Immigration Law for marriage to someone from another Country?

July 1, 2005

Immigration Law for marriage to someone from another Country?

Timothy S asked:

I plan on marrying someone from China what is the due process on: 1 Bringing her back to the US and 2: making her a citizen af US.?

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Comments (11)

11 Comments »

how about u go to her country

Comment by laydenirvine — July 2, 2005 @ 11:55 am
Good luck,it’s gonna take a lot of time and paper works but, if you really love her you’ll do all that for her and make sure it’s worded.

Comment by Kona — July 3, 2005 @ 8:16 am
If you two get married, she gets guaranteed citizenship to the United States. I’m not sure exactly how much paperwork is involved, but I’m sure there’s alot.

Comment by Hiroko — July 3, 2005 @ 7:14 pm
You need to get an immigration attorney an file the neccessary paperwork.
She will be issued an EAD within 90 days.
The greencard will then process. During this time she can reside in the US, but not leave.
Once the greencard is issued (after FBI background checks and fingerprinting) she is legally entitled to live work and travel in and out of the US.
She must then hold the green card for 5 years before she can apply for citizenship. You must also remain married for this period of time or the greencard is revoked.

Comment by Shockey Monkey — July 5, 2005 @ 12:05 pm
I am married to a Chinese-Indonesian girl who originally came to the states on a visitors visa. She overstayed and we got married after the deportation process was already started. We had a couple of different lawyers and it took some time because of the unique situation, however, since you are going to go about it in the right way from the get go it should be much easier. Nothing too scary about the whole process. Just drawn out. Go to your local INS office and they will explain a bunch of paper work to you. My advice is to just get a lawyer though. The whole process should not be more than a couple of thousand dollars from start to finish depending on your lawyer. Good luck. Any other questions about how long it took or where we found a list of lawyers just ask.

Comment by davidflint2001 — July 8, 2005 @ 5:57 am
You have to file for a k-1 visa for her to come to the states, then you have three months to get married. After that you have to file a bunch of paper work and have and interview. if they think you marriage is valid then everything is good to go and you just have to wait for her green card. The will make her a permanent resident. However she will have to wait for a certain period before she can become a citizen If she wants to she does not have to. My suggestion would be to talk to an immigration lawyer. and have them help you. you are less likely to get your case turned down if you have a lawyer helping you out.

Comment by Cyndi M — July 8, 2005 @ 6:48 pm
I always recommend getting an immigration attorney. I also recommend visiting to read up on the alternative ways to bring a fiancee/wife into the country. You might also want to visit the US embassy’s Beijing website and get some idea of visa protocols. Please understand that, throughout the process, you will have to demonstrate a proper relationship. You will need photos, phone records, emails – anything that demonstrates you are genuine. Once the petition is filed she generally will not be able to travel to the USA until the visa is granted.

I came here under a K-1 visa, otherwise known as a fiancee visa. The US citizen must petition for a visa for the immigrant. The citizen must demonstrate an ability to financially support the immigrant. K-1 immigrants are not allowed any benefit from the federal government for three years after the interview (described below). Once the petition is granted, the immigrant must file more paperwork with the embassy or consulate dealing with the case. It is essential that various inoculations and police reports are obtained. This is where the embassy’s website comes in useful. It will give you and her localized advice. Procedures are not the same for all countries. She will then have an interview at the embassy and (hopefully) be granted a visa. Theoretically she could go straight to the airport once she has the visa. The visa is good for one entry into the USA.

Once here, you should marry as soon as possible, because she will initially be on a non-immigrant visa. Marriage allows her to apply for adjustment of status – more paperwork, much of it duplicating information already provided. She should also apply for a work permit. She will not be able to work until she gets that. Once she gets the work permit she should apply for a Social Security number. The work permit takes 3-4 months. A couple of months later you will have the interview. This is designed to weed out sham marriages. The USCIS officers are very good at doing that, but if your marriage is genuine, relax. The hard work is done for the most part. Both of you need to be at the interview. You will get a list of things to bring. It includes tax returns and supporting documents, so make sure you keep your taxes up to date. This status is good for two years.

No later than two years after the interview, she MUST apply to adjust to non-conditional permanent resident status. If she does not, she loses her status and could be deported. Someone my wife used to work with forgot and now she has to travel to Canada for one night every six months. The removal of the conditional status requires more paperwork and a very brief interview. My interview was 7.45am and I was back in the car by 7.55am.

