kuba0108
26 Aug 2009
USA, Canada / Can US citizenship through marriage be 'transfered' to a new spouse? [16]
Once you are a US citizen, all rights as a citizen apply, including sponsoring immediate relatives from other countries for various types of visas or permanent residence. It doesn't matter how you became a citizen. In fact, if you are a permanent resident, you can also sponsor a relative to get permanent residence, just a slightly different process. Immediate family includes spouse, child, parent, sibling. Spouse and child do not have to wait for a visa number to become available - i.e. no waiting in line for a number before you can apply - this may sometimes be what people wait for years for, as only a certain number of visas per year per category per country are available, and it's first applied first served. However, spouses and children of citizens do not have to wait for a number, they go straight to the front of the line, so to speak.
I was born in Poland, emigrated to the US as a small child, became a US citizen in the 90s, and married a Polish woman. Here is what I did to get my wife into the US and to get a green card.
1. She got a B-2 tourist visa last year to come visit me (this was before we decided to get married). I live near Boston, so it was not a big deal for her to get a B-2. NB: on the day she went in to interview for her visa in Warsaw, everyone she met who said they were coming to Chicago was denied, coincidence?
2. We were married in Poland this year. She ket her B-2 visa and her original passport (with her maiden name), and entered the US on her tourist B-2 visa. Did not mention anything at the border about being married already - if you do that, they might send you back and ask you to fill out the paperwork at the US embassy and wait in your home country.
3. Now that we are here, we filled out a bunch of forms for a "change of status" on her visa to permanent residence.
You need USCIS forms: I-130, I-131, I-485, I-693, I-765, I-864, and two G-325A (one for the sponsor, one for the applicant). You may need to use I-485A as well, if you fall into a particular category (you should read the instructions for I-485A to determine this. Everything, including supplementary docs need to be included in one package and sent (with proper payments) to a single lockbox in Chicago.
FYI, I-765 is a temporary work permit application, I-131 is a temporary re-entry permit application. They are temporary until the green card is processed, then they are permanent as a result of having the green card. If they are submitted at the same time as the rest of the application, you don't have to pay the fees for these 2 applications.
Before you do this, or any other method, please read up on it at the state department site (travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html), USCIS site (uscis.gov). Also, you should at least consult with an immigration attorney in your area for advice on the best path for your situation.
Hope this helps!
Kuba
Once you are a US citizen, all rights as a citizen apply, including sponsoring immediate relatives from other countries for various types of visas or permanent residence. It doesn't matter how you became a citizen. In fact, if you are a permanent resident, you can also sponsor a relative to get permanent residence, just a slightly different process. Immediate family includes spouse, child, parent, sibling. Spouse and child do not have to wait for a visa number to become available - i.e. no waiting in line for a number before you can apply - this may sometimes be what people wait for years for, as only a certain number of visas per year per category per country are available, and it's first applied first served. However, spouses and children of citizens do not have to wait for a number, they go straight to the front of the line, so to speak.
I was born in Poland, emigrated to the US as a small child, became a US citizen in the 90s, and married a Polish woman. Here is what I did to get my wife into the US and to get a green card.
1. She got a B-2 tourist visa last year to come visit me (this was before we decided to get married). I live near Boston, so it was not a big deal for her to get a B-2. NB: on the day she went in to interview for her visa in Warsaw, everyone she met who said they were coming to Chicago was denied, coincidence?
2. We were married in Poland this year. She ket her B-2 visa and her original passport (with her maiden name), and entered the US on her tourist B-2 visa. Did not mention anything at the border about being married already - if you do that, they might send you back and ask you to fill out the paperwork at the US embassy and wait in your home country.
3. Now that we are here, we filled out a bunch of forms for a "change of status" on her visa to permanent residence.
You need USCIS forms: I-130, I-131, I-485, I-693, I-765, I-864, and two G-325A (one for the sponsor, one for the applicant). You may need to use I-485A as well, if you fall into a particular category (you should read the instructions for I-485A to determine this. Everything, including supplementary docs need to be included in one package and sent (with proper payments) to a single lockbox in Chicago.
FYI, I-765 is a temporary work permit application, I-131 is a temporary re-entry permit application. They are temporary until the green card is processed, then they are permanent as a result of having the green card. If they are submitted at the same time as the rest of the application, you don't have to pay the fees for these 2 applications.
Before you do this, or any other method, please read up on it at the state department site (travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html), USCIS site (uscis.gov). Also, you should at least consult with an immigration attorney in your area for advice on the best path for your situation.
Hope this helps!
Kuba