MARRIAGE AFTER GETTING GREEN CARD

[gitakrish]

Hai

My brother has got his green card. He is not married. I heard
that after marriage, his wife can come to U.S. only in any one of the following ways (since he has the green card):-

1. Should come through H1 visa ( if girl is in india).
2. Should already be a green card holder in US/H1 visa holder here.
3. should wait for nearly 2 years to come here.


Can someone please let me know if there is any other alternative?

Thanks
Geetha

[JoeF]

Re: MARRIAGE AFTER GETTING GREEN CARD

1. and 2. are basically correct. The spouse of a GC holder obviously has immigration intent. Most non-immigrant visas are incompatible with such intent. H1 and L1 are the only exceptions.
With any other visa, it would be virtually impossible to enter the US.
For 3, the waiting time is rather between 5 and 6 years. This essentially is a petition for a family-based GC in family category 2A, which currently has a PD of Nov. 96 for most countries
This would also apply if the spouse already is in the US (your point 2.) In this case, the spouse would have to maintain legal status on his or her own. The spouse could have any non-immigrant visa, as long as it is valid. But if it expires and/or the spouse leaves the country, e.g., for a vacation, the spouse would only be able to come back with an H1 or L1 visa.

The alternative: wait with marriage until one partner becomes a US citizen. The spouse then is classified as immediate relative, with no quota. The other alternative, which doesn't apply here, is to marry before getting the GC. Then the spouse gets the GC at the same time.

-JoeF

[satej99]

The second alternative joef

Hello Joe,
The second alternative you gave, is interesting. I got my immigrant visa on Sep 1st 2005 but got married on Oct 6th 2005. I moved to the US on Dec 17th 2005 but now got to know that I have to wait for 4 or 5 years to get mywife here too. This immigrant visa I got through my dad who is a US citizen and lives with another family here and filed the petition in Nov 2000 when I was unmarried as Family prefernece category 1.
Now can I apply the second alternative you gave?
I am completely messed up I guess. Waiting for 5 years will drive us crazy.
Satej
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