She can apply for citizenship two years and nine months after the initial interview (the one in the USA granting conditional permanent residency) but it cannot take effect until three years have passed since the interview. That is a moot point because there is little chance of them processing the paperwork in less than three months.

I have no idea what it takes if you marry outside the USA. I do know they have made it easier in recent years.

Good luck with this. Stay the course. If it is really what you want, it will be worth all the effort.

Comment by skip — July 11, 2005 @ 9:32 am
You can apply to the immigration services to get her an entry visa as your wife. A relative of mine did this with his Mexican wife and it didn’t take long since you go to the head of the line in your category. (There is a priority list and the wives of American citizens are way up on it). She got a green card and after 5 years of residence would be eligible to apply for citizenship.

She might be able to enter initially on a tourist visa. The problem there is that she can only have one visa at a time and as soon as she applies for a permanent visa her tourist visa is cancelled. You would have to discuss this with the INS since it is a common problem. My cousin opted to work through the INS office in her home country which, in the end, probably saved him a lot of time and agony.

Comment by acablue — July 12, 2005 @ 2:08 pm
From start to finish it should take about 6 months.

1. You don’t need a lawyer. The forms are fairly simple. Most people do it themselves.

2. You must have met this woman, face to face, at least once during the last two years.

3. You will be asked to prove that you have an ongoing relationship with this woman…. phone bills showing calls to her, plane tickets showing trips to China, pictures of the two of you together, letters to and from her including the envelopes they were sent in, etc…

4. Call CIS and get a package of forms (I-130) for filing a fiance petition. Read the instructions carefully. Fill out and submit the forms with your payment for processing.

5. The National Visa Center responsible for your area will process the request and forward it to the US embassy, or consulate in China of your choice.

6. Your fiance will be contacted by the consulate or embassy. They will give her a package and instructions for completing all the needed tasks. When she’s finished she will turn everything back into the consulate or embassy. They will contact her and make an appointment for an interview.

7. If the physical exam, interview and everything else goes okay she’ll be issued a fiance visa.

8. Upon arrival in the USA the two of you have 90 days in which to get married. After you’re married you will take the marriage certificate to CIS and they will process her for her first Green Card (2 year conditional).

Comment by Yak Rider — July 15, 2005 @ 11:25 pm
you need to apply to the uscis for # fiance visa # first ……she will be allow to come to the US ,but you will have to get married within 90 days or here visa will be expired and invalid
as far as citizenship ? she will have to wait a certain amount of time before becoming a US citizen ……..
Fiancé(e) – If you are an American citizen, you may bring your fiancé(e) to the United States to marry and live here.

Nonimmigrant visa for fiancé(e) (K-1) – To travel to the United States for marriage. An
I-129F fiancé(e) petition is required.
your application must be filed in the US:
Filing the Petition

You must file the Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), Form I-129F, with the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office that serves the area where you live. See the Department of Homeland Security’s USCIS Field Offices for information on where you can file the petition. Note: You cannot file this petition at an embassy, consulate or U.S. immigration office abroad.

After the USCIS approves the petition, it sends the petition to National Visa Center for processing, prior to sending it to the embassy or consulate where your fiancé(e) will apply for a K-1 nonimmigrant visa for a fiancé(e).

here you go :
Where to File :
Service Center

Filing Fee :
$170.00
Special Instructions :
Note on Where to File:
If you are filing for your fiance(e), file this petition at the Service Center with jurisdiction over your area of residence. See the related link “Where Do I File?” for which Service Center has jurisdiction over your area of residence.

If you are filing for your fiance(e) and live outside the United States, submit this petition to the Service Center with jurisdiction over your last place of residence in the U.S.

If you are a U.S. citizen, and are using this form to bring in your wife or unmarried child under the LIFE Act, file this petition at:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
P.O. Box 7218
Chicago, IL 60680-7218

Download I-129F (551KB PDF)
here is the page to download the form :
good luck …………

Comment by hjz — July 18, 2005 @ 11:11 pm
You can apply directly through her home consulate. When she arrives to the U.S. you should marry her with-in 90 days. After that you will apply to adjust her status, after 2 years and 7 months she can apply for Citizenship.

Crystal Ibarra

Comment by Crystal I — July 20, 2005 @ 7:36 pm