Bringing partner to America Visa

How to Remove Conditions on my 2-year Green Card?

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How do I remove conditions (I-751) on my 2-year conditional Green Card?

First, check the expiration date on your 2-year conditional green card. You may not file Form I-751 to remove conditions until you are within 90 days of the green card’s expiration date. Both you and your spouse are Joint Petitioners of the application this time around. What this means is that both of you must sign and certify in the Form I-751 that you have still been living together in a genuine marital relationship since you first received the initial 2-year marriage-based green card.   You will need to remember where you lived together for the past 2 years, the application will also allow you to include any new members of the family such as your new-born baby!

What info do I need to complete Form I-751?

You must complete Form I-751 which will ask for your biographic information and your residence history since you last applied.   You will also be asked for your petitioning spouse’s biographic information as well as listing any children you have together.   If you have many addresses to list, there is an addendum to the form where you can list the complete addresses and dates of the additional addresses.   The form is relatively straight-forward to complete.   However, an attorney who can review the form or prepare it on your behalf will ensure you check the correct eligibility category and make sure the application is done right the first time around.

What other documents do I need to prepare for the I-751?

The documents needed are similar to the joint documents you included in your I-485 application a few years ago.   You will need to prove you and your spouse was living together for the past two years since you received your green card.   These documents can include your lease agreement, jointly filed tax returns, joint bank statements, joint billing statements, joint insurance policies, photos together spanning the past 2 years.   When including photos, it is a good idea to also include a caption for each photo that lists the date, event, and location.   For example, 02/14/2019, Valentine’s Day Dinner at the Portland City Grill, in Portland, Oregon.   Also, when including monthly statements, each statement should be provided from the time you received your initial green card to present time.   You can also request letters of support from family or friends who can attest to their knowledge that you and your spouse have been in a legitimate marital relationship for the past two years.

What is the expected wait time for me to receive my 10-year unconditional green card?

Currently, the wait time for your green card to arrive can be 18 months time. In fact, after mailing out your initial I-751, the receipt notice will indicate that you have received an 18-month extension.   During this time, you will be able to continue to work and travel as you would when you had your unexpired initial green card. However, the receipt notice for the I-751 acts as a substitute for your green card. The receipt notice automatically extends your permanent resident status as you await a final decision on the pending I-751. Therefore, you can show this original receipt notice to any prospective employer, or agency that needs to verify your lawful permanent resident status in the U.S.

Can I apply for U.S. citizenship if my I-751 is still pending?

Yes, you can! If your I-751 has been pending for a year, and you are still living together with your petitioning spouse, more likely than not, you will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizen based on marriage for at least three years as a permanent resident. However, you can apply even sooner through the 90-day rule which allows you to apply as soon as 2 years and 9 months from the date your green card was issued. This means that often times, while the I-751 is pending, you can prepare to file the form N-400 for citizenship. Once you are able to attend the citizenship interview, the officer will see that the I-751 is still pending and be able to adjudicate both applications at the same time. This will allow you to continue to process your applications despite the increased delays in I-751 petition processing.

If you have any questions regarding the I-751 application process, call us today at  866 691 9894 to set up a consultation.

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Couple near ocean getting married overseas

How to get a Marriage Visa for my Spouse?

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How to get a Marriage Visa for my Spouse?

You made the leap and married your spouse overseas! Now you are back in the U.S. and want to get your spouse into the U.S. on a marriage visa so she can reunite with you. How do you sponsor your husband/wife and bring them into the U.S.? How long will the process take? What requirements are there and do you earn enough to sponsor your spouse? This post will answer these questions for you.

How do I sponsor my husband/wife to come to the U.S.?

How to get a Marriage Visa for my Spouse? First, you need to be either a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident “Green card” holder and already married to your foreign beneficiary spouse. If you married abroad, immigration law recognizes marriages from outside the U.S. so long as you have proof it was registered with the appropriate civil authority. You will need to provide a copy of the marriage certificate and include a certified translation of the certificate before filing your paperwork to USCIS. You will then need to file with the USCIS, form I-130 petition along with the required I-130A for a spouse beneficiary. If it is difficult for your spouse to sign the forms, they are not required to sign I-130A if currently living overseas. However, they will need to provide you two passport-sized photos of themselves that will need to be submitted with the I-130 petition.   Your spouse overseas should also provide a copy of their birth certificate (with certified English translation) and copy of the biographic page of their passport, as well as visa, stamped pages.

