Here is what I had to do in order to marry Ray and stay in the US. I am a canadian citizen and Ray is american. Since we had decided that I would move there and marry Ray in NJ he had to file for a K-1 visa (Fiance visa) at the INS(Immigration and Naturalization Services) office in New Jersey. So this is step one! Now here are all the forms you will need to fill out and what you need to get together (documents) in order to file these forms.

1. File form I-129F which is a petition for Alien Fiance. The fee to file that is 75$US

2. Form I-865A which is Biographic Information for both citizen and alien. In that sheet they ask you general questions like name, sex, place of birth, parent's names, where you've lived in the past 5 yrs, former husband's/wive's name....

Now before you file for a K-1 visa you will need to build up your case! The documents you need to get this on the road are : 1-for the citizen:

• Proof of citizenship: Birth certificate or passport.
• Divorce papers (if any)

For the fiance:

• Birth certificate or passport
• Divorce papers (if any)

You will also need to prove your relationship:

• Pictures of you two separated (picture of the man and a picture of the woman)
• Pictures of you two together (more than one)
• Love letters
• Emails
• Phone bills
• Anything that would prove your relationship is good

After all this has been filed it takes about 2-3 months to get a response from the INS. If the visa is approved the citizen then gets a letter stating the visa's approval. The Alien will then receive a letter from the consulate stating that they received the file for a request of a K-1 Visa. In that same letter the consulate asks the Alien to get a few documents together and to send this form back when the alien has all the documents in hand. Here are the documents will you need to get together if you are the alien:

• Passport($60 Canadian)
• Long form birth certificate.($20 Canadian) (The one with your parents name on it, place of birth, date of birth, time of birth....)
• Medical exam. The consulate sends you a list of doctors that you must choose from. The medical exam cost $250 and it includes a x-ray of your chest, blood test (testing for aids and syphilis), doctors exam (checks ears, mouth, neck, eyes, extremities and external genitalia).If you need any vaccinations they are included in the price and they will give it to you. You will have to bring with you your vaccination book, your passport and your birth certificate. Do not have the medical exam done before you get the consulate letter
• Adoption certificate
• Marriage certificate if married in the past
• Divorce decrees
• Police certificate. For this call your local RCMP office and tell them that you need a police certificate for a K-1 visa. You will need to get fingerprinting done and they will inform you where to go for that. The fingerprinting is done by a fingerprinting place and cost $25 and then you have to send these fingerprints to the RCMP with $26. It takes about 1 month before you get the police certificate by mail. Do not have it done before you get the consulate letter
• Affidavit of support form I-134 signed and notarized by the citizen (in my case Ray). He or she will need to attach to the I-134: Tax returns for the last 3 yrs, A letter from their employer stating he or she works there and is earning X amount a year, a bank statement stating the current balance in the bank account, and pay stubs.
• 4 passport pictures
• Fill out the forms OF-156 Non Immigrant Visa Application(Do not sign it!) and OF-230 Biographic information that you sign and send when you have all your documents in hand.




All these instructions are in the consulate letter the alien receives. Some documents you can get before you get the letter, ie: birth certificate, divorce and marriage papers, passport and the affidavit of support. Once you get all the papers together and send the letter to the consulate it takes about 1-2 months for them to answer back. When they do they will give you a date and time for your interview. When you go for the interview bring the letter with the interview time and date and all your documents







The interview is nothing to go crazy over. The interview is $65 US (has to be in US currency). When you get there they take your papers and you sit down and wait until they call you. When they do, someone will ask you a few little questions to finalize your papers. Then you have to wait again until they call you for your interview. The questions are generally:

• How did you meet?
• How long have you been going together?
• Have you ever been to the US?
• What does your fiance do for a living?
• When do you plan to leave Canada and marry?




They will then ask you to come back around 3:00 pm to pick up your visa and they will give you an envelop that you will need to give the immigration officer when you leave the country or when you get in the US all depending where your POE(point of entry) is.






When you decide to leave you give the envelop to the immigration officer and they will have you fill out a I-94 card which is a departure record and an Alien number. You can also ask for a temporary work permit which will give you the right to work temporarily for 3 months.






Then you are ready to marry. This process took me 4 months.





Time Frame
1. Mid-January 98: Ray filled the I-129F and the I-865A with the proof of relationship (He went in person at the INS office)
2. February 13, 98: Ray received the approval letter and the approval was sent to the consulate in Montreal
3. February 20, 98: I received the letter from the Montreal consulate stating that they received my approval, and stating all the documents I needed to gather.
4. March 23, 98: I sent a letter stating that I had all the documents
5. April 13,98: I received my letter stating date and time of interview
6. May 8, 98: Interview at 10:00 am
7. May 8, 98: Got my visa at 3:15 pm
8. May 8, 98: Left for NJ at 5:00 pm Woo Hoo!





The fiance visa (K-1 visa) is good for 6 months. You have 90 days to get married and 90 days after the wedding to file for the Adjustment of Status. You are allowed one entry in the USA which means that if you decide to leave the USA for any reason you are not allowed to come back in the USA and your K-1 visa is automatically cancelled . If you intend to seek employement upon arriving, it's a good idea to ask for the temporary work permit at your POE.






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