The Real Canadian -
I would like to see how immigration officer reacts when somebody on VWP comes in and tells that they are married to permanent resident and hence they want to immigrate - but not now. Right now they just came over to do some job interviews............. Obviously you do not have to volunteer this info. This is also why it is so difficult to get a tourist or student visa for such people.
You say that 99% of the folks get namecheck cleared in a couple of days. Think again - go to FBI web site and look for official data. 99% get cleared in 6 months and I am not sure I trust this. Also browse thru posts on naturalization forum.... Plus look at processing times at some of the centers. There are some that are fast but some I think in SC take a lot of time. I don't know how many years they will process N-400 couple of years from now.
Plus even when you get US citizenship - you still need to apply for immigrant visa and that takes up to a year. Although if you can afford to leave your job etc. - as a US citizen you can easily move to a foreign country until processing is complete.
So being seperated for 7 years is no biggie but also probable if you marry right after GC. 4 yrs, 9 mths to file N-400, 1 yr for N-400 and 6 mths - 1 yr for immigrant visa. Maybe a little less than 7 years would be the average time. Bad scenario where you get processed in a slow center or stuck in namecheck - you can add 1 more year which would push you closer to 8 years total.
I would like to see how immigration officer reacts when somebody on VWP comes in and tells that they are married to permanent resident and hence they want to immigrate - but not now. Right now they just came over to do some job interviews............. Obviously you do not have to volunteer this info. This is also why it is so difficult to get a tourist or student visa for such people.
You say that 99% of the folks get namecheck cleared in a couple of days. Think again - go to FBI web site and look for official data. 99% get cleared in 6 months and I am not sure I trust this. Also browse thru posts on naturalization forum.... Plus look at processing times at some of the centers. There are some that are fast but some I think in SC take a lot of time. I don't know how many years they will process N-400 couple of years from now.
Plus even when you get US citizenship - you still need to apply for immigrant visa and that takes up to a year. Although if you can afford to leave your job etc. - as a US citizen you can easily move to a foreign country until processing is complete.
So being seperated for 7 years is no biggie but also probable if you marry right after GC. 4 yrs, 9 mths to file N-400, 1 yr for N-400 and 6 mths - 1 yr for immigrant visa. Maybe a little less than 7 years would be the average time. Bad scenario where you get processed in a slow center or stuck in namecheck - you can add 1 more year which would push you closer to 8 years total.