Integrity Legal

There are many family relationships that can be used as a basis for obtaining a US visa. In cases where a betrothed couple wishes to get married and live in America there is a US fiance visa, also known as a K-1 visa. For an expedited marriage visa, some people opt utilize a K-3 visa. Further, in cases where a couple wishes to have some discretion about where the visa application will be adjudicated a K-3 visa could theoretically be used to “forum shop.” However, the classic marriage visa are the immigrant spouse visas discussed further below. Of particular interest to those applying for an immigrant spouse visa is the fact that a step-child can also receive an immigrant visa based upon the child’s relationship to the United States Citizen and foreign beneficiary.

In cases where a couple gets married overseas and wishes to immigrate to the USA, there are immigrant spouse visas known as CR-1 and IR-1 visas.  These visas require the filing and approval of an I-130 immigrant visa application.  In many cases, the foreign spouse will have children. Therefore, the question arises: what is to be done with the step children? In most cases, a step child will be able to travel to the United States in order to take up residency, but it is possible that a step child will be precluded from immediately traveling to the United States.

For step children over the age of twenty-one, an visa petition will have a lower priority than for a step child under 21 years of age. An Immediate question that usually follows up this statement: what about a child who turns 21 while the visa application is pending? Under current Immigration law the step child who was under 21 at the time of USCIS approval will have their status preserved until visa issuance, so turning 21 after petition approval will not cause the applicant to fall into a lower preference category.

Another issue with regard to step-child petitions involves the age of the step child at the time of the marriage this fact can have a crucial impact upon the step-child’s status and possibly preclude the step-child from obtaining an immigrant visa in an expedited manner. In complicated cases, it may be best to consult an Immigration lawyer, but for those who wish to deal with the matter on their own, the website of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service can be very helpful.

In cases involving K-4 visas, which are derivative of K-3 visas for step-children, some of the above analysis is correct, but due to the different nature of the K-3 application, the laws and regulations could be different. Where possible, it is usually better to obtain an Immigrant visa because the beneficiary obtains permanent residence (Green Card) upon entry into the USA.

(This article is not legal advcie. This article does not create any type of Attorney/Client relationship.)

Tags: American Visa Thailand, CR-1 Visa Thailand, K-1 Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, Step Child Visa, US Visa Thailand