I am green card holder for serveral years. My girlfriend is here on Student Visa and we plan to be married. If we are married here, can she stay here while we apply for her Green Card ?
What will we need to do - how long , etc.

Dear Student:

If you marry your girlfriend and file an I-130 petition for her on or before 4/30/01, she will be grandfathered under the LIFE Act, and if she is still in the US when her priority date is reached, she will be able to adjust her status in the US.

However, for her to remain legal during that period of time, she will have to maintain her student status, or some other lawful non-immigrant status. Also, if she does not have a valid non-immigrant visa, she may not be able to travel and return until she obtains her permanent residence.

It currently takes more than 5 years for her to obtain permanent residence if you are only a permanent resident. However, if you become a US citizen, she will be immediately eligible for permanent residence. Good luck.

Green card holder marrying a Student Visa Holder.

I am green card holder and would like to marry my fiancee who is on F1 visa. My Questions are:
1.What should i do to get Permanent residence status to my fiancee.
2.how long does it take to get her green card while iam still a green card holder?
3.If we marry and petition for her, will it affect her if she travels out of US? What i would like to know is - Will the fact that she is married to a permaent Resident while on F1-Visa subject her to questioning at port of entry?

Dear Rajesh:

Before answering your questions, we would like to know how long you have had permanent residence status, whether your fiancee has a valid visa and, if so, when does it expire?

If you will provide us with those answers, we will respond further. Good luck.

Thanks for your kind reply.

I got my green card in Aug 1996. But eversince then i have been outside US on and off on a
Re-entry permit till Oct 2000. I re-entered US in Oct 30 2000 and since then stayed here continuously.
My Fiancee is in India and wants to join me here. She works in Information Technology field , so thought of getting her on H1B. But bcos of the tech meltdown, its next to impossible to get her on H1B. So i thought of the student Visa as she too is interested in going for Masters. She is yet to get the F1 Visa , most likely in Oct 2002.
I would like to know when i am eligle for applying for Citizenship.
Also, i wud like to know if i must file I-130 for her when she gets to come here, as soon as I apply for Citizenship( ie after i qualify in 4 yrs) or after i actually become a citizen. I am asking this since i heard that it takes 2-3 yrs to become citizen once u apply for it.
Kindly let me know.

Thanks in advance.
Rajesh

Dear Rajesh:

You will be eligible for naturalization as soon as you can establish that you have resided in the US for at least 1/2 of the previous 5 years, and assuming that you have not remained outside of the US for more than one consecutive year.

If you marry your fiancee in the US, and she is here in lawful status, it would probably be best to file the I-130 petition for her as soon as possible. However, there may be situations when it is not best to file the I-130 immediately. We would suggest that you speak with an immigration law attorney before taking any action. Good luck.

hi
I am a british person and i have met and want to live my my gf who is a american citizen.
I do not have a green card or a visa.
I was wondering if there is tempory green card that i can get and if so how long does it last for and how long does it take to get,
i do wish to live and work in the US for the rest of my life,

Hi
I'm here in the US on a student visa. My girl friend get her Green card on 1999. we are planning on getting married. My question is when I'm going to be able to get the permanent resident. and what i should do for that
thank you.

Hi
I'm here in the US on a student visa. My girl friend get her Green card on 1999. we are planning on getting married. My question is when I'm going to be able to get the permanent resident. and what i should do for that
thank you.

Jad, generally it will take you about 7 years to get permanent residency by marriage at the present rate of processing by INS. If you so decide, then get married, get your spouse to file I-130 petition where you are the beneficiary and wait to hear from INS. INS will notify you about receipt and approval of I-130; the next step is adjustment of status by filing I-485, but that happens when visa number becomes available from worldwide list maintained by the State Department. In the meantime you must maintain your valid student visa status so that additional complications will not arise. Once you have been waiting for at least 3 years since filing I-130, you can apply for V-1 status and work authorization. In the meantime, in 2004, your spouse becomes eligible to apply for citizenship; once she obtains her citizenship, i.e. after she is sworn in, your prefernce categoy moves up to spouse of US citizen and you are eligible for immediate adjustment of status. Also important is to find an immigration attorney with solid performance track. Good luck.

To wom it may concern,
I am currently a Permanent resident in the US
and have been for about 17 years now. I am
of spanish citizenship (Spain). I have been
dating a spanish woman for 3 years now and
I'm about to pop the big question. We live in
diferent cities. I in NYC ans she in miami.
She has been in the US with an H1b visa for
almost 2 years now. Question:
if we get married, will she be able to work in
NYC while she gets her PR visa? or does she
have to still find a sponsor for an H1b in new
york? How long does it take for her to get a
green card, and what if her current H1b
expires before she gets the green card.
Would she have to return to Spain?....I'm
praticaly a citizen now...17 years....does that
not count in the process???
thank you in advance

Hi:

I am in US on F1-Visa carrying out PhD in Engineering. I will be finishing my PhD in 2006. The girl, whom I wanted to get married is a
green card holder and marrying her in 2004. Now my question is with respect to the waiting
period, to get the green card. In both cases, I will marrying her as in 2004.

While I am on F1-Visa and she sponsors for
my residency and or should I wait on F1-Visa (getting married)till I finish my PhD and apply of my own through employment based green
cards?

In short, should I take the Family-Based step or Employement based step to get the green card within the short period of time?

I was a permanent resident when i petition my wife (I 130) , shes here w/ me in US ,shes also a J1 student visa and we have a 9 month old son(born here in US).I finally received my citizenship just last week ,were still under process and waiting to be approve.My question is:Now , that im a citizen is there anyway to speed up the process? Bottom line is my wife's dying to work ,Is Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization will work in my situation?
THANKS A MILLION

I'm currently F-1 student, and will be at least 2 years. I got married greencard holder that got greencard last year, but came in U.S as a refugee 4 years ago. We already applied I-130 (180 days ago)and still waiting for an answer. How long is it going to take for me to get a work autorization and greencard? Next year she is supposed to apply for citizenship. Is it going to help me to accselerate my process of getting a green card?

hello,
I am here on f-1 visa and am currently on OPT which expires in dec 2003 and my boyfriend is a greencard holder and will be filing for his citizenship in july 2003,we want to get married ...so is there anyway in which we can get married while his citizenship comes through.

Hi
I am was born in the US, but my parents were diplomats at the time of my birth. Are there ways of obtaining US citizenship?

hi
i came in the u.s in aug 2003. i am holding a J-2 visa. fell in love with a citizen and got married,now that i want to live with her, i wanted to know what are the process that i have to go through.my visa is J-2 and i am under the two home rule, is there a way for me to not go back for two years, i dont want to live my wife.can i waiver the two home rule.
can you please write me as soon as you can.

Hi,

My boyfriend has been in the US for the last six years, and his application for residency as a child over 21 of a resident is approved, but still waiting to be processed. If i fly to the US, and we get married before he is processed will it be possible for me to be issued a greencard, based on the fact that we were married before the green card was issued

Dear Sir or Madam,

My OPT expires on Dec 31, 2004 and currently my employer is filing for an H-1 visa for me. If I am denied H-1 (limit has almost been reached already), I will have to leave the country by Feb 28, 2005. If my boyfriend (green card 1997) files for a K-1 visa, can I stay in the US? When we get married - can we change my status from K-1 to V-1 and can I immediately apply for a work permit or do I have to wait for my V-1 visa to be approved? For how long is that work permit valid? How long would I have to wait for a immigration number to become available to apply for a green card?