How to get a green card through marriage

Фото: Depositphotos

These stories usually begin as in a romantic movie: met online, corresponded, met in person, and he (although she also happens) called to live overseas. Legal marriage with a US citizen entitles a foreign citizen to apply for a green card, and after 3, after receiving it, even become a citizen of America. Together with a foreign spouse or spouse, her or his children can obtain a residence permit up to 21.

Get the right to live legally in the United States can be married to the green card holderHowever, the process in such a case may take several years. For spouses of US citizens, there are no queues for obtaining a residence permit and, as a rule, they are given a green card within six months.

Like any immigration process in the United States, this one is not easy, and requires a whole stack of documents and a successful interview with Citizenship and Immigration Services, where you need to prove that the marriage is real.

How to collect all the necessary documents, what points you need to pay special attention to and how many joint photographs you need to show to the migration officer - ForumDaily has compiled for you detailed instructions for obtaining a green card through marriage.

Russian-American love story

They have a long history of relationships at a distance, a lot of guest visits to a friend for a friend, and common photos already occupy several albums. Muscovite Julia Abelev never specifically sought a foreign husband, said their meeting was a happy coincidence.

“I met my husband through mutual friends, we started visiting each other, seeing each other once every few months. And then he invited me to come to him in New York and try to live together. I already had a tourist visa, I took 2 children and came to him,” recalls Yulia.

During the cohabitation, the couple finally realized that she wanted to be together. Therefore, during the second Yulina’s visit to the United States, the then future husband proposed to her, and after a month and a half the couple signed. Since the tourist visa allowed her to stay in the country of 6 for months, the newly-made family managed to go on vacation and only then began the process of issuing a green card.

But Tatyana Jackson from Novosibirsk came to her future husband in Arizona on a fiancee visa. They met online, corresponded for 2 years, and she finally decided to move. “Our relationship began 4 years ago, we met on a dating site, he came to see me. And I tried twice to get a tourist visa, but I was rejected twice,” says Tatyana.

According to the terms of the bride's visa, the couple either completes the relationship within 90 days or the girl returns to her homeland. Therefore, the wedding was played in a month and a half.

After the celebration, both Yulia and Tatiana began a long process of collecting and submitting documents for a temporary green card.

The process of registration of the green card: the stages and the necessary documents

To get a green card through a marriage, you need to go through several stages. For starters, apply for a change of status. This means that you must send a large set of documents to the Citizenship and Immigration Services.

First of all, you need to fill out forms from the Citizenship and Immigration Services website:

1. Form I-130 (Petition of Alien Relative) - it is filled out by a US citizen, thereby recognizing his family relationship with the person for whom this petition is being submitted. The fee for this form is $420. For a child of a foreign citizen, this form must be filled out separately;
2. Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) — an application for granting a foreigner the status of a permanent resident. The fee is $985 for the form plus $85 for biometric data collection. This form must be filled out separately for the child of a foreign citizen;
3. G-325 and G-325A Forms (Biographic Information) - biographical information of both spouses. ABOUTIt is also completed for the child of a foreign citizen. You do not need to pay for submitting this form;
4. Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support) — it is filled out by a US citizen (sponsor) and thereby undertakes to support a foreign spouse. The sponsor can be not only the American spouse himself, but also any relative or even acquaintance living in the United States. This form is free;
5. Form I-765 (Permission for Work Authorization) - a request from a foreigner to obtain permission to work in the United States. Duty - $385;
6. Form I-693 (Medical Examination Results) - conclusion of the medical commission. You don’t need to pay for the form itself, but you do have to pay for the doctor’s appointment. It is important to remember that you can only contact doctors who are certified by Citizenship and Immigration Services. You can find them here. It is better that you already have in your hands the entire list of vaccinations (in English) that you were given previously. And one more nuance - you will receive the examination results in a closed envelope that cannot be opened;
7. Form I-94 (Arrival-Departure record) - a record of the alien's arrival in the country. You can print from the site;

Personal documents (copies) for a US citizen:

1. Certificate of birth or naturalization;
2. Passport;
3. Marriage certificate;
4. Certificate of all divorces, if any;
5. Two photos;
6. Tax forms and proof of solvency - tax returns for at least the last year, but preferably 3 years, account statements, documents from work about how much the person earns (this should be at least 125% of state subsistence minimum. That is, if a family of 2 people, the sponsor must have an annual income of at least $20 thousand, if the family has 4 members - about $30,5 thousand).

