K-3 and K-4 Visas - US Citizens Bringing Kids and Their Spouse
With the passage of the LIFE Legalization (Legal Immigration Family
Equity) Act in Dec. 2000, came the creation of several new immigration
aimed at uniting families; in addition to legalizing many foreigners
living in the U.S., the Act also created a new category of non
immigrant visas specifically for the spouses and children of U.S.
citizens-the K-3 and K-4, respectively. These new visa categories
allow admission as a non immigrant in order to complete processing for
permanent residence while in the U.S.A K-3 visa applicant must have a
valid marriage to a U.S. citizen, be the beneficiary of a pending
I-130 immediate relative petition, and seek entry to the U.S. to await
approval of that petition. The U.S. citizen (USC) spouse begins the
process by filing USCIS' Form I-130. The USC spouse then files an
I-129F petition together with the USCIS-issued I-130 Receipt Notice.
Approval of the I-129F petition is then forwarded to the National Visa
Center and the appropriate