How hard is it to get a K-1 visa

[Dietra Smith 0]

Hello everyone, 

 

My fiancé' is in Ghana and i am from the United States. We have been together for over a year now and I am wanting him to come to the united states so we can get married. We have never met in person before but planning that in January. How hard is it to get a k-1 visa or would i be better off getting married in Ghana and then coming back to the united states and filling a spousal visa? Can someone help????

[Verrou 1,962]

4 minutes ago, Dietra Smith said:

Hello everyone, 

 

My fiancé' is in Ghana and i am from the United States. We have been together for over a year now and I am wanting him to come to the united states so we can get married. We have never met in person before but planning that in January. How hard is it to get a k-1 visa or would i be better off getting married in Ghana and then coming back to the united states and filling a spousal visa? Can someone help????

Hi dietra..

 

to apply for k-1 visa u will need a lots documentation for example chats, love letter, video calls log, photos...u need to at least meet up one time with ur partner before u can apply for the visa

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

The minimum requirement for a k1 is to be free to marry and have met in person within the last 2 years. This is not to say that this is the only requirement. I believe Ghana is considered a higher fraud country and multiple visits will benefit you. Regardless of which visa k1 or CR1 you chose you should have as much "face time" as possible. Do you really want to marry someone the first time you meet them? Every case is different so no one can really answer "how hard it is to get a k-1 visa". For me I would say it was relatively easy but we had met 3 times BEFORE we got engaged and had met 7 times total before he received his visa. We also originally met in person and not online, neither of us had prior marriages/ children/criminal history. Each person has a different circumstance that effects their chances.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Luckycuds

[Cryssiekins 976]

As noted above, the paperwork itself is rather straightforward, so if you’re comfortable, you can do it yourself and save on attorney fees.
 

The process as a whole depends on unique circumstances. There’s benefits and drawbacks to both the K1 and the CR-1.  One of the biggest for folks is the K1 winds up costing more overall, and due to processing times, isn’t that much different.  There’s also a period of time when the K1 recipient cannot work in the US, whereas a spousal visa recipient can work immediately upon entry.

 

Ghana applicants should front load applications with as much evidence as they can produce, rather than just the bare minimum, and more visits are better than just one.  
 

I know certain countries are also part of a visa ban at the moment, so you’ll want to look into that bc if Ghana is on that list, the scope for approval becomes more narrow and will require a waiver (which is additional fees and time).

 

Nothing is guaranteed of course, so keep that in mind.  I have read some stories on here where the US Citizen lives abroad for some time to help increase chances of approval, but not sure how realistic that is for you.

 

You will need to put in some leg work (as will your partner) if you do it yourself, but VisaJourney is great (and free!) resource to get you started. 

[JFH 12,191]

*~*~*moved from “K-1 fiancé visa progress reports” to “what visa for i need” as OP is still considering the options*~*~*

[Just Paul 4,595]

You can't file a petition for them until you have at least met them.   Doing a K1 for Ghana with only one visit or a spousal with only one visa will be very problematic.You will need to spend a lot of time, effort and money to make this successful.