Immigration rules do not allow a permanent resident of the U.S. to immigrate a foreign fiance. They allow a foreign spouse to immigrate, but a hold will be placed on the case intentionally to prevent chain migration.
Question
I am a Permanent Resident of the U.S. for 10 years with Canadian citizenship. My boyfriend lives in Jamaica and we want to get married. What is the best way to do this? Me to go there or him to come here and would I lose my citizenship or my permanent status in the U.S.? Confused and not sure what to do.
Answer
Marcy,
it is possible to immigrate a foreign spouse even if you are a permanent resident of the U.S. However, there will be a 3 year hold placed on your case currently, plus processing time of several months. You would not lose your Canadian citizenship.
In your situation, fiance visa processing is currently taking us appx. 8 ½ months while a marriage visa is taking us appx. 10 months. The U.S. consulate in Kingston is slower than average. Since you are not yet a U.S. citizen, you cannot file for a fiance visa. However, you can file now for a marriage visa because you are a green card holder.
You have been a green card holder for 10 years, so it seems you may be qualified to apply for U.S. citizenship now. If so, the quickest way to bring your fiance to the U.S. would be to file now for U.S. citizenship. At the same time, marry him outside the U.S. and start the application for a marriage visa. We can partially process on the marriage visa while your U.S. citizenship remains pending. Once you have U.S. citizenship, we can upgrade your marriage visa and complete marriage visa processing in a matter of a several months.
Kind regards,
Allan
You are welcome to contact me if you like to discuss further.
I am a permanent resident in America and my fiance lives in Africa. At what conditions can we get married and what will be the consequences for me as permanent resident and for him?
Marie, Thank you. The answer is essentially the same as above. You are welcome to marry your fiance in Africa. This will not affect your permanent resident status. Since you are a permanent resident green card holder, you do not qualify to immigrate him as your fiance and he cannot come to the U.S. on a fiance visa. As a green card holder you can only immigrate your husband on a marriage visa. If you remain a green card holder, then you must marry first and apply for a marriage visa. The problem is that there will be about a 3-year hold placed on your case because you are not yet a U.S. citizen. A U.S. citizen can immigrate a foreigner more quickly than a green card holder.
Do you currently qualify to apply for U.S. citizenship? If so, it makes sense to apply for it now while you are organizing an immigration plan with your fiance. You are welcome to call and discuss strategy if you like. My number is 1-888-483-0311 (toll free from the U.S.). In this situation, I will likely advise marrying abroad and filing for a marriage visa while your U.S. citizenship application is in process and this will shorten the time for marriage visa processing once you obtain U.S. citizenship in about 6 months or so. I hope this makes sense.
Kind regards, Allan
Hello,
I would like to ask the fastest possible way for my fiance to take me to US. He can now apply for citizenship, although he’s having a hard time because he’s still waiting for his selective service number or something. How long will he get it and how long will it take for him to be a citizen? A friend of his told him that it will be faster if he gets back here in the Philippines, get married and apply for a spousal visa while he is not yet a citizen. We are really confused. To apply for citizenship and file fiance visa? Or don’t apply for citizenship, get married here, and apply for spousal visa? Which is faster? I hope you can help us. We’ve been together since college, more than 6 years actually and we really really want to be together and start a family. What should we do? thank you!
April, This is a very good question. A fiancee visa is normally a bit quicker right now, but as it turns out, in your situation a marriage visa will very likely end up being quicker.
It should not take long for your fiance to register with selective service. If you marry and file for a marriage visa while he is applying for U.S. citizenship, then there will be a 3 year hold placed on the marriage visa petition. However, the case will process to a certain point which helps. Once he is a U.S. citizen, we can upgrade the status of the marriage visa and eliminate further delays. Using this technique, it should be possible to obtain a marriage visa for you within about 3 months currently after your future husband obtains U.S. citizenship.
By comparison, in order to file for a fiancee visa, we must first wait until he has U.S. citizenship. We cannot partially process on the fiancee visa while awaiting his U.S. citizenship. Processing U.S. citizenship should take about 6 months currently. I hope this helps.
Kind regards, Allan
Thank you Mr. Lolly for your answer. Everything’s clear now. After much thought and debate, my fiance decided to pursue his application for citizenship then file for fiance visa. We concluded that there is only a difference of 3-4 months within the two choices, and the fiance visa won because of less expense. 🙂 anyway, thank you very much for your help.
thanks again! 🙂
My fiance of 14 years has been waiting for quite sometime for his filing to come through, it has now.
My question is this can I request for a follow to join as a derivative beneficiary or do I have to wait until he comes back to jamaica to get married in about three months? I am a bit shaken up as our kids are with him as they were being filed for.What is the best way to go about it?
