After a US citizen marries a non-citizen, if non-citizen desires to receive an Immigration status while in the US, the couple will need to submit certain application forms and supporting documents to the USCIS so that the non-citizen can adjust status to become a permanent resident or a green cardholder. This is true for those couples where a non-US citizen can actually adjust. If a person can adjust, is a vast topic, and this article is not covering it. This article is focusing on the forms that a person needs to submit to the USCIS for a successful application. For example, it is important to know that if a non-citizen entered the country illegally she/he will need a waiver of unlawful presence to be able to receive a green card. A non-citizen also may face a bar to adjustment due to criminal convictions, previous Immigration issues, and more.
At the Yankey Immigration Law Group, Pllc, we help clients to navigate the complex waters of Immigration Law. If you need a consultation for your adjustment of status case, please call us to reserve it at 615-530-5360.
A non-U.S. citizen may gain the right to live and work permanently in the U.S. through a petition filed by a family member. If the sponsor is a U.S. Citizen, they may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the U.S:
“Immediate Relatives” refers to parents, spouses, and children (who are unmarried and under 21 years of age) of a U.S. citizen. Immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen can immigrate to the United States without being subject to any numerical restrictions, unlike other close family members of U.S. citizens and/or permanent residents. Other close family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents are divided into several groups called “Preferences”. Each Preference is given a numerical quota per year to limit the number of immigrants admitted into the United States. Other close family members of a U.S. citizen can qualify to immigrate to the United States, but unlike immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen, they are subject to a numerical limit of US immigrant visas available to them each year. Close family members are divided into several groups called “Preferences”. The higher the Preference, the quicker the alien will be eligible for a green card. If the sponsor is a lawful permanent resident, they may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the U.S.:
At the Yankey Immigration Law Group, Pllc, we help clients to navigate the complex waters of Immigration Law. If you need a consultation to determine if you qualify, please call us to schedule consultation with our experienced lawyers at 615-530-5360.
The Lawyers at the Yankey Law Group, Pllc helps families to unite and stay together in the USA. The US Immigration process can be lengthy, costly, and frustrating. There are options that are available to US citizens only, and there are some that are available to green card holders only. Choosing the right path is crucial to accomplish your Immigration goals.
If Your Spouse Is A US Citizen
Let’s first talk about options available to those married to US citizens. These are the options for those US citizens, whose partners are overseas.
A US citizen, unlike a green card holder, may invite his/her fiancé (a person he/she is not married yet) on a fiancé visa; may get married to the person overseas and apply for an immediate relative visa and go through what is known as consular processing. Each option has its own pros and cons. If you have to choose between a fiancé K1 visa and marriage visa, consider these points below:
A fiancé visa or K1 visa option will be good for those who cannot or have not decided to marry immediately. There are its own qualifications for the fiancé petition (form I-129F that should be submitted to USCIS by the US citizens on behalf of the non-citizen), the main of which would be that the petitioner (the US citizen) should meet the fiancé in person within the 2 years prior to the petition to be submitted and that the couple has to have the intention to get married within 90 days of the fiancé’s arrival. The drawbacks of the K1 visa are that the process may not be faster than the one for an immediate relative visa (contrary to popular belief) and that upon arrival, the couple has to meet tight deadlines, and after marriage, the non-citizen has to submit her/his application for adjustment of status before he/she can become a green cardholder. Coupled with the fact that the marriage-based green card holder is likely to receive only a conditional residence when files for the adjustment of status after K1 visa, and then will have to file for removal of the condition on the green card, the fiancé visa process means the spouses will have to file various paperwork with the US Immigration authorities three times before the non-citizen can file for the US citizenship… There is one big plus to the fiancé visa, but it is relevant only for those who have aging out non-citizen children: a fiancé visa holder can bring to the US his/her children-dependent, those who are under 21 years of age. When a couple marries first, only children who were under 18 years of age before the marriage with the US citizen, will be able to be sponsored by the US citizen as his/her step-children.
Couples that can get married overseas, may choose an immediate relative visa option. The main qualification here would be that the marriage has to be recognized as “legally valid” in the place where it took place; proxy marriages are strongly disfavored. After the marriage, a US citizen can start the “sponsorship” process by submitting an immediate relative petition, a form I 130 with USCIS, and attaching proof of bona fide marriage (evidence of the marriage being real), and form I 130A. Once the petition is approved, the approval will be transferred to the National Visa Center (NVC), and the NVC will coordinate the collection of the documents, an affidavit of support, and payment of the Immigrant visa fees for the next step: an interview for an immediate relative that would take at a consular where the non-citizen is residing. The drawback of the process is that it may take a little bit longer due to the NVC processing; the non-citizen will be subject to the public charge test at the time of the visa interview; and if there are children involved, the citizen will have to sponsor each member of the family separately, paying separate fees for each petition.
If a spouse is waiting to become a US citizen, it is still possible to sponsor the non-citizen. When the non-citizen is overseas, a green card holder may just like a US citizen, submit I 130 form for the spouse. But, a K1 fiancé visa is not available for the green card holders. Also, when filing I 130, a green card holder may file one petition for the spouse and minor children, unlike when a petitioner is a US citizen and is sponsoring a family: in which case separate petitions have to be submitted for each family member. The petition processing times for spouses of green card holders are slightly longer than for those of US citizens, even though the priority date is almost current in recent times. A priority date is a date determining how fast a line for immigrant visas of spouses of green card holders is moving: immediate relatives (spouses of US citizens) do not have priority dates at all, they face only processing times. Priority dates are determined by the Visa Bulletin. The consular processing for a spouse of a green card holder is going to be the same as for the spouse of a US citizen.
Finally, if the spouse of a green card holder is in the US, he/she may be able to file for adjustment of status after marriage, but only if can prove both “legal” entry and that he/she has maintained lawful nonimmigrant status prior to submitting his/her adjustment of status application; plus the visa number (priority date) has to be current at the time of the filing for adjustment. Asylum pending status, adjustment pending status do not constitute lawful non-immigrant status. As such, many with lapsed status have to wait for the spouse to become a US citizen, at which time, the “illegal” presence, lapsed status, absence of lawful nonimmigrant status, and even unauthorized employment will be automatically forgiven to the beneficiary of an immediate relative petition.
At the Yankey Immigration Law Group, Pllc, we help clients to navigate the complex waters of Immigration Law. If you need a consultation to determine if you qualify, please call us to schedule consultation with our experienced lawyers at 615-530-5360.