Personal documents (copies) for a foreign citizen:

1. Birth certificate - a copy of the original and a translation into English. There is no need to notarize the translation. It can be done by anyone who speaks the two required languages. At the end of the translation it is important to write: Affidavit of Translation “I, ….., hereby certify that I am competent to translate from Ukrainian (or Russian etc. - here you substitute the original language. - Author) to English, and that the foregoing is a true and accurate translation of the original". And don’t forget to sign and date;
2. Passports - national and foreign. The latter contains copies of all visas;
3. The certificate of marriage and all divorces, if any, with a translation into English;
4. 6 color photos;
5. All documents that you have already received in the USA - driver's license, social security number;
6. Certificate of criminal record - if a person was previously arrested, extracts are needed, for what and when;
7. If the surname has changed after the marriage, the explanation in a free form, when and on what basis it happened.

It is important not just to collect all these documents, but to fill everything as thoroughly as possible, says Lana Schimmel, an immigration lawyer from New York.

“The forms must be filled out very carefully. This is especially important for people who have already been in the United States for some time and had some kind of immigration affairs - all forms must match the information that you provided to Citizenship and Immigration Services before,” explains Lana Schimmel.

Yulia Abelev knows how to thoroughly check each letter. When they began the process of issuing a green card, they decided to immediately turn to a lawyer, and he reassigned the case to his assistant. She made an inadmissible error in the documents.

“My name in my international passport is written as Iulia, to which this assistant suggested that I write it down as Yulia in all documents, they say, it will be a normal name. I was still surprised and asked: is this possible? She replied yes. And this is where my problems began - I came to get fingerprinted, I show my passport, they said to me: why is Yulia giving your fingerprints, and you show your documents to Iulia?”, says Yulia.

The girl had to prove that this was the same person, bring documents that confirmed that she uses two types of spelling of her name, and, as a result, all forms had to be refilled with the name that was indicated in her passport. “By that time, I had already managed to obtain a driver’s license, received a social security number, a work permit, and other documents that then had to be redone,” she continues.

When the entire package of documents is assembled, it must be packed in a box and sent to one of the reception centers of the Citizenship and Immigration Services. List can see here. Also, do not be lazy to make a copy of each document that you send, and save a spare package of documents.

After 2-3 weeks you should receive a notification by mail that the documents have been accepted for consideration, and after a month or two - an invitation to submit biometric data. The letter will include the address, date and time. You need to take your passport with you.

Interview: what you need to be ready

Despite numerous advice on thematic forums on immigration, lawyer Lana Schimmel says: in the first set of documents no evidence that your marriage is real is required. Moreover, migration officers will not consider such documents.

But you must bring them to the interview. The list here is vague, the main thing is that the Immigration Service does not have any questions about the veracity of your relationship. The more evidence you can provide, the better.

Documents may be as follows:

1. joint bank accounts (take bank statements, if there are general credit cards, you need to make a photocopy of two cards on one sheet of paper);
2. one residential address (you can provide a driver's license, identification cards for a specific city, membership in local clubs - any documents on which a joint residential address would be written);
3. a lease agreement in which the names of both spouses are entered;
4. Receipts for utilities for both names;
5. a letter from the landlord in which he confirms that the spouses live together;
6. photos (joint, with friends; it is better to provide those that were before the wedding, during and after);
7. a letter from the employer stating that the employee’s marital status has changed, and his spouse (s) is listed in the list of emergency contacts;
8. general medical insurance;
9. printouts of correspondence between spouses (letters, greeting cards, correspondence in social networks);
10. proof of joint ownership of the car;
11. evidence of large purchases that the pair made together (equipment);
12. travel together (listing of hotel reservations, ticket purchases);
13. a letter from relatives or neighbors who can confirm that you are really a couple. “I asked the neighbors who lived nearby to write such a letter. The shape is arbitrary,” says Tatyana Jackson.

And Yulia Abelev also attached certificates from the school where her children had already started going: “I collected all the documents for the children - from birth certificates to certificates from the school, which indicated that they were attending the school at our place of residence.”

A list of documents that you need to take with you usually comes with the invitation, but you need to start collecting them much earlier - literally immediately after submitting the first package of documents, advises lawyer Lana Schimmel.

