Love and marriage don’t confine themselves to national borders. In many relationships, a couple wishes to marry despite one member of the couple being a U.S. citizen and the other being a citizen of another country. In these situations, the foreign national may be able to obtain an “adjustment of status through marriage,” through which he or she can obtain a green card by marrying their U.S. citizen partner.
This means they can apply for and obtain immediately their “green card.” In these cases the work permit usually arrives after six weeks or so and the green card itself may take another four months after that.
In order to apply for an adjustment of status through marriage to a U.S. citizen, the foreign national applying for his or her green card must be physically present in the United States, have entered the U.S. lawfully, and be admissible to the United States – for instance, by not having a criminal or immigration history that would otherwise keep the person out.
If your spouse entered the country without documents then we would need to apply for a provisional waiver, found at https://immigrationhelpla.com/immigration-law/provisional-waivers. Some clients, however, have a petition from April 30, 2001 or earlier that another family member had filed for them. If this is the case than that person may be able to apply even if she or he entered without documents. It’s called 245(i) and it’s important to discuss this with your experienced immigration attorney.
Applying for adjustment of status through marriage involves the use of two many different forms including the Petition for Immediate Relative and the Application to Adjust Status. The experienced immigration attorneys with the Immigration Law Office of Los Angeles, P.C. can help a foreign national complete the paperwork to apply for and obtain permanent resident status and a work permit. Contact us today to learn more.