Diana, It would help to know what type of immigration benefit he has achieved. Is he applying for something in Kingston? Is he still in Jamaica or now in the U.S.?
You cannot follow to join as a fiancee. I cannot tell whether it makes sense to marry now or if that might prevent him from completing his immigration process. You are welcome to contact me directly at allan@asl-lawfirm.com with the information requested and we can discuss further. Kind regards, Allan
I was denied a non immigrant visa a year ago. I was told I do not have sufficient economic and social ties that will make me return to my home country.
Now, my American Citizen fiance wants to marry me. However, when I was doing the non immigrant application, I wrote on it that I was employed when I was not. I have read that when he will be submitting my application for my Green Card he would have to include my biographical information for the last five years. Will the person reviewing my documents go back to the previous application and realise that I lied about my employment when I was never working? Will this complicate my chances of receiving my green card ? I am worried
Stacy, Thank you for contacting me about this important matter. Yes, absolutely the chances are great that an immigration officer will review your B visitor visa application when processing on a marriage visa. Your immigration history is typically reviewed whenever applying for anything so it is important to be careful at all times.
A misrepresentation is grounds for a permanent bar from the U.S., married or not. There is the possibility of a bar waiver, but most people do not qualify for a waiver. Immigration offers are not sympathetic. They are following their training and they will bar you.
You need to be working with someone like me to help figure out a best course of action. My phone number when calling overseas is +1 212-483-0311 (and 1-888-483-0311 toll free from the U.S.). I hope to hear from you or your husband.
Kind regards, Allan
I am a green card holder and recently shifted to usa from india, my fiancee lives in india, i like to apply for him, please advise can i apply for him as a green card holder and if i can what is the procedure and how long will it take???
Pooja, Can you please take a second look at my original comment at the top of this blog post? It has your answers. If you recently obtained U.S. citizenship, then your best choice is likely to marry him first in India, and then apply for a marriage visa. There will be a 3-year hold placed on your case, plus normal marriage visa processing time of about 8 1/2 months currently through India. I hope this helps.
Kind regards, Allan
Hi, any assistance that you can offer is greatly appreciated. I have dual citizenship between Canada and Britain / EU. My fiancee is a Green Card holder who has been in the states for 12 years. Although he has been a GC holder for so long, he does not want to become a citizen.
When we get married, will I be able to live with him and work in the states as he only has a GC?
How long before I can start working?
We don’t want to be separated after marriage, so would it be best to get married in the States as opposed to Canada? We would like to get married in NYC where he lives.
What impact does the location of our marriage have on us being able to live together asap?
Thank-you!
Cindy, The place of marriage is separate from immigration processing. Marriage is according to state law. Immediately after marriage you might be able to live together in Canada, I am not certain. This would be a matter of Canadian immigration law.
Since your fiance is not a U.S. citizen, your ability to immigrate to the U.S. based on marriage will be intentionally slowed. Only U.S. citizens may immigrate immediate family members quickly. Foreigners who hold green cards are allowed to immigrate other foreigners, but it takes longer.
I suspect your best choice might be to have your fiance move to Canada in the short run given your Canadian citizenship while at the same time file for you to immigrate to the U.S. based on marriage and figure it will take about 3 1/2 years or so to complete immigration processing for you. I hope this helps.
Kind regards, Allan
I need to know if getting married in US id better than doing it in Jamaica and if so how long would the process be for either country.
Ernie, This post is under the topic, Green Card Holder Immigrating a Foreign Fiance. Are you a green card holder?
If you are a US citizen, your best choice may very well be the spouse visa and you would marry first in Jamaica. However, there are a number of considerations based on your situation. Here is a blog post that discusses the benefits and drawbacks of each type of visa: K1 Fiance Visa or CR Marriage Visa – Which is Better?
If you have an interest in possibly working together, please call me at 1-888-483-0311 (toll free from the U.S.), and we can discuss. Kind regard, Allan
I was wondering in just one situation… they said that when you have your fiance’ visa and arrived in the country where your fiancee is, you have to marry each other in 90 days… what if something bad happen? What if one of them died before their marriage? Is the fiance’ will be deported then? Because she/he was not married in 90 days? Is there any law that can help her to change her status in the US?
Katherine, If the U.S. citizen died prior to marriage while the foreigner is in the U.S. on a K1 fiancee visa, then please contact me for assistance if you have an interest in working with me. This is not something you should try to figure out independently. Allan
Hi,
I am a green card holder of USA. My fiance leave on work permit visa. He has applied for permanent visa. I want to get married. What is the rules for that? Can you please help me out?
Thank You.