If you are a U.S. citizen, you would need to include proof of your citizenship which would be a copy of your U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, or Certificate of Naturalization/Citizenship. If you are a permanent resident, you would need to provide a copy of your green card. As a permanent resident sponsoring your spouse, the process can take about a year and a half long because you would need to wait until the priority date is current (the date you filed your initial I-130 petition vs. the current date the petitions are being processed listed on the Department of State monthly bulletin).   The filing fee for the petition is currently $535. This petition is sent to USCIS for processing. Thereafter, the immigrant visa processing fee of $325 and the affidavit of support fee of $120 is due online prior to scheduling the interview. After approval, there is another $220 green card production fee.

How Long will the process take to bring my spouse to the U.S.?

Sponsoring your wife or husband from overseas generally can take about a year to complete. After filing the initial I-130 petition at USCIS, expect a wait time of around 8 to 10 months for the decision. Upon approval, the petition is then transferred to the National Visa Center which takes a month. Thereafter, you will need to submit the required immigrant visa processing fee, affidavit of support fee, and submit additional documents and forms such as the I-864 affidavit of support and the DS-260 immigrant visa online application. Your spouse will also be required to take a medical examination testing for any communicable diseases or illnesses. This process can take several months until the interview is scheduled.

What other requirements are there and do I earn enough to sponsor my spouse?

In addition to the required identity documents and marriage certificate, you will also need to provide documents proving you have been in a marital relationship with your spouse even if they are overseas.   These documents can include photos together, travel itinerary, letters of support from family and friends, and even screenshots of chat messages between you and your spouse. If your spouse had any previous immigration violations or criminal history, that can play a major role in determining their chances of getting a green card at the time of interview. Often times, the officer after the interview will request a waiver to overcome certain grounds of inadmissibility. Having a consultation with an Immigration Lawyer near you in Portland, OR will help you determine if any ineligibilities could risk your spouse beneficiary’s chance of approval.

If you are a two-person household, meaning just you living by yourself and your spouse to join you is a household of two. Current federal poverty guidelines indicate that a 2 person household needs to earn at least $20,575. If you do not earn enough income you can ask a co-sponsor to help so long as they independently meet the minimum salary and are a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident and they would also need to provide the proof of legal status as well as three years tax return and w2 statements.

Our firm has helped reunite hundreds of long-distance international couples. For questions about marriage, visas feel free to contact us online or call us at (866)691-9894.

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How to apply for Marriage Green Card in the U.S. | Immigration Law Group, LLC

How to apply for Marriage Green Card in the U.S.

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Your Complete Guide to Marriage Green Card in the U.S.

How to apply for Marriage Green Card in the U.S.? When deciding to apply for marriage green card in the U.S., also known as “adjustment of status”, if your husband/wife is a U.S. citizen, and you entered the U.S. legally (generally on a visa), you should be able to file both the I-130 petition and I-485 application at the same time. This post will be your comprehensive guide to applying for a marriage-based green card while you are in the U.S.

Collect Certificates:

You will need to submit copies of your marriage certificate, your birth certificate (with certified English translation), your passport biographic page and all visa stamped pages, your husband/wife’s proof of U.S. citizenship (U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport biographic page, or Certificate of Naturalization/Citizenship).   If you were a student on an F-1 visa, include your I-20 received from your designated school official.   If you were approved by USCIS for a change of status or extension of status since you were in the U.S., you should also provide copies of those documents as well.   You will also be required to provide your I-94 arrival/departure record which will either be retrieved online if you came into the U.S. recently, or you may have a paper I-94 from a long time ago attached to your passport, or one recently issued by USCIS based on a change of status or extension of status approval.

If you or your spouse were previously divorced, you will also want to include certified copies of the divorce decrees, and if the divorce happened outside the U.S., you will also need to include a certified English translation. If your spouse’s previous marriage ended by spouse’s former spouse passing away, they will also need to provide the death certificate.

