K-1 Visa Process and Timeline – What Happens at Each Step

Plan for about a year from filing Form I-129F to arriving in the US on a K-1 visa. Half of all I-129F petitions spend 9 months or more at USCIS alone, and then the case still has to go through the National Visa Center and the consulate. After arrival you have 90 days to marry and a few more months until the green card. The timelines below come from USCIS and State Department data wherever the agencies publish it. Eligibility, documents and costs are on our K-1 fiancé visa page.

K-1 visa timeline by step

Step	How long it takes	What you get
1. Form I-129F at USCIS	median 9 months	petition approval (NOA2)
2. National Visa Center	not published by the State Department	case sent to the consulate
3. Documents and interview	depends on the consulate	K-1 visa in the passport
4. Arrival and wedding	up to 90 days after entry	marriage certificate
5. Green card, Form I-485	median 7 months	2-year conditional green card
6. Removing conditions, Form I-751	filed in the last 90 days before the card expires	permanent green card

The medians come from the USCIS quarterly report for April to June 2026. Half of the cases in that period were decided faster and half took longer. The I-485 figure covers all family-based applications, USCIS does not publish a separate number for K-1 cases. New data comes out every quarter on the Immigration and Citizenship Data page.

What to check before you file

In April to June 2026, USCIS denied 2,307 of the 9,273 I-129F petitions it decided, roughly one in four. Before you pay the $675 filing fee, check these four conditions.

Step 1. Form I-129F, NOA1 and NOA2

The US citizen files Form I-129F with USCIS, and the fee is $675. The package includes proof of citizenship, proof that you met in person, papers on past marriages and evidence that you both intend to marry within 90 days of arrival.

The first notice you get is the receipt, Form I-797C, usually called NOA1. It has the case number you use to check status on the USCIS website. When the petition is approved, a second notice arrives, known as NOA2.

Of the petitions USCIS decided in April to June 2026, half were done within 9 months. If something is missing, USCIS sends a request for evidence (RFE), and the wait grows by the time you need to answer and the time USCIS needs to review it again.

There is no premium processing for Form I-129F. You can ask for an expedite, but USCIS grants it only on its own criteria, such as severe financial loss, an urgent humanitarian situation or a clear USCIS error. See how to ask on our page about the USCIS expedite request.

Step 2. The National Visa Center

After approval the petition goes to the National Visa Center. The NVC gives the case a number and sends it to the US embassy or consulate where your fiancé(e) lives, and the US citizen gets a letter about it. The State Department does not publish how long this step takes.

If your fiancé(e) lives in Canada, the K-1 interview takes place at the US Consulate General in Montreal. In other countries it is the embassy or consulate that handles immigrant visas for that country, listed on the State Department website.

An approved petition is valid for 4 months. If the consulate cannot issue the visa in time, the consular officer can extend it, so you do not need to file a new I-129F.

Step 3. Documents, medical exam and interview

Once the consulate has the case, your fiancé(e) fills out the DS-160 and pays the $265 visa fee. Each child on a K-2 visa files a separate DS-160 and pays the same fee.

Every applicant, children included, takes a medical exam with a panel physician chosen by the embassy, and the clinic sets the price. Vaccinations are not required for the visa itself, but they will be required for the green card, so the State Department suggests getting them during the exam.

Police certificates come from the country where your fiancé(e) lives and from every country where they lived for 6 months or more after age 16. The consul may ask the US citizen to show income on Form I-134, and the bar is 100% of the federal poverty guideline. Social media profiles must be public during vetting, consulates require this from all K-1 and K-2 applicants.

At the interview the consul checks that you meet the K-1 rules and that the relationship is real. They may ask for photos and other proof, so be ready to explain how you met and when you saw each other. Some cases go to administrative processing after the interview. Technically that is a refusal under section 221(g), which is lifted once the review is done, and nobody can tell you in advance how long it will take.

Step 4. Arrival and 90 days to marry

The K-1 visa allows one entry and is valid for up to 6 months from issue. Along with the passport, the consulate hands over a sealed packet of documents. Do not open it, the CBP officer at the port of entry will. That officer decides on admission, the visa itself does not guarantee entry.

From the day of entry you have 90 days to marry in any state where your marriage is legal. The 90 days cannot be extended. If there is no wedding, your fiancé(e) has to leave. You can still marry later, but then the US citizen files Form I-130, and the K-1 path ends there.

Step 5. Green card after the wedding

After the wedding the foreign spouse files Form I-485 with USCIS. The fee is $1,440 by mail or $1,390 online. The US citizen adds Form I-864, and here the income has to be at least 125% of the federal poverty guideline. The vaccinations skipped at the visa stage are now required.

Together with I-485 you can file I-765 for a work permit ($260) and I-131 for advance parole ($630 by mail). Advance parole is needed to travel. Leaving the US without it while I-485 is pending counts as abandoning the application.

The median for family-based I-485 cases in April to June 2026 was 7 months. USCIS usually interviews both spouses. If you have been married less than two years when the case is approved, the first green card is conditional and valid for 2 years.

What goes into the I-485 filing and what the whole K-1 chain costs in fees is laid out on the K-1 visa and green card after marriage page.

Step 6. Removing conditions after two years

A conditional green card becomes permanent through Form I-751. You file it together in the last 90 days before the card expires, and the fee is $750 by mail or $700 online. Do not miss the window, without a filed I-751 conditional status ends on the second anniversary.

Three years after getting the green card, if you have been married to and living with the US citizen all that time, you can apply for citizenship. More on our US citizenship through marriage page.

The only time you can save on a K-1 case is on your side – a complete petition and the same names and dates on every form. Every request for evidence from USCIS or the consulate adds weeks and sometimes months to the wait.

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