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My boyfriend is here on work visa
- Thread starter hm29926
- Start date
- marry him
- file form I130 (immigrant petition for alien relative) with the office of the US citizenship and immigration service
- have him file form I485 (application to adjust status) in the same package
- have him file form I765 (application for permission to accept employment)
- have him file form I131 (application for travel document)
After that he will get his work permit in 3 months and his conditional green-card within 2 years or so. After 2 years, you both have to go for an interview and proove that you are indeed married. If you satisfied the immigration officer that your marriage was not a sham just to get the GC, his 'conditional' greencard is converted into a permanent one.
This of course is a very simplified description of a long and somewhat more complicated process. There are other options, depending on where is is from it might make more sense to go through the US consulate in his home country using fiancee or spouse visas (K1,K3).
Check out the 'family immigration' subforums on this site. http://www.immigrationportal.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39 There is plenty of useful information to be garnered. Don't be too frustrated. Internet forums like this tend to attract the frustrated customers of USCIS. For every person who gets jerked around by USCIS, ther are probably 10 who breeze through the process without major hickups.
If you are smart enough to file your own taxes, you could probably do the entire process yourself. If you want guidance, you can hire an attorney to do the work for you. It saves you from filling out the forms incorrectly, but it will set you back a couple of $1000.
(I assume you are a US citizen. If not, all the abovesaid is irrelevant)
- file form I130 (immigrant petition for alien relative) with the office of the US citizenship and immigration service
- have him file form I485 (application to adjust status) in the same package
- have him file form I765 (application for permission to accept employment)
- have him file form I131 (application for travel document)
After that he will get his work permit in 3 months and his conditional green-card within 2 years or so. After 2 years, you both have to go for an interview and proove that you are indeed married. If you satisfied the immigration officer that your marriage was not a sham just to get the GC, his 'conditional' greencard is converted into a permanent one.
This of course is a very simplified description of a long and somewhat more complicated process. There are other options, depending on where is is from it might make more sense to go through the US consulate in his home country using fiancee or spouse visas (K1,K3).
Check out the 'family immigration' subforums on this site. http://www.immigrationportal.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39 There is plenty of useful information to be garnered. Don't be too frustrated. Internet forums like this tend to attract the frustrated customers of USCIS. For every person who gets jerked around by USCIS, ther are probably 10 who breeze through the process without major hickups.
If you are smart enough to file your own taxes, you could probably do the entire process yourself. If you want guidance, you can hire an attorney to do the work for you. It saves you from filling out the forms incorrectly, but it will set you back a couple of $1000.
(I assume you are a US citizen. If not, all the abovesaid is irrelevant)
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hm29926 said:This is all very new to me so any information would be greatly appreciated. My boyfriend is here on a work visa. We are in a very serious relationship and I want to know what I need to do to keep him here!
Are you a US citizen, or permanent resident or other visa holder ?
Ok, so pop the question to him. (Go to city hall, wear a nice dress, take some buddies along and take plenty pictures.)
As I mentioned, you have two main avenues:
#1 file I130 with USCIS and have him adjust status while he remains in the states
#2 file I130 with USCIS but file for an 'immigrant visa' which can be issued at a visa post abroad. To bridge the time between filing and issuance of the visa he can either come back on his work visa (as long as it is in the H or L category), or you can get a fiancee or spouse visa for him (K1,K3).
If your bf is from a high-immigration country (where the consulate has 6-9month waiting times for interviews) and your financial means to tavel back and forth a couple of times are limited, you might want to go with #1.
If he is from a low-immigration country (where the consulate gives interviews in a few days or weeks) and you guys don't mind traveling back and forth once or twice, you might want to look into option #2.
Good Luck with the process. Particularly as a citizen, you will get really aggravated at some point along the way. You will wonder how your own goverment can treat you worse than a criminal. You will wonder where you due process rights and other protections under the law have gone. But don't take the eyes off the ball. Just keep filing whatever stupid piece of paper they are asking from you this week and keep working towards your hubbys green-card.
(As I said, marriage based cases tend to go through without problems as long as you adhere to the written and unwritten rules of this game. Browse through the family forums to familiarize youself with the various steps and what to expect at each juncture).
As I mentioned, you have two main avenues:
#1 file I130 with USCIS and have him adjust status while he remains in the states
#2 file I130 with USCIS but file for an 'immigrant visa' which can be issued at a visa post abroad. To bridge the time between filing and issuance of the visa he can either come back on his work visa (as long as it is in the H or L category), or you can get a fiancee or spouse visa for him (K1,K3).
If your bf is from a high-immigration country (where the consulate has 6-9month waiting times for interviews) and your financial means to tavel back and forth a couple of times are limited, you might want to go with #1.
If he is from a low-immigration country (where the consulate gives interviews in a few days or weeks) and you guys don't mind traveling back and forth once or twice, you might want to look into option #2.
Good Luck with the process. Particularly as a citizen, you will get really aggravated at some point along the way. You will wonder how your own goverment can treat you worse than a criminal. You will wonder where you due process rights and other protections under the law have gone. But don't take the eyes off the ball. Just keep filing whatever stupid piece of paper they are asking from you this week and keep working towards your hubbys green-card.
(As I said, marriage based cases tend to go through without problems as long as you adhere to the written and unwritten rules of this game. Browse through the family forums to familiarize youself with the various steps and what to expect at each juncture).
Last edited by a moderator: