If you are a citizen of the United States, nothing in the law prevents you from marrying an undocumented immigrant. If your bona fide marriage will qualify your spouse for a green card, however, the two of you may need to discuss with a Las Vegas immigration attorney .
Family reunification has always been a priority of U.S. immigration policy, with an emphasis on allowing immediate relatives – spouses, minor children, and parents of U.S.
What will your spouse need to receive a green card?
For example, your spouse will also have to show immigration authorities that he or she has not committed certain crimes (or more than two crimes of any type), is not a carrier of a communicable disease that would constitute a danger in the United States and that it does not need public assistance.
If you are a US citizen and your spouse entered the United States “with inspection” – meaning your spouse was inspected by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer and had a valid visa or entered under the visa waiver program – your spouse should be approved for a green card.
What if you are not yet married?
If you are not yet married, provided your future spouse meets all other immigration requirements, there are two basic ways to get a green card for your future spouse: get a fiancé visa or get married there. foreigner then get an immigrant visa.
To obtain a fiancé visa , the US citizen files a petition with USCIS to sponsor their fiancé. When the petition is accepted, the groom is interviewed at a US consulate overseas.
After receiving the immigrant visa, the groom can then travel to the United States, where the groom will have ninety days to marry the sponsoring US citizen.
After the wedding ceremony, the non-citizen spouse can then immediately apply for legal permanent residence and can remain in the United States while the application is being processed.
If you get married in another country
If you are a United States citizen and marry a non-citizen in another country, your spouse must submit an immigrant visa application to USCIS.
When the immigrant visa application is issued, your spouse will then be interviewed at a U.S. consulate, and when your spouse enters the United States, lawful permanent residence has already been granted.
If your goal is permanent legal residence or U.S. citizenship for yourself or a loved one, following the sound legal advice of a Las Vegas immigration attorney is the surest way to achieve that goal, and having this sound advice is your legal right.
Sponsorship by a U.S. citizen
US citizens can submit a green card petition for certain family members. The process is as follows:
1. A petition must be submitted to classify the foreign person as a qualifying family member;
2. The foreign family member submits an adjustment of status petition to USCIS, or a visa application to the consulate in their country of residence.
All family members of U.S. citizens, except immediate family members, have a long wait to obtain the green card. The more distant the family link, the longer the waiting period.
The waiting periods are as follows:
Immediate family members
There is no waiting for the green card for the closest family members: husband / wife, biological children and stepchildren under 21 years old and parents of US citizens.
Preferred Category 1
Children of US citizens, unmarried and over 21 years of age.
Second Preference Category
Third Preference Category
Married children of US citizens of any age.
Fourth Category of Preference
Siblings of American Citizens.
Additional options and considerations for immediate family members:
Immediate family members have preferential options.
They can get the green card even if they are in the United States and have exceeded their stay.
Sponsorship by a permanent resident
The categories and waiting periods are as follows:
Preference Category 2A
Spouse / wife and biological children and stepchildren under 21 years of a permanent resident.
Preference Category 2B
Children of permanent residents, unmarried and over 21 years old.
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