California based GC Holder marrying an Indian citizen

[abegerho]

I needed some advice on the following:

I intend to marry an Indian citizen who's visited the US before on a tourist visa (in 1998). She hasn't been to the US since. My question is:

a) How much time does it typically take for someone like her to get a greencard if I apply for an I-130 for her in California. I have heard that the process takes 3-4 years. But on checking the Processing Times website, it seems that the California Service Center is currently servicing cases from December 2004 in this category. What gives?

b) If she gets a tourist visa to travel to the US, is it possible for her to get an I-20 approved from a local school, and just stick on in the US, or is there an issue with that? In other words, can you change your status from a tourist to that of a student without leaving the US. What are the implications for traveling outside the US, is she were to do so?

Any help anyone can provide in the matter, would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[LucyMO]

a) How much time does it typically take for someone like her to get a greencard if I apply for an I-130 for her in California. I have heard that the process takes 3-4 years. But on checking the Processing Times website, it seems that the California Service Center is currently servicing cases from December 2004 in this category. What gives?.

it's not the processing time for I-130 that is important in your case. It's that spouses of GC holders have an immigrant visa quota, and they have to wait for 5-6 years to get a visa number. Please read information on www.uscis.gov about it.

b) If she gets a tourist visa to travel to the US, is it possible for her to get an I-20 approved from a local school, and just stick on in the US, or is there an issue with that? In other words, can you change your status from a tourist to that of a student without leaving the US. What are the implications for traveling outside the US, is she were to do so?
.

in theory it is possible, if she is not married to you. In real life some people face rejection. If her status change is successful, she will still need to get F-1 visa when she leaves the States.

 

[EricNeesGC]

From what I know, you cannot convert a B visa to F category while inside USA. You have to travel outside and once you do that, you are opening a can of worms for yourself. They now know your intent and will give you hard time.

The best thing for you to do is to wait until you become a US citizen. Then you can apply for a fiance visa and she can stay here. If your citizenship is too far away, ask her to get F-1 visa before she travels to the US. Come here, stay in status and get married to you. Remember, marrying a GC holder does not mean the spouse is in-status. She will have to maintain her F-1 status until you become USC and apply for her EAD or her visa number becomes current.