Us Marriage Visas
Who remembers that classic romantic comedy Green Card? This delightful film that starred Julia Roberts centred around a relationship that began as an arranged marriage so the male lead (played by Gerard Depardieu) could obtain his US marriage visa.
The film?s lovely but it is based on a legal reality. It is perfectly possible to get a US marriage visa, which is also known as a K1 visa which can lead onto obtaining a green card.
A K1 visa or US marriage visa is a special short term visa that is granted to the legal spouse or to the fianc?(e) of a US citizen. This US marriage visa can eventually be turned into a fully-fledged green card of citizenship once the authorities are satisfied that the relationship is genuine rather than a put-up job ? as happened in the movie.
You will have to get over a number of hurdles in order to obtain that initial US marriage visa. First of all, you have to prove that both the citizen and the applicant are free to marry each other (for obvious reasons) and that you met each other within the last two years and that you actually intend to get married ? legally married.
Even if the authorities are satisfied that these conditions are filled, a US marriage visa may not be approved if the applicant (also known as the petitioner) has a disqualifying criminal history. This probably doesn?t mean the odd traffic offence, thankfully!
The authorities are also wary of how many times a petitioner applies for a US marriage visa. While it?s perfectly possible that one person can have a relationship with one US citizen, have that go bust and then fall in love with a second US citizen. But if it happens too many times, the authorities will not grant a US marriage visa.
The authorities will also not grant a US marriage visa if either the petitioner or the US citizen has a history of sexual abuse (as a perpetrator) or has any sex crimes in their past. This is to protect the safety of the other partner. There have been cases where someone has been brought in on a US marriage visa and their partner has turned abusive. Then when the relationship ends (as it should), they lose their US marriage visa and get sent home, often having to leave children and property behind.
In the film Green Card, the male and female lead were shown going through an interview designed to prove that their relationship was a genuine marriage. This happens in real life as part of turning the US marriage visa into a green card. In fact, there are two interviews, one in the first year of marriage and the other after the second anniversary.
The questions asked in this part of the US marriage visa process are of the sort that any married couple could answer easily. In the film, Gerard Depardieu?s character failed the interview because he couldn?t remember the name of his wife?s face cream. This probably won?t be one of the questions in the US marriage visa interview ? I don?t think my husband could name my face cream brand and we?ve been married eleven years.
The questions asked as part of the US marriage visa process will be more along the lines of ?who?s responsible for buying the groceries?? or ?what day does the garbage get taken out??.
The companion to the K1 US marriage visa is the K2, which allows entry to children of the non-resident who?s marrying a US citizen.
johanna schipper owns and operates http://www.marriage-visas-now.com Marriage Visas