Best way to get GC for my fiance (wife in December 2010)

[em cee]

Hi All.

I wanted to pick your collective brains and see if you can help me navigate the maze of USCIS policies.

I am a US citizen, whereas my fiancé is not. We are thinking about getting married in December 2010 in India, where most of our family lives.

Here is the situation: my fiancé is on an F-1 visa. She has been in the US for the last 7 years. Her original F-1 visa was issued in June 2003 for her undergraduate studies. As she was finishing up her undergraduate degree, she got accepted into graduate program (in the same department as her undergraduate), and hence, got a new I-20. However when her original F-1 expired in May 2008, she decided not to travel outside the country on the risk of her F-1 not being renewed. Note that she has always been a full-time student, and always been in status.

She in graduating in June 2010, and has already applied for an OPT. Her OPT will be valid for 1 year. However, as her F-1 visa has expired, it seems that she cannot re-enter the US while on OPT. (This is my assumption. If this is incorrect, please let me know. It would simplify our situation a whole lot.)

The question is: what is the simplest way for us to get her a green card, while also having our wedding in India (December 2010)? Can we get married “officially” in a court (say, in June 2010) and file for her Green card? We wouldn’t be living together until we get our parent’s blessings in the traditional wedding ceremony. Would USCIS be okay with this arrangement, and can we be frank about this during our interview?

An alternative is to get her future employer to sponsor a H1B, as she is in an in-demand profession (Pharmacy). However, I would just rather avoid this issue as it delays our wedding planning until she gets her H1B.

Any suggestions would be welcome. If I am missing any details that may help you provide a better answer, please ask away (I am known to mistakenly skip on important details).

Thanks a million.

 

[okalian]

Her OPT is only a status, not a visa, so she cannot leave and reenter without applying for a new visa.

You have 2 choices:
1. You can get married officially now (i.e court marriage) and apply for adjustment of status. However, no guarantee if the process will be done by December. The good news is, she'll have a greencard. You'll need to establish enough proof that your marriage is real, as you'll be called for an interview.
2. She can go back home and you can take the fiance' visa route (or even greencard). The fiance visa seems to be the shortest (relatively), but not quite short overall.

If I were you, I would go with option 1 (i.e the Adjustment of Status route). Yes, it may take longer than December to get her greencard, but you can apply for advance parole, which is a permission to reenter the US while her adjustment of status is pending. Again, be ready to have enough proof that your marriage is entered in good faith.

 

[Jackolantern]

The fiancee visa requires getting married in the US, so that would not be a viable choice if they want to get married in India. It also would be kind useless, because the purpose of the fiancee visa is to allow the fiancee to enter the US to pursue AOS, but she already is inside the US and is eligible to file for AOS once you get married to her.

For this case, filing AOS would be the best route. She entered the US a long long time ago, so immigrant intent is not an issue, and if she doesn't get the green card itself by December she'll at least have Advance Parole. Of course, this would require getting married and filing the paperwork at least 3-4 months before the scheduled departure in December, in order to ensure the GC or the AP will be issued in time.

 

[Triple Citizen]

Civil ceremony in the US. File I-485 (including EAD and AP). Go to India in December 2010 and have the wedding reception/religious ceremony.

The question is: what is the simplest way for us to get her a green card, while also having our wedding in India (December 2010)?

 

[em cee]

Thanks all.

I should really clarify that getting GC before December 2010 is not a priority... it's ok if she gets it a bit later, as long as re-entry to US is allowed. As such, AP awaiting GC would be fine. Continued ability to work would also be nice, either via continued OPT or EAD awaiting GC. Because of work reasons, fiance route is probably a no go.

The remaining question I have is then: with the civil ceremony in the US, but not living together until after the "true" wedding in December 2010, will this raise any issues during the interview process? If so, how does one tackle such an issue?

 

[LucyMO]

Can we get married “officially” in a court (say, in June 2010) and file for her Green card? We wouldn’t be living together until we get our parent’s blessings in the traditional wedding ceremony.

That could be a big problem and raise a big red flag with the immigration officer that your marriage is fake. You need to live together and consummate your marriage before she can be granted a GC.

 

[Jackolantern]

You need to live together and consummate your marriage before she can be granted a GC.

That is not an absolute rule, as there are acceptable reasons such as work/school commitments that require the spouses to be in different cities, and such people can still get their GCs granted.

But if you're already living in the same city, I don't think they're going to accept any excuse for living apart after you get married. "Parents blessings" won't be acceptable. The GC process requires an actual functioning marriage, not just a marriage on paper. What you (em cee) are planning makes it seem like you want to keep it on paper until the religious ceremony in India, and only start living like a real marriage after that.

 

[Triple Citizen]

You better have a bullet proof reason to defend the fact that you both are not living together after marriage

The remaining question I have is then: with the civil ceremony in the US, but not living together until after the "true" wedding in December 2010, will this raise any issues during the interview process? If so, how does one tackle such an issue?