Originally, the K- VISA was available to fiancees of U.S. Citizens, and minor children of U.S. Citizens living abroad.

Since the passage of the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act of 2000, the K- VISA is now also available to spouses and minor children of U.S. Citizens.

The K- VISA was never available to fiancees of U.S. Permanent Residents, meaning holders of a "Green Card," and, the same is true today.

The extension of K- VISA privileges to spouses of U.S. Citizens as well as fiancees of U.S. Citizens has been a welcome change and great improvement over past practices and procedures.

Here's why:

In the past, when, a U.S. Citizen met that special someone abroad, and the couple wanted to become husband and wife, a decision to marry abroad would disqualify the alien spouse from receiving a K- VISA. A married person is not a fiancee. And, in order for the U.S. Citizen to immigrate his or her new spouse to the United States, the U.S. Citizen would have to file and process a formal Relative Petition on behalf of the alien spouse in the United States, and the processing time for such a matter was and continues to be in excess of one year, meaning the couple could be separated for a very long time.

On the other hand, if the U.S. Citizen did not get married, and, instead, obtained a K-Visa for his or her fiancee, then, the alien, spouse-to-be would be immediately admitted into the United States on the K Visa for the purpose of marriage, with the caveat that the couple had to get married within ninety (90) days of his or her admission.

Now, in a sense, spouses of U.S. Citizens and fiancees of U.S. Citizens are treated on an equal basis, and the K-Visa allowing entry into the United States before the issuance of a "Green Card" is available to both of them, and, therefore, the time and place of the marriage will not thereby cause a separation of the new family.

A K- Visa issued to a fiancee still requires the marriage ceremony to take place within the said ninety (90) days of the fiancee's arrival. And, a K-Visa issued to a spouse requires him or her to be traveling to the United States to join the U.S. Citizen spouse.