A U.S. citizen may file a petition to have his or her fiancee enter the U.S. to be married.  After the immigration petition is approved, the fiancee obtains a visa from the U.S. Embassy or consulate. The marriage must take place within 90 days of the fiancee’s entry into the U.S. or the fiancee will be required to leave.  This 90-day admission may not be extended.

    The fiancee should not enter the U.S. on a tourist or other type of visa and then marry because the immigration service may consider the visa to have been fraudulently obtained if the real purpose for coming to the U.S. was to be married.  This situation could result in a subsequent spousal petition being denied by the immigration service even though it is a true marriage.

    To be eligible for a fiancee visa, the U.S. citizen and the fiancee must have met in person during the 2 years before the petition is approved unless doing so would violate established religious or cultural customs or would create extreme hardship for the U.S. citizen.  A fiancee’s unmarried children  under age 21 may accompany him or her to the U.S. on the visa.

    After the marriage, the finacee (and his or her children) may remain in the U.S. and apply to the immigration service for permanent residency.

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This information is not intended to apply to individual cases.