Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing K-3 Visas. I want to be clear, the term K-3 Visa is sort of colloquially used on the internet as the term for Marriage Visas and that's not the traditional, the classical if you want Marriage Visa. The classic Marriage Visa is what's called an Immigrant spouse visa, either the IR-1 or the CR-1 category and it is going to depend on how long those folks have been married, the duration of the marriage at the point at which the person enters the United States will sort of dictate whether or not the Visa is a CR- or an IR-1. 

Leaving that aside, we are talking about the K-3. For those who are unaware of the K-3 was invented under the Life Act, it was created under the Life Act, under President Clinton at a time when sort of ironically K-1 Fiancé Visas were moving very quickly and American Spouse Visas, the classic Immigrant Visa categories were moving very slowly, so they created another K category to allow for a supplemental petition for an expedited Visa processing via the K-3. But remember, the K-3 is a Non-Immigrant Visa; adjustment of status is still required after arrival in the United States. Now that said, I haven't actually seen an issued K-3 in like a decade and the reason for that is there was a policy, what's called Administrative Closure which was implemented by the National Visa Center wherein they basically said look if the underlying reason i.e. slow processing times associated with USCIS petitions for Green Card status, if that set of facts is not in play, so basically there is an available Immigrant Visa that can be processed, we are just going to close the K-3 case.

But let's say you sort of run the gauntlet, you end up with a K-3, how soon can a person arriving in a K-3 turn around and leave the United States again? Well in the past, and I want to be clear, I haven't seen one of these issued in quite a while and different Consular Officers may issue with different Visa duration and validity so it is going to again be circumstantially dependent as everything is. But long story short in the past K-3s were always issued as a multi-entry Non-Immigrant Visa but it did have a fixed validity and during that fixed validity time, if a person just wanted to stay in the United States and process their adjustment of status to Green Card status it's much like the K-1 Visa process wherein while you are processing through adjustment, you are basically in status until that process is concluded. With just utilization of the K-3 in a Non-Immigrant context on a multi-entry basis, in theory yeah I guess you could arrive on a K-3 and turn around and leave again and be able to come back in because it is a multi-entry Visa. That said, K-3s are not issued with a great deal of frequency and there is quite a little bit of discretion especially on the Department of State side with regard to the parameters of the K-3. So before you do anything with an issued K-3, it might not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, present your documentation, show them where things stand for your specific visa and gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.