K1 Fiancee Visas: a statistical breakdown (2002-2004)

From the start of fiscal year 2002 to the end of fiscal year 2004 (this is how the government tells time, people), over 5,000 K1 fiancee visas were issued within the Russian Federation, while neighboring Ukraine had more than 3,700 issued to its citizens. This combined total accounts for about ten percent of the 88,696 K1 visas issued worldwide during that same period. (Asia leads the way, receiving approximately half of all such visas issued in any given year. During the last three fiscal years, Vietnam received the most in Asia (11,792) followed by the Phillipines (10,697) and then China (6,224).

While Asia sets the pace on a global level, the Former Soviet Union commandeers the attention in Europe. Of the ten European countries that received the most K1 visas in the years 2002, 2003 and 2004, at least four were former Soviet Republics (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Uzbekistan) and another two were former Soviet satelites (Romania and Poland). Perhaps most impressive is the number of visas issued to tiny, impoverished Moldova, a country ravaged by the ills of human trafficking, and Belarus, which is still a relatively closed society.

The yearly breakdowns follow:

2002, Nonimmigrants admitted to the United States on a K1 Visa (by country)

1,447 - Russia*
1,266 - Ukraine*
961 - United Kingdom
287 - Germany
241 - Poland
202 - Romania
117 - France
111 - Netherlands
95 - Belarus
80 - Moldova

Other former Soviet Republics: Kazakhstan (56), Latvia (48), Lithuania (46), Uzbekistan (46), Kyrgyzstan (36), Armenia (25), Estonia (21), Azerbaijan (14), Georgia (7), Turkmenistan (4) and Tajikistan (0).

* 442 visas were also issued for dependents of Russians receiving K1 visas. 524 such visas were issued to Ukrainians.

2003, Nonimmigrants admitted to the United States on a K1 Visa (by country)

1,814 - Russia
1,195 - Ukraine
976 - United Kingdom
253 - Germany
240 - Poland
192 - Romania
135 - Belarus
131 - France
80 - Ireland
65 - Uzbekistan

Former Soviet Republics: Moldova (76), Kazakhstan (61), Lithuania (57), Kyrgyzstan (48), Armenia (47), Latvia (44), Estonia (31), Azerbaijan (12), Georgia (11), Turkmenistan (6) and Tajikstan (Disclosure standards not met).

*Only six visas were issued to children of Ukrainians who had a pending immigration visa, such as a K1. Disclosure standards were not met in Russia. If you know what changed this year as opposed to the previous year, when there were so many more dependent-visas issued, please comment here.

2004, Nonimmigrants admitted to the United States on a K1 Visa (by country)

2,046 - Russia*
1,400 - Ukraine*
1,082 - United Kingdom
345 - Germany
323 - Romania
293 - Poland
152 - Belarus
130 - France
102 - Uzbekistan
98 - The Netherlands

Former Soviet Republics: Moldova (85), Kazakhstan (81), Lithuania (64), Kyrgyzstan (57), Latvia (48), Armenia (37), Estonia (27), Azerbaijan (21), Georgia (16), Turkmenistan (3), and Tajikistan (Disclosure standards not met).

* 10 visas issued to Russian dependents of those with a pending immigration visa. Six such visas issued to Ukrainians.

To put this into further perspective, in 1998, the year before everything went dot-com, 13,748 K1 visas were granted worldwide, with only 3,976 given to Europeans and 1,828 of those distributed within the Former Soviet Union (though for some reason the Baltic States were not included in that statistical grouping -- they had an additional 106 between them, with the fewest, 12, in beautiful Estonia, which I had the pleasure of visiting last summer. I wouldn't leave Estonia either. I can't wait to go back.)

For more information on the K1 Visa process -- in short, it ain't easy -- visit the webpage of the US Embassy in Kyiv.

All statistics supplied by the Office of Immigration Statistics, a division of the Department of Homeland Security that is in dire need of a new name. Come to America, where you're not just a citizen -- you're a statistic!