alt Hacker News> So, for example, the citizen could marry their fiancé in the fiance’s home country.[1] And they’d use 1154 to petition for permanent residency. The K1 visa just allows the marriage to happen in the U.S. but is unrelated to the ultimate basis for permanent residency.
Per my immigration attorney, the K-1 entirely bypasses 8 USC 1154 at the petition stage. 1154 governs immigrant visa petitions (I-130, I-140, I-360, etc.). The I-129F is technically a nonimmigrant petition even though it's understood by everyone as a pre-immigration vehicle.
K-1 AOS does not require a separate I-130. The approved I-129F plus the marriage to the petitioner supplies the petition basis. This is one of the cleaner cases where 8 USC 1154 is genuinely sidestepped, not merely deferred.
For K-1s, the path to residency is firstly via 8 USC 1186a, and is automatic and statutory, granting the conditional LPR.
Then at 2 years of marriage, 8 USC 1186a again handles the removal of conditions.
However, many attorneys will file I-130s, according to her, and such, simultaneously, though not required if you follow the process to the letter. And that does go via 1154.
USCIS forms aren't the law. The statute is the law. And however USCIS has chosen to structure its forms, the legal basis for a K1 visa holder's eligibility for permanent residency isn't the K1 visa itself, but instead other provisions of the law that confer eligibility for permanent residency on immediate family members of citizens.
This CRS report examples: https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20151215_R44310_34af119...
"Once in the United States, the K-1 nonimmigrant is required to marry the U.S. citizen petitioner within 90 days. K-1 visa holders are permitted to work in the United States during this time if they file for employment authorization. The foreign national is eligible for lawful permanent residence as an immediate relative if the marriage takes place within 90 days and the fiancé(e) is otherwise admissible."
It's the status as an immediate relative of a citizen that confers eligibility, not the visa itself.