F2a Questions

4

41john

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I'm 25 and my girlfriend is 20 (we have been together for 4 years) and both from the UK. Her step mother which she has maintained a relationship with since she was 7, is a USC and looking to sponsor her for a GC before she turns 21 in April 2011. I'm sure it will all go smoothly and she will get it.

But here is where things get messy.... getting me over to the US as well without being apart for too long.

Here is a plan we have, but I have some questions and hope people can help as I'm still learning how this all works.

Once she has her GC and gets it all stamped etc etc she was going to file for a reentry permit on Form I-131 (whilst in the US) which will give her up to 2 years to be in the uk with me until she needs to return to the US (she will have a valid reason to be in the UK - to study a course she couldn't do where we will live in the US).
- Will it be a problem getting a GC and then leaving so soon (a few weeks to a month) to go back to the UK?
- Will it be fine (or in fact beneficial) that she returns to the US during summer term in the UK for a few weeks/month so it looks like she is going back "home"?

Then we were looking to get married about 3 to 6 months after she has her GC.
- Can we be engaged before she gets her GC or will it look bad for her application? If not, could we lie about an engagement as they would never find out (as long as we stay consistent with this lie throughout the whole process)?
- Once married how long until we can file an F2a for me? I wouldn't want it to look suspicious.
- Will we even be able to file for an F2a since she is currently away from the US studying in the uk?

I know there is every chance despite the current date for F2a being Jan 2010 that by the time my "wife" (as she would be by this point ;)), has to go back to the US to start living (so she doesn't lose her GC) I won't have my GC yet and could still be over a year away from getting it. We would be fine with spending some time apart but not all the remaining time.
- Would I be able to visit the US whilst waiting for the GC? I presumed not due to my intentions to immigrate and the fact i'm visiting on the VWP would conflict with this? In fact would I be able to visit at any point during the 2-3 year GC application process?

I think i'm out of questions for now, I would be greatful for any answers others can give. Or if anyone has another or better way we could both immigrate to the US with a maximum time scale of 3-5 years from start to finish.
 
Actually - I would do the way OP has suggested. If she gets married - OP will not be considered immediate relative of USC and it will take a while for her to get the card anyway. OPs way - she will get the card may be in about 4-6 months and then marry and file for OP. In the current scenario - it will be another year or so.
 
aliciakate said:
It's better for you to get married before she's granted for Green Card. Because when she will get the appointment for the residence : all member of family is included in the same time(spouse, children).

If you wait after she get her GC, the problem is that you gonna wait a long time. The visa bulletin date doesn't mean that for 2010 you will get your green card earlier. Maybe now it's less than 5-6 years (the regular time) because now it's between 2-3 years. A retrogression could happen anytime and back to regular time ie 5 years.

For the reentry permit, no time for applying. I applied too as soon as I got my GC. But it takes few months between to get it. Some advise is to wait the reentry permit before leaving of US. Now it's between 4 to 6 months average to get it.

I waited 6 months before to get it.
She can apply in US and receive the permit in UK if she decide to travel without the permit and get it in UK (there's a note in the application, for the place you want to get it). Just be careful, she needs to be sure that she will receive her permit before she's outside of US more than 6 months. Because in that situation, she may break her continous residence and lose her green card if she want come back in us after more than 6 months without the reentry permit.
Be sure that she keep ties in us : home address, bank account...

Or she can go back and forth to her home unless it's less than 6 months outside of US.

Good luck!
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Your first paragraph makes no sense. She will get a GC "instantly" if she is unmarried and under 21, but if we are married she won't get it instantly and I believe we have to wait about 10 years under the F3 category. Can somebody confirm this?

Your second sentence doesn't seem right either? I thought the normal time for F2a was 2-3 years, but it's currently a lots less with the expectation of retrogression in October back to 2-3 years.
 
41john said:
Your first paragraph makes no sense. She will get a GC "instantly" if she is unmarried and under 21, but if we are married she won't get it instantly and I believe we have to wait about 10 years under the F3 category. Can somebody confirm this?
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Correct. If she marries before the GC, she will be in the F3 category which currently has an 8-year wait.

If she gets the GC first as unmarried under 21, and then gets married, she can file for you as F2A, which although it's less than a year right now, it used to be 4-5 years and may go back to that (look at the April bulletin, which shows June 2006: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_4747.html).
 
