Family Based Green card questions

R

ramu2012

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I am working in the US on a H1B and my company is all set to file for PERM for me. I got married about 6 months ago and my wife is a green card holder since 2004 but has been filing for extension till this year. Now both of us are here in the US.

I understand that my wife can file for a green card for me by filling out the I-130 and I can take up the employment based green card process to on the side. Is this correct?

Also, are there any other forms we need to fill out to file for obtaining a family based green card? We have been married only since months but were engaged over a year and a half ago. Does this pose as a problem while filing for the green card (is 6 months too short?).

Will filing for green card through her affect my H1B status or renewal at later times?

Thanks!
 
You can pursue the family-based and employment-based green card processes at the same time, and complete whichever one gets close to approval first.

Your wife has a green card since 2004, is she eligible for citizenship does she plan to apply for citizenship anytime soon? If yes, she can file the I-130 now, then when she becomes a citizen you file the I-485 to initiate the final stage which includes the interview. Otherwise you could have a long wait to be eligible to file I-485 whether by employment or marriage.
 
Jackolantern said:
Your wife has a green card since 2004, is she eligible for citizenship does she plan to apply for citizenship anytime soon? If yes, she can file the I-130 now, then when she becomes a citizen you file the I-485 to initiate the final stage which includes the interview. Otherwise you could have a long wait to be eligible to file I-485 whether by employment or marriage.
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She has a green card since 2004 but is not eligible for citizenship as she did not stay in the US for over 6 months in a year (she kept taking extensions and applied for re-entry till now).

My primary concern is that is the fact that we have not been married too long going to be an issue when we file for green card?
 
ramu2012 said:
She has a green card since 2004 but is not eligible for citizenship as she did not stay in the US for over 6 months in a year (she kept taking extensions and applied for re-entry till now).
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If you get more specific about her travel pattern we can help you to figure out when she's eligible for citizenship. Citizenship eligibility is not about staying over 6 months in a year, the physical presence requirement is having a total of 30 months presence in the US in the past 5 years.

My primary concern is that is the fact that we have not been married too long going to be an issue when we file for green card?
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Being married long enough won't be a problem for you. Many people apply 1 month after getting married and they don't have a problem (by the time the interview occurs, they would have an additional 3-5 months or more to accumulate evidence of living together as a couple). You've already been married for 6 months, and the wait for spouses of green card holders is about 3 years, and apparently your wife isn't eligible to apply for citizenship anytime soon, so it looks like you'll be married for over 2 years by the time you get a green card interview.
 
Jackolantern said:
If you get more specific about her travel pattern we can help you to figure out when she's eligible for citizenship. Citizenship eligibility is not about staying over 6 months in a year, the physical presence requirement is having a total of 30 months presence in the US in the past 5 years.



Being married long enough won't be a problem for you. Many people apply 1 month after getting married and they don't have a problem (by the time the interview occurs, they would have an additional 3-5 months or more to accumulate evidence of living together as a couple). You've already been married for 6 months, and the wait for spouses of green card holders is about 3 years, and apparently your wife isn't eligible to apply for citizenship anytime soon, so it looks like you'll be married for over 2 years by the time you get a green card interview.
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Thank you Jackolantern for your input! This was really helpful.
She has stayed in the US probably 5 months over the last 5 years and so she isn't close to being eligible for applying for Citizenship.

Thanks!
 
ramu2012 said:
Thank you Jackolantern for your input! This was really helpful.
She has stayed in the US probably 5 months over the last 5 years and so she isn't close to being eligible for applying for Citizenship.

Thanks!
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It is amazing that she managed to keep her greencard and get multiple re-entry permits. Did they limit her on the last REP? How many did she actually get approved?
 
BigJoe5 said:
It is amazing that she managed to keep her greencard and get multiple re-entry permits. Did they limit her on the last REP? How many did she actually get approved?
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I am not sure how many times did she get approved but she was in school and she definitely could not have left school to move to the US. Hence they approved it :) I guess you need to have a good enough reason and they listen to you?
 
Another question in the same regard. So I am in the US on a H1B Visa. The priority date for getting a green card (family based) for my country right now is a date in 2010 (hence not current).
So should my wife file for adjustment of status (I-485) WITH the I-130 or should she only file I-130 right now and then wait for the priority date to be same as the filing date and then file I-485?

We read somewhere that because I am in the US already, she can file the I-485.
 
ramu2012 said:
Another question in the same regard. So I am in the US on a H1B Visa. The priority date for getting a green card (family based) for my country right now is a date in 2010 (hence not current).
So should my wife file for adjustment of status (I-485) WITH the I-130 or should she only file I-130 right now and then wait for the priority date to be same as the filing date and then file I-485?

We read somewhere that because I am in the US already, she can file the I-485.
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The spouse of an LPR is not eligible to file a concurrent I-485 with an I-130.
 
BigJoe5 said:
The spouse of an LPR is not eligible to file a concurrent I-485 with an I-130.
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You guys rock!
One more question.
I heard while your I130 is being processed you should not travel out of the country as coming back on a H1B could be a problem? Is that true? If my I130 is under processing, can I exit and enter the country without any issues? (i am on a H1B)

Thanks!
 
H1B is a dual intent visa so you can enter and exit the country on H1B even with immigrant intent during processing of your immigration petition.

ramu2012 said:
You guys rock!
One more question.
I heard while your I130 is being processed you should not travel out of the country as coming back on a H1B could be a problem? Is that true? If my I130 is under processing, can I exit and enter the country without any issues? (i am on a H1B)

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
ramu2012 said:
You guys rock!
One more question.
I heard while your I130 is being processed you should not travel out of the country as coming back on a H1B could be a problem? Is that true?
Click to expand...

That is not true for H1B, because H1B allows immigrant intent (also H4, L1, and L2).

But it is a problem for most other types of visas.
 
Thanks!
Also, i see a question on the I130

"Date and Place of admission for or adjustment to lawful permanent resident and class of admission"

I see the class and date of issue of the green card is on it. The port of entry is not. How can i see the port of entry? My wife's stamp from when she entered to get the green card (back in 2004) seems to be super light making it hard to see the port. She remembers it to be toronto (thats where they landed and were supposedly stamped and then entered the US on another american carrier). Is there a way to verify and does toronto sound right? If we skip this port, can we get a RFE?
 
ramu2012 said:
Thanks!
Also, i see a question on the I130

"Date and Place of admission for or adjustment to lawful permanent resident and class of admission"

I see the class and date of issue of the green card is on it. The port of entry is not. How can i see the port of entry? My wife's stamp from when she entered to get the green card (back in 2004) seems to be super light making it hard to see the port. She remembers it to be toronto (thats where they landed and were supposedly stamped and then entered the US on another american carrier). Is there a way to verify and does toronto sound right? If we skip this port, can we get a RFE?
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If Toronto is the location of the airport where she was initially processed for admission as a permanent resident, she should write Toronto for the port of entry, or the IATA 3-letter airport code if she knows it.
 
There should be a 3-letter port or office code indicating who processed the IV packet. That code should be found on the card either the front or back depending on the version issued. Can you find one?
 
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