“The officer does not know you, does not live in your house, so he can make a decision based on 2 things: the documents you provide him with, and how the couple behaves in front of him, how they answer questions. Most of the attention is paid to joint documents, especially financial ones: joint bank accounts, credit cards, joint tax returns, wills for each other, health insurance, documents that confirm that you used these insurances. That’s what they’re looking at,” the lawyer explains.

Tatyana Jackson did exactly as the lawyer advised - she began collecting evidence in advance:

“When I arrived in the USA, I immediately started collecting it all. If we went somewhere with children - my husband has children from a previous marriage - I immediately took a photo. We had a lot of correspondence, SMS - I printed them out and dated them. I signed all the photos - who is in the photo, the date, the event. I collected a lot of evidence, the officer even said that she had never seen such a complete package of documents.”

Tatyana Jackson. Photo: from the personal archive

Yulia Abelev went to an interview not only with her husband, but also with 2 children from a previous marriage. He says they brought 5 photo albums on 100 photos in each, all the documents that confirm the financial viability of the husband, and regularly answered all the questions of the officers.

“My youngest daughter, who was 4 years old at the time, said in the middle of the interview that she was very tired and asked to sit on my husband’s lap. The officer looked at this - and somehow his ardor had already faded. It was clear that people definitely live together,” shares Yulia.

At the end of the interview, the officer can immediately say whether the green card is approved or not. Sometimes notification of the interview results comes later by mail. And if the answer is no, there's very little chance the case won't be dismissed, says attorney Lana Schimmel.

“If, for example, the forms are filled out incorrectly, the documents are insufficient, or they are not completed as required, the officer may immediately refuse and close your case. Only good officers give the opportunity to convey some documents. Sometimes. The chances of a successful appeal if you really did not provide all the documents are zero. You will only spend a couple of years,” says the lawyer.

A positive answer means that the foreigner receives a temporary green card for 2 years, which must be changed to a 3-year one at least 10 months before the expiration date. “Again, you collect all the documents that you have been together for 2 years - all the bills, credit cards, lease agreement for the apartment. And usually in 80-90% of cases they are not called for an interview; the permanent green card arrives by mail,” continues Lana Schimmel.

How to be in case of force majeure (divorce, death of a spouse, domestic violence)

Tatiana Jackson from Arizona says that jokingly a green card through marriage between women is called “slave” because they are completely dependent on the husband who sponsors it.

In fact, the capabilities of an American citizen are too exaggerated. A foreigner can apply for a permanent green card in the event of a divorce; the main thing is that they have lived together for at least 6 months, says lawyer Lana Schimmel. “You just need to point out that you have lived together for so long, but the family broke up, you are getting a divorce and describe the circumstances why you separated. And you also definitely need all the documents confirming that you still lived together for some time. In this case, the chances of getting a green card are very real,” the lawyer continues.

Photo: depositphotos

She also assures that the threats of her foreign husband that he will revoke the documents for a green card also have nothing to do with the law:

“He's going to say that his petitions and joint papers were all lies, that he lied to USCIS? He will also expose himself in this case. That is, he cannot set up his wife without setting himself up. This is just one of the manipulations that citizen spouses can use against their other half.”

If it happens that an American spouse dies, his wife, the holder of a temporary green card, has the opportunity to apply for a permanent one under a separate category - “widow/widower”. And in this case, it is important to prove that you really got married with the goal of starting a family.

Domestic violence is also categorized as a separate category. That is, if a woman gathers evidence that a US husband is applying physical violence to her, she can also apply for a permanent green card on her own. The evidence in this case may be police reports, certificates from doctors about their stay in the hospital, photos of beatings, testimony.

One way or another, to have an unlucky marriage just for the sake of a green card Lana Schimmel does not recommend:

“Being married is hard, but being married with a green card still hanging over your head is even harder. Therefore, I always tell my clients that it is better to leave such a marriage than to endure and lead the situation to tragedy.”

It is also important to remember that a woman who arrived on a bride's visa can only marry the person who sponsored this visa for her. Otherwise, she will not receive a green card.

If everything turned out well, then after 3, after receiving a temporary green card, you have the right to apply for citizenship.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How to get a visa in the United States after refusal

Sham marriage in the USA: how much it costs and what threatens

10 regarding honest ways to stay in the USA (1, 2 mode - lottery, political asylum)

Immigration to the USA: five stories of people who won the green card

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