Marriage-Based Green Card

Marriage to a U.S. citizen or a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) is a basis for a ‘green card application’. These applications are also scrutinized to determine if the marriage relationship is ‘bona fide’ and applicants are required to submit evidence that the marriage was not entered in order to obtain immigration status. An immigration attorney can help a couple best present evidence of their relationship so USCIS can see that it is legitimate.

A marriage-based green card application begins with submission of an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative. However, an I-130 petition approval alone is not enough to obtain your immigration visa. The second step (taken concurrently with the filing if the visa is available, or otherwise done later on once the visa is available) is to apply for residency. Think of the I-130 as a petition to show your eligibility for an immigrant visa and the residency application as an application for the actual residency itself.

There are two pathways to residency with an approved (or in some cases filed) I-130: adjustment of status and consular processing.

Adjustment of status is an option for those who have already been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States, is not otherwise inadmissible, and want to apply for their residency from within the United States. The Application for Adjustment of Status can be submitted simultaneously with the I-130 petition if the petitioner is a U.S. citizen or if the visa is current.

Consular processing is available for those who are outside the United States or those who are in the U.S. but do not qualify for adjustment of status and will have to obtain their visa from an embassy. Consular processing is essentially the process and interviewing at a U.S. embassy and then obtaining the visa which gives the applicant permission to present him or herself at a U.S. port of entry to be admitted. Residency is technically not obtained until an officer admits the applicant at the U.S. port of entry.

If you are in the United States either without status or have an been removed from the United States previously, it is important that you discuss your case with an immigration attorney before leaving the United States to consular process because you may be subject to a bar(s) of admissibility due to unlawful presence in the United States or a previous deportation(s). Waivers may be available to overcome these bars.

We would be happy to discuss the specifics of your case to determine which

Removal of Conditions

If a noncitizen is granted residency on the basis of his or her marriage and the underlying marriage is less than two years old, then USCIS will grant a two-year conditional status. The conditional resident is required to file an application to remove the conditions within 90 days of the two-year anniversary of obtaining residency. The purpose of this for the government to check in with marriage-based residents to double check that the marriage was not entered into for the purpose of obtaining a green card. It is important for the couple to gather evidence during those first two years that they are living together in marital unity.