Can GC holder apply GC for his wife?

N

nishj

Registered Users (C)
My background - I got a family based Green card in Nov-2005 and after that I took 2 year extension to stay in India to complete my education. I came back to the US in Dec-2007 and since then I am staying in the US. I got married last year and my wife holds a valid H1B visa and she is with me in US.

When will I be eligible to apply for Citizenship considering that I started saying in US only after Dec-2007?

Can I apply GC for my wife right now, but I heard there is a 4-5 years backlog for spouses for GC application, If I apply GC for my wife, will she get EAD to work in US in the mean time till she gets her GC?

Thanks,
Nishj
 
You can apply for citizenship starting DEC 2012.
It takes about 5 years for a PR to apply for citizenship.
Since you were absent for the first 2 years you basically
need to fill up the missing dates.

You can apply for your wife right now but it's best if
you wait til' you get your citizenship.

For a EAD... you have to file an completely diferent from.
 
Your wife will need to maintain her own legal status until she receives her GC. If she cannot do so, she must leave or risk deportation and then deal with the resulting complications.
 
right now it takes about 2 years to get the visa number in category 2a. In one month the line moved up 2 years.
 
I have no clue. But i am very surprised with this month's visa bulletin too.

All family categories moved 6 mths to 2 years in duration in this visa bulletin. VERY VERY SURPRISING!!!!
 
aliciakate said:
Yes it is, it seems that 2A was moved up for 2 years for the month of June and July (visa bulletin)
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F2A dates:

May 2010 01DEC06 to June 2010 01JAN08 = DID NOT move up 2 years
June 2010 01JAN08 to July 2010 01JUL08 = DID NOT move up 2 years

Unless you are talking specifically for Mexico - but even for Mexico, it DID NOT move up 2 years in ONE month.
 
Thanks for the all the information. I really appreciate that.
If I apply my citizen process in DEC 2012, how soon will I get the citizen? How much time does it take in the process and completing all the formalities?
When I start the citizen process in DEC 2012, Can I apply for my wife's GC at that time or I will have to wait till I become citizen. and how soon will she get the GC? and when I apply for her GC and the time she gets a GC, can she apply for EAD?
 
If I apply my citizen process in DEC 2012, how soon will I get the citizen?
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nobody can predict how long it would take you personally.
I'd file I-130 now. People have been known to get stuck in administrative processing for years after applying for citizenship. When you become a citizen, she'll be able to file I-485 (adjustment of status).
 
nishj said:
If I apply my citizen process in DEC 2012, how soon will I get the citizen?
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You can apply in September 2012 (they allow a 90-day headstart before you complete 5 years of continuous residence). Or since your trip ending in 2007 lasted over a year, you could use the 4 year + 1 day rule to apply in December 2011, although this may require you to produce evidence of ties to the US during your long overseas trip.

Typical time frame for the citizenship process these days is 3-6 months. Of course, there are a few lucky people who take less than that, and some unlucky ones who take longer. However, with 2012 being a presidential election year, there likely will be a surge of applications, so I wouldn't expect the current 3-6 time frame to still be there; in 2012 I'd expect 6-12 months to be typical.

When I start the citizen process in DEC 2012, Can I apply for my wife's GC at that time or I will have to wait till I become citizen.
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You can initiate the first stage of the GC process right now by filing the I-130. But you'll have to wait until after you become a citizen to file for the last major stage (I-485/AOS), unless there is sufficient forward movement in the visa bulletin that makes your I-130 priority date become current before you get citizenship.

and how soon will she get the GC? and when I apply for her GC and the time she gets a GC, can she apply for EAD?
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EAD is what she'll get during the I-485 process so she can work when waiting for the GC. Once she gets the GC, the EAD is useless; the GC itself will be her work authorization.
 
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Triple Citizen said:
Any idea what triggered this massive move?
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My guess it is something similar to what happened in 2007 leading up to the July fiasco. USCIS had underutilized the quota due to excessively retrogressed cutoff dates, so the DOS made massive jumps in the cutoff dates to bring more eligible applicants into the mix in their attempt to avoid ending the fiscal year with unused visa numbers.
 
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