Spouse of Permanent Resident

[sonyah 0]

Hello all,

I have few questions about spouse of Permanent residents in US. I am writing this in regards to my brother who is a permanent resident.

His spouse is a British citizen living in UK; obviously she can come and meet him for three months and has to leave.

Can she file for her adjustment of statues while she is here and stay here while that is being processed, heard people does it?

Can she file for her adjustment of statues while she is here but leave before her 3 moths permit expires, go back to the UK and come back within a month?

Being a citizen of countries under VWP you can stay up to 90 days in USA without a visa, what if she stays here for 90 days go back to the UK and come back after a week or so, would they give her another 90 days or can she repeat this? Obviously she is not breaking any rules she is out of the county within the time they required her to leave.

Please advise.

Thanks.

[yohino 22]

Her spouse would have to be a USC for her to be able to Adjust her status, but even if he was, she can't enter on the VWP with the intent to do so. So that option is not valid anyways.

He would have to file a I-130 petition for her, which takes quite a while for a spouse of an LPR. He will be able to upgrade it though when he gains US citizenship.

The VWP is for visiting, not for living with your spouse, so if the CO at POE see a pattern in her travel that doesn't make her a tourist anymore they can, and probably will, deny her entry. Sure, it's 90 days per visit, but also a maximum of 180 days per year. The rule of thumb is to stay out for as long as you were in.

[milimelo 4,273]

Moving to Bringing family members of Permanent Residents forum.

[sonyah 0]

Her spouse would have to be a USC for her to be able to Adjust her status, but even if he was, she can't enter on the VWP with the intent to do so. So that option is not valid anyways.

He would have to file a I-130 petition for her, which takes quite a while for a spouse of an LPR. He will be able to upgrade it though when he gains US citizenship.

The VWP is for visiting, not for living with your spouse, so if the CO at POE see a pattern in her travel that doesn't make her a tourist anymore they can, and probably will, deny her entry. Sure, it's 90 days per visit, but also a maximum of 180 days per year. The rule of thumb is to stay out for as long as you were in.

so what you are saying is she can not apply for I-130 here in the US?

Even if they declear that they are husband and wife?

Thanks for your help!

[aleful 1,905]

so what you are saying is she can not apply for I-130 here in the US?

Even if they declear that they are husband and wife?

Thanks for your help!

file yes, adjustment of stastus no.

[janice.kamel 0]

he can file and wait

[yohino 22]

so what you are saying is she can not apply for I-130 here in the US?

Even if they declear that they are husband and wife?

Thanks for your help!

He could file the I-130 while she is in the US, BUT, she would have to leave when her 90 days is up, and wait out the visa-process in her own country. She will not be able to adjust her status in the US, but will have to get a immigrant visa from the Embassy in the UK.

It doesn't matter that they are married, what matters is that he is a LPR, not a USC, so no visa-number is immediatly avalible.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

so what you are saying is she can not apply for I-130 here in the US?

Even if they declear that they are husband and wife?

Thanks for your help!

First, she won't submit an I-130. Your brother will do that. He can do that anytime he likes. The day that USCIS receives and accepts his petition will become her "priority date". He'll receive a notice with that date on it. Assuming his petition is complete then USCIS will eventually approve it. After that, they have to wait for her priority date to become current. Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin every month with the cutoff dates for each visa category. Your brother's wife will be an F2A visa category. You can see the current bulletin list here:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html

When the cutoff date for an F2A family preference visa is AFTER her priority date then she can finish the process and apply for a visa. You can see from the June bulletin that the wait is currently about 4 years, but the cutoff dates sometimes advance more than one month between bulletins. The cutoff dates also sometimes retrogress. The actual time could be more or less.

If your brother has been a permanent resident for more than five years then he might want to consider becoming a US citizen. His wife would then become an "immediate relative" under immigration law. There is no limit to the number of immediate relative visas they issue each year, so she wouldn't have to wait for the priority date to become current.

[sonyah 0]

First, she won't submit an I-130. Your brother will do that. He can do that anytime he likes. The day that USCIS receives and accepts his petition will become her "priority date". He'll receive a notice with that date on it. Assuming his petition is complete then USCIS will eventually approve it. After that, they have to wait for her priority date to become current. Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin every month with the cutoff dates for each visa category. Your brother's wife will be an F2A visa category. You can see the current bulletin list here:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html

When the cutoff date for an F2A family preference visa is AFTER her priority date then she can finish the process and apply for a visa. You can see from the June bulletin that the wait is currently about 4 years, but the cutoff dates sometimes advance more than one month between bulletins. The cutoff dates also sometimes retrogress. The actual time could be more or less.

If your brother has been a permanent resident for more than five years then he might want to consider becoming a US citizen. His wife would then become an "immediate relative" under immigration law. There is no limit to the number of immediate relative visas they issue each year, so she wouldn't have to wait for the priority date to become current.

Thank you all!

I have few more questions:

1- People from countries under VWP can visit USA for period of 3 moths and they have to leave before their permit is expires. By law how many times an individual can come to the US for 90 days visit, can they go back to their country and come back after a moth and stay for another 90 days, Please advise?

2- If she comes to US for visit and find a school and wanted to start study here can she apply for student visa within the US and how long would that take?

3- What is student visa common process time frame from the countries under VWP?

[Penguin_ie 5,987]

1. She needs to spend more time outside the USA than inside. if she spends the full 90 days in the USA under her VWP, and then leaves for a month only, she may or may not be allowed back in. If she is allowed back in, she may not be given the 90 days stay but only a couple of weeks.

2/3. If you have everything organised (prove of financial support etc),l it can be done in 2-3 weeks.

[sonyah 0]

1. She needs to spend more time outside the USA than inside. if she spends the full 90 days in the USA under her VWP, and then leaves for a month only, she may or may not be allowed back in. If she is allowed back in, she may not be given the 90 days stay but only a couple of weeks.

2/3. If you have everything organised (prove of financial support etc),l it can be done in 2-3 weeks.

1- When you said everything organized means the application – the fee – the paperwork from the school….. I am not sure about what other financial arrangements she needs to prepare for?

2- So she can apply for her student visa here in the US while she is visiting, she does not need to go back and apply?

Thanks for your help

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

1- When you said everything organized means the application – the fee – the paperwork from the school….. I am not sure about what other financial arrangements she needs to prepare for?

2- So she can apply for her student visa here in the US while she is visiting, she does not need to go back and apply?

Thanks for your help

She has to demonstrate that she has the financial resources to pay her foreign student tuition and support herself while she's here. She would normally not be entitled to work, so she needs the financial resources before she changes status.

Yes, she can change to student visa status while she's in the US.