You can simply marry in the U.S. This will not change the immigration status of either of you, but marrying in your situation is not a problem. Please marry and have him continue applying for a green card based on his work status. Kind regards, Allan
Hi, I am a green card holder and I’ve been in US for 5 years but I just commit a crime. I was told that I will be on probation for 18 month which means that my citizenship might be delay. So what is the best option for me to bring me fiace here as a green card holder
Segun, There is not enough information to decide. You should not be working on your own. Some crimes can cause you to lose your green card in removal proceedings. If you have an interest in possibly working with me on your immigration filings, please contact me off-post. Kind regards, Allan
Hi Allan, I am in a bit of a pickle here and any advice you can give me would be appreciated. My case is as follows:
On june 2010, through my sister, a US Citizen, we applied for my GREEN CARD. About a couple of months after submitting all the paper work, I met a girl here in Colombia, where I live. We have been a couple (boyfriend/girlfriend) ever since, and we plan on getting married in the future. We are in love and have a beautiful relationship.
Finally, a few weeks ago, after a bit more than 4 years of waiting, my sister was contacted by US immigration, asking her for more documents… just regular documents to prove we are brother and sister. We believe this means that very soon, I will be called to show up in the US embassy in Colombia for the interview and further documentation and that soon after that, I will be given my GREEN CARD.
I understand that as a permanent resident (Green card holder) I won’t be able to apply for a fiancee visa. I would have to wait to become a US Citizen before I can do that. This could take many years 🙁
My questions are:
1) When should I tell immigration about my relationship with this girl and my desire to take her with me to the US ? I don’t want to hurt my chances of getting my GREEN CARD. Should my sister inform US immigration at this time? Should I tell them when I go for the interview in the US embassy? Or is it better NOT not say anything about my relationship and wait for my GREEN CARD approval before saying anything?
2) Would we be better off getting married now, before I go to the US embassy interview?
We want to do the lawful and correct thing… but we also want to do it so that we can both be in the US in the fastest way possible. PLEASE HELP US !!
I don’t know if this is important or not, but as an additional fact, I must tell you that I had a US GREEN CARD before… from 1984 (aprox) until 1993. I lost this green card back then, when I decided to return to Colombia for personal reasons.
Thank you in advance !
Mauricio
Mauricio, Since you are immigrating to the U.S. based on your sister’s petition, it does not matter whether you are married to a Colombian girl, so you can marry and tell the immigration officer that you are married.
The problem as I see it is that your sister’s petition for you was filed in June 2010. The National Visa Center is working on cases that were filed January 2002 as of the date of this writing, so you have a long wait to go.
Take a look at category F4 on this link: https://asl-lawfirm.com/immigration-visa-for-relatives/
Your 1993 green card was abandoned long ago if you have not been back to the U.S. since then. Regrets, Allan
I am a green card holder and my girl friend came here to visit me in US can we get married here in US?
Yes, you can marry. Marriage is according to State law and does not have much of an effect on U.S. Federal immigration rules. She still needs to depart the U.S. when her visit comes to an end. Is that her intention? Many couples do not live in the U.S. If you want her to be with you in the U.S. at some point, then you should call me at 1-888-483-0311 to discuss options, if you have an interest in working with me on her immigration process.
Kind regards, Allan
Good morning I am a green card holder can I file for my citizenship in 4 year and 6 month? and what the quickest way to get your spouse here for vacation?
You may file for U.S. citizenship in most cases within 3 months prior to 5 years, so this means 4 years and 9 months. The quickest way to bring your spouse for vacation would be on a B2 visitor visa unless she is in a VWP (ESTA) authorized country. Her chances of obtaining a B2 visitor visa are likely small: https://asl-lawfirm.com/b-visa-for-visitors/
If we were to immigrate her to the U.S. as your wife on a marriage visa, it can take about 1 year or so currently based on the conditions and depending on her nationality and where she resides. If you have an interest in working with me on case processing, I encourage you to please call me to discuss. I can help sort out an immigration plan and quote a reasonable fee for services based on the plan.
Kindly, Allan
Hi! Allan
Good afternoon. I’m a permanent US resident since 2016. The same year, I applied for immigration of my underage children. The youngest child has arrived US but the 2nd child turned 21 years old last year. Consequently his immigration category was changed from F2A to F2B. According to recent tentative visa bulletin, his case would become current in Feb. 2021. My son is interested in getting married. Under such circumstances, what will happen to his immigration status if he gets married before immigration to US. Will he lose his immigration status or will it be delayed? Your professional advice on this issue is requested.
Dear Nisar, Unfortunately, if your son gets married, he will no longer be eligible as a “unmarried adult child”. At that point, he will be a married adult, and he will have to qualify for an immigration benefit on his own. Petitions for unmarried adult children can take a long time to be approved, but since you applied in 2016 a decision on his case may be upcoming. Please contact our office, so that we can advise you on your case.