Green Card Marry H1B or OPT holder

[jamolie 0]

Hello,

I am currently applying for my green card through my employer. I am in the 3rd step of the application, Adjustment of status (Form I-485), priority date in July 07. My fiance just graduated from college and is on the one year OPT visa. How should we proceed with her green card application? Currently, I see a few options:

1. Get married now while she is on OPT. What is the process here?

2. Wait until she gets a H1B visa and get married. What is the process here?

3. She applies for the green card after receiving her H1B, and then we get married. What is the process?

Which option would be the easiest (least time consuming) and beneficial to the both of us?

BTW, I am from Singapore while she is from Korea.

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

[jamolie 0]

Can anyone provide some direction? Thanks!

[Dr_LHA 3]

As you are not a US Citizen, your fiancee cannot get a Green Card through you until she has an approved I-130 and her priority date has come up (see the Visa Bulletin at the state.gov page). This can take many years. For her to remain in the USA before she can get a green card through marriage, she must have a valid visa, for example an H-1B. If she cannot secure such a visa, I'm afraid that there is no visa for a spouse of a Green Card holder, she must leave the USA.

When/if you become a US Citizen, she will be able to get a Green Card through marriage almost immediately, but all the time you are just a Green Card holder, she will have a long wait I'm afraid.

If you're both talking about getting Green Cards through work, then those are completely unrelated to you being married.

Edited July 23, 2007 by Dr_LHA

[Dr_LHA 3]

Just to answer your questions more directly:

1. Get married now while she is on OPT. What is the process here?

If you have a Green Card, you can apply for I-130 for her, but she will have to get a visa to remain in the USA.

2. Wait until she gets a H1B visa and get married. What is the process here?

She will be able to remain in the USA for a maximum of 6 years on an H-1B, hopefully by the time the H-1B runs out, either an I-130 will be approved, or you become a US Citizen and can apply for her to get AOS.

3. She applies for the green card after receiving her H1B, and then we get married. What is the process?

I assume that would be an employment based Green Card? Well if you both have employment based cards then there is no "process".

Which option would be the easiest (least time consuming) and beneficial to the both of us?

Sadly there is no easy option for you.

[jamolie 0]

DR LHA, Thank you so much for the helpful information! It looks like the best option for me right now is to begin applying for citizenship right after I get my green card. At the same time, I should also apply for the I-130 visa while my fiance is on her H1B visa. Generally, how long does the I-130 process take compared to applying for citizenship?

Another question for you. When filling out the application form for the adjustment of status, there was an option to apply for my spouse (if married). Since I am not yet married, I applied for myself only. Hypothetically, if I were married at the time, would my wife be able to get her green card as well? If so, I should have gotten married sooner!

Thank you so much!

[Dr_LHA 3]

DR LHA, Thank you so much for the helpful information! It looks like the best option for me right now is to begin applying for citizenship right after I get my green card. At the same time, I should also apply for the I-130 visa while my fiance is on her H1B visa. Generally, how long does the I-130 process take compared to applying for citizenship?

If you're getting your Green Card through your employer, you can get citizenship after 5 years of holding a Green Card. The I-130 process is probably about the same amount of time, maybe a little longer (its hard to tell how visa priority dates will change in the future, they may speed up or slow down).

Another question for you. When filling out the application form for the adjustment of status, there was an option to apply for my spouse (if married). Since I am not yet married, I applied for myself only. Hypothetically, if I were married at the time, would my wife be able to get her green card as well? If so, I should have gotten married sooner!

Actually I was wondering about this possibility. I'm not sure how you can add on a spouse after you already applied. Honestly, you're better off talking to your employers lawyers about this, or on another forum. People here don't have that much experience with employment based Green Cards. I only have a cursory knowledge based on having employment based visas for a long time.