Family-Based Green Cards

Do advanced degrees help in marriage-based green card?

Question details

I have recently gotten engaged to a green card holder. We are making plans for our wedding, very likely to happen this year. However, the following questions arose:

1. Does the fact that I already hold another Master and a Ph.D. degrees accelerate my green card application? I understand that the backlog is of 5-6 years, but I wonder if my advanced education will assist my application.

2. My H-1B application last year was approved, but I did not use the visa, as I decided to go back to school for (yet!) another degree. Will the approval of the H-1B be looked at favorably, unfavorably, or will it not make a difference?

3. I am currently an F-1 holder. If I marry my fiance' this year, may I simply maintain my Visa independent of his? I am eligible to an OPT after I graduate (to happen this year or in mid-2010) and I am certain I will be able to obtain an H-1B afterwards. Therefore, I do not depend on my fiance' to keep a legal status in the country. Is it legal (or advisable) to keep my Immigration records separate from his?

4. How about when we file for taxes, after the wedding happens? May we file separately, or do we need to declare we are married?

 1. Advanced degrees do not help in a family-based green card.

Interview in Tampa

State
Florida

So, we had our interview in Tampa. We waited for about an hour and begin to get worried when people arriving after us started to get called in. Eventually after waiting for an hour we were called. the officer was nice and courteous. He asked for our ID's then a few questions about how and when we came about living on this planet. Then he

Got approved today.....sharing our experience

Guys,

We got approved at the LA DO office this morning and wanted share our experience.

Our appt was scheduled for 9:35 am and we got in the waiting room at 9am. Submitted the appt letter to a lady and waited for our names to be called. I would say 8 out of 10 pple had their lawyers with them. I used my lawyer to file the paperwork but saw no point bringing him for the interview paying $650 extra. However, we consulted with the lawyer last week to prep for the interview.

My interview experience

Hey guys just wanted to share my experience with everyone.I arrived 45 minutes early,didn't get called in until 30 minutes after my scheduled time.Anyway the officer was very polite,which put my wife and myself at ease,we were not nervous,just extremely anxious and ready to get it over with.First thing that was asked for was our id's(dl's) and my wife's proof of citizenship,next we swore to tell the truth.After that we were asked together where do we live,how many people live with us,how long have we lived there.Next came the infamous No questions and of course I answered no to all.A

Interview Experience at San Jose

The questions I had - I am very grateful.

Now to the story about my interview experience today: My appointment was at 1:30PM but we arrived there at 1:05PM and we were called in like 5minutes later. The officer was very nice and he started off by making small talk about how deep my voice was when I answered him. This was as we walked down the hallway towards his office.

Guestbook Entry for Arnab C, United States

Name
Arnab C
Country
United States
State
MA
Comment

I and my wife recently got our green cards approved, which was been processed through LORK's office.

The process took a while to complete but finally it got over. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rajiv Khanna and and everybody at his firm for handling the processing of our application so expertly and professionally.

Special thanks to Mathew Chacko, Prerna Mehta, Amrita and Bharathi Gajala who were involved with our cases at different stages. The LORK team members were always very cooperative and helpful with all of our GC related matters. I had also received RFEs for my case and they were responded to very promptly and with accurate detail by Rajiv and his team members.

I would also like to thank Rajiv Khanna for the great service he provides for the immigrant community through his Live chats. These chats and the recorded transcripts helped us with answering our queries and doubts over the whole complicated process of Green card and also kept our hopes up during the long-winded process.

Looking forward to working with LORK's office again in future.

B visa while GC pending or similar situation

Question details

After a long-term relationship, earlier this year I married a U.S. citizen. I do not want to change my immigration status and do not wish to immigrate nor reside permanently in the United States since we both have steady jobs outside the U.S. and I do not want to leave my country. All I want is to be able to travel temporarily into the U.S. for pleasure and leisure as most tourists do, once or twice a year for a couple of weeks each time.

I want to know if I can just apply for a new B-1/B-2 tourist visa to travel into the U.S. or if my husband needs to file an I-130 petition for alien relative and I-129 and K visa thereafter instead –which I understand would be the right process if I ever wanted to adjust status or become a U.S. permanent resident.

This is upto the discretion of the consulate and then again upto CBP when you land in USA. Consulates have the discretion to issue you a B visa - despite your presumed immigrant intent - if they are convinced that you will return. This is true for all cases where a B (or F or similar) visa is sought while GC is pending or could be pending.

Green Card through Citizen brother

Question details

My brother got US Citizenship this month. I would like to apply Green Card using my brother's citizenship.Is it possible ? How long it will take . Now I am holding H1B.

This is usually not a feasible option. To see how long it would take, look at the Visa Bulletin: 

http://www.immigration.com/newsletter/vbarchive.html

You will note that it will take more than a decade to get a green card through family-based category 4. You are not permitted to stay in the USA just because this application is pending.