Getting married after Greencard

[sri_cba]

Hello,

Hope all is well. I am a Greencard holder. I have often heard that it is hard for a Greencard holder to get married esp. to a girl in India. I did some search on these immigration forums and had 2 questions regarding the same. Can you please assist here?

1) If I marry a girl who is already in the U.S. on a H1/L1 visa, can I apply for her Greencard immediately after marriage in Family Based F2A category where the priority date is currently 15MAR10, (which means it will be about 2.5 years roughly till she gets her Greencard)? Till that time if she still has valid employment, can she continue to stay in the U.S.? Or do I need to wait till I get my U.S. Citizenship and only then can I apply for her Greencard?

2) If I marry a girl in India, can I apply for her Greencard immediately in F2A category or do I have to wait till I get my U.S. Citizenship in-order to apply for her Greencard. Also, in such a case since I will get married in India, can she anytime come to the U.S. on a visitor visa and stay for 6 months till she gets her Greencard?

Since I have been hearing different things I just wanted to find out what the correct procedure is. Thanks for your valuable time and help.

Best Regards,

Sri

[pontevecchio]

1. Yes. She can stay in H1 or L1 status till the dates are current subject to the time limitations of H1/L1.

2. Yes. But it would be very difficult for her to get a tourist visa.

[JoeF]

You can sponsor a spouse in the F2A category, but until the spouse can file an I-485 (when the PD becomes current), the spouse will have to maintain legal status on her own, e.g., an H1 or L1 if the person qualifies.

[sri_cba]

1. Yes. She can stay in H1 or L1 status till the dates are current subject to the time limitations of H1/L1.

2. Yes. But it would be very difficult for her to get a tourist visa.

Hello Pontevecchio,

Thank you very much for the information.

Best Regards,

Sri

[sri_cba]

You can sponsor a spouse in the F2A category, but until the spouse can file an I-485 (when the PD becomes current), the spouse will have to maintain legal status on her own, e.g., an H1 or L1 if the person qualifies.

Hello JoeF,

Thanks a lot for your valuable time and for the information.

Best Regards,

Sri

[Commentor]

I'd say, stay away from the tourist visa. Even if she comes on a tourist visa, then you get married, then she finds some school where she can get F-1, it is a violation of intent. The intent for a visitor visa should be to visit, not to stay forever. Technically, even F-1 assumes no intent to immigrate.

If she can only come on an F-1 (and not, say, H-1), consider not marrying right away - perhaps, wait for a year. (Of course, only if you consider it acceptable to live together before the marriage.)