I'm becoming a citizen, need to sponsor my spouse

R

robbie

Registered Users (C)
Hello. My oath ceremony for US citizenship will happen shortly and I would like to sponsor my wife for green card (she's on H1-B right now and working in US). Can you please help with the following questions:

1. My wife already has a GC application pending through her employer, although in EB3 category so she is pretty far from getting her priority date current (about 10 years!). Can I apply through marriage - can she have 2 applications going at the same time?

2. How soon can I apply for her GC? Can I do it the very next day after oath ceremony? Or do I need to wait until I get my US passport?

3. I understand I will have to file both I-130 and I-485 at the same time. How long does the whole process usually take? Are there any special things we need to get ready for filing? (e.g., police certificates? medical? etc.)

I will really appreciate your response. Thank you.
 
1. Yes she can have both processing at the same time, and get the green card based on whichever one progresses to completion first.

2. You don't need a US passport to file for her; you can send a copy of your naturalization certificate.

3. She needs the I-693 medical in order to file the I-485. Schedule the appointment ASAP (two appointments are needed ... one long appointment then a short follow-up a few days later), as it can take a couple weeks to get the results back. You don't need to be a US citizen when she goes for the medical, and she doesn't need a police certificate to submit with the application.

For I-130 and I-485 concurrently filed based on marriage to a US citizen, the usual time frame for the whole thing is 3-6 months.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top