subject: US Marriage Visas from Taiwan [print this page] US Marriage Visas from Taiwan US Marriage Visas from Taiwan
The forthcoming information was written in order to provide insight to Taiwanese-American bi-national couples researching the K-3 visa for the first time.The K-3 visa is a comparatively new invention of the United States Congress as it was designed to act as an expedited travel document for foreign spouses of United States Citizens at a time when the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) had something of a significant backlog of immigrant visa petitions awaiting adjudication. As a result, the United States Congress and President William Jefferson Clinton promulgated and executed a piece of legislation colloquially referred to as the "Life Act" which created the K-3 and K-4 visa categories.Since the creation of the K-3 visa category the diligent efforts of the USCIS has decreased the overall backlog of immigrant spouse visa petitions resulting in a situation in which immigrant spousal visa petitions could be adjudicated as quickly as, or faster than, their K-3 supplemental counterparts.No assumptions can, or ought to, be made regarding the outcome of a USCIS adjudication. However, the K3 visa process does not end at the conclusion of the USCIS adjudication as approved visa petitions must be processed through the American State Department's National Visa Center before they can be forwarded to a US Mission abroad for Consular Processing. In the context of the K3 visa, the National Visa Center recently announced that K-3 visa applications arriving at NVC at the same time, or after, an Immigrant visa petition for a CR1 or IR1 visa would be "administratively closed".Although this policy might appear imperious to some, there is a potent argument in favor of processing an Immigrant visa as opposed to a K-3 visa particularly as the K-3 visa is simply a non-immigrant visa and does not provide lawful permanent residence to the visa holder at the time of admission into the United States.K-3 spouses, at some point after arrival in the USA, must eventually either consular process their immigrant visa application or apply for adjustment of status in the United States. Clearly, either of these avenues could be considered by many to be more costly in time and resources compared to simply entering the United States in either Conditional Lawful Permanent Resident Status or Unconditional Lawful Permanent Resident (CR1 or IR1) status thereby avoiding the need to submit a petition for adjustment of status.Those interested in filing for US Immigration benefits should research the visa process thoroughly prior to making an informed decision about submitting a petition. Those seeking representation are well advised to request the credentials of anyone claiming expertise in US Immigration matters as only licensed American attorneys are qualified to provide representation and advice to individuals with matters pending before the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of State.
