Marrying a Green Card ( GC in process )

F

fnoman

New Member
Hi,
I am planing to marry a Green Card. Her GC is in processing which is family based. She is expecting her GC next year 2011 Sept.
I am currently on F1-OPT. Just want to know would it be any beneficial for me ? I heard i file 845 petition and we both will get GC together :s but I don't know.
please help me.

Thanks,
-Nomi
 
No you don't file a 485 now, and yes when ever she will be processed in 2011 like you are expecting you can have yourself added, it's called a derivative status if you are married to her at the time of her adjustment. You will file your 485 at that time.
 
This is a tricky situation. If you marry her before her green card is approved, you could destroy her green card process depending on which category her green card application is in.

If she is a derivative beneficiary on her parent's primary green card process, or her parent is directly filing for her but that parent is a permanent resident, you can't obtain a derivative green card and if she gets married before green card approval she would lose eligibility for the green card.

If her GC category allows marriage without voiding the process, you could qualify for a derivative green card if you marry her before her GC is approved, but the marriage could move her to a different category and delay her green card for years.

The other issue is that her priority date needs to be current for you to file the I-485. So if your F1-OPT expires before that happens, you'll have to leave the US and pursue the GC process at a consulate, unless you get some other visa that allows you to stay like H1B.

Who is filing the green card for her, is she the direct or derivative beneficiary, and is the person filing for her a US citizen? Please clarify so we can explain your options better.
 
I have a quick question because I think it fits here. My girlfriend has an open 485 from her brother to become a permanent resident. She is a valid f1 student right now. After 3 years, she received her "approval" letter and is awaiting an appointment/interview currently. Will they assign her to go back to Venezuela for her interview or can she stay here somehow? She and I are both concerned about her leaving and want to know the process. Thanks!
 
Icebolt56 said:
I have a quick question because I think it fits here. My girlfriend has an open 485 from her brother to become a permanent resident. She is a valid f1 student right now. After 3 years, she received her "approval" letter and is awaiting an appointment/interview currently.
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That approval must be for the I-130, not the I-485. Because it takes almost 10 years just to become eligible to file I-485 based on a sibling petition, and approval of the I-485 would mean no more interviews (485 approval means the GC itself will arrive within a few days or weeks).

Will they assign her to go back to Venezuela for her interview or can she stay here somehow? She and I are both concerned about her leaving and want to know the process. Thanks!
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Filing the I-485 would allow her to stay in the US to complete the process, but it will be a long time before she is eligible to file that, so unless she gets another visa like H1B she will have to leave the US and pursue the rest of the process through a consulate in Venezuela (or whatever other country she is living in when they reach her priority date).

Look at the Family 4th category in the visa bulletin: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5019.html, it says January 2001. That means they're currently taking I-485 applications and consular interviews for people who applied 9 and a half years ago. When did her brother file the papers, 2007?
 
Jackolantern said:
When did her brother file the papers, 2007?
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The petition was for her to be a permanent resident as a sibling. I assumed it was 485, but not sure.
Yes, her brother filed in 2007 and she received the 795 approval about a week or 2 ago saying the have sent it to the office and they are awaiting to decide which consulate will handle it or something along those lines. We are so worried she will have to leave for an extended period..we just want to know if theres anything she can do to stay.

Edit: After reading about the i-130 form, you must be right. That is the first step, so it must be the i-130. Will she have to leave even if she is a valid f-1 student here? If she received the "approval", how long before she would have to leave?
 
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Icebolt56 said:
After reading about the i-130 form, you must be right. That is the first step, so it must be the i-130. Will she have to leave even if she is a valid f-1 student here? If she received the "approval", how long before she would have to leave?
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She can stay as long as she has valid F1 status or another valid immigration status. She only has to leave when she no longer has any valid immigration status, or she has to show up for an appointment at the consulate. The consular appointment is some 6 or 7 years away, so she's going to have to leave before that anyway, unless she manages to stretch out her legal status for that many years with F1 extensions and H1B or some other visa.

