The purpose of filing form I-485 application is to prove that the foreign spouse or relative is eligible for U.S. permanent residency. Unlike the I-130 form, your spouse or relative has to sign I-485, and in this process, they are called the "applicant."
If you or your foreign relative wants permanent residence (green card), you need to meet specific requirements to file your petition. Some may find that petition requirements for spouses are more exhaustive than any other relationship, but with the proper preparation, we promise this one can go smoothly as well.
Since you stopped by here, you probably wonder how to live and work in the United States. If that's so, you should consider your employment or family relationship options to lead you to permanent residence as the most considerable immigration base.
Have your spouse living abroad, and you, as a U.S. citizen, already chose the United States and decided to live in this country permanently? If that is so, you are ready to learn about the process of getting a green card through marriage as your best option and help your spouse and apply for a green card and permanent residence.
A CR1 visa or IR1 spousal visa allows a foreign spouse married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to live and work in the United States. CR1 spousal visa is issued only to those married couples, same or different sex, whose marriage lasts less than two years, and that is why it is called the “conditional resident.”
The first step on the pathway to obtaining a family-based permanent residence or green card in the United States is Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. The Form I-130 is used by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident to establish a qualifying relationship with the beneficiary.
The priority date determines your place in line/the queue. The priority date, according to the USCIS, is normally that date when the relative or employer of the applicant files the immigrant’s visa petition with the USCIS. You should be able to locate the priority date on the Notice of Action (Form I-797) which was filed on behalf of the applicant. The USCIS officer should verify the priority date “by reviewing the actual immigrant petition or permanent labor certification application.”
The USCIS can be incredibly strict with the extensive process of a Form I-485, Application for Permanent Residence. You probably spent a lot of time preparing your documents to file and getting ready for the interview, and eventually, you found out that your application is denied.
Our client is a citizen of Venezuela and originally came to the US to visit family. Later, our client began her schooling and adjusted to student status. From then, she remained in the US for more than ten consecutive years, and finally, in 2016, her US citizen relative filed an I-130 petition on her behalf in order to commence the adjustment of status process for lawful permanent residence.
Our office often receives calls from people who seek permanent residence in the United States but have messed up the marriage green card interview and have done significant damage to their case. Those damages can sometimes be irreparable. In many cases, making any severe risk is avoidable with a bit of preparation and understanding of how the interview will go.
