Marriage Visa

In any marriage based immigrant petition, the first step is always to file an I-130 immigrant visa. The I-130, also know as a marriage visa, is filed by the U.S. citizen spouse. At time of filing the Petitioner will need to prove to USCIS that he/she and the foreign national entered the marriage in good faith and not strictly of immigration purposes. Proof can be provided in the form of evidence of the relationship prior to the marriage. Time and place of the marriage is usually not an issue with a marriage based visa petition.

The second step in the green card process is usually either Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing. If the foreign national is in the United States, he/she has the option of either filing for an adjustment of status here in the United States or applying for an immigrant visa at a Consulate abroad via consular processing. If foreign national decides to file for Adjustment of Status, he/she would file an AOS Application along with the I-130 Marriage Petition. Once the petition is filed, the foreign national may have restrictions on travel outside the U.S. He/she will have to apply for Advance Parole, a form of travel permission, before any travel outside the United States can take place. If the foreign national leaves without permission, the application is deemed abandoned. The foreign national would apply for Advance Parole along with the Adjustment of Status Application. Once both, I-130 and I-485, applications are processed the Petitioner and Beneficiary will have to submit to a joint marriage interview before an immigration officer. When approved, the foreign national’s passport will be stamped and he/she will receive a physical card in the mail. It is very important that any application for advance parole is filed prior to the expiration of the foreign national’s current I-94. It is important to note that if the foreign national has incurred any unlawful presence in the United States then any travel outside the United States, even with an approved advance parole, is prohibited. If the foreign national leaves the U.S. then he/she may become subject to the 3 or 10 year bar. Please consult a qualified visa attorney before making any travel arrangements.

If the foreign national decides to apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad, then the Petitioner would file what is called a stand alone I-130 Marriage Visa Application. Once the petition is approved, the application will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) for processing. NVC will request documentation and once submitted will send the application to the U.S. Embassy having jurisdiction over the Beneficiary’s place of residence. The foreign national will have to submit to an interview at the Embassy. Once interviewed and approved, the foreign national’s passport will be stamped and he/she will have six months within which to move to America. The foreign national will enter the United States as a green card holder and receive a physical card in the mail. Unlike the requirement to obtain an advance parole for travel, a foreign national with just a stand alone I-130 pending has no restrictions on travel. For example, foreign nationals from Visa Waiver countries have traveled in and out of the United States while their I-130s have been pending. They do have to show non-immigrant intent via ties to the foreign country including children, work commitments and a return ticket.

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.

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.

My Marriage Fell Apart, What is Going to Happen to Me?

Marriage is a union between two individuals. It is a promise made between two people to take care of each other until their dying breath. Marriage works in theory but the reality of the situation is that sometimes what started out as a genuine affection turns into something else. The truth is that sometimes marriages just don’t work out. In normal circumstances when a marriage falls apart, the couples file for divorce and go their separate ways. But what happens if one of the spouses is a conditional green card holder? This area of immigration law is very complex and shaped by case law on a regular basis which is why an immigration or visa lawyer may be necessary.

Ideally, if you received a green card through marriage to a United States Citizen and the marriage was less than two years old at the time of filing then certain conditions will apply. First of all, the foreign national applicant will only receive a two year conditional green card at the end of which the green card would expire. This condition was created to weed out marriage fraud. The theory behind it was that if your marriage is genuine it will last for the entire two years and if it was not the marriage would fail. Secondly, any foreign national who holds a conditional green card is required to file a joint petition to remove the conditions within 90 days of the two year marriage anniversary. If the couple is together, the joint application is submitted along with supporting documentation and it is normally approved based solely on the submitted paperwork.

Although many couples file joint petitions, sometimes the marriages that were genuine at first fall apart within two years. U.S. immigration policy makers understand that sometimes thing happen and have allowed foreign nationals file for removal of conditions on their own. The immigration system has adjudicated and approved many cases where the marriages were entered into in good faith but due to some circumstances they did not last. If a joint petition is not possible due to death, divorce or separation, the foreign national can file for a waiver of the requirement to file a joint petition to remove conditions. The foreign national has to prove that although the marriage was entered into in good faith it has now ended. Timing is very important when it comes to removal of condition cases. When you file is just as important as what you file.

Foreign nationals who will need to file a waiver of the joint petition requirement should speak to an experienced U.S. visa lawyer. A qualified immigration attorney will sit down with you and discuss all of your options. Misunderstanding the timing and procedures involved can lead to the denial of your application and the initiation of removal proceedings against you. Please remember that policy and case law in this area of immigration law is constantly changing so having an attorney in your corner can be very helpful.

Visa Lawyer Group provides individuals with expertise in immigration and visa laws. Our immigration and U.S. visa lawyers will help you process your I-751 Removal of Conditions so that you can stay in the U.S. even if your marriage did not work out. You can contact us at (845)-353-3500 or info@visalawyergroup.com. You can also schedule a free consulation or chat online with one of our lawyers by clicking on the chat button in the corner of the screen. Visa Lawyer Group has offices in New York so please visit our immigration and visa lawyers in our Nyack, New York and Manhattan, New York City offices.

What is a marriage visa? What is a K-3 Spousal visa? Is there a difference?

Simply enough, a marriage visa is an immigrant visa that allows the spouse of a U.S. citizen to enter the United States to live here on a permanent basis. It is also wildly popular as an I-130 and IR-1 but at the end of the day, they all mean the same thing. The process starts here in America with the U.S. citizen spouse; he/she has to file a petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A marriage visa can be processed in one of two ways; if the foreign national spouse is in the United States on a valid visa, then the marriage visa petition can be filed concurrently with an application to adjust status. If the foreign national spouse is outside of the United States, the marriage visa petition is filed alone and the adjustment process is done overseas in what is called consular processing. Either way, the process can take anywhere from six to nine months. There have been instances in the past where the processing of the I-130 would take more than five months. This delay in processing affected those couples who were proceeding with consular processing. Therefore, Congress introduced and put to use the K-3 visa category. A K-3 visa is a non-immigrant visa category allowing foreign national spouses’ who already had a marriage visa petition filed on their behalf to travel to America and wait of the processing here. This category was introduced for the sole purpose of bringing married couples close together. It is not an alternative to filing a marriage visa petition. In fact, an applicant cannot qualify for a K-3 spousal visa unless an I-130 marriage visa petition has been filed first. The spouse can enter America on a K-3 and remain here until the I-130 is finished processing. Once the I-130 is approved, the spouse then has to file for an adjustment of status. It used to be that K-3 visas were processed faster than I-130 and therefore were more preferable. But now, the processing time for both types of visa is approximately the same time making the K-3 obsolete. It is cost prohibitive to file for both an I-130 and K-3 especially when they are both taking the same amount of time to be approved. If an I-130 is approved before a K-3, the U.S. Consulate will not go forward with the K-3 and will continue on to process the marriage visa.