Client: Beneficiary of Marriage Green Card
Client’s Country of Origin: Canada
Case Type: I-130 Petition for Alien Relative: Marriage
Date of Application: November 2018
Date of Approval: June 2019
Being neighboring countries, Herman Legal Group has helped many Canadian-American couples with their immigration needs. In this case, our client, a citizen of Canada, is an outdoorsman who met his wife, a citizen of Ohio, through a mutual hobby. They met at an animal showcase near his hometown and shortly after started dating.
Our client came to the US on tourist status to visit his girlfriend and continue the growth of their relationship. After some time passed, their love grew, and eventually, they sought to unite in marriage. They approached Attorney Richard Herman for legal counsel in order to begin changing our client’s current status to apply for a marriage green card.
Attorney Herman explained that doing so would present challenges to the couple—the USCIS generally examines this adjustment under strict scrutiny: If an immigrant comes to the US on a tourist visa and seeks to adjust status by marriage, the Service will presume that the immigrant intended to immigrate on the tourist status while already in the US. This act is known as visa fraud.
Our client explained that the couple in no way intended to evade immigration laws—they simply decided to take the next step in the course of their relationship after spending time with one another. Attorney Herman assisted the couple in filing their I-130 and I-485 applications along with other authorization forms. However, six months had passed and the Service had yet to issue an interview date for the couple.
Our client grew worrisome as he did not want the government to observe his immigration motives in suspicion. It is also important to note that, during the waiting period, the immigrant cannot work or travel until receiving authorization—which in some cases, leaves the immigrant waiting in limbo.
Finally, our client was scheduled for an interview, and Attorney Herman spent much time preparing the couple for the date. People often overlook how the interview process may seem intimidating and nerve-wracking for visa applicants as their possibility of lawfully living in America is on the line. Common fears for couples applying for a marriage green card being split up during their interview or that their answers won’t suffice for approval.
As experienced counsel, clients come to us in order to calm them down, talk strategy on the immigration process, and give them confidence that their case will be successful. In the end, that’s exactly what Attorney Herman did—he prepared our clients by going over questions, answers, legalistic terms they may encounter, and overall, let them know that it will be okay!
Entering their visa interview with confidence, our clients shared great stories of their relationship with the officers, who quickly approved the couple for the marriage green card. Excited to establish their life in America together, their next steps will be to file forms to remove the conditions on the visa.
