Waiting for I-130 but want to get married

[Aswerty 0]

Hi,

I have ~2.5 years left to go before my date of priority comes up. My father (a US Citizen) is sponsoring me on a family based visa. I began as an unmarried son over 21 but I'm now looking to get married.

I have a few questions:

1. Should I get married before or after I get my green card?

2. If I get married before, can I file a 'request to follow' for her, making the process faster or does that put me at the back of the line again?

3. If we get married after, it could mean that she's not able to work for 2-5 years (that makes me nervous).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

(I'm Canadian and she's Korean - no criminal record, etc, etc - been together for years)

[Boiler 45,638]

That is a person call, you wait longer as a married son of a USC.

You can petition a spouse as a PR, takes 2 years or so. Difficult to say how long when it is so far out.

Either way she would be work auhorised on entry as a PR.

[Aswerty 0]

What about 'following to join'?

It seems like an option but is a bit confusing:

If you were married before you became a lawful permanent resident, and your spouse did not physically accompany you to the U.S., your spouse may be eligible for following-to-join benefits. This means that you do not have to submit a separate Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, for your spouse, and your spouse will not have to wait any extra time for a visa number to become available. In this case, you may simply notify a U.S. Consulate that you are a lawful permanent resident so that your spouse can apply for an immigrant visa.

http://www.***removed***/greencard/***removed***/following-to-join-benefits.html

[Boiler 45,638]

If you are married why would she not want to come with you?

[Aswerty 0]

It seems like it would seriously expedite the process - for a negligible amount of time apart.

Does anyone have any experience using "Follow to join"?

[aleful 1,905]

hi

follow to join isn't needed. you have 2 options

get your GC as unmarried, enter the US, go back and marry your girlfriend. You will file a new petition as spouse of a LPR

marry and you will change category, form unmarried child of a USC, category F1, to married child of a USC, category F3. the wait may be longer, I'm not sure, but you will both get the visa and come together

[Boiler 45,638]

It seems like it would seriously expedite the process - for a negligible amount of time apart.

Does anyone have any experience using "Follow to join"?

I am not sure what you are thinking of but follow to join is where the person wishes to delay their entry, sort of says it in its name.

Comes up on this board occasionally, probably not regularly.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

Follow to join won't make your or her greencard quicker though. It just means that if you marry before you get the visa, she- instead of coming with you to the USA immediately- can wait up to a year before she follows you, say if she has a work contract or university term to finish.

At this time, if you marry before you get the greencard, it will add 3.5 years to your wait for a visa. Of course, it may be more (or less!) by the time your priority date is up: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin/2015/visa-bulletin-for-july-2015.html