If a US citizen marries a non-citizen, the non-citizen is immediately
eligible for an immigrant visa as an immediate relative of the US citizen. If the spouse is
still in another country there is a few paths that you can follow to obtain permanent
resident status for your spouse. The US has three visas you and your spouse can
apply for while your alien spouse is still abroad.
The first is a K-3 visa. A K-3 visa is a nonimmigrant visa
that allows an alien spouse to travel to the US and live in the US while a
petition is being considered. It allows for family unity while USCIS is
considering an I-130 petition and processing the rest of the paperwork for a
green card. An alien spouse will need to adjust status once they get to the US.
However over time, the processing time has become quicker for I-130 petitions
and a K-3 visa won’t always be approved before an I-130 and once an I-130
petition is approved an alien spouse abroad needs to obtain a CR1 or IR1 visa (or regular consular processing abroad).
A CR1 visa is an immigrant visa and an alien does not need
to further adjust status once they come to the US. A CR1 visa grants
conditional resident status and allows the immigrant to travel to the US to
obtain their green card. If the couple has been married for longer than 2 years
then they can apply for a IR1 visa and get permanent resident status without
conditions.
In all cases, an I-130 petition needs to be filed for the
alien spouse. A petition for a K-3 visa may be filed at the same time and there
is no filing fee for the K-3 visa. An I-130 petition must be approved before
you can apply for an immigrant visa. Which is the advantage of applying for a
K-3 when you file your I-130, because they are simultaneously considered and if
the K-3 visa is approved before the I-130 is then the alien can travel to the
United States. The CR1 and IR1 (DS-260) is processed at the US embassy abroad
where the alien will wait for their visa.
