Fiancé(e)s of American Citizens

A fiancé(e) is a person who is engaged or contracted to be married.  The marriage must be legally possible according to laws of the state in the U.S. where the marriage will take place.  In general, the two people must have met in person within the past two years.  The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) grants exceptions to this requirement in limited cases. Sometimes the USCIS considers a person a "fiancé(e)" even though a marriage contract has been concluded.  In such cases, the American citizen petitioner and his/her spouse have not met, and they have not consummated the marriage.

If you are an American citizen and you want your foreign fiancé(e) to travel to the U.S. to marry you and live in the U.S., you must file the Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), Form I-129F, with the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office that serves the area where you live.  You cannot file this petition at an embassy, consulate or U.S. immigration office abroad.

After the USCIS approves the petition, it sends the petition to the National Visa Center for processing, who will forward the petition to the U.S. Embassy in Freetown.  Once the U.S. Embassy in Freetown received the approved petition, it will send a set of instructions for K non-immigrant visa applicants to the fiancé(e) at the address provided on the petition.

Extending the Petition

The I-129F petition is valid for four months from the date of approval from USCIS. Consular officers can extend the validity of the petition (revalidate the petition) if it expires before the processing of the visa application is completed.

Contacting the U.S. Embassy in Freetown

If you believe your I-129F has been approved and forwarded to the U.S. Embassy in Freetown, please email consularfreetown@state.gov.  Please put the words "K visa applicant" in the subject line and provide the name of the petitioner, the name of beneficiary and the case number in the body of the email.  Without this information, the U.S. Embassy cannot research your case.

Transferring your case from Dakar to Freetown

If your case was sent to Embassy Dakar and has not yet been processed, it is likely eligible for transfer to Freetown.  Send an e-mail addressed to consularfreetown@state.gov and consulardakar@state.gov with "K1 Transfer Request" and the case number in the subject line.  Provide the name of the petitioner, the name of beneficiary and the case number in the body of the email.