Passport expiry likely to coincide with K1 visa issue date. How to proceed?

Question

I am a UK citizen, my fiance is a US citizen.

In June 2020 my fiance (petitioner) and myself (beneficiary) filed a I-129F petition for a K1 visa for entry to the USA. The petition was approved in January and to our knowledge is being processed at the NVC. I am awaiting information from the consulate regarding the DS160 and embassy interview etc.

My current passport is due to expire in April this year (2021). It is possible that the visa will be issued before or after the expiry date.

As I understand it, a new passport takes approximately 3 weeks to be issued and the old one must be sent off to be invalidated and returned. The new passport will have a new passport number that will not match the passport number on the I-129F petition.

If I apply for a new passport now, and have both new and invalidated old in hand at the time of the interview, will this be acceptable? Must visas be issued in the same passport as given in the original petition? Can visas be issued in an expired or invalidated passport providing a new valid passport is present?

Answer 1

The passport that you give to them to issue the visa on does not have to be the same passport number as on the petition. (In fact, I don't think you are even required to have a passport at the time of the petition.)

The visa cannot be issued on an expired passport. It can only be issued on a valid passport. However, a visa that is issued on a valid passport is still valid after the passport expires (if the visa hasn't expired), and can be used in conjunction with a new passport.