The K-3 process was developed a number of years ago as a way for spouses, and their children, of U.S. citizens, enter the US in a more expeditious manner.   It can live up to its  promise, but not too often.    The summary of the process is that the U.S. citizen files a visa petition as if he were doing the regular consular processing route set forth last week.    However, immediately after receiving the receipt notice from the USCIS for the filing of the visa petition, he files a another petition requesting K-3 processing.  And here is the problem.  Both the regular visa petition and the K-3 petition are processed at about the same rate, and the visa petition was filed first.   If the regular visa petition is approved first, the Department of State will not process the K-3 visa — they will only do the regular visa petition process.  In that case, the foreign spouse will process through the regular consular process set out last week.

If, for some reason, the K-3 petition is completed first and the Department of State chooses to go with it, the process is very different.   The NVC really does almost no processing.   They get the petition packet from the USCIS and immediately forward it to the Consulate to get started on the K-3 visa process.  The applicant then gathers her documents, schedules the interview and gets her immigration medical   If everything goes well, she could be in the US in a month or two or less.  However, that is only the start of the rest of the process.

Once the K-3 applicant arrives in the US, she has to then file for a green card.  She has to file an application for Adjustment of Status.  That process is provided in more detail in the next posting.   The only real difference is that the K-3 will not need to refile a visa petition as part of the Application for Adjustment of Status.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong