k-1 status expiration date

[deptrai 0]

Hi all,

A simple question here but I can't seem to find it in the FAQ's or guides.

My fiancée has her K-1 visa already, which is valid for 6 months. I know that we must get married and file for AOS within 90 days of her entry into USA. But if she does not enter until more than 3 months after we received it, i.e. less than 3 months left on the visa, must we get married and file for AOS prior to the expiration of the original visa to keep her from falling out-of-status, even though that's less than 90 days? E.g. if she comes 5 months after the issue date, with 1 month left on the visa, do we then have 90 days from her entry to get married and file, or only 30 days?

This FAQ entry seems to imply, but does not clearly state, that we would have 90 days after entry regardless of the expiration of the original visa.

Of course we don't want to wait until the last minute, but given all our constraints, it is possible that we will not enter until after the midway point and we need to know how much time we will have so we can make our plans.

Any information is greatly appreciated, especially if anyone has a URL for a USCIS page that would verify this.

TIA,

deptrai

[bora bora 1]

The 90 days begin starting on the day your fiance arrives in the U.S. - not from the date the visa was issued.

I believe that she has up to 6 months to come here - from the date the visa was issued. This is separate from the 90 days you have to get married. Meaning, she doesn't have to come immediately after her K1 visa is issued.

[YuAndDan 153]

The 90 days begin starting on the day your fiance arrives in the U.S. - not from the date the visa was issued.

I believe that she has up to 6 months to come here - from the date the visa was issued. This is separate from the 90 days you have to get married. Meaning, she doesn't have to come immediately after her K1 visa is issued.

Yes Visa is good for 6 months, when you enter the USA the POE will stamp the I-94 and set the expire for 90 days from entry. Has nothing to do with K-1 expire date, in fact, the officer at the POE will write "VOID" on the K-1 visa, so in fact it expires at the POE.

[Yodrak 7]

deptrai,

You - and a lot of other people - really do need to learn what a visa is and what a visa is not.

A visa allows the holder to travel to a US POE, and request admittance to the USA for a specific reason. Nothing more.

Yodrak

Hi all,

A simple question here but I can't seem to find it in the FAQ's or guides.

My fiancée has her K-1 visa already, which is valid for 6 months. I know that we must get married and file for AOS within 90 days of her entry into USA. But if she does not enter until more than 3 months after we received it, i.e. less than 3 months left on the visa, must we get married and file for AOS prior to the expiration of the original visa to keep her from falling out-of-status, even though that's less than 90 days? E.g. if she comes 5 months after the issue date, with 1 month left on the visa, do we then have 90 days from her entry to get married and file, or only 30 days?

This FAQ entry seems to imply, but does not clearly state, that we would have 90 days after entry regardless of the expiration of the original visa.

Of course we don't want to wait until the last minute, but given all our constraints, it is possible that we will not enter until after the midway point and we need to know how much time we will have so we can make our plans.

Any information is greatly appreciated, especially if anyone has a URL for a USCIS page that would verify this.

TIA,

deptrai

[sunandmoon 450]

The 90 days begin starting on the day your fiance arrives in the U.S. - not from the date the visa was issued.

I believe that she has up to 6 months to come here - from the date the visa was issued. This is separate from the 90 days you have to get married. Meaning, she doesn't have to come immediately after her K1 visa is issued.

Yes Visa is good for 6 months, when you enter the USA the POE will stamp the I-94 and set the expire for 90 days from entry. Has nothing to do with K-1 expire date, in fact, the officer at the POE will write "VOID" on the K-1 visa, so in fact it expires at the POE.

guess at SFO they're kind of lazy, just made a line thru my wife's visa.

[deptrai 0]

Thank you very much to all who responded. I also called the USCIS "customer service" line and a harried-sounding functionary seemed to concur that the duration of the visa only limits the date of entry, and the AOS need by filed by 90 days after entry, even if that exceeds the validity of the visa.

You - and a lot of other people - really do need to learn what a visa is and what a visa is not.

That's why I'm asking more experienced people like you.

