I MARRIED A FOREIGN NATIONAL, WHAT DO I DO NOW?

Congratulations. Now, welcome to the wonderful world of U.S. immigration law. Immigration laws for family members are not very friendly. There is plenty of information out there about marriage based visas for spouses of U.S. citizens. But what about marriage based visas for spouse of legal permanent residents or green card holders? What are their options? The process for filing a marriage based immigrant visa is essentially the same for U.S. citizens and green card holders. The difference is the amount of time it takes to get an I-130 approved. For U.S. citizens, an I-130 marriage visa can be approved within five to six months after submission. This is because certain relationships qualify for immediate relative status. These relationships include husband/wife, parent/minor child, adult child/parent. Immediate relative status is the golden status for immigration purposes. Qualifying for this status does not mean that you move ahead of the line, it means that you move past the line completely. Beneficiaries of such relationship statuses do not have to wait for a visa number to become available and thus can travel into the U.S. as green card holders as soon as the processing by USCIS and Department of State is complete.

Green card holders on the other hand do not benefit from any such qualification. Spouses of green card holders have to wait in line for a visa number to become available. Currently, the waiting time for a spouse of a U.S. citizen is approximately four years for most countries. That is a very long wait for a marriage and unfortunately nothing can be done without congressional intervention. But what many green card holders sometimes forget is that they may qualify for naturalization. A process the completion of which upgrade and move the marriage based visa petition along. Green card holders wait too long to file for citizenship. There is always a possibility of simultaneously filing for both a N400 Application for Naturalization and I-130 Marriage Based Immigrant Visa Petition. This way both applications are processed at approximately the same time and the naturalization can be approved while the I-130 is pending. You have to wait for a visa number to become available anyway so why not be productive during that time and get your U.S. citizenship as well.

Visa Lawyer Group is an immigration law firm that provides legal assistance to clients around the world. Our immigration lawyers can be contacted to work on a variety of immigration related issues. For more information please schedule a free consultation, email us at info@visalawyergroup.com or call us at (845) 353-3500. Our immigration and visa lawyers are based in New York with offices in Nyack and Manhattan. Learn more about Visa Lawyer Group.