Collect Joint Documents:

You and your spouse should include all documents that have both your names and same address on it including joint bank statements, billing statements, insurance statements, car payments, utility bills, lease agreement, and copies of your state ID cards/licenses. You can also ask your family and friends to write letters of support that affirm your legitimate marital relationship together.   Include photos together with you, your spouse, and family and friends. This is because of the more people in your photos, the more proof that more people know about your relationship.

Medical Examination (Form I-693):

You must also complete a medical examination and have your certified civil surgeon (doctor designated in your area to administer these USCIS required exams), sign the form I-693. They will seal the results in an envelope marked specifically for USCIS and you will attach this to your application before submitting to USCIS. One tip is you can submit the application without the medical exam results initially and wait until you get your interview scheduled about 6-8 months after filing and obtain it prior to the interview then bring the results on the day of the interview.

Collect Financial Support Documents:

Your spouse is required to sign a financial sponsorship form known as the I-864. They must show that their current annual income is more than the Federal Poverty guidelines for the current year 2019.   Currently, if it is just you and your spouse living together in a 2-person household, your spouse would need to earn at least $20,575 per year to be considered earning enough to sponsor you. You will need to provide your spouse’s most recent tax return including W-2 statement as well as reference the total income from the previous two years before that to list on the Form I-864.

Complete the I-130 Petition & I-485 Application Forms and Mail to USCIS:

Once you have all the documents ready, it is time to complete all the application forms.   The two required application forms are the Form I-130 and Form I-485. Form I-130 is the petition for you that your spouse signs as the U.S. Citizen Petitioner, and you are the Beneficiary. However, as a Spouse Beneficiary, you will be required to complete and sign Form I-130A. This step is typically done first, but in a green card application based on marriage, you can also file the I-485 concurrently (at the same time) as the I-130 petition, cutting your wait time in half. Once you complete the I-485, you can also complete optional form I-765 (work authorization request) and form I-131 (advance parole request) which will allow you to get a temporary work/travel combo card in the mail in about 5 months after filing your application.

As mentioned above, you will also need to have your spouse complete and sign the Form I-864 which will detail his/her past three years income earned and current income including employer information. Once all forms are completed you can put them together attaching them with the copies of documents you collected and include a cover letter describing all the documents that are included in the packet. You must also attach the required filing fees of $535 for I-130 fee, and $1,225 for I-485 fee. You must also provide 2 passport-sized photos of you and your spouse.   Include the form I-693 medical exam results in a sealed envelope. You will then mail it to the required USCIS mailing address that is listed on the government site at uscis.gov. Location may vary based on where you currently reside.

Receive Receipt Notices, Biometrics Appointment and Respond to any RFE:

After mailing out the application, you should receive receipt notices in the mail in a few weeks. Then a few weeks after that, you will get biometrics (fingerprint) appointment notice which schedules you to go to your local USCIS field office to take your electronic fingerprints and photo. This is to get a background check on you prior to the application continuing to process. If your application is missing any required information or the application was not all completed, you may get a Request for Evidence (“RFE”) in the mail asking you to submit the required documents in order for the application to resume processing. If you fail to respond or respond with insufficient evidence, then the application will be denied.

Attend Interview, then wait for the decision:

If you are able to process the application successfully, you should be getting your work permit/advance parole combo card in about 5 months time. Thereafter, it is currently taking USCIS about 6-7 months to schedule interviews for married couples to attend. Once you receive your interview notice, you should then prepare for the documents listed on the notice, such as your IDs, original birth certificates, marriage certificate, passports, divorce decrees (if applicable), along with updated joint documents such as jointly filed tax returns, copies of joint banking and billing statements, and photos together since wedding date to current time. Your interviewing officer will ask you questions on your form I-130 and form I-485 and both you and your spouse will be asked about how you met, how you proposed, how you married, and about your marital relationship. For more information see our article about preparing for the marriage-based interview.

If you have any additional questions about this process, contact our firm to schedule a consultation with our Portland immigration lawyer.

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