Note that if she leaves the US she may be unable to reenter with the F1 visa, because she is not supposed to have immigrant intent when entering with the F1 visa. But if she has an H1B or L1 visa she can reenter with it, because H1B and L1 allows immigrant intent.
 
Jackolantern said:
She can stay as long as she has valid F1 status or another valid immigration status. She only has to leave when she no longer has any valid immigration status, or she has to show up for an appointment at the consulate. The consular appointment is some 6 or 7 years away, so she's going to have to leave before that anyway, unless she manages to stretch out her legal status for that many years with F1 extensions and H1B or some other visa.

Note that if she leaves the US she may be unable to reenter with the F1 visa, because she is not supposed to have immigrant intent when entering with the F1 visa. But if she has an H1B or L1 visa she can reenter with it, because H1B and L1 allows immigrant intent.
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Oh wow, we were under the impression that her appointment would be within the next few months, so we were worried she'd get a letter soon saying "you have to leave". We were aware that once she leaves for that interview, she wouldn't be allowed back until she had her GC which could take a year. I feel a little better knowing the interview is so far away and all we have to worry about is her visa..although I suppose that could be problematic also.

Thank you so much for your responses, as I was pretty much clueless about the process. I do have another question though. She and I will most likely be getting married within the next year...how does that affect her i-130 petition status or her interview in Venezuela?
 
Icebolt56 said:
We were aware that once she leaves for that interview, she wouldn't be allowed back until she had her GC which could take a year.
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Once the consulate says they're ready to accept the final paperwork and interview her, it won't take a year to complete the formalities. It should be all done within a month.

Thank you so much for your responses, as I was pretty much clueless about the process. I do have another question though. She and I will most likely be getting married within the next year...how does that affect her i-130 petition status or her interview in Venezuela?
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Fortunately, getting married doesn't change the category or nullify a sibling petition (if a parent had filed for, the marriage could delay or destroy it). So for you, it would just be a matter of filing some paperwork in the latter stages to add you as a derivative*, and you would also interview at the consulate and complete similar procedures that she would go through (fingerprinting, medical).

But if you plan to get married to her outside the US, remember that she may be unable to get back into the US if her visa is still F1.


*that is assuming you are not already a US citizen or permanent resident. Are you either? If not, what is your immigration status? Your immigration status or lack thereof affects her options if she marries you.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Once the consulate says they're ready to accept the final paperwork and interview her, it won't take a year to complete the formalities. It should be all done within a month.



Fortunately, getting married doesn't change the category or nullify a sibling petition (if a parent had filed for, the marriage could delay or destroy it). So for you, it would just be a matter of filing some paperwork in the latter stages to add you as a derivative, and you would also interview at the consulate and complete similar procedures that she would go through (fingerprinting, medical).

But if you plan to get married to her outside the US, remember that she may be unable to get back into the US if her visa is still F1. And if you are inside the US illegally, that is another big ball of wax.
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Interesting..everyone we have spoken to (her brother, and the international students office at the university) says that once she gets her appointment/interview in Venezuela, she will be gone for up to a year waiting for her green card.
You have definitely relieved my stress knowing that A. she will not have to leave for a long time, and B. Even when she leaves it may only be for a month. Thanks!

Since I am a US citizen, would I still have to file paperwork as a derivative and interview at the consulate? Will she still have to interview in Venezuela even if we are married?

How does she go about getting a work visa..how long does that typically take?

Thanks again for your clarifications.
 
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Icebolt56 said:
Interesting..everyone we have spoken to (her brother, and the international students office at the university) says that once she gets her appointment/interview in Venezuela, she will be gone for up to a year waiting for her green card.
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Are they speaking from actual recent experience? I suppose one year is possible if Chavez and his regime have mucked things so much that it takes so long to get things done there, or if she needs to apply for an exit visa to leave there, but one month is more typical. But even then, I still find that one year statement to be extreme and probably inaccurate. They might have heard some third-hand story about somebody who waited a year, but it probably is for some other reason like the person left the US before the consulate said they were ready to take on the final processing.

