Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing K-1 Fiancé Visas. For those who are unaware, it is possible to bring a loved one, specifically a Thai loved one, a Thai girlfriend, someone you're looking to marry, bring to the United States, it is possible to bring them to the United States if you are an American citizen and you are unmarried. You have to have met them in person, however. As we have discussed in other videos, there is a two-year meeting requirement wherein you have to have met within two years prior to the filing of a case. 

During COVID, I had a few of these cases that had issues with what I call the meeting filing gap which is we have met in person, but we are coming up on our two-year mark for the filing deadline and we haven't met in the interim basically. Well basically, again to meet the requirement you need to have met in person within two years of filing for a K-1 Fiancé Visa. If two years elapses and you haven't met before the time you file, even if you file a day before the two years have elapsed between the time you last met and the time that you file, that's good under the law. But that said, I have seen a few people especially during COVID this was a problem and then recently I had a case that due to extenuating circumstances they just haven't met and this whole filing gap if you will, the whole meeting filing gap came up, and I thought I'd go ahead and make a video. So the reason for this video is to understand there is a two year meeting requirement. That means you have to have physically met your fiancé within two years of filing for the Fiancé Visa. 

Now that said, there are exceptions to that, especially religious exceptions. I have actually dealt with an exception to that involving a paraplegic gentleman whose health conditions were such he was just unable to physically meet his fiancé. To their credit, USCIS, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Embassy took that into consideration, and they said, "look, even though you didn't meet, we are going to go ahead, and we will issue the K-1”. Now during the adjustment process, after they married, they were heavily, heavily scrutinized. But that being said, there are exceptions to the meeting requirement. 

Regardless of the exceptions, understand, you have to file within two years as a practical matter unless there's extenuating circumstances, you need to file within two years of meeting. If you create such a gap that two years goes by before you can get the thing filed, you're going to have to meet again before you are going to be able to file for a K-1 Visa in order to have later the interview and have that Visa issued here in the Kingdom of Thailand.