K3 Visas: Indonesia

by Bohari Adventures

The forthcoming article is designed to convey information regarding the United States K3 visa process for an Indonesian spouse and the overall impact of NVC's "administrative closure" policy.
Comparatively few who research the K-3 visa process for the first time realize that it is not the traditional method of obtaining American family immigration benefits for an Indonesian spouse. In fact, the K-3 visa category was created under the provisions of the Life Act which was signed into law by President William Jefferson Clinton toward the end of the 20th century. The K-3 visa was a useful legislative creation which allowed many Americans to petition for expedited marriage visa benefits for their foreign spouses. Prior to the Life Act's promulgation, it could take up to three years for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to adjudicate a classic I-130 petition for spousal immigration benefits.
The K-3 visa could be obtained through filing of a supplemental immigration petition. Once in the United States on a K-3 visa, an Indonesian spouse would eventually be required to apply to adjust status to lawful permanent residence, but, unlike the K1 fiance visa, the K3 marriage visa was created as a multiple entry travel document with extended validity thereby allowing the foreign spouse more time to apply for adjustment when compared with the 90 time frame imposed by the regulations regarding the K-1 visa.
In 2010, the United States Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) announced that all K-3 visa applications would be "administratively closed" when the underlying I-130 arrives at NVC prior to, or at the same time as, the arrival of the I-129f petition (the supplemental petition utilized when seeking K-3 visa benefits).
For those who are unfamiliar with the dynamics of the US visa process in a family based context, the USCIS adjudicates the immigration petition initially and, upon approval, sends the case file to the USState Department for further processing and adjudication. The National Visa Center (NVC) acts as something of a clearinghouse for approved K visa petitions as they are responsible with making sure that the visa application gets to the United States Embassy or Consulate with appropriate jurisdiction to process the visa application.
It would seem as though officials at the NVC made the decision that the K-3 visa category no longer served its original purpose where the underlying Immigrant visa petition receives adjudication before the K-3 visa petition. Thus, the American State Department made the policy that K-3 visa applications would be "administratively closed" if an adjudicated Immigrant visa petition for the same couple arrives at NVC before, or at the same time as, the K-3 petition. Shortly before the the promulgation of this policy, it usually took approximately eight months from initial USCIS petition submission until final visa application adjudication to get a K-3 visa, assuming few delays. Meanwhile, it takes about 11-12 months to obtain a CR-1 visa or an IR-1 visa from initial USCIS submission until final decision regarding a visa application. Although, this calculation does not take into consideration the fact that an approved Immigrant visa petition petition usually results in the issuance of either a CR-1 visa or an IR-1 visa, assuming visa application approval and depending upon the circumstances of the parties. A CR-1 visa or an IR-1 visa confers lawful permanent residence to the bearer upon admission to the USA. This cannot be said for the K-3 visa holder as this person would still need to apply for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence which can be both financially costly and require the expense time, energy, and resources. For the aforementioned reasons, there are some who feel that the possible gains in speed attributable to the K-3 visa process did not greatly offset the superior benefits of classic immigrant visa status in theform of instantaneous lawful permanent residence upon admission to the United States.



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