If you’re a U.S. citizen marrying someone who’s not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident, you might need a K-1 fiancé visa. The K-1 fiancé visa allows an engaged partner of a U.S. citizen to enter the United States for the purpose of getting married within the next 90 days. Here’s what you need to know.

What is a K-1 Fiancé Visa?

A K-1 visa, which is commonly just called a fiancé visa, is a document that allows a non-U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident to enter the United States to get married. The catch is that the couple only has 90 days to marry after the fiancé arrives in the country. If the couple fails to get married within that time, the foreign fiancé has to leave the country, apply for a new visa, and come back.

Does Everyone Need a Fiancé Visa?

Not everyone needs a fiancé visa. In fact, in some cases, it makes sense to get married and skip straight to applying for a spousal visa. That’s because it costs approximately $1,000 for a fiancé visa – and it may not make sense in your situation. It depends on how long you want to wait to be together, where you’re each living, and a variety of other factors, and it’s a personal decision you should make with your soon-to-be spouse.

Who is Eligible for a K-1 Visa?

If you’re the fiancé, you can’t simply apply for the visa yourself. A U.S. citizen must sponsor you for this type of visa. These are the requirements for a fiancé visa:

• The sponsor must be a U.S. citizen. Lawful permanent residents are not eligible to petition the government to bring their fiancé to the United States.
• You must both be eligible to marry. That means you can’t be married to someone else (even if you’re in the process of a divorce), and you must be able to show that all prior marriages have been legally terminated. If you have a divorce decree, annulment or death certificate from a previous spouse – whether you’re the sponsor or the fiancé – you’ll need to submit it with your K-1 visa petition.
• You must prove the legitimacy of your relationship. That means if you have photos, hotel reservations, flight itineraries or receipts from trips you took together, or written statements from people who are aware of your relationship, you’ll want to include them with your petition. You may also choose to include letters or emails you and your future spouse have sent to each other, phone records, or anything else that documents your relationship with one another.
• You must be able to prove that you have met in person at least once, and that your last meeting was within the two years before you filed your fiancé visa petition. However, if meeting would cause hardship to the U.S. citizen sponsor, or if it would violate religious, cultural or social norms, you can get a waiver. The evidence of your meeting can be the same evidence you use to prove the legitimacy of your relationship, such as flight itineraries, hotel reservations or photos of you together.
• You must both provide USCIS with a signed statement that says you intend to marry within 90 days of your arrival in the United States. If you’ve made wedding plans, you can also include evidence such as wedding invitations or receipts for deposits with photographers, a venue or catering.
• The U.S. citizen must provide evidence that they meet income requirements to sponsor someone to come to the United States. The U.S. citizen must earn at least 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for their family size. Usually, the prior year’s tax return is sufficient evidence of this.

Your immigration attorney can help you gather the required documentation, and your lawyer can fill out and file all the paperwork on your behalf.