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Bringing home a bride? Start process early, tread carefully

I often get questions from troops overseas who have met the person they want to marry while on active duty abroad (including the son of one of my law partners, who is currently in Germany).

When these troops are about to return home, they want to know their options to secure a visa or green card for their foreign fiancée.

Rightfully so, because a small error in this process can result in the denial of your application and unnecessary delays, possibly leaving your loved one stranded behind when you come home.

Understanding the rules laid out to introduce your fiancée to our country will make the transition as smooth as possible.

Despite common belief, you do not have to wait until you’re married to begin the immigration process. By filing for a K-1 fiancée visa, you essentially will invite your fiancée to the U.S. for a trial period. Once both of you are in the U.S., you have 90 days to get married.

A K-1 visa application is filed by the U.S. citizen in the relationship. The applicant must provide detailed information about the relationship and supporting documentation to establish proof of identity and citizenship, and that both parties are legally free to marry, have met each other within the last two years, intend to marry and do not have disqualifying criminal histories.

Petitions cannot be filed more than once by the same person within a two-year period, and the applicant cannot have a criminal history of sexual or partner abuse.

K-1 is a two-step process. First, the application materials must be approved by the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Second, once the materials are approved, they will be forwarded to the National Passport Center for processing.

The whole file is then sent to the U.S. embassy or consulate where the fiancée resides abroad. The embassy or consulate will contact the fiancée and schedule an interview date.

In the meantime, the fiancée will undergo several medical exams at an approved clinic to screen for certain infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and syphilis.

During the interview, embassy staff will question the fiancée and ask for additional documents to determine the authenticity of the relationship. This questioning is fairly straightforward and brief. If the interview goes well, the visa is granted immediately.

The fiancée then has six months to enter the U.S. and 90 days after that to marry the applicant. If marriage does not occur by the end of the 90-day period, the fiancée must return to her home country.

Marriage to someone other than the petitioner will not be granted under a K-1 visa. If the fiancée has children and they were properly identified in the original petition, they will be issued a visa as well.

Once married, the U.S. citizen can obtain Conditional Permanent Residence status for his new spouse by filing a petition with the USCIS. After a waiting period of a few months, the USCIS will call the couple for an interview and, if all goes well, a two-year Conditional Permanent Residence Card is issued for the foreign spouse.

The temporary green card is called “conditional” because the USCIS wants to ensure that the marriage is legitimate and not an attempt to avert immigration rules. This condition is removed after two years through an “Adjustment of Status,” which must be filed with the USCIS to convert the K-1 fiancée and K-2 children status to Conditional Lawful Permanent Resident Status, often called a green card.

An applicant might have to wait as long as a year after filing to be invited to a local USCIS office for an interview with the couple and any children involved. The interviewer is essentially trying to determine if the marriage is legitimate. If the interview goes well, the green card will arrive in the mail in a few weeks — although in the post-Sept. 11 era, this waiting period often can be longer due to a backlog in background checks.

Immigration rules are strict and unforgiving to minor errors. If you have any questions about the process, consult an experienced immigration attorney so that you can successfully bring your loved one to the U.S. and begin living the American dream together.

The information in this column is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Readers are encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney or other professional when an opinion is needed.

Mathew B. Tully Esq. is a field artillery officer in the New York National Guard and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is also the founding partner of Tully, Rinckey and Associates (http://www.fedattorney.com), a law firm in Albany, N.Y. E-mail your legal questions to askthelawyer@militarytimes.com.