A visa allows the holder to travel to a US POE, and request admittance to the USA for a specific reason. Nothing more.

While that may be technically true (the Wikipedia article and Merriam-Webster's dictionary seem to agree with you), in common usage it is not, as indicated by the oft-heard phrase "to overstay ones visa" which clearly implies the meaning permission to remain in the country for a specified period of time. Here are a couple of examples of recent usages in the mainstream US press:

• The St. Petersburg Times: "New requirements to track down, deport and permanently bar people who overstay their visas would be added to a broad immigration bill..."
  
• The New York Times: "Republicans are pushing an amendment that would punish people who overstay their visas..."
  

This kind of misuse may have contributed to my (and many others') misunderstanding of what a visa is and is not... in fact, even though I've applied for and received dozens of visas of various types to many countries around the world, I never realized the true definition of the English word... but ya learn something new every day!

Anyhow, I'm still glad I asked because it never hurts to double-check when it comes to the U.S. visa process!

Thanks again to all who helped.

-- deptrai

Edited July 3, 2007 by deptrai

[TimsDaisy 0]

It's not misuse. The government gets to use the words however it wants to. I'll note here that while my fiance (back before he was my fiance) overstayed the date on his I-94, the State Department marks that as a "Visa Overstay." Nevermind that he never overstayed a visa. He returned home before the visa expired.

There are many language troubles in this process. Some terms change character depending on context.

That's why details are important - as well as understanding what portion of the process is being discussed, etc.

But as for your original question, you can remove the qualifications ("it seems").

Visas will be issued by the Embassy which are valid for a certain period of time. Normally that is 6 months (note: some have had shorter times - so read the date on the visa!). That time table has NOTHING to do with the time limits given at the border. The nice ICE folks at the POEs will be more than happy to remind would-be entrants that State can issue all the visas it wants but THEY (the Department of Homeland Security) get to decide if you actually come in or not.

If they let you in, they insert an I-94 into your passport. That will have a whole new date stamped on it that has NOTHING to do with the date stamped on the visa. Nothing at all. Unrelated. Apples and Oranges. Cats and Dogs. THAT date will be 90 days from issuance (though, again, note: nothing says the nice ICE peeps can't make that date less than 90 days. They won't - haven't seen it here, but try asking them, I'm sure they'll be happy to show their power).

Once you're in the country, stop looking at the visa expiration date! Start looking at that I-94 date.

So, if you wanted to stretch it, you could marry nearly 9 full months from when the Embassy gives you the visa. Wait almost the whole 6 months to enter the US and then wait another near 90 days to marry. Or you could leave the day you get the visa and get married on the way home from the airport.

(p.s. To emphasize the extent to which the government conflates kinds of overstays, my fiance must check the box on the DS forms that says he's overstayed a visa, even though, technically, he never has. There's no separate box for "stayed past the I-94 date but left before the visa itself expired.")

Edited July 4, 2007 by TimsDaisy

[tommyesq73 0]

Hi all,

A simple question here but I can't seem to find it in the FAQ's or guides.

My fiancée has her K-1 visa already, which is valid for 6 months. I know that we must get married and file for AOS within 90 days of her entry into USA. But if she does not enter until more than 3 months after we received it, i.e. less than 3 months left on the visa, must we get married and file for AOS prior to the expiration of the original visa to keep her from falling out-of-status, even though that's less than 90 days? E.g. if she comes 5 months after the issue date, with 1 month left on the visa, do we then have 90 days from her entry to get married and file, or only 30 days?

This FAQ entry seems to imply, but does not clearly state, that we would have 90 days after entry regardless of the expiration of the original visa.

Of course we don't want to wait until the last minute, but given all our constraints, it is possible that we will not enter until after the midway point and we need to know how much time we will have so we can make our plans.

Any information is greatly appreciated, especially if anyone has a URL for a USCIS page that would verify this.

TIA,

deptrai

My fiancee and i were in the same boat. You have 90 days from your fiancee's entry to the US to get married and file AOS. GL.