Questions Regarding Marriage & GC

L

lookatthatshine

New Member
Hi,

My girlfriend moved here at the age of 11 with her family from Lebanon. She has been through school and recently graduated in August from college. Now that her student Visa has expired, she has been on an OPT Visa since October in hopes of finding a nursing job. She has had no luck so far... but my question is this: We want to get married between January and June of next year... Can someone tell me how long it might take once married for her to apply/receive a GC, and what troubles we may run into during this process? Her OPT Visa expires October 2011 and we do not want her to have to leave the country. I forgot to mention that I am a USC.

Thanks in advance. Please let me know if I need to provide more details.
 
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She made a lawful entry and will be an immediate relative of a USC, therefore she can adjust status without leaving the U.S. After you get married you file an I-130 petition for her as the spouse of a USC. She concurrently files an I-485, I-765 and I-131 adjustment package. Find the forms at www.uscis.gov the fees go up on Nov 23rd.

You will need to file an I-864 on her behalf, if your income is insufficient, you can get a co-sponsor. Filing fees are not cheap, but if she has no criminal record, you don't need a lawyer. If you need help filing out forms, there are non-profit agencies all over that help. The better ones have been approved by the Board of Immigration Appeals. Check the list at: http://www.justice.gov/eoir/statspub/raroster.htm
 
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What worried me so much was the following sentence that I read from an immigration lawyer's website:

"Alternately, marriage to a permanent resident is very problematical and often results in the recently-married spouses living apart for many years."

I didn't understand why they made that statement in their article regarding marriage to USC???
 
That sentence is referring to an LPR petitioner filing for an F2A "spouse of an LPR" visa which requires a "current" priority date according to the visa bulletin. If you were an LPR rather than a USC, her visa would not be "immediately available" and she would have to be in a lawful status in order to file for adjustment. It can take 6 to 8 months from filing date to become current. After that, there is still the processing delays. Your wait is cut way down AND she is already here.
 
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