Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

Hello Friends,

I am thinking of marrying a "Green Card" holder, she got her GC 3 months ago...my question is. If we get married can i get green card too? if so can I work and how does the process work?

about me: I am on F-1(student) and may/maynot come under "Dream act". Been living in US for over 15years legally came to US as minor.

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

She can petition you but you would not be considered an immediate family member, which means there is a waitlist, not sure as to the length of time for such a petition or the exact process of such a petition.

either way, here is some relevant information.

http://www.lawcom.com/immigration/famimlpr.shtml

here is an interesting point made by this source

and a table

http://www.lawcom.com/immigration/fitbllpr.shtml

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

according to the source, which I am unsure when it was the last time it was updated, the process takes about 3 years, in any case, once the person you are marrying attains USC status, the priority of the application is upgraded, and in this case you would be considered an immediate family member as the spouse, which has no waitlist.

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

I don't know how much wait there is if she applies for me but if you're already in US i think it's not too long? either ways during the wait time can i work? does USCIS issue work permit?

I think I-130 takes about 6months now? and after she can apply for green card w/ work permit? can anyone confirm please?

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

I work for an Immigration attorney an as of right now Marrying a LPR would put you on the waitlist of about 5 years which is around the time where she could becoming a citizen .

The attorney here usually doesnt like taking cases when its only an LPR unless the clients insist, she usually tells them to wait for the spouse to become a citizen.

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

Thanks for the info. During the 5 year wait, can a person work?

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

No you cannot essentially since she is only a LPR she will only be able to send the I-130 which is only the petition for alien relative once your wait is up say in about 4 to 5 years she will get a letter letting her know she can now proceed to send the the application to adjust status.

The application to adjust status is when while you are waiting for your interview they send you a work permit and a temporary SS# , that is when you can work.

But by sending the I-130 you get nothing .

edit: this is the process for someone who came in the country legally (over stayed visa ) if you ewi thats a whole different story.

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

You are in good shape as you are here legally and can readjust your status but you still have to wait. In your case I think you can apply for a work permit in the meanwhile so trust me, if you love this person, things will work out for you.

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

Trust me bro, legal or illegal it's all hell. Illegals do have it rough but legals or at least the legals in my situations are in just as bad situation. It's been 16 years of nightmare, you have no idea how many times i had to send USCIS a request and immigration fees etc sometimes they accept or reject all the tension. Sometimes i wish i was illegal but it's prob much worse to be illegal now. There aren't many options to adjust status from F-1, it's either through work(mine got rejected) or marriage, I really hope something works out for legals and illegals soon.

Re: Marrying a Green Card Holder
 

Musicman, we're all facing hardship but I guess it's all relative (on another thread I compared this to slavery where you had house slaves and field slaves).

From my understanding of the law (and in the last 25 years I've spent many thousands of dollars), if someone is straight up illegal and never went through any processing, they can't readjust their status(if let's say they married a citizen) without going back to their home country, but the catch there is that since the 1996 law, if they go back, they can't come back for 10 years.

For some people who have had a case that was closed, they also can't automatically readjust their status if they get married, but they may be grandfathered by the older exclusion laws and beg their case to be reopened and readjust their status but they are still shut out from getting any kind of work visa.

The good thing for you is that if you do get married, it's a sure thing and it'll just cost you some lawyer money. Again, not saying your life isn't hard...just that it could be worst :)