Maggio+Kattar

Permanent residents may petition for, or “sponsor,” their foreign national spouses to become permanent residents (“green card” holders) of the United States.  The immigration of a foreign national spouse of a Legal permanent resident is initiated by the filing of an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”).  These petitions must be accompanied by documentary evidence of the existence of a spousal relationship and evidence of the Legal permanent resident’s permanent resident status.  Additionally, USCIS normally requires extensive evidence that the married couple’s relationship is genuine.  A marriage entered into solely for immigration purposes is a crime for both parties, and bars the foreign national forever from having a visa petition approved on his or her behalf.    

If the foreign national’s spouse becomes a United States citizen during the processing of his or her petition or while he or she is waiting for a visa number to become available, the foreign national spouse’s preference category automatically converts to immediate relative and he or she will no longer be subject to the waiting lines of the preference category system. 

Most family-based visa petitions are initiated when the sponsoring relative files an immigrant visa petition, also known as a Form I-130, with the appropriate Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Service Center or U.S. Consulate abroad. The date of receipt of this petition by USCIS establishes the “priority date,” or place in line for an immigrant visa. Processing times for these petitions vary from several months or much longer depending on visa availability.  When a petition is approved, and the “priority date” becomes current (i.e. after any applicable waiting line has passed), the sponsored individual may apply for an immigrant visa or, where eligible, apply for adjustment of status to obtain lawful permanent residence in the United States.   An immigrant visa permits the individual to become a legal permanent resident (“green card” holder) after admission to the United States with the immigrant visa. It is important to note that filing an immigrant visa petition for a relative can make it more difficult for the sponsored individual to obtain a tourist, student, or certain other types of temporary visas or it may bring an individual here in the United States without authorization to the attention of the immigration authorities. Additionally, an individual must otherwise be eligible to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the United States or be eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility.  An individual’s admissibility should also be thoroughly assessed before a visa petition is filed.  As such, we recommend that immigration counsel be consulted before a visa petition is filed.