Important Notices
Procedures
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Procedures
A fiancé(e) of a United States citizen who wants to travel to the United States to marry and live after marriage must have a K-1 visa.
To qualify for a K-1 visa, the following conditions are necessary:
- One party is a U.S. citizen
- Both parties are legally free to marry, that is to say neither party is currently married
- Both parties have met in person
- The marriage will take place within 90 days of the fiancé(e) entering the United States on the fiancé(e) visa
Step 1: File a petition
The first step in applying for a fiancé(e) visa is for the U.S. citizen fiancé(e) (the petitioner) to file a petition on form I-129F with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) having jurisdiction over his/her place of residence in the U.S. or
the service centers having jurisdication over the last place you lived in the united States if you are filing abroad. The USCIS link above will give you specific instructions on where to mail the application.
This petition must be filed with USCIS in the U.S. It cannot be filed in Japan.
Unmarried children under the age of 21 are eligible to derive status from the fiancé(e) visa petition filed on behalf of their parent. Their names should be included in the petition. If the U.S. citizen is the natural father or mother of the child, the child may have claim to U.S. citizenship and be eligible for a U.S. passport.
The processing time of the application will vary with the case. When filing the petition with USCIS, your fiancé(e) should ask how long the petition will take to be processed. A petitioner may search for the status of a pending case online at the USCIS website.
If you plan to return to your permanent place of residence outside the United States after the marriage ceremony in the United States you should apply for a B-2 visa, or if eligible, travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program. (Please note that the immigrations inspector at the port of entry may deny you entry under the Visa Waiver Program if the inspector does not believe you will exit the United States after the wedding. Entering with a B-2 tourist visa may help avoid such a misunderstanding.) If the marriage will take place outside the United States, you will need an immigrant visa to reside in the United States.
Step 2: Forward petition to the embassy/consulate
Once the petition is approved by USCIS, it is then sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) in New Hampshire for additional processing before being forwarded to the embassy/consulate having jurisdiction over the fiancé(e) visa applicant's place of residence.
Validity of the approved I-129 petition
The approved petition I-129 is valid for four months. In order to qualify for a K visa, you must apply for your visa before the end of this four months period. If you need more than four months to finalize your visa application, your petition must be extended for an additional four months. (The validity of the petition is noted in the Notice of Approval I-797 sent by USCIS to the US citizen petitioner or to the attorney assigned.)
In case you need to extend your petition, please ask your fiancé(e) to send a signed and dated letter, address to the “U.S. Consul" of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo or U.S. Consulate in Naha by fax (Tokyo: 03-3224-5929 Naha: 098-876-4243) which reaffirms his/her interest in bringing you to the U.S. and request an extension of the validity of your petition for an additional four months. In the letter, your fiancé(e) must also include a reason why he/she would like an extension. As soon as we received this letter, we will normally extend the validity of your petition by four months.
Step 3: Complete and send in DS-230 Part I
Upon receiving the visa applicant's file from NVC, the embassy/consulate will send him/her fiancé(e) visa instructions. It is not possible to send instructions until the Immigrant Visa Unit receives the visa applicant's file from NVC.
After receiving instructions, each person applying for a visa regardless of age must complete the biographic data Form DS-230. The
DS-230 should be completed and returned immediately by fax (Tokyo: 03-3224-5929 Naha: 098-876-4243) or mail to the embassy/consulate that sent you the instructions.
Information/documents may be requested from the applicant any time during the processing.
Step 4: Begin assembling necessary documents
Click here for the document checklist.
Step 5: Complete fiancé(e) visa forms
- Form DS-156, Non-Immigrant Visa Application (two copies)
- Form DS-156(K), Non-Immigrant Fiancé(e) Visa Application
- Form DS-157, Supplemental Non-Immigrant Visa Application
K1 visa applicants must complete two copies of DS-156, and a copy of DS-156(K). Do not sign DS-156(K), we will ask to sign it at the interview. Each K2 via applicant must also submit two copies of DS-156. Form DS-156 must be filled out online. Handwritten or typed forms will not be accepted.
A copy of DS-157 is required for all male applicants aged 16 to 45 and for all applicants over age 16, male or female, who are citizens of or born in Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria.
Step 6: Schedule a visa interview
Once you have obtained all the documents that apply to your case and filled out remaining forms, you may schedule an appointment.
All required documents on the checklist as well as the remaining completed application forms should be brought to the interview.
Step 7: Apply for a visa
On the day of your interview, if you are approved for a K-1/2 visa, your passport and documents will be returned by mail. Processing and mailing time will take approximately one week. Should your visa be denied, you will be informed in writing and advised of what recourse may be open to you.
No advance assurance can be given that you will receive a K-1/2 visa. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR QUALIFYING FOR A FIANCE(E) VISA AND SATISFYING YOUR TRAVEL AND MARRIAGE PLANS RESTS EXCLUSIVELY WITH THE VISA APPLICANT. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE A TICKET BEFORE OBTAINING A VISA.
Efforts will be made to process your visa case as quickly as possible. Please be aware that processing may take longer for some cases due to the required administrative processing.
Step 8: Go to the United States
The K-1 visa is generally valid for 6 months for a single entry to the U.S. Possession of a valid visa is no guarantee of admission. An immigration officer at a U.S. port of entry determines your admissibility to the U.S.
Once admitted to the U.S. as a fiancé(e), you have 90 days to marry your fiancé(e) and report this marriage to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Upon USCIS approval you will be given conditional resident status (CF-1: conditional green card) as an immigrant in the U.S. IF YOU DEPART THE U.S. WITHOUT HAVING GAINED USCIS APPROVAL AS AN IMMIGRANT YOU MUST QUALIFY FOR AN IMMIGRANT VISA OVERSEAS BEFORE YOU MAY RETURN TO THE U.S. If you need to travel outside of the U.S. before completing the processing, you must apply for Advance Parole at USCIS in order to reenter the U.S. and continue processing.
Important Notice:
Unmarried children under the age of 21 (K-2) are eligible to apply with their
K-1 parent or follow-to-join the K-1 parent later. If following-to-join, a K-2 applicant must apply for and be issued, if qualified, a K2 visa within one year from the day the K-1 parent was issued the K-1 visa.