K1 Fiancé Visas- Where Do They Come From?
The K1 fiancé visa is a common method for a US citizen to legally bring his or her foreign fiancé to the United States, in order to get married. Although the intent is to remain in the US as an immigrant, the K1 fiancé visa is actually classified as a non-immigrant visa.
But where, statistically, do these foreign fiancés come from? And how many are actually successful? We will look at multiple topics in this article, including where they come from, as well as the statistics for the US State Department and USCIS.
For FY 2017, the top 5 countries with the most approved K1 visas were, in ascending order:
Great Britain & Norther Ireland 1,214
Dominican Republic 1,563
Mexico 1,657
Vietnam 2,003
Philippines 6,913
As of FY 2017, Philippines accounts for roughly 20% of all K1 visas worldwide, with a total K1 fiancé visa issuance that is greater than the next 4 countries combined! And Visa Services International provides the absolute best K1 fiancé visa service in the industry, helping Filipina fiancés immigrate to the United States every month!
You can view all of the NIV (non immigrant visas) issued by country for FY 2017 here:
Of the 55,000+ K1 visa applicants seen at US Consulates worldwide during FY 2017, only 34,797 were approved during the interview process; 12,192 were approved after initial denial, (reversed decision), when other evidence was presented, or other requirements met. Initial denials at the embassy phase were above 21,000, with an adjusted denial tally of roughly 9,000.
On the other end of this spectrum, immigrant visas issued at foreign posts by category shows that over 112,000 CR1 & IR1 spousal visas were issued in FY 2017:
For FY 2017, the total workload for K1 fiancé visas at US embassies worldwide was just over 55,000, which shows that more than twice the number of people (over 112,000) went for the CR1 visa spousal visa than the fiancé visa:
This could explain, in part, why the CR1/IR1 process takes considerably longer to accomplish, as opposed to the K1 fiancé visa. At the end of FY 2017, there were still over 1 MILLION pending I-130 petitions within the USCIS system, and there was an average of well over 200,000 of these I-130’s being submitted EACH QUARTER!!!! The I-130 is used for ALL alien relatives, not only spouses.
Now, let’s take a look at the top reasons for denials of a non-immigrant visa (this is for all non-immigrant visa categories, including K1’s):
Unlawful presence in the US of 1 year or more within past 10 years 15,900
Misrepresentation 18,114
Application does not comply with INA or regulations >811,000
Failed to establish entitlement to non-immigrant status >2.6 million
The last 3 figures would include, but not be limited to, falsifying information on a visa application or petition, not completing or submitting the documents as prescribed by law, and failure to provide the required evidence or documentation when submitting a petition.
Breaking it down further, with info from USCIS, FY 2017 to date, there were 49,831 I-129F petitions filed with USCIS, with 32,998 being approved, and 16,833 denied, rejected or withdrawn; for the 4 quarters of FY 2017, a total of 9,220 I-129F petitions were denied or rejected by USCIS. These petitions never reached the US Embassy abroad for the interview stage.
At the end of 4th QTR, FY 2017, there were still 24,764 I-129F petitions still pending with USCIS.
*Keep in mind that the FY may vary from USCIS to the State Department, as their numbers do not match.
The USCIS approval rate on the I-129F is 66%.
In summary, the petition preparation is not the only important factor in being successful at this process; you must truly know your partner, in order to convince the interviewing official at the US embassy that the relationship is valid.