K-3 Visa India

This piece is intended to shed light upon how the K-3 visa process works and how that process is likely to operate in the year 2011.

The K-3 visa obtainment process usually begins with the submission of an American visa petition at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. This petition is then followed by a second petition which is also submitted at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). Technically, the petition used to seek a K-3 visa is considered to be a supplemental visa petition. The K-3 visa was legislatively created pursuant to the provisions of the so-called "LIFE Act" at a time when the predecessor of the USCIS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), was taking as long as three (3) years to adjudicate a regular petition, referred to as an I-130, for an immigrant spousal visa.

Since the birth of the K-3 visa category, the USCIS has been able to decrease their estimated processing times for adjudicating I-130 petitions. As a result, the USCIS has been able to process out immigrant visa petitions as quickly, or quicker, than their K-3 counterparts. The upshot of this situation is that K-3 visa application packages could be received by the United States National Visa Center after their underlying I-130 counterpart. Seemingly in response to this situation, the United States National Visa Center announced that they would be "administratively closing" K-3 visa applications where the underlying I-130 arrives prior to, or concurrently with, the K-3 visa petition package.

Where do these circumstances leave those wishing to process a K-3 visa in the year 2011? Unfortunately, in many cases, it is quite likely that a bi-national couple might be compelled to eventually apply for an Immigrant visa even if the couple submits a supplemental petition for a K-3 since the NVC is likely to "administratively close" a K-3 application under the current estimated processing time frames.

In some ways, an immigrant visa (for husbands and wives sometimes referred to by the categorical titles: CR-1 visa or IR-1 visa; depending upon the duration of the marriage) is a much more beneficial type of travel document since it confers lawful permanent residence upon the beneficiary at the time of lawful admission to the USA. This status can be contrasted with that of the K-3 which requires the beneficiary adjust status to permanent residence after arrival in the USA.

Those seeking advice and counsel regarding United States Immigration matters are well advised to consult a licensed American attorney to provide insight into the U.S. Immigration process and the avenues that bi-national couples may have available in terms of travel documentation.

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