Q & A July 13, 2003
Q & A 1 2
Dear World Journal Immigration Mailbox:
My fiancé got the Green Card in 2000. We met in Argentina,
and my whole family is there, too. I am thinking to go to
the U.S. with him, for the concern of my legal U.S. status.
Questions:
- Is it more convenient for my Green Card application if
we get married in the U.S? Or is it okay to get married
in Argentina?
- Which way is the simplest and the fastest? Which petition
is the most appropriate for me, that allows me to stay in
the U.S. legally for a long term?
- Currently I have a 10-year visitor’s visa. Can I
go to the U.S. during the time when my case, for which my
fiancé petition, is still pending? Does a tourist
visa conflicting with an immigration application?
Chou
Argentina
Dear reader:
- Currently spouses of permanent residents face a waiting
period of five-seven years before they can enter the U.S.
for permanent residence. If you are married in the States
and afterwards decide that you wish to remain in the U.S.,
the immigration laws require that you maintain a legal status
during the waiting period. Most non-immigrant visas are
unsuitable for this purpose because of the lengths of time
given for such visas and because most non-immigrant visas
are not dual intent visas allowing individuals to remain
in non-immigrant status while also having the intention
to immigrate.
- Non-immigrant visas with dual intent are generally recognized
as the H-1B and L-l visas. An H-1B is a specialty occupation
visa in which the employer requires specialized professional
services as evidenced by the visa applicant holding a bachelor's
degree or its equivalent in the field for which professional
specialized services are required. An L-1 visa is given
to an intracompany transferee working for the same, affiliate,
or subsidiary operation of the U.S. enterprise in an overseas
country in an executive, managerial or specialized knowledge
capacity for at least one of the past three years, and who
will be in one of the three capacities while working in
the U.S.. Individuals can remain in the U.S. legally under
H-1B status for up to six years with possible extensions
thereafter, depending upon whether efforts to obtain permanent
residence through employment have been submitted, and under
L-1 status for seven years if they are executives or managers
and five years if specialized knowledge personnel.
- Your fiancée is not eligible to submit a fiancée
petition on your behalf. Such privilege is only given to
U.S. citizens. Your fiancée could only submit an
immigrant visa petition for you once you are married. If
you have a current 10 year multiple entry visitor's visa
and intend to only visit your husband occasionally and return
to Argentina, you can enter the U.S. during the period of
time that you must wait for immigrant visa processing. However,
the purpose of a tourist visa is only to be in the U.S.
for short periods of time, and not for use for one intending
to remain in the U.S. during the greater part of the years
of waiting. If you will remain in the U.S. for most of each
year of waiting and only return to Argentina for yearly
visits to your family, that would be an abuse of the tourist
visa and conflict with its purpose.
Dear Sir:
I got married in 10/2000. My wife is a US citizen. I filed
the I-485 in 9/2001, and had an interview in 02/2002. My application
was approved on 2/12/2003, but it is conditional. I heard
that “Your permanent residence status will be conditional
if it is based on a marriage that was less than two years
on the day you were given permanent residence.” So I
wonder if I should be given a 10-year Green Card because I
had already married more than two years as of the date of
adjustment.
Questions:
- Do you think if the INS made a mistake?
- How can I ask them for a review?
Dear reader:
Conditional residence status through marriage is given to
those who are married for less than two years at the time
of final approval of their cases. In your case, you state
that your approval date was over two years from your date
of marriage. It would appear that if you are correct in your
date of approval, you should have received permanent instead
of conditional residence status. In such case, you can file
an I-90 application for a replacement green card explaining
the situation and the fact that INS was wrong in giving you
a conditional card.
|
