The K-1 visa lets the foreign fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen come to the United States to get married — then stay and apply for a green card. It starts with one petition, Form I-129F, and ends at the altar within 90 days of arrival. We handle the paperwork, the timing, and the after-the-wedding steps so you can focus on the part that matters. We speak English, Russian, and Spanish.
These are our base flat fees. They cover a standard case, start to finish, quoted in writing before you commit. More complex matters — and Stokes interviews, or attorney travel outside the NYC metro area or South Florida — are quoted separately. Government filing fees are set by USCIS and the State Department and are not included. Includes the DS-160. The green-card step after the wedding is quoted separately.
The K-1 is a visa for the foreign fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen. It allows your partner to enter the United States so the two of you can marry — and the rule is firm: the wedding has to happen within 90 days of their arrival. There are no extensions on that clock.
One detail trips a lot of couples up. Only U.S. citizens can file a K-1 petition. If you are a green-card holder (lawful permanent resident), this path is not open to you — your route runs through a spousal petition after you marry, not a fiancé(e) visa. We sort out which category fits you at the start, before any forms are filed.
Information current as of July 2026. Like all family categories this year, K-1 cases are seeing heightened scrutiny of interviews and documentation, so a complete, consistent record matters more than ever.
You and your fiancé(e) must each be legally free to marry. Any prior marriage has to be fully ended — by divorce, annulment, or a spouse's death — with documents to prove it.
The couple must have met face-to-face within the two years before the petition is filed. Limited waivers exist — for example where an in-person meeting would violate strict cultural custom or cause extreme hardship — but they are the exception, not the rule.
Both of you must intend to marry within 90 days of your fiancé(e)'s arrival, and the relationship has to be real. Evidence of a bona fide relationship is at the heart of every K-1 case.
The U.S. citizen files Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), with USCIS. This is where you build the proof that the relationship is real and that you've met the in-person requirement.
Once USCIS approves the petition, it goes to the National Visa Center and then to the U.S. embassy or consulate in your fiancé(e)'s country for visa processing.
Your fiancé(e) completes a medical exam and attends a consular interview abroad. If all goes well, the K-1 visa is issued for travel to the United States.
Your fiancé(e) enters the U.S. on the K-1 visa, and the two of you marry within 90 days. That deadline is firm — there are no extensions.
Marrying is not the finish line — it's the handoff to the next step. Once you're married, your spouse files for the green card from inside the U.S. through adjustment of status (Form I-485), without having to leave the country. We carry that filing across the goal line, too. Read about adjustment of status →
Couples don't have to use the K-1. You can also marry abroad first and bring your spouse in on a CR-1 immigrant visa. Neither path is "better" in the abstract — they trade off speed, cost, and how your partner arrives. Here's an honest side-by-side.
| Question | K-1 (fiancé(e) visa) | CR-1 (marry abroad) |
|---|---|---|
| Who can petition | U.S. citizen only | U.S. citizen or green-card holder |
| Where you marry | In the U.S., within 90 days of arrival | Abroad, before filing the immigrant visa |
| How your partner arrives | As a nonimmigrant — then adjusts to a green card after the wedding | As a lawful permanent resident on day one |
| Extra step after arrival | Yes — file I-485 adjustment of status to get the green card | No separate green-card filing needed on entry |
| Best when | You want to reunite sooner and marry on U.S. soil | You'd rather your partner land as a resident with work authorization |
Choosing between them is exactly the kind of question we work through at your consultation. Learn more about consular processing (CR-1) →
A K-1 case has two separate price tags: the government's fees, which arrive in stages, and our flat legal fee, which we quote up front before you commit to anything. Here are the government fees, current as of July 2026:
| Government fee | Amount (as of July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Form I-129F filing fee (USCIS) | $675 |
| K visa application fee — DS-160 (State Dept.) | $265 |
| Visa integrity fee (new in 2025 law; collected on visa issuance) | $250 — confirm at your consulate |
| Medical exam (panel physician, paid abroad) | Varies by country |
| Our flat legal fee | Quoted up front, separate |
After the wedding, the green-card step has its own USCIS fees (I-485 and companions) — see the fee calculator for those. Government fees are set by regulation and change; USCIS also now accepts only electronic payment for paper filings. Confirm current amounts with the official USCIS fee calculator ↗.
Yes, in many cases. Unmarried children under 21 of your fiancé(e) can apply for K-2 derivative visas to accompany or follow their parent to the United States. We include them in the planning from the start.
It depends on USCIS processing times, the National Visa Center, and the workload at your fiancé(e)'s consulate — all of which shift over the year. We give you a realistic timeline for your specific facts at the consultation, and a complete, well-documented petition up front is the best way to avoid added delay.
No. The fiancé(e) visa is open only to U.S. citizens. A lawful permanent resident can't file a K-1 — the route there is to marry your partner and then file a spousal petition (a CR-1/IR-1 immigrant visa). If you're a green-card holder, we'll point you to that path instead. Learn about the spousal visa →
The 90-day window can't be extended. If the wedding doesn't happen within those 90 days, your fiancé(e) is expected to leave the United States. Staying past the deadline without marrying — and without another lawful status — can create serious immigration problems down the line. That's why we help you set a realistic wedding date before your partner ever boards the plane.
