I-485 and Marriage Issues

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savant123456

Registered Users (C)
Lets talk about this important issue which most of us face during our Green Card process - Marriage.

My Labor just got approved and I am in the process of filing I-140 and I-485 concurrently. I was planning to get married soon but now it is all the more reason to do so in order to apply for permanent residency for my spouse along with my application. I understand that if I wait to do so after I get my GC then the request falls in 2A category which is a very low priority for INS and hence the GC for spouse takes about 4-6 years.

I have gathered from posts that I can file for my I-485 now and then get married and put in an adjustment application for spouse before the I-485 gets approved. Is this a safe thing to do?

Should I do the above or should I just wait to file my I-485 till the time I get married? What would be a better option?

Folks who have had similar experience, please share it with us.

Thanks
 
You can always send an I485 for your spouse separately, before your 485 is approved. So the trick is to get married before your approval comes thru.

Here's a case that I happened to observe firsthand. My niece got married on July 9 (not this year, and dates may go a few days either way), applied for H4 July 12. Her husband's GC was approved on July 16 while they were still in India. They traveled back to the US on H1 & H4 respectively without an idea about the GC approval. Their lawyer had not handled a case like this, but took a chance and sent in my niece's 485 on the grounds that the marriage date was before GC approval date. And she got her GC without any issues.

This was in VSC.

Search for some of Jaxen's posts on GC and marriage for additional info.
 
You could do that if you get married before your approval date.

savant123456, unless you're losing time on your H1, I don't recommend applying for 140 & 485 concurrently. Once you are in to 485 there is no way you can delay the process except for postponing your FP once. After the FP you never know how long it's gonna take to get it approved. I've seen many postings in the past who were forced to get married within short span of time.

It may seem quite a long time even to get to FP stage, but believe me sometimes finding a suitable companion takes much longer than that.....Don't take chances with your life just for GC....
 
Savant,

I will also recommend that don't apply for 485 without getting married or atleast getting engaged to some girl.

I am in the same boat and have already applied for 485 and am really under lot of stress since my marriage plans are not going well.
 
priya, milli, frodo,

Thanks to you all for your comments. Priya I understand your stress and hope that things work out for you.

This sitiuation is so strange, anybody who has gone through the US immigration process would be very paranoid at the idea of waiting at this point. What if the immigration rules change tomorrow? What if there is a backlog again in a year's time ... so many if's ... but the other argument is valid too .. life's much more important than just a green card ...

Has anybody taken the other route? i.e Filed for a GC for spouse after he/she has got their own? ... How long has that total process taken? If you do so then how long does it take for the spouse to get just the EAD?

Thanks,
Savant
 
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