Eligibility for a Spouse/Marriage Visa (also known as a K-3, CR-1 or IR-1 Visa)

To be eligible for a Spouse Visa you must be able to prove that:

You and your spouse are presently legally married.

• A legal marriage is one which is officially recognized by the state or government where you were married. You will need to be able to obtain an official record of the marriage, such as a marriage certificate or other certification, from the government where you were married.
• You do not need to have been married in the US. The marriage must only be officially recognized by the government of the place where you were married.
• You and your spouse must have actually attended the recognized marriage ceremony; proxy marriages are generally not acceptable. Same Sex marriages are recognized if legal in the place where celebrated.
  
• No particular type of ceremony or local custom is needed, only that the marriage be officially recognized by the country where it was performed.
• Domestic partnerships or "common law" marriages generally do not quality unless the place where you have lived together does recognize these as official marriages; even then you will have to obtain an official certificate recognizing this form of marriage. Same Sex marriage is now recognized for immigration purposes by the USCIS.
  

Your marriage must be "bona fide"

• You must show that you got married because you wanted to be married and at the time of the marriage you intended to stay married and make a life together.

You, the Petitioner, are a US citizen, or Permanent Resident of the US, married to a non-resident alien spouse.

• Citizenship can be obtained by:
  • Birth in the US
  • Through naturalization
  • Derived from having one or more US citizen parents

You and your spouse are only married to each other and not other persons at the same time.

• If either of you were married before, you the US citizen, and or your spouse, will have to provide documentation that you are no longer married to someone else. This documentation is usually official proof of:
  • Death of the former spouse
  • Divorce from the former spouse
  • Annulment of the former marriage

If your spouse has foreign born, unmarried children, who are not your (the US citizen's) natural children and are under the age of 21, they will, in most cases, be eligible to apply for and receive a visa as well as you, and travel to the US at the same time as your spouse (or in some cases follow on later if desired).

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