Do K-3 Visas Really Exist?

[The White Fiance 22]

Here's a question that comes to mind after a year of waiting for a spouse visa. Has a K-3 visa ever, in the history of the United States, been issued?

[hunny&me 274]

6 minutes ago, The White Fiance said:

Here's a question that comes to mind after a year of waiting for a spouse visa. Has a K-3 visa ever, in the history of the United States, been issued?

Yes.  You can check Visa Statistics.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/nonimmigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-nonimmigrant-visa-issuances.html

Main page for both immigrant and non immigrant visa:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics.html.html

[The White Fiance 22]

Thanks for the link. It says ONE K-3 was granted in the month of July, so for practical purposes, the K-3 visa does not really exist. I went back and checked earlier records, and things were about the same.

 

Interesting system we have.

 

I wonder why certain extremely rare individuals are given these visas.

[Mike E 11,739]

22 minutes ago, The White Fiance said:

 I wonder why certain extremely rare individuals are given these visas.

Perhaps some USCIS officers prefer to comply with the law Congress passed versus the policy USCIS tries to implement. It’s rather refreshing actually to know that such people still exist.  

[The White Fiance 22]

Seems like they should just tell people not to apply.

[Mike E 11,739]

3 minutes ago, The White Fiance said:

Seems like they should just tell people not to apply.

Seems like if that’s  what Congress wants, Congress should change the law. 

[TBoneTX 45,304]

Thread is moved to General Immigration Discussion.

[JeanneAdil 6,510]

40 minutes ago, The White Fiance said:

Thanks for the link. It says ONE K-3 was granted in the month of July, so for practical purposes, the K-3 visa does not really exist. I went back and checked earlier records, and things were about the same.

 

Interesting system we have.

 

I wonder why certain extremely rare individuals are given these visas.

Originally the K3 was applied for and the foreign bene came to the US and interviewed here to stay

The K3 was a nonimmigrant spouse visa and the USC had to apply here in US for the spouse to adjust status and stay

 

all is explained by USCIS

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/nonimmigrant-visa-for-a-spouse-k-3.html

[mamba69 40]

1 hour ago, The White Fiance said:

Here's a question that comes to mind after a year of waiting for a spouse visa. Has a K-3 visa ever, in the history of the United States, been issued?

Very few are issued each year and there is reason why. Many people apply for K3 visa and once USCIS officer takes the file, they retrieve I-130 file from online which is easy to do and approve that application. Therefore, if USCIS takes 5-7 month to process K3, it can be beneficial to get I-130 approved sooner, than current wait time of 12 month+. This also explains why only 1-2 K3's are issued each year because it doesn't go to NVC stage since USCIS denies it by subsequently approving I-130 petition.  Some people also argue that it is not fair to jump the wait line but I would say it is pretty smart to file K3 as it is free and you won't lose anything from its outcome and can only gain benefit of approved I-130 much faster.

Edited September 20, 2022 by mamba69

[mamba69 40]

18 minutes ago, mamba69 said:

Very few are issued each year and there is reason why. Many people apply for K3 visa and once USCIS officer takes the file, they retrieve I-130 file from online which is easy to do and approve that application. Therefore, if USCIS takes 5-7 month to process K3, it can be beneficial to get I-130 approved sooner, than current wait time of 12 month+. This also explains why only 1-2 K3's are issued each year because it doesn't go to NVC stage since USCIS denies it by subsequently approving I-130 petition.  Some people also argue that it is not fair to jump the wait line but I would say it is pretty smart to file K3 as it is free and you won't lose anything from its outcome and can only gain benefit of approved I-130 much faster.

P.S this won't work if you submitted I-130, 12 month ago, since at that point, I-130 will be processed before K3, and once they approve I-130, K3 will die with it.

Edited September 20, 2022 by mamba69

[The White Fiance 22]

Based on reports I've seen here, the K-3 generally does not speed things up, and it is almost never approved before the 129F. The whole purpose was to get people here before their long-term visas were approved, so since that almost never happens, the K-3 appears to be the appendix of visas. No real purpose.

[mamba69 40]

7 hours ago, The White Fiance said:

Based on reports I've seen here, the K-3 generally does not speed things up, and it is almost never approved before the 129F. The whole purpose was to get people here before their long-term visas were approved, so since that almost never happens, the K-3 appears to be the appendix of visas. No real purpose.

There is a specific group on Facebook with over 1800 members who filed K3 and there is an overwhelming evidence that K3 speeds up the process of I-130. + even USCIS processing times show that in Potomac and Vermont it takes 4-7 month to process K3. While for I-130 CR1/IR1 Vermont takes 16+ month. And I agree with you, that on visajourney there is no one posting about this. 

[iwannaplay54 985]

18 hours ago, The White Fiance said:

Here's a question that comes to mind after a year of waiting for a spouse visa. Has a K-3 visa ever, in the history of the United States, been issued?

We have one lol.  Of course they exist.  But if the petitions are processed together as they are today then they discard one.  The one they discard is the I129F.

They used to process them separately.  In 2008 or so they started linking them together and that is why the K3 visas died off.

Edited September 21, 2022 by iwannaplay54

[Palawan 131]

On 9/20/2022 at 12:19 PM, The White Fiance said:

Here's a question that comes to mind after a year of waiting for a spouse visa. Has a K-3 visa ever, in the history of the United States, been issued?

K3 were fairly common on VJ, When I filed my K1 back in 2007/2008 almost all the married couples on VJ were doing the K-3 for Philippines.

 

 

[Palawan 131]

On 9/21/2022 at 6:38 AM, iwannaplay54 said:

We have one lol.  Of course they exist.  But if the petitions are processed together as they are today then they discard one.  The one they discard is the I129F.

They used to process them separately.  In 2008 or so they started linking them together and that is why the K3 visas died off.

Exactly, That is what I remembered around that time they did something that basically made the K3 obsolete.