Adjustment of Status for K1 Visa

What is Adjustment of Status?

Adjustment of Status is the procedure for aliens to change from a nonimmigrant status to immigrant status without leaving the United States. Those who adjust status become a lawful U.S. Permanent Resident. The alien is required to have been inspected, admitted or paroled into the United States.

Before applying for adjustment of status, there are three aspects which the alien must understand.

1. The alien who entered the United States must have been inspected, admitted, or paroled into the United States. An alien who entered the United States without inspection (sneaking across the border), is not eligible for adjustment and must pursue visa processing at a consulate, even if his is an "immediate relative" of a U.S. citizen.
2. Any violation of U.S. immigration status in the alien’s history, including a brief overstay or unauthorized employment, may disqualify most aliens (not "immediate relatives" of U.S. Citizens and some employment-based immigrations) from adjusting status.
3. Travel outside the United States without advance parole or existing permission may cancel a pending adjustment of status application and may prevent the alien from reentering the United States.

In order to apply for an adjustment of status, an immigrant visa must be immediately available to the alien when his or her adjustment application is filed. This is not a problem in the case of a K-1 or K-3 Visa holders because an unlimited number of "green cards" (permanent residence cards) can be issued to immigrants who are immediate relatives, i.e. spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21.