Many people believe that marriage to a U.S. citizen or green card holder is the simplest route for a foreign national to become a permanent resident of the U.S. To encourage family togetherness, the U.S. allows U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their spouses and other family members for U.S. Green Cards. If you are a foreign national and marry a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident, you will be eligible for a US Green Card. This applies to both domestic and international marriages.
To qualify, however, you must demonstrate that you and your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse are legally married and that your marriage is real. Similarly, you must demonstrate that neither you nor your spouse are married to anyone else.
Your marriage cannot be a fake marriage, and you cannot have married for immigration purposes. Citizens and permanent residents of the United States can marry foreign nationals both in the United States and overseas. People who marry US citizens, initially granted two-year Green Cards with conditions on their residence, and when those cards are about to expire, conditional residents, along with their U.S. citizen or permanent residents’ spouses, must jointly file applications to have the conditions removed, by filing Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence, to obtain permanent resident cards valid for ten years.
If you are married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, your spouse must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, on your behalf in order for you to be sponsored. Immigrant petitions filed by U.S. residents on behalf of their direct relatives are typically processed by USCIS in about two months. After the USCIS authorizes your spouse’s Form I-130, you may petition for an immigrant visa in your native country.
You can go to the United States as a permanent resident if your petition is approved and you receive an immigrant visa. Immigrant visas will be issued promptly to the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, and you will not be placed on a waiting list. As a result, you will be awarded a visa as soon as your petition is approved.
You can simultaneously file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, for status adjustment and permanent residency if you are in the country when your U.S. citizen spouse files Form I-130 on your behalf.
If you marry a U.S. citizen while you are in the country on a non-immigrant visa, when your spouse files Form I-130 on your behalf, you can change your status to that of a permanent resident by filing Form I-485. In this situation, returning home to apply for an immigrant visa and going through consular processing are not necessary. You will receive a conditional, two-year Green Card upon the approval of your petition.
Forms that must be submitted along with Form I-130 and Form I-485 are:
- From I-130A, Supplemental Information for a Spouse Beneficiary
- Form I-864, Affidavit of Support
- Form I-693, Medical Examination by a certified civil surgeon
- Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (if needed)
- Form I-131, Application for a Travel Document (if needed)
You must submit these USCIS documents together with:
- copies of your and your spouse’s birth certificates
- copies of your passport copies of your spouse’s naturalization certificate, passport, or US citizenship certificate Form G-325A (one for you and one for your US citizen spouse)
- copy of your divorce decree and marriage certificate (if any)
Your U.S. citizen spouse must first submit Form I-130 on your behalf if you get married to a U.S. citizen abroad. Before obtaining an immigrant visa, you cannot enter America. However, as soon as the USCIS approves the Form I-130 submitted by your U.S. citizen spouse, you can apply right away for an immigrant visa. After your U.S. citizen spouse submits Form I-130 and the USCIS approves it, the petition is sent to the U.S. Consulate or Embassy in your native country. You will need to apply for an immigrant visa in person at the relevant embassy or consulate.
Since there won’t be a waiting list for direct family members of U.S. citizens, you won’t have to wait long to get a visa and will get one as soon as your petition is approved. The necessary fees must be paid, and your petition must be submitted with the aforementioned supporting documentation. You will be informed by the National Visa Center when your petition for an immigrant visa has been granted, and you will then need to show up for a medical test and fingerprints. An immigration visa will then be granted after an interview. You are able to visit America with this visa and obtain a Green Card there. You will only receive a two-year Green Card, so keep that in mind.
It’s important to keep in mind that a conditional Green Card is only good for two years and cannot be renewed. You must submit a petition to have the restrictions on your card lifted by the conclusion of the two-year period, and you and your spouse who is a U.S. citizen must file Form I-751 in order to do so. You will lose your status in America and be deported if you neglect to submit this form before the expiration of your conditional status.
After submitting this petition, you will need to attend an interview with your spouse to confirm that you are still legally married to your U.S. citizen spouse. The immigration officers will approve your petition and provide you an unconditional Green Card with a ten-year validity period if they find that your marriage is sincere. You must include copies of your conditional Green Card and documentary proof that you did not get married for immigration reasons when you file Form I-751, such as joint bank accounts, insurance papers, birth certificates of your children, joint utility bills, or other pertinent documents to
If your spouse is a permanent resident and submits Form I-130 on your behalf, you cannot file an application for adjustment of status. Prior to submitting Form I-485, you must wait until your priority date becomes current.
Forms that must be filed:
- Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
- Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence
- Form G-325, Biographic Information (for both the petitioner and the beneficiary)
- Form I-864, Affidavit of Support
- A copy Form I-94 to prove that you entered into America legally
- A copy of the petitioner’s alien registration card (Green Card)
- Form I-693, Medical Examination Results
- A certified copy of the marriage certification
- Copies of your birth certificate and your spouse’s
- Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (if needed)
- Form I-131, Application for a Travel Document (if needed)
It’s possible that until the priority date becomes current, you won’t be permitted to stay in the country lawfully. You must get a non-immigrant visa if you need to remain in the United States before submitting Form I-485 in order to do so legally.
After submitting Form, I-485, you can apply for adjustment of status soon after the priority date becomes current and can stay in the country legally.
Keep in mind that you will be subject to removal procedures if your non-immigrant visa expires before your priority date becomes current. You must thus apply for a student visa or another type of non-immigrant visa that will allow you to stay in the country while you change your status. Keep in mind that the priority date may not become current for three years or more.
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