How to apply for a K-3 Spouse Visa

If you are a United States Citizen and married to your soul mate who is not a U.S. citizen, you can bring his or her to the U.S. to live with you permanently. In order to do so, you need to apply for a K-3 non-immigrant visa for your foreign-citizen wife or husband. This type of visa was introduced to prevent lengthy separation between a U.S. citizen and his or her foreign-citizen spouse.


The application process for filing for a K-3 spouse visa involves the following:

1. You must first file a visa petition for your non U.S. citizen spouse. After this has been done and submitted to the appropriate location you should receive by mail a receipt notification from the USCIS letting you know that they received your visa petition.

2. The next step is to request a spouse visa for your non U.S. citizen spouse. This step involves submitting additional forms and documentation to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

3. If your application for a spouse visa is approved it will then be forwarded to the U.S. Department of State for processing.

4. Once the file has been reviewed by the U.S. Department of State, it will be sent to a U.S. consulate or embassy in your foreign spouse’s country.

5. The U.S. consulate in turn, will require the non U.S. citizen spouse to submit additional forms and documents for a K-3 visa and schedule an interview.

6. Depending on the results of the interview, the consular officer will make a decision regarding the issuance of a K-3 visa.

For more information, visit U.S. Immigration Services website.