NorthJersey.com
They expected to be together this Valentine’s Day, sharing a romantic meal perhaps, holding hands and planning their future as newlyweds in the United States.
Instead, Jason Eidelstein of North Bergen will spend the holiday thousands of miles from his fiancée, Maira Alejandra Brandon Guerrero, who lives in Cali, Colombia. In Sierra Vista, Arizona, meanwhile, Sara Bourland plans to reminisce over old photos in a video call with her betrothed, Benjamin Stevenson of Fife, Scotland.
The engaged couples are among thousands who have been forced to live apart over the past year not only because of COVID-19 travel restrictions but also because of a near-complete pause by the U.S. State Department in issuing K-1 visas. Those documents permit foreign-born fiancées of U.S. citizens to move legally to America to get married.