On August 18, 2001, the Family Life Act was passed, establishing the K3 Spousal Visa and the K4 Children of Spouse Visa. These visas were established to help provide some relief for those families waiting for their Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative Visa to be processed.

The Form I-130 can take over one year and up to two years to process. Families were split apart during that time until their permanent visas were processed.

The K-3 Visa is the visa an American citizen would use to bring his wife to the United States if she were not a US citizen. The K-4 Visa is the visa that an American citizen would use to bring children of his spouse to the United States if they are not US citizens.

The K-3 Visa uses very similar procedures as the K-1 visa. The K-4 Visa uses very similar procedures as the K-2 Visa. The same basic documents are used for filing both types of visas, and similar types of supporting documentation are required for the K-3 Visa as the K-1 Visa.

The Major Differences Are As Follows:

Rather than Form I-129F being completed as in the K-1 Visa process, Form I-130 is completed for the K-3 Visa.

The K-3 Visa will have marriage certificates as supporting documentation that the K-1 Visa will not have.

Another major difference is that the K-3 Visa application is filed in the country where the marriage took place rather than the country of nationality as in a K-1 Visa.

For example, an American man who marries a Russian woman in Greece would have to apply for a K-3 Visa in Greece where the marriage took place, not in her home country of Russia.

The reason being is that is where the marriage documentation can be found. It also means that your wife must return to Greece for the visa interview.