Family Based Green Cards
Green Card Through Marriage
Marriage-through Green Card is one of the categories listed under immediate-relatives Green Cards. It enables a U.S. citizen or a Green Card holder to petition his/her spouse to lawfully come, reside and work in the U.S. permanently!
Eligibility Requirements:
- The beneficiary must be legally married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Lawful marriage does not have to be in the U.S.
- The beneficiary must be married only to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Sponsoring U.S. citizen and the permanent resident must be married to only the beneficiary
- The beneficiary and the petitioner spouse must be in a bona fide relationship
FAQ:
Is there a difference between a permanent resident petitioner and a U.S. citizen petitioner?
Yes. Spouses of permanent residents are subject to availability of visa numbers while spouses of U.S citizens are not. Accordingly, spouses of U.S. citizens can do concurrent filing of I-130 Petition for Alien Relative and I-485 Adjustment of Status applications. However, spouses of Green Card holders cannot file Form I-485 until the Department of State announces in the visa bulletin that there is a Green Card available. This prevents spouses of Green Card holders from concurrent filing, which results in longer Green Card processing.
What is the application process if I am in the U.S.?
Firstly, your sponsoring spouse (whether a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident) should file Form I-130. If the sponsoring spouse is a U.S. citizen, you can file form I-130 together with I-485 concurrently. After the review of your case, you will be invited to attend an interview with the USCIS, which will then declare the result of your case.
However, as mentioned above, if the sponsoring spouse is a Green Cardholder, you cannot file Form I-130 with Form I-485 concurrently. And you need to wait to file Form I-485 until a green card is available in the bulletin released by the Department of State. The average wait time for a Green Card to be available is one and a half years.
What is the application process if I am outside the U.S.?
If you are outside of the U.S., you must go through a process known as consular processing. Consular processing requires you to attend a visa interview at your home country’s U.S. Embassy or Consulate after your Form I-130 petition is approved. Form I-130 petition must be submitted by your sponsoring spouse in the United States. Following the approval of your visa, you will be granted an immigrant visa to come to the U.S. as a permanent resident.
What is a bona fide relationship?
A bona fide relationship is the mutual, real, and potentially long-term engagement between partners that aspire to live a couple’s life in the U.S. A bona fide requires you not to exploit the Green Card category with sham or fraudulent relationships. USCIS is extremely meticulous while reviewing your relationship, so you should be ready for an all-around investigation into your couple’s status.
Are same-sex marriages included?
Yes. If you have a lawful same-sex marriage, you may seek permanent residency through your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse.
Can my children be issued Green Cards as beneficiaries of me?
It depends on whether the petitioner is a U.S citizen or green card holder. If the Petitioner is a green card holder, children who are unmarried and under age 21 are considered derivative beneficiaries. If the Petitioner is a U.S citizen, they cannot be issued a Green Card as beneficiaries and will have to go through the application process separately.
Green Card for Parent
Green Card for Parent is a type of ‘through family Green Cards’ with which parents of U.S. citizens can become permanent residents.
Eligibility Requirements:
- The sponsoring U.S. citizen child must be at least 21 years old
- Parent(s) seeking for a Green Card must also be at least 21 years old
FAQ:
Can adopted parents and step-parents be eligible for Green Card through children?
Yes! USCIS does not define paternal relation according to biological paternity. Hence, adopted and step-parents are eligible for a Green Card through their children as well.
Can same-sex couple parents be eligible for Green Card through children?
Yes. The U.S. does not discriminate against parents immigrants based on their marriage type.
Can my parents work in the U.S. if they enter the U.S. as immigrants?
Yes. If your parents are issued immigrant visas and coming to the U.S. from abroad, they will be entitled to a work permit without applying for employment authorization.
Can my parents work in the U.S. if they are already & lawfully in the U.S. and while waiting for their adjustment of status requests to be approved?
Your parents should apply for employment authorization while their adjustment of status requests pending. Upon approval of their adjustment of status requests, they can legally start working in the U.S.
Is there a limit on Green Cards for Parents?
Fortunately, no. This is because Green Cards for Parents is an immediate relative Green Card. This fact also makes Parents Green Card processing time much shorter!
Can my parents apply for a Parent Green Card if they are already in the U.S.?
Yes. For this, they need to go through a process called ‘adjustment of status’. They can adjust their nonimmigrant status by filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
Can my parents apply outside of the U.S.?
Yes. To apply, they need to go through a process called consular processing. This requires that your sponsoring children filing Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative on your behalf. After your I-130 petition is approved, they will be invited to an interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy of your home country after which they will be issued immigrant visas.
Do my parents have to live in the U.S. long-term after getting their Green Cards?
Yes. U.S. immigration laws state that America must be the primary residency for new Green Card holders. Hence, long-term departures might result in the revocation of Green Cards.
Fiancée Visa
K-1 Visa, or commonly known as Fiancée Visa, is a type of nonimmigrant visa for fiancées of U.S. citizens. The fiancée is the given name for female partners of male/female U.S. citizens, and Fiancé is the given name for male partners of female/male U.S. citizens. Getting a Fiancée Visa is the first step of getting a Green Card through marriage for partners who wish to be eligible for a Green Card via their U.S. citizen spouses.
Eligibility Requirements:
- The sponsoring spouse must be a U.S. citizen
- The couple must marry within 90 days starting with the arrival of the Fiancée
- Partners must be legally available to marry. That means they both must be unmarried.
- Partners must have met each other at least once within the last two years before the sponsoring spouse file the Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancée
- The relationship must be legitimate, not sham or fraudulent to get the Fiancée Visa.
- The U.S. citizen partner must meet certain income benchmarks to show that the couple can afford a living in the U.S.
FAQ:
Can the children of Fiancée Visa holders accompany them entering the U.S.?
The children who are unmarried and under the age of 21 can accompany Fiancées on K-2 Visa status.
Can same-sex couples apply for Fiancée Visa?
Whether the same-sex couples’ home country has legalized same-same marriages or not, they are entitled to apply for Fiancée Visa as heterosexual couples are.
Can a request for a waiver be granted for partners who have not seen each other in the last two years before the start of the application process?
Yes, this is possible! For to be eligible for a waiver from this requirement, the U.S. citizen spouse must be in a position where meeting with his/her Fiancée would
- Be against the traditions of his/her fiancée’s foreign culture or social practice
- Pose extraordinary difficulty for the U.S. citizen spouse
Can Fiancée Visa holders work in the U.S.?
They can only work for 90 days after arriving in the U.S. if Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, is filed immediately after his/her arrival. However, if the couple does marry within 90 days, the fiancée might apply for employment authorization together with the application for Green Card. This would grant him or her a year of work permission.
Can nonimmigrant partners who already and lawfully reside in the U.S. be eligible for Fiancée Visa?
No. The fiancée must not be legally in the U.S. on another visa status while applying for Fiancée Visa.
How can I prove that I am unmarried and eligible to marry a U.S. citizen?
Divorce decrees, death certificates, and annulments can be handed over to prove that you are unmarried and eligible to marry a U.S. citizen
Will the Fiancée Visa holder be eligible for Green Card after marriage?
Yes, of course! Immediately after the partners lawfully marry, the fiancée Visa holders can start the process of Green Card!
Can I extend my Fiancée Visa?
No, Fiancée Visa is valid for 90 days and cannot be extended beyond this timeline.
Can I be eligible for Fiancée Visa if my sponsoring spouse is a Green Card holder?
Unfortunately, no. Your sponsoring spouse must be a U.S. citizen for you to be eligible for Fiancée Visa.