American Fiancee Visas, Waivers, And Adjustment Of Status

The K-1 Fiancee Visa was promulgated by the US Congress in an effort to provide a

legal method whereby alien fiancees could travel to the USA in order to meet their American loved one. The main advantage of this type of family visa is the fast processing time compared to American marriage visas. However, this type of travel document requires the foreign fiancee to adjust status once lawfully present in the USA. The adjustment process usually takes anywhere from 3 to 6 months.

The I-601 waiver was promulgated as a remedy for those who have been found inadmissible to the United States of America due to one of the legal grounds of inadmissibility found in the appropriate provisions of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). In the Kingdom of Thailand, the two most common grounds of inadmissibility are the result of factual findings that the alien fiance (or fiancee) benefited from prostitution within 10 years prior to the submission of the underlying application or a finding that the alien fiance (or fiancee) overstayed in the United States and accrued unlawful presence while in the United States on a previously issued visa.

Many inquire: if an alien fiancee is approved for one of the previously mentioned waivers of inadmissibility, then will she ever need to re-adjudicate that issue again? The short answer: no. After an I-601 waiver application has been approved the underlying waiver is binding. Therefore, if the local Office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) in Bangkok approves an I-601 waiver application, then that holding, based upon those unique and specific facts, will be respected by other USCIS offices adjudicating later applications that are connected to the alien's presence in the United States of America.

As an illustration of how this could play out: a Thai fiancee is issued a denial by a Consular Officer at the US Embassy in Bangkok for a K-1 visa based upon a finding that a legal ground of inadmissibility exists. After notifying the Embassy that a waiver application is to be submitted to USCIS, the file will be sent to the USCIS office with jurisdiction over the matter. For cases processed at the US Embassy in Bangkok, USCIS: Bangkok has jurisdiction for the purposes of most I-601 waiver adjudications. If the I-601 waiver application receives approval, then the case will be sent back to the Consulate at the US Embassy. The United States Consulate should then distribute the K-1 fiance visa, and the applicant should depart for the United States of America, be lawfully admitted, marry their American Citizen fiance, and tender an adjustment of status application to the nearest USCIS office.

In this situation, the waiver that was adjudicated previously ought to be upheld during the adjustment of status process and thus the matter will likely not be re-opened. An often overlooked advantage of seeking a waiver abroad is that this method can provide insight regarding future phases of the process and might also be a boon because sensitive waiver issues are dealt with in a jurisdiction other than the one in which the American Citizen maintains a domicile.

by: Ben Hart

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