Since I am a US citizen, would I still have to file paperwork as a derivative and interview at the consulate? Will she still have to interview in Venezuela even if we are married? Thanks again for your clarifications.
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You are a US citizen? Why didn't you say that from the beginning? As a USC, once you marry her, she can get a green card in 3-6 months and forget about that long drawn out process with her brother. And if she's in the US when you marry her she wouldn't need to go to Venezuela during the process.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Are they speaking from actual recent experience? I suppose one year is possible if Chavez and his regime have mucked things so much that it takes so long to get things done there, or if she needs to apply for an exit visa to leave there, but one month is more typical. But even then, I still find that one year statement to be extreme and probably inaccurate.


You are a US citizen? Why didn't you say that from the beginning? As a USC, once you marry her, she can get a green card in 3-6 months and forget about that long drawn out process with her brother. And if she's in the US when you marry her she wouldn't need to go to Venezuela during the process.
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Her brother did not have to go through the process, so his isn't from personal experience, and I'm not sure about the people at the university..they seemed completely clueless and told her different things everytime she went there.

Such a relief to know that..thank you, and I apologize for not clarifying my status! Once we get married, would it nullify her brothers petition, or would we have to cancel it? It sounds like now we just have to worry about getting her visa extended or getting a work visa for her so she can stay. Not sure how to go about that.
 
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How much time is there until she graduates? After graduation, she also can get one year of OPT. So with the combination of her remaining semesters of study and that year of OPT you really have nothing to worry about if you plan to marry within a year.

Marrying her will not nullify her brother's petition. At least not until they're ready to issue a green card for her based on your petition.
 
Well she has about a year left of school, but the university is telling her that her visa expires on december 12th and that they are reluctant to let her come back for some reason, and that she may have to transfer to community college? I assume maybe it has something to do with the type of student visa she has..not sure why she would have to transfer to community college? They said she can come back to the university but will have to pay very high tuition. That's also another reason I am thinking we should try to get her a work visa..but obviously it's up to her if she'd rather work or study. She has a bachelors degree from venezuela already, so I don't think she would hurt from working instead of studying here.

Would we be able to get her a work visa within the next 4 months before december 12th?
 
Icebolt56 said:
Well she has about a year left of school, but the university is telling her that her visa expires on december 12th and that they are reluctant to let her come back for some reason, and that she may have to transfer to community college?
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Seems like she's dealing with some really confused people at the university. F1 students who have D/S on their I-94 are allowed to stay until their degree program is completed (assuming they've been complying with the terms of the visa by studying full time, etc.), regardless of the visa expiration date.

And her tuition increasing because of the visa expiration doesn't make sense either, unless she's on some sort of scholarship or assistanceship that will run out.

Either those people at the university are nuts, or there are parts of the story that you don't understand or are not telling us (maybe she's really on a J1, not an F1?). It might be wise to have a short consultation with an immigration lawyer to help both of you get a full understanding of the situation and what her options are.

Would we be able to get her a work visa within the next 4 months before december 12th?
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It's possible, but that requires her to get hired by a company that is willing to apply for it. Which is something 98% of companies won't do, particularly in this economy when they have a flood of Americans applying for most jobs.
 
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I'm sure there's plenty I don't know/understand about the situation..since she seems not to know alot about it, it makes it hard for her to explain it to me. But I agree something doesn't seem right. She seems to think the University is just trying to squeeze money out of her.

She mentioned someone was willing to hire her (as a bank teller I think), but obviously couldn't because of her status. We are meeting with an immigration lawyer tomorrow..so many questions!
 
USCIS won't approve a work visa for a bank teller, nor would a bank be willing to apply for it for that position. Bank manager, maybe.
 
why even bother about work visas and immigration through her brother, when she could have a green card in about 4 months after marrying you and filing for a GC through you?
 
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