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Can I Leave the USA After Arriving in a K-1 Visa?
Transcript of the above video:
As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the question of "can I leave the United States after arriving in a K-1 Visa?" The short answer to that question is yes you can do whatever you want. If you arrive in a K-1, you can leave the next day. For those who are unaware, a K-1 Visa is a Fiancé Visa which allows the fiancé of an American citizen or lawful permanent resident, sorry not a lawful permanent resident, American citizen only, sorry I am a little foggy today in the brain - the K-1 Visa allows for non-US citizens to come into the United States pursuant to a bona fide intention to marry an American citizen and go ahead and thereafter possibly seek Green Card status.
The long story short of it is, what if I come in on the K-1 and I want to turn around and leave? It is possible to do that. Now the more pertinent question is, can I maintain my K-1 status? The answer is, if you do nothing else, if you just arrive in the United States and you turn around and leave, the K-1 is dead; it's a one-off Visa. And for those who are unaware, it's issued, upon entry someone who is stamped in on a K-1 Visa, they have 90 days of lawful status in the United States, again during which time they need to go ahead and marry their American fiancé and then seek what is called adjustment of status to get their Green Card. If you are looking to leave after arriving in K-1 status, especially during the process of the adjustment of status over to Lawful Permanent Residence, it is probably a good idea if you are looking to do that, in fact it is a very good idea to seek what is called Advance Parole which allows someone to leave the United States and maintain their status while it is processing through the system and then you can use that Advance Parole to then turn around and return to the United States. Again this stuff can get rather complicated and for those who might feel overwhelmed, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.