Yes, with a step. A K-1 visa holder can apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD, Form I-765) to work in the U.S. Many couples find it more practical to request work authorization together with the I-485 after the wedding, since that EAD lasts longer. We'll walk through the timing that makes the most sense for your situation.
The K-1 has a handful of clear gates. None of them is mysterious, but each one needs proof, and a case that's thin on any single point is a case that draws questions. Here's what has to be true.
Only a U.S. citizen can file a fiancé(e) petition — not a green-card holder. If you're a lawful permanent resident, the law simply doesn't offer you a K-1; your route is to marry and file a spousal petition. We confirm your status fits the form before a single page is filed.
Each of you must be unmarried and free to wed. If either partner was married before, that marriage has to be fully ended — by divorce, annulment, or a spouse's death — and you'll need the certificate or decree to prove it.
As a rule, the couple must have met face-to-face at some point in the two years before filing. Narrow waivers exist — where an in-person meeting would cause extreme hardship, or would violate a long-established cultural or religious custom — but they're the rare exception and have to be documented carefully.
Both of you must genuinely intend to marry within 90 days of your fiancé(e)'s entry to the U.S. That intent is part of the petition itself, and the 90-day clock starts the day your partner lands. There are no extensions on it.
Current as of July 2026. Not sure whether you qualify? Start here →
Form I-129F is short. The evidence that goes with it is what actually decides the case. We help you assemble two kinds of proof — that the relationship is real, and that you're each eligible to use the K-1 in the first place.
K-1 petitions fall under the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA). It requires certain disclosures on the petition — including whether the couple met through an international marriage broker, and information about the petitioner's history that the law makes available to the fiancé(e) for their protection. It also limits how many fiancé(e) petitions one person can file. We walk you through these disclosures so nothing on the form comes as a surprise later.
A K-1 rarely involves just two people. If your fiancé(e) has children, they can usually come too. Unmarried children under 21 of the K-1 beneficiary may accompany or follow their parent to the United States on K-2 derivative visas.
There's an important step that's easy to miss: those children must be listed on the I-129F from the start for the K-2 to be available to them. We make sure every child is named on the petition so no one is left out of the plan.
Like their parent, K-2 children enter as nonimmigrants. After you marry, they adjust status to permanent residents through their own filings — the same after-the-wedding step the new spouse takes, handled alongside it.
Once USCIS approves the I-129F, the case leaves USCIS. It travels to the National Visa Center and then to the U.S. embassy or consulate in your fiancé(e)'s country, where the visa is actually issued. Two things happen there: a medical exam and an interview.
Your fiancé(e) completes a medical exam with an embassy-approved panel physician — not just any doctor. The consulate provides the list of approved physicians, and the exam has to be done by one of them for the results to count.
A 2026 vetting note: the DS-160 asks for your fiancé(e)'s social media handles going back five years, and since March 2026 K-visa applicants have been required to set their social media accounts to public while their case is being vetted. Restricting access mid-process can be treated as withholding information. It's worth reviewing what's publicly visible — honestly and early — before the case reaches the consulate.
Then comes the interview. It helps to arrive organized. Your fiancé(e) should bring:
We prepare your fiancé(e) for what the interview is like and help assemble the document set before the appointment. More on consular processing →
You marry within the 90 days. Now the new spouse becomes a permanent resident — and the good news is they don't have to leave the country to do it. From inside the U.S., they file Form I-485 to adjust status to lawful permanent resident.
While that application is pending, your spouse can ask for two things that make the wait livable: a work permit (Form I-765) so they can take a job, and a travel document (Form I-131) so they can leave and re-enter the U.S. without abandoning the green-card application. We file these together with the I-485. (Work permits tied to a pending I-485 are currently issued with 18-month validity, so a renewal mid-case is common.)
One more thing to know up front: if your marriage is less than two years old when the green card is approved, it's a conditional green card. Roughly two years later you'll file Form I-751 to remove the conditions and lock in permanent status. It's a normal, expected step — not a problem — and we calendar it for you.
Read more: adjustment of status (I-485) → · removing conditions (I-751) →
No two K-1 cases run on exactly the same schedule — processing times shift through the year and vary by consulate. With that caveat, here's the shape of a typical case so you can plan.
| Stage | Roughly how long |
|---|---|
| I-129F processing at USCIS | Roughly 11–12 months as of July 2026 — check current USCIS times |
| NVC handoff & embassy scheduling | Weeks to a few months, by consulate |
| K-1 entry & the wedding | Within 90 days of entry (firm deadline) |
| Adjustment of status after marriage | About 10–17 months |
On cost, a K-1 case carries government fees at more than one stage: the I-129F filing fee at the start, then the consular K-1 visa fee and the medical exam abroad, and later the I-485 adjustment fees after the wedding. All of these are set by USCIS and the Department of State and are subject to change. Our flat legal fee is separate and quoted up front.
Figures current as of July 2026. Government fees are set by USCIS/State and subject to change — see the current numbers and how our flat fee works on the fees page.
A plain-English walkthrough of the fiancé(e) visa — eligibility, the I-129F petition, and what to expect at each step.
Read the guide →Why the after-the-wedding green-card step needs careful documentation under the new USCIS approach — and what it means for K-1 couples.
Read the update →A short consultation tells you whether a K-1 or marrying abroad fits your situation, what to gather, and what the timeline looks like. Flat fee, no hourly meter.
