Integrity Legal

In most cases where a US Marriage Visa is involved the couple does not need to concern themselves with the issue of adjustment of status. That being said, the K-3 visa is an exception because it is a non-immigrant visa.

One should not mistake “adjustment of status” for “change of status.” “Change of Status” only applies to persons transitioning from one non-immigrant visa category to another non-immigrant visa category. In the case of a transition from a non-immigrant to an immigrant visa cateogry, the proper term of art is “adjustment of status.”

The K-3 visa is a bit of an odd category because it requires two underlying USCIS petitions: the classic I-130 and the supplemental I-129f (usually reserved for K-1 visas).  A result of these dual applications is that an alien beneficiary spouse has the option of either adjusting status in the United States or returning to her home country for interview and Immigrant Visa conferral.

Some clients opt to adjust a Thai spouse’s status in the United States, while others take the position that returning home for the interview is more pleasant. The K-3 Visa lasts for two years, therefore many Thai beneficiaries use what could otherwise be the adjustment phase of the process to return home to Thailand in order to see family while at the same time finalizing the Immigrant visa process at the US Embassy in Thailand.

Should the foreign bride decide to adjust status stateside, then the process is similar to the adjustment of status process for a fiance visa. Upon approval of the Adjustment application, the K-3 visa beneficiary will be given lawful permanent residence.

There was a time when K-3 visas could be granted with a duration of up to ten years. Due to adjustment issues it seems Embassies stopped issuing these visas with 10 year validity. The reason may stem from the fact that government officials may have decided it was inefficient to let the I-130 petitions languish at Embassies abroad while the spouse of a US Citizen enjoyed a 10 year visa. Another issue could be that a US Citizen spouse dying could leave the foreign spouse stranded from an immigration standpoint because the K-3 is a non-immigrant visa category and the US Citizen’s death could result in precluding the foreign spouse from obtaining permanent residence based upon the marriage to the now deceased spouse. For these reasons, it may be prudent to submit an application for adjustment of status as soon as the beneficiary enters the USA on a K-3.

(Nothing herein should be assumed to act as a substitute for legal advice from a competent licensed attorney. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this blog post.)

Tags: Adjustment of Status, K-1 Visa, K-3 Visa Thailand, us embassy bangkok, US Visa Thailand