Visa issues after getting married to a LPR?

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TexasFriend

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

My girlfriend and I want to marry this summer. She is a LPR living in the US and I’m a German citizen, living in Germany. The plan is to visit her, get married and I will leave the US a couple of days later to return to Germany. Do you see any issues with that?

I know that if we get married and apply for family based greencard, it will take approximately 3 years until I can move to the US and live together with her. Is that estimated time for the whole process correct? If we marry in the summer of 2013, will I be able to move in Summer 2016?

Of course I would like to come to the US earlier, if possible. Therefore, I’m looking for a job that is willing to sponsor me a H1B visa, respectively I try get relocated by my current employer on a L-visa. I read that this will become significantly harder after we get married and the F2A petition is pending. Is that correct or would it still be possible to receive such a visa?
How is the situation if I just want to visit here as a tourist (VWP, no longer than 90 days). Would that be possible or is likely to get rejected at the airport?

I’m grateful for every advice; it is a real hard situation to be separated from my fiancée.
 
TexasFriend said:
My girlfriend and I want to marry this summer. She is a LPR living in the US and I’m a German citizen, living in Germany. The plan is to visit her, get married and I will leave the US a couple of days later to return to Germany. Do you see any issues with that?
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No, except that if the immigration officer knows about your plan to get married in the US, he/she might refuse entry because they'll suspect that you won't go back to Germany after getting married.

So avoid doing or saying things that would lead to a line of questioning that may force you to answer about your upcoming marriage. If you travel to the US together, don't be seen together in the immigration line, as that could invite questions like "Is that your girlfriend? Are you going to marry her?"

If they do ask about whether you're going to get married to anybody, tell the truth and say YES, but also say that your future spouse is a permanent resident so you understand that means you can't stay in the US right away to adjust status, therefore you will go back to Germany to wait for immigrant visa processing through the consulate.

When you visit the US, try to go to a famous place that would be recognizable in pictures, and take pictures of both of you together. Those pictures will be useful when it's time for the immigrant interview at the consulate in 2015 or 2016. Do the same if she visits Germany before your consular interview.

I know that if we get married and apply for family based greencard, it will take approximately 3 years until I can move to the US and live together with her. Is that estimated time for the whole process correct?
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Now it's about 2.5 years for the spouse of an LPR. However if she becomes a US citizen before that, the petition can be upgraded to reflect that fact, enabling you to immigrate in 3-12 months after that (towards the lower end of that range if the I-130 is already approved when she becomes a citizen).

If we marry in the summer of 2013, will I be able to move in Summer 2016?
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Yes, unless you have some unusual delays or complications.

Of course I would like to come to the US earlier, if possible. Therefore, I’m looking for a job that is willing to sponsor me a H1B visa, respectively I try get relocated by my current employer on a L-visa. I read that this will become significantly harder after we get married and the F2A petition is pending. Is that correct or would it still be possible to receive such a visa?
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That is not true for H1B and L1 visas. Those are dual intent visas for which the law explicitly allows having the intent to immigrate when obtaining and using those visas; having an immigration petition or declaring the intent to immigrate won't hurt your chances of obtaining or using those visas. But immigrant intent would be a problem for most other visas, like student and tourist visas.
 
Thanks for these great advices. They will help us a lot to get through the process.

Do you have experience with visiting on a VWP while the petition is pending? I would try to always bring documents that show strong boundaries to Germany (i.e. Letter from my current employer).

I tried to understand the F2A process. After we get married (and receive the official documents), we can file the I-130 and then all we do is waiting until my priority date is becoming current. As soon as this happens, I can schedule an interview at the consulate in Germany and will receive the GC a couple of weeks later. Is that correct or did I miss something? Does she also have to go for an interview, at which point of the process?
 
When the priority date is current or almost current, the NVC will contact your wife for some paperwork, particularly the I-864 (Affidavit of Support), and the consulate will contact you about appointments for the fingerprinting, medical, and interview and you'll need to file some paperwork (particularly the DS-230).

After the interview, you should get back your passport in a few days, and if you were approved it will have an immigrant visa stamped in it. You'll have 6 months to use it to enter the US. Once admitted into the US with the immigrant visa, you'll immediately become a permanent resident, and the GC will be delivered to your US address within about a month. Your Social Security card will also be delivered in about the same time frame, unless you opted out of it on the DS-230 (which doesn't make sense unless you already have a SS card from previously being in the US).

Your wife doesn't have to be at the consular interview, although her presence will improve your chances of a successful interview.

When you visit the US after the petition is filed, avoid being seen together in the immigration area, and hope that they don't recognize in the system that you're married to a permanent resident. If they are aware of your marriage, state out that you got married in the US and you left afterwards, and you will leave again.
 
Thank you, it sounds like the process is relatively fast once the priority date is current.

I already have a SSN because of my former J-1 visa. Can that become a problem or is it irrelevant to the immigration process?

I read that there can be a difference in the processing time of the I-130 depending on where it is filed. Is this true?
 
TexasFriend said:
I already have a SSN because of my former J-1 visa. Can that become a problem or is it irrelevant to the immigration process?
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It's not a problem, but it's not totally irrelevant either; the DS-230 asks for your SSN. Question 43 of the DS-230 gives the option to have a replacement SS card issued if you already have one. Request the replacement, because unless your SSN was issued 25+ years ago, your card has some wording like "not valid for employment" on it, and the replacement card from the green card process will not have that wording.

When you have a SS card without the employment restriction wording, for employment purposes you can show that card combined with a state ID or driver's license, without having to show the GC. That could be useful if your GC is ever lost or expired.

I read that there can be a difference in the processing time of the I-130 depending on where it is filed. Is this true?
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It's true, but isn't relevant to your situation. She has to send the I-130 to a specific location based on where she lives; she can't choose it based on where is faster. And regardless of location, the I-130 approval (or denial) will happen before the end of the 2+ year wait for the priority date to become current, unless there are unusual complications in the case (which almost certainly will have nothing to do with where it was filed).
 
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Wow, thank you again for this great response. I would have never thought about the note on the SSN, but you are right, it is on my SSN. I will keep that in mind.
 
Once we are married and received the official documents, can we petition the I-130 immediately or would you recommend a certain waiting time before this is done?
 
File it right away. There's no reason wait, as you'll be going back to your country to await the consular processing. If you were staying in the US after getting married it would be a different story.
 
Jackolantern said:
File it right away. There's no reason wait, as you'll be going back to your country to await the consular processing. If you were staying in the US after getting married it would be a different story.
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This great information. I wish I knew this 2yrs ago. I married 2yrs ago and my husband lives outside the US. I filed
I-130 this year. I regret that i didn't do it earlier. I have applied for naturalization and praying that it speeds up his coming when I finally become a citizen. All the best with your plans TexasFriend!
 
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