When it comes to immigration, tiny details carry enormous consequences. I’ve seen this play out countless times in my practice, and few examples are as clear-cut as what happened with two couples who both filed their K-1 fiancée visas around the same time.
One couple came to us at JQK Law. We filed their case, included every required document, and their fiancée’s visa was approved in approximately one year. The other couple, in a similar situation, had a similar background, filed on their own, and ended up waiting 18 months for the same result. The six-month difference came down to a single document they forgot to include: the intent-to-marry letter.
What is the intent-to-marry letter?
When you file a K-1 fiancée visa, the process starts with USCIS Form I-129F, the Petition for Alien Fiancé(e). This is the first major step in bringing your foreign fiancée to the United States so you can get married and begin the green card process.
Along with the I-129F, you are required to include supporting documents that demonstrate your relationship is genuine and that you meet the legal requirements for this visa. One of those requirements is that both you and your fiancé are legally free to marry. That’s where the intent-to-marry letter comes in.
The intent to marry letter is a personal statement, written by the U.S. citizen petitioner, that confirms two key things: that you are currently single and legally able to get married, and that it is your genuine intention to marry your fiancé within 90 days of their arrival in the United States on the K-1 visa. That 90-day window is not optional. It’s built into the visa itself. If you don’t get married within that timeframe, your fiancé must leave the country.
Why do people forget it?
On paper, it sounds simple. Write a letter saying you’re single and you plan to get married. How could anyone forget that? The reality is that the K-1 visa and I-129F visa package requires a significant number of documents: proof of U.S. citizenship, evidence of a genuine relationship, photographs, meeting evidence, divorce decrees or death certificates if applicable, and more. When someone is navigating this process alone for the first time, without an attorney guiding them, it’s easy for a required document to fall through the cracks, especially one that isn’t prominently flagged in the official instructions.
Many self-filers also assume that if they fill out the form correctly, the government will ask for anything missing. That’s technically true, but at a high cost.
The cost of a Request for Evidence
When USCIS reviews an I-129F visa petition and finds that the intent to marry letter is missing, they don’t simply reject the case. Instead, they issue what’s called a Request for Evidence, commonly referred to as an RFE. This is a formal notice asking you to provide the missing document within a specified timeframe.
Here’s the problem: that RFE typically doesn’t arrive until months after you filed your petition. By that point, your case has already been sitting in the queue for some time. Once you respond to the RFE and submit the missing letter, the government needs additional time to review your response. That review can take anywhere from a few weeks to several additional months.
In the case I described earlier, the missing intent to marry letter triggered an RFE that ultimately pushed the approval timeline back by six full months. Six months of waiting for a letter that takes about 10 minutes to write and one page to submit.
What should the letter actually say?
The intent to marry letter doesn’t need to be elaborate, but it does need to be complete. At a minimum, it should include your name and immigration status, that you are currently unmarried and able to marry, that you have a bona fide intention to marry your named fiancé, and that you plan to do so within 90 days of their arrival in the United States. It should be signed and dated. Some applicants also include a brief description of how the couple met or the current nature of the relationship, though the core legal statements are what matter most.
When we prepare this letter for our clients at JQK Law, we ensure it clearly addresses all required elements and is appropriately formatted for the petition package. It’s a small piece of a much larger application, but it’s one that, if missing, can stop your case in its tracks.
The bigger lesson: small mistakes create big delays in immigration
The intent to marry letter is just one example of how an overlooked detail can cost months of precious time. Immigration forms come with specific instructions, and those instructions often reference supporting documents that aren’t always obvious to someone without legal training. The stakes are high. Processing times are already long. An RFE doesn’t just add paperwork; it adds months to an already stressful process during which couples are living apart, often across different countries and time zones.
This is exactly why a thorough legal review matters. An experienced immigration attorney won’t just fill out the form; they’ll build the complete petition package, anticipate what USCIS is looking for, and include every document the first time around. That upfront attention is what separates a 12-month case from an 18-month one.
If you’re considering filing your fiancée visa on your own, I’m not here to tell you it’s impossible. But I am telling you that the risk of an RFE, and the months-long delays that come with it, is very real and very avoidable with the right help.
Want to make sure your K-1 petition is complete from day one? Download our free 70+ page Ultimate Marriage Green Card Guide, or join Attorney John Kasrai live every Tuesday at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET on YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok. You can also book a one-on-one consultation at JQK Law to go over your specific situation.
Schedule a consultation at JQKLaw.com/contact
