Maintaining Dual Intent for Immigration Purposes

The Dual Intent Doctrine is a legal concept that occasionally arises in United States jurisprudence, specifically Immigration and Nationality law. It was designed in an attempt to square the circle for those aliens entering the United States on a non-immigrant visa with long term intentions of establishing a residence. Pursuant to the American Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) a non-immigrant can be denied access to the United States either at the Embassy level (through visa denial) or at the port of entry in the United States should the competent authorities decide that the applicant is actually intending to immigrate. For example, many applicants are denied a US tourist visa due to a failure to show sufficiently “strong ties” to their home country (ties compelling enough to leave the United States). The Doctrine of Dual intent creates visas which allow the visa holder to simultaneously have both the intention to remain in the US short term and the intention to remain in the US long term. Examples of visa categories which utilize the dual intent doctrine are the L1 visas and the H1b visas. Each of these work visas legally allow the foreign national to have immigrant intent, but gain entry to the US on a non-immigrant visa. In the field of American visas for foreign loved ones, the K1 visa is the quintessential instance in which a visa’s issuance is based upon the dual intent of the applicant. The bearer of an American fiance visa is permitted to request admission to the USA at a port of entry. Initially, the bearer of a US K1 visa is categorized as a non-immigrant and the visa, once utilized, will remain valid for a period not exceeding ninety days. However, the bearer of the visa is allowed to get married to their American fiance and apply for permanent residence via adjustment of status. If applying for most visas, an applicant with dual intent would be denied a visa, or be barred from entering the United States. In certain cases, American Immigration legislation has created special exceptions to general rules in order to deal with extraordinary situations.