Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the issue of K-1 and K-3 Visas; we are taking another look at these. These are kind of odd visas and the reason I make videos like this every once in a while is to understand that a standard Immigrant Spouse Visa - the CR-1 or the IR-1 Visa - is a different animal from a K-1 or a K-3 Visa. K-1 Visas were designed for fiancés and that goes all the way back to the promulgation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The K-3 Visa was born quite a bit later. It was actually created in the 1990s by President Bill Clinton pursuant to what was called the Life Act which under the provisions of that Act, it dealt with some other things but they ended up sort of squeezing in this K-3 Visa and they created it at a time when K-1 Visas were taking like four to six months to process and Immigrant Spouse Visas - the CR-1 or the IR-1 as we call them - were taking like years and in some cases multiple years and the system was really clogged up. 

Well we have some of the same issues now. Currently the US Immigration System is in a state of for lack of a better term, disarray; I am very unhappy with current state of the US Immigration System. But back to the K Visas. They do operate a little differently. One of the big difference between either of these categories and the Immigrant Spouse Visas, is effectively circumventing the issue of having to deal with the National Visa Center. So the National Visa Center simply forwards the case over to an Embassy or Consulate abroad, they don't engage in intake of documentation and dealing with their system. That can be a major boon if you are going through this. That said, the downside with the K-1 compared to an Immigrant Spouse Visa is you have to adjust status in the United States in order to obtain a Green Card. The same can also be said for the K-3 Visa although the K-3 was designed to be a bit more of a multi-entry visa whereas the K-1 Fiancé Visa is sort of a single use Visa, a one time, one off, one time only Visa in order in the United States, file for Adjustment of Status, obtain a Green Card and then live in the United States with residence thereafter. 

Again adjustment is possible on the K-3 Visa as well so it is possible to enter on a K-3 and adjust to a Green Card. In a sense, the K-3 has a lot more options. However the downside of the K-3 is what's called the Doctrine of Administrative Closure and this is what happens when National Visa Center says "you have no need for this K-3 Visa, it was designed for those who are having a problem getting an Immigrant Spouse Visa." If in cases where the underlying Immigrant Spouse Visa petition hits the National Visa Center before the K-3, simultaneously with, or I have even seen where it has hit the National Visa Center slightly after K-3 application has made it to the National Visa Center, the National Visa Center will just disregard the K-3 and continue processing the Immigrant Spouse Visa. 

So these two Visas are different from each other in many ways and they are really different from all of the other types of family-based Visa categories for those looking to travel with a foreign spouse to the United States of America.