Fiancee Visa 

This Act, referred to as "IMBRA", was signed into law on January 5, 2006. The IMBRA Act targets US citizens with criminal histories. There are also much tighter regulations under a separate set of laws for foreign fiancees and spouses with criminal convictions. If your foreign fiancee or spouse has a criminal conviction, you would need to call us to determine whether it is still possible to immigrate him or her to the US.

Immigration regulations under IMBRA prohibit the issuance of a K1 fiance visa without an approved waiver in two sets of circumstances. The two areas are 1) a US citizen petitioner with a criminal conviction for a specified crime, and 2) a US petitioner who has previously filed K-1 visa petitions or had a K-1 visa petition approved within the previous two years. IMBRA regulations do not prohibit the issuance of a K-3 spousal visa if the petitioner has criminal convictions, not matter how serious the crime. However, disclosure of convictions is still required.

Criminal Conviction

IMBRA covers various crimes committed by the US citizen that involve violence as well as crimes relating to a controlled substance (drugs) or alcohol. If you believe there is a possibility that you may come under IMBRA, please call us. We will discuss your situation with you and advise whether, in our opinion, your case will require a waiver and, if so, what the chances are of our waiver request being granted. When contacting us, we will want you to identify each conviction, the basic facts that resulted in conviction, the sentence imposed, and whether you completed all terms of your sentence.

Filing Limitations

If you have filed two or more K-1 visa petitions at any time in the past, or previously had a K-1 visa petition approved within two years prior to the filing of the current petition, a waiver must be obtained before your K-1 petition can be approved. By regulation, this provision does not apply to a K-3 spousal visa petition.

If you fall within these restrictions, please call us so that we can assess your situation and make a determination as to whether we believe we can obtain a waiver for your K-1 visa petition. Although processing on a K-3 spousal visa petition can avoid some of the pitfalls of IMBRA, there may still be reasons to pursue the K-1 fiancee visa despite IMBRA restrictions. Our firm has a working knowledge of IMBRA and so will be in a good position to advise properly.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2006

This Act was signed into law on July 27, 2006. It prohibits a U.S. Citizen from immigrating a foreign fiancee or spouse if the U.S. citizen has a conviction involving any form of sexual contact against a minor child, under the age of 18 years. A waiver to permit the U.S. citizen to proceed with immigrating a fiancee or spouse is possible, but rare. Our firm has a long-standing policy to decline assistance in these cases, particularly where the foreigner has a child who would be immigrating with the mother. Our policy predates the Adam Walsh Act. However, each case is different and so we are willing to consider.

The fact that you may have criminal convictions or have previously filed a K-1 visa petition for a fiancee or spouse in the past will not necessarily prevent us from successfully obtaining a K visa for your current fiancee or spouse. While there are certainly no guarantees in these situations, our law firm has successfully obtained waivers in many of these cases. If you will call us, one of our attorneys will be glad to discuss your case and give you our best estimate of your chances of success on a K visa petition with our support.