Jackolantern said:
Correct. If she marries before the GC, she will be in the F3 category which currently has an 8-year wait.

If she gets the GC first as unmarried under 21, and then gets married, she can file for you as F2A, which although it's less than a year right now, it used to be 4-5 years and may go back to that
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Hi Jack,

Many thanks for your clarification on this, your opinion is highly respected. Any chance you could take a look at the questions I had in the original post and answer each of them? There are some things I'm unclear on and could do with help from someone like yourself. Many thanks
 
OP..
Where is your girlfriend right now? If she is in the US, have the step mom file I-130, and have your gf file I-485 concurrently. She will adjust to permanent resident status in about 4-6 months. She should also apply for the re-entry permit at the same time (it will be free).
Once she gets her GC, you guys can get married, and she will file I-130 for you under F2A.
That's exactly what I had suggested in my first post.
Also, it doesn't matter if she is engaged or not. And once married, she can file for you the very next day.
 
VisaNutz said:
OP..
Where is your girlfriend right now? If she is in the US, have the step mom file I-130, and have your gf file I-485 concurrently.
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She is in the UK, so does my gf still file i-485 concurrently?

VisaNutz said:
OP..
She should also apply for the re-entry permit at the same time (it will be free).
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Really? Ok cool, so when she has her interview with the consulate she can freely say that she is planning to come straight back to the UK for 2 years of education? If so, I'm glad because then it will be less of a problem at POE after 2 years away (i presume). I thought they might not give her a GC if she tells them she is planning to come straight back to the uk for 2 years.

VisaNutz said:
OP..
Once she gets her GC, you guys can get married, and she will file I-130 for you under F2A.
That's exactly what I had suggested in my first post.
Also, it doesn't matter if she is engaged or not. And once married, she can file for you the very next day.
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Ok great good to know, i presume we will need the wedding certificate to file? We would also get married in the UK, will that be an issue?


I have a few questions i still needs answering and would really appreciate your help, and thanks for the help i have had already.

Will we even be able to file for an F2a for me since she will be away from the US studying in the uk?

Would I be able to visit my gf once she has to go back to the US whilst i'm waiting for my GC in the uk? I presumed not due to my intentions to immigrate and the fact i'm visiting on the VWP would conflict with this?
In fact would I be able to visit at any point during my 2-3 year GC application process? if so how?
 
OP.. actually, the concurrent re-entry permit would have to be filed with I-485. And , to file 485 she would need to be in the US.
If she is in the US, it makes things much easier. For consulate processing, after she gets her immigrant visa, she would need to come to US to get the card anyway. So, she should just come to US, file the papers (I-130/I-485/I-131) and she should get the re-entry permit in about 2 months. Once she has that, she should be able to just come back to UK and stay until she gets the card (unless she is called for an interview).
 
VisaNutz, you are confusing things.

The reentry permit is only for green card holders and cannot be applied concurrently with the I-485. Don't mix it up with Advance Parole, which happens to use the same I-131 form.
 
41john said:
Hi Jack,

Many thanks for your clarification on this, your opinion is highly respected. Any chance you could take a look at the questions I had in the original post and answer each of them? There are some things I'm unclear on and could do with help from someone like yourself. Many thanks
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That post has too much information and answering everything would involve too much ifs and buts and long winded explanations.

If you answer some questions on what your preferred plans are, I can target my answers more specifically.

First, does she intend to stay in the US to pursue the green card process, or wait in the UK to pursue it through the consulate?
 
^^ I see what you are saying Jack. I actually meant she could get the re-entry permit (or AP) to go back to UK until she gets the card. This is what I wrote - Once she has that, she should be able to just come back to UK and stay until she gets the card (unless she is called for an interview).

Now I noticed the OP wanted re-entry permit for the purpose of staying in UK until he gets his GC.
 
Jackolantern said:
That post has too much information and answering everything would involve too much ifs and buts and long winded explanations.

If you answer some questions on what your preferred plans are, I can target my answers more specifically.

First, does she intend to stay in the US to pursue the green card process, or wait in the UK to pursue it through the consulate?
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She is planning to remain in uk and pursue through consulate. Then once she gets accepted she will go to the US for a few weeks (a little longer if she needs too) and apply for a re-entry permit and then come back to the UK. She probably will be back in the US within a year but just for a few weeks. We just want it to explain that she is away with a purpose (to study in uk).
 
