Close

Eligibility for a Spouse/Marriage Visa (also known as a K-3, CR-1 or IR-1 Visa)

What Must I Do To Be Eligible For a Spouse Visa? (includes Same Sex)

To be eligible for a Spouse Visa you must be able to prove that:

You and your spouse are presently legally married.
  • A legal marriage is one which is officially recognized by the state or government where you were married. You will need to be able to obtain an official record of the marriage, such as a marriage certificate or other certification, from the government where you were married.
  • You do not need to have been married in the US. The marriage must only be officially recognized by the government of the place where you were married.
  • You and your spouse must have actually attended the recognized marriage ceremony; proxy marriages are generally not acceptable. Same Sex marriages are recognized if legal in the place where celebrated.
  • No particular type of ceremony or local custom is needed, only that the marriage be officially recognized by the country where it was performed.
  • Domestic partnerships or "common law" marriages generally do not quality unless the place where you have lived together does recognize these as official marriages; even then you will have to obtain an official certificate recognizing this form of marriage. Same Sex marriage is now recognized for immigration purposes by the USCIS.
Your marriage must be "bona fide"
  • You must show that you got married because you wanted to be married and at the time of the marriage you intended to stay married and make a life together.
You, the Petitioner, are a US citizen, or Permanent Resident of the US, married to a non-resident alien spouse.
  • Citizenship can be obtained by:
    • Birth in the US
    • Through naturalization
    • Derived from having one or more US citizen parents
You and your spouse are only married to each other and not other persons at the same time.
  • If either of you were married before, you the US citizen, and or your spouse, will have to provide documentation that you are no longer married to someone else. This documentation is usually official proof of:
    • Death of the former spouse
    • Divorce from the former spouse
    • Annulment of the former marriage

If your spouse has foreign born, unmarried children, who are not your (the US citizen's) natural children and are under the age of 21, they will, in most cases, be eligible to apply for and receive a visa as well as you, and travel to the US at the same time as your spouse (or in some cases follow on later if desired).


Client Reviews
Hello Cal, Just wanted to thank you for all your help...Just let me know if i can ever help you in the future as you certainly great help to me and Conney in this fiance visa process. I have restored and remodeled homes and also have ten years accounting background if you ever need the favor returned California would not be a bad place to take a volunteer vacation too with my fiance of course. Have a great week, Martin M.
★★★★★
Dear Cal, But a quick note to advise you that our petition for a K-1 visa for my fiance' has been approved...and you also might appreciate the fact that my submission was received by The Department Of Homeland Security on 28 September 2009 and approved on 26 October; [thus, only 28-days in the pipeline from their acceptance until their written approval]. I did exactly as you advised me to do and it apparently paid off. The average time for the Vermont office to respond is roughly 3-months+. We did good!!! Bruce B.
★★★★★
Calvin: Thanks for the notification. You have been awesome. Do you mind if I mention your firm on the Thai Chat Boards I subscribe to? People are always looking for representation to get Visas? Thanks. John.
★★★★★
Hi Cal, I guess I forgot to follow up with, but Josefina was approved on the day of her interview and her passport was sent back to her in a matter of days from that point. She is already here and we want to thank you for all your help. Everything went smooth it was just more of a waiting game. Best Regards. Anonymous
★★★★★