Marriage based permanent residence

[moneyball]

All,

I'm going to get married soon and my fiance is a US citizen. I plan to file for my permanent residence after getting marrried and am wondering if anyone has filed for their marriage based permanent residence without using an attorney? Please share your experience in case anyone has gone through this process on their own. I'm debating whether to use an attorney or not as it is expensive to go through one.

Your help is much appreciated!

-G

[Akshay26]

G,

I went through the same process in 2010 and did all the paperwork myself w/o involving any attorney. All the forms are self explanatory and easy to fill. Do it yourself and you'll save a lot of money. You don't need a lawyer for this process unless you have any complications in your case like arrests etc.

If you have a clean record, do it yourself. It took me 2 days to to put the package together.

Let me know if you have any questions.

All the best.

[moneyball]

Hi Akshay26,

Thank you for replying. I don't have any major complications like a criminal background etc but am concerned about the following:

- I might get laid off from my job

- We got married in a small ceremony in which my parents were not present but my wife's parents were present

We do plan to have receptions parties in future in US and India, but I want to file for my permanent residency before those parties. I'm not sure how serious these things are and that is why I'm debating that I should go through an attorney.

Please let me know from your experience if I should get a lawyer in my situation.

Thanks a lot!

-G

[Akshay26]

Getting laid off has no bearing on marriage based GC. It's your US citizen wife that is petitioning on your behalf and as long as she can prove to uscis that she can support you financially (I-864), you're golden.

Just make sure to include all the relevant documents and make sure that all the forms (130, 485 etc) are correctly filled.

Relax, you are stressing out too much. Don't waste your money on an attorney.

Remember that as long as the marriage is genuine, you are good to go. USCIS officers are highly trained and they know what they are doing. My wife and myself were done with our interview in 15 minutes flat! Interview was over in 5 minutes and officer was talking about her India experience for rest 10.

Go for it! Let me know if you need any help.

Best!

[moneyball]

Hi Akshay26,

Thanks a lot for your encouraging response! Please let me know from your experience if this checklist of forms seems correct:

* i-130: Petition for immigrant relative

(G325A: one for each)

* i-485: Adjustment of status

* i-765: Application for employment authorization

* i-131: Advanced parole for travel

* i-864: Affidavit of support

* Bonafides of marriage and other supporting documents

Please let me know if you have any questions or want to add any information that will be helpful.

Thanks a ton!

-G

[Akshay26]

Yes, the checklist is correct. Don't forget to add a cover letter with your application. The cover letter should be addressed to USCIS from your US citizen spouse listing your spouse as the petitioner and you as a beneficiary and have your spouse sign it.

[rainmakerjl]

Akshay and others.

Very interesting feedback! I have a similar question and your answers are almost perfect for me but want to confirm.

In my situation I am the primary breadwinner. My wife has US Passport and we married in the USA back in 2007. I was living in Canada she was from the US. She immigrated to Canada and she has a visa here.

Now we want to move back. There is a potential job offer on the table for me and my wife will likely not continue to work when we move to the states.

How long is the process to obtain the status and do you see any unique issues in our case?

Thanks.

R

[canada_gal]

I am in the same position as rainmakerjl. Could someone plsss answer the same query?? Thanks!

[pontevecchio]

The spouses salary can be included if the USC does not work.

[jarabeck]

Hi .

I am in need of help to solve my situation. I have been working for my company last 7 yrs. I am on H1 B extension and Company applied for GC 2 yrs back and got my priority date on May, 2011 (EB-3). And the big news is that Company is shutting down in March 31, 2013. I have married with my girlfriend (USC) last december, 2012 in California. It is a legit marriage(15 months of relationship).

I am planning on getting my severance package from my company on Jan 22, 2013. all my paperwork is at our lawyer that company goes with her. I have not told the lawyer my mariage yet. How should I proceed if I want this wedding to be discreet? They know already I was going to get marry but not that soon.

I dont want things to get complicated. Once i leave the company after Jan 22, 2013. Do I need to get any forms from my lawyer related to my employment based GC?

Thanks

[catx]

Based on the information posted, if your spouse has not filed for a family based permanent residency (green card) for you through your marriage, then you will be out of status after your last day of work (January 22, 2013) and then be in the U.S. illegally. Your current status is a H-1B visa based on your current employer and job and that visa automatically ends when your job ends (the company goes out of business). There is no automatic visa or other status associated with marriage. The applicable filings have to be made with the USCIS, and it takes a few months + to get approval.

The best advice is to immediately consult with a qualified, experienced immigration attorney to (i) do what is needed to stay in status after your job ends, (ii) initiate the family based permanent residency (green card) process under the marriage to a U.S. citizen category, and (iii) maintain your original employment based permanent residency (green card) priority date (+/- approved I-140 reference).

[pontevecchio]

Marriage to an USC means all previous out of status problems go away for the purposes of the filing the AOS and the GC. Even unlawful status is forgiven for spouses of US Citizens. Having said that you should certainly follow the advise in the previous post about letting a Lawyer do the necessary paperwork. I fail to see why you think it would be harmful to let the previous employer know about your Marriage. It is also considered a faux pas to hijack another persons thread .

[t75]

You realize that keeping your marriage secret may adversely affect your family based petition. This type of sponsorship requied that you demonstrate comingled finances, etc.

[jarabeck]

In California, You have the option of getting married in public or private. She chose private.

I did not undestand the meaning of " It is also considered a faux pas to hijack another persons thread"

what does that mean?

Can I file the paper work without a lawyer? it looks pretty simple to apply and filling the forms.

Thanks

[JoeF]

I did not undestand the meaning of " It is also considered a faux pas to hijack another persons thread"

what does that mean?

It means that you should have created your own thread instead of posting your question on a thread that somebody else created. It makes it hard to associate the answers with the questions.

Creating your own thread is easy...

[jarabeck]

ohh now I got it JoeF...I will create mine too.

Thanks for the answers.

[Attorney_25]

I would just chime in here to point out that not all of the above advice is correct and some could be harmful. You may want to discuss your case with an attorney to determine whether there are any red flags.