41john said:
She is planning to remain in uk and pursue through consulate. Then once she gets accepted she will go to the US for a few weeks (a little longer if she needs too) and apply for a re-entry permit and then come back to the UK. She probably will be back in the US within a year but just for a few weeks. We just want it to explain that she is away with a purpose (to study in uk).
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Sounds like a good plan. After that initial trip to the US to establish her permanent resident status, she should marry you ASAP and then file an I-130 in order to establish a priority date.

But once the I-130 is filed, you'll need to be prepared for potential hassles at the airport if you travel to visit the US. If hassled about it, point out that you know you're not supposed to stay to immigrate right now and you're going to go back to the UK to wait for your turn at the consulate. And that she has taken a reentry permit to finish her studies in the UK and you will go back to the UK to be with her while she continues to study.

If you travel to the US with her, don't do anything to bring attention to being together with her -- don't go up to the immigration counter together, and don't be seen talking to each other in the immigration line. You don't want the officer to say something like "who was that you were talking to, your wife?"
 
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Jackolantern said:
Sounds like a good plan. After that initial trip to the US to establish her permanent resident status, she should marry you ASAP and then file an I-130 in order to establish a priority date.

But once the I-130 is filed, you'll need to be prepared for potential hassles at the airport if you travel to visit the US. If hassled about it, point out that you know you're not supposed to stay to immigrate right now and you're going to go back to the UK to wait for your turn at the consulate. And that she has taken a reentry permit to finish her studies in the UK and you will go back to the UK to be with her while she continues to study.

If you travel to the US with her, don't do anything to bring attention to being together with her -- don't go up to the immigration counter together, and don't be seen talking to each other in the immigration line. You don't want the officer to say something like "who was that you were talking to, your wife?"
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Thanks Jack, very helpful as always. I appreciate your time. So I presume it won't be a problem to file for an F2a for me with her in the UK studying?
 
41john said:
Thanks Jack, very helpful as always. I appreciate your time. So I presume it won't be a problem to file for an F2a for me with her in the UK studying?
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Potential problems for you when traveling to the US, as I explained above.

But it's no problem for her, except that she'll need a co-sponsor to help meet the financial requirements if she's not working in the US when the time for your consular interview approaches in 1 or 2 years from now (or 3 or 4 years or whatever time it takes).
 
Jackolantern said:
Potential problems for you when traveling to the US, as I explained above.

But it's no problem for her, except that she'll need a co-sponsor to help meet the financial requirements if she's not working in the US when the time for your consular interview approaches in 1 or 2 years from now (or 3 or 4 years or whatever time it takes).
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Many thanks for the clarification, i just wanted to be sure. I understand what you mean about travel to the US once I start the GC process. I suppose I will just need to have a few bits of paperwork to prove that I'm going to return to the US if they question it. Such as proof of owning a house to return to in the UK, and UK bank account with cash in it.
 
I have a follow up from this....


So my girlfriend (well her step mom) applied for a GC back in December 2010 (when she was under 21 and unmarried) and yesterday her step-mom had a refused letter... thankfully the reasons are in error (to cut a long story short they read the birth certificate wrong) and we are hoping for a successful appeal.

However we are now worried that her green card application will not be complete for her to go to the US and get it all stamped before our wedding in November. If that was the case and we were married, would they refuse her the GC on POE? Even though at the time of the original application she was unmarried and under 21.
 
If she gets married before she is approved at the consulate AND lands in the US as a permanent resident, that would result in either refusal of entry at the POE (if the officers at the POE know that she's married), or GC cancellation in the future when they find out.

Subject to the conditions of the CSPA, she can continue in the fast-track Immediate Relative path after 21 if she was unmarried and under 21 when her USC parent filed for her, but not if she gets married before admission as a permanent resident. They give a break on the age condition, but not the marriage one.
 
Jackolantern said:
They give a break on the age condition, but not the marriage one.
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This is exactly what I thought, thanks for confirming this for me.

Do you know how long an appeal is likely to take? It is quite a simple one where they just looked at a date wrong.

Will my girlfriend need to visit the UK embassy if she is in this under 21 and unmarried daughter category? Her step mom already lives in the US.
 
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