Prior to filing a petition on behalf of your foreign national spouse, it is important to understand the US immigration law as it applies to family-based permanent residence in general and permanent residence for spouses of US citizens in particular. A qualified US green card attorney from an established immigration law firm can help.



Definition of a Spouse

Prior to filing any documents, it is important to understand meaning of the term “spouse" as it is defined in U.S. immigration law. “Spouse" is defined as a lawful husband or wife. Thus, in order to successfully petition for green card or immigrant visa for a spouse, the relationship with your spouse must be established and your spouse must be admissible to the United States under the immigration laws.

Overview of Immigration Process

A legal immigrant (or “lawful permanent resident") is a foreign national who has been granted the privilege of living and working permanently in the United States. There is a multi-step process that a spouse of a US citizen must go through before acquiring a US green card:

1.The US Citizenship and Immigration Service must first approve an immediate relative petition filed by the US citizen spouse on behalf of the foreign national spouse;

2.Next, If your spouse is outside the United States when your visa petition is approved and when an immigrant visa number (if required) becomes available, your spouse must apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy abroad;

3.If your spouse is legally within the U.S. when immediate relative petition is approved and when an immigrant visa number (if required) becomes available, he or she may use the Form I-485 to apply to adjust his or her status to that of a lawful permanent resident.

A qualified green card attorney from an established US immigration law firm can help at each stage of the process by ensuring that the petition and the immigrant visa application are properly prepared and filed. Your green card attorney can also be invaluable in preparing the Adjustment of Status application as well as any subsidiary applications for employment authorization and/or advance parole.

Conditional Residence

If you have been married less than two years when your spouse receives lawful permanent resident status, your spouse will receive permanent resident status on a conditional basis. This means that you and your spouse must affirmatively apply together to remove the conditions on residence or your spouse’s permanent residence status will expire. It is important to remember that you must apply to remove conditional status within 90 days before the 2-year anniversary of the award date of your spouse’s conditional legal permanent resident status. If you fail to file during this time, your spouse will be considered out of status as of the 2-year anniversary, and may be subject to removal from the U.S.

A qualified green card attorney from an established US immigration law firm can help at this stage of the process by ensuring that the application for removal of conditions is completed and filed correctly with all required evidence supporting documentation.

The K-3 Spouse Visa – A Green Card Attorney Can Help

Foreign national spouses living abroad who are the beneficiaries of a filed I-130 immediate relative petition are also eligible to apply for a nonimmigrant K-3 Visa. This will entitle him or her to come to the U.S. to live and work while the I-130 petition is pending and may be an important factor in getting the foreign national spouse to the U.S. in the shortest timeframe possible. However, it is not necessary for your spouse to obtain a K-3 visa in order to come to the U.S. to live and work. Your spouse may wait abroad for immigrant visa processing.

A qualified green card attorney from an established US immigration law firm can also be of great assistance at the K3 visa stage by ensuring that the K3 visa petition and application are completed and filed correctly with all required evidence supporting documentation.