Our client, a citizen of India, was present within the US as an international student. During his study, he met a US citizen woman and fell in love. After some time, the couple united in marriage. The couple then was faced with adjusting our client’s nonimmigrant status, establishing their marital relationship, sponsoring our client for eligibility to become a lawful permanent resident—all before his student visa expires.
If your spouse resides outside the US, it could take 12 to 18 months before he or she is allowed to enter the US. If you are not married yet and you are planning to marry before filing your spouse’s permanent resident application, you might want to consider filing for a fiance visa instead (see below) so that your spouse can enter the US sooner.
If your spouse already resides in the United States, he or she will need to adjust his or her immigration status to permanent residence. It is important that your spouse be in legal immigration status when the application package is submitted and during the entire time the application is pending. The entire process should take about a year or perhaps a bit longer.
