congressional and executive oversight. Ever since it was created, the focus has shifted from ease-of-use to fraud prevention and reducing security threats.

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• ● In 1986, with the Marriage Fraud Amendments.
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• ● In 2005, with the IMBRA law.
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• ● Post 9/11 terrorist attacks, the vetting process became even more intricate

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In 2017, the USCIS testified to a Senate Committee regarding their scaled-up measures to combat visa fraud (source uscis testimonies K-1 fraud). And in recent times, Trump required security clearances and “extreme vetting”.

But still, none of these hurdles were likely to halt the rise in popularity of the fiance K-1 visa. Because it is a relatively “fast” way to get your partner into the US, the number of petitions may considerably rise in the future due to convenience.

If we compare the burden of paperwork of the Spousal CR1/IR1 route, we can see how much less bureaucracy fiance visa applicants deal with. The current trends from the USCIS report on I-129F petitions shows a rise in applications over the last decade and thus echo the same realization. 

We can expect the demand for fiance visas to continue. In addition, same-sex couples may also discover the K visa process increasingly reliable and thus boost the number of petitions, stretching the percentages even further.