Marrying Permenant Resident vs. Citizen

[gganu]

Hi all,

This is my first post on the forum. I hope you can help answer my question. I am a F1 student legally in the US and have a valid F1 visa for 5 years. My fiancee is a green card holder and has his citizenship interview in August. We want to get married and I had a few questions:

1. Should we get married now, or wait till he becomes a citizen? We would like to get married earliest possible, if there are no problems.
2. Can we apply for my greencard right after he becomes a citizen?
3. Are there problems with my F1 status after applying for my greencard? Like travel or work authorization (OPT/CPT)?

Any help would be very very appreciated. Thanks!!!

- gganu

[salshaik]

First of all Congratulations!!!

1)Green card can be sponsered only if your finace becomes citizen.
I do not think it's going to affect you in either case if married before becomming citizen.

2) Yes, you can apply for the green card under Family Based category and in your case you will always be current. I think the whole process would take about 8 months roughly ( including interview).

3) You can maintain your non-immigrant status, until your green card is approved. As you have 5 year valid visa, there should not be any issues for travel or so.

All the above answeres are based on my limited knowledge, and please do not come to any conclusion based on my answeres.


Thanks,
Salshaik

[gganu]

Thanks Salshaik!

So your advice is that we could get married now without problems, right? This is great news for us. And we can wait till he becomes a citizen later this year, and apply for my greencard after that.

And after we apply if it takes only 8 months for my greencard, we should have no problems with work authorization for me, since I will still be studying, and can continue on the F1 visa.

If I have understood you correct, this is certainly a relief. Thanks a ton for your help. We should get married next week then :)

Best,
gganu

[snsharda]

Things are generally easier if you are marrying a citizen. Things move faster/smoother. Also it is not subject to any numerical limitations by law.

[snathan]

First of all Congratulations!!!

1)Green card can be sponsered only if your finace becomes citizen.
I do not think it's going to affect you in either case if married before becomming citizen.

2) Yes, you can apply for the green card under Family Based category and in your case you will always be current. I think the whole process would take about 8 months roughly ( including interview).

3) You can maintain your non-immigrant status, until your green card is approved. As you have 5 year valid visa, there should not be any issues for travel or so.

All the above answeres are based on my limited knowledge, and please do not come to any conclusion based on my answeres.


Thanks,
Salshaik

Its not correct. Even GC holder can sponsor GC for the spouse but in difference category and longer wait. F1 is not dual intend visa...I suggest the OP to check with an attorney as its complicated.

[gganu]

Thanks snsharda.

I understand that getting my greencard would be faster if we wait till my fiance becomes a citizen. And we will wait.

However, would you suggest that we wait to get married too? Marrying non-citizen and then not changing status quo (i.e. I continue on F1 visa) will be ok right? I will still be able to travel if needed and get CPT/OPT if needed right?

Thanks so much for your help. I searched and searched online and didnt find pros and cons pertinent to our situation - me already here with F1, and we having option to marry before or after citizenship.

[snathan]

Thanks Salshaik!

So your advice is that we could get married now without problems, right? This is great news for us. And we can wait till he becomes a citizen later this year, and apply for my greencard after that.

And after we apply if it takes only 8 months for my greencard, we should have no problems with work authorization for me, since I will still be studying, and can continue on the F1 visa.

If I have understood you correct, this is certainly a relief. Thanks a ton for your help. We should get married next week then :)

Best,
gganu

Marrying a USC is better...its always current and not subject to cap. After marriage you can immediately apply for GC and get the AP for travel. If you marry GC holder, you will have to wait for PD become current and can not file the I-485 until then. If you need to travel, you might face issues at POE as the F1 is not dual intend visa and you have applied for GC.

I suggest you to talk to an attorney on this.

[gganu]

Yes snathan, I found online that GC-holder sponsoring spouse visa has a much longer wait. So we will not do this. We will wait for him to become a citizen before applying for my change of status.

However, like I said, we would like to get married as soon as possible for all the legal benefits - joint ownership, wills, "rights". At the same time I do not want to jeopardize my F1 status. I know F1 is a non-immigration intent visa. Will I run into trouble by marrying a GC-holder, like trouble re-entering or getting CPT/OPT.

Any help is appreciated a lot. We will go see a lawyer if needed.

Thanks a ton!

[snsharda]

Thanks snsharda.

I understand that getting my greencard would be faster if we wait till my fiance becomes a citizen. And we will wait.

However, would you suggest that we wait to get married too? Marrying non-citizen and then not changing status quo (i.e. I continue on F1 visa) will be ok right? I will still be able to travel if needed and get CPT/OPT if needed right?

Thanks so much for your help. I searched and searched online and didnt find pros and cons pertinent to our situation - me already here with F1, and we having option to marry before or after citizenship.

You raise excellent points. I am not a lawyer and i do not know the law exactly. So I can answer in only general terms. Hence I would suggest contacting an Immigration Lawyer. I would think that it is worthy investment.

[kishore.salla]

First of all Congrats !!!

1. Should we get married now, or wait till he becomes a citizen? We would like to get married earliest possible, if there are no problems. --
Ans: Go ahead and get married..That's not an issue as long as your F1 is valid..
But apply for immigration once your he gets his citizenship.You should have no problems..

2. Can we apply for my greencard right after he becomes a citizen? Yes

3. Are there problems with my F1 status after applying for my greencard? Like travel or work authorization (OPT/CPT)?
Ans... Marriage based GC is approved real quick...Once you get GC you don't need to worry abt F1/OPT/CPT..You have freedom to do whatever you wish to..

[raysaikat]

Yes snathan, I found online that GC-holder sponsoring spouse visa has a much longer wait. So we will not do this. We will wait for him to become a citizen before applying for my change of status.

However, like I said, we would like to get married as soon as possible for all the legal benefits - joint ownership, wills, "rights". At the same time I do not want to jeopardize my F1 status. I know F1 is a non-immigration intent visa. Will I run into trouble by marrying a GC-holder, like trouble re-entering or getting CPT/OPT.

Any help is appreciated a lot. We will go see a lawyer if needed.

Thanks a ton!

The only thing to be aware of is that once you are married to a green card holder (more so if the person is a US citizen), it is hard to prove that you do not intend immigrate. After the marriage, if you remain in US (including getting married in US), then there is no problem. However, if you want to renew your F1 visa stamp after you are married, it is quite likely that your VISA application would be denied. In fact, if you even try to reenter US on F1 VISA after your marriage (e.g., if you go back to your home country to get married), it is possible the immigration officer at the port of entry may deny you entry. If either of these happens, your only option would be to return to your home country and wait there for getting green card -- you basically would not be able to return to US until getting green card (or a dual-intent VISA such as H1-B), however long that may take.