When you live in Pennsylvania and want to marry someone born outside of the United States, there are certain legal channels you must follow to be able to do so. As a U.S. citizen looking to marry someone born in another nation, you first need to secure a K-1 nonimmigrant visa.
Per U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the K-1 nonimmigrant visa, or “fiancé visa,” enables you to bring your foreign-born fiancé to the United States to marry you as long as certain circumstances exist.
Qualifying for a K-1 nonimmigrant visa
Several things have to be true for you to be able to get a fiancé visa for your loved one. You both must be legally single, and you must have met in person within the two-year period that came before you filed your visa petition, with very few exceptions. If meeting your fiancé in person would result in extreme hardship or violate long-upheld religious or social customs, you may be able to skip this step. You also have to wed one another within 90 days of your fiancé setting foot in the United States.
Failing to marry within the 90-day window
It is vital that you and your fiancé wed within 90 days of his or her arrival in the United States. Otherwise, the K-1 nonimmigrant visa expires, leaving you with few, if any, options. If you do not marry your fiancé within 90 days of his or her arrival, he or she must leave the United States and return to his or her home nation. Failing to do so is a clear violation of U.S. immigration laws.
In the event that your fiancé has unmarried children under age 21 that he or she wishes to bring to the United States, you may be able to help them get here by obtaining K-2 nonimmigrant visas.