Hugh_Hoy Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 CS...I'm only saying what I "believe"--not what I KNOW. Already has a green card and for at least 5 years, applicant is ready to go. There are some other considerations involved, such as continuous residence in the U.S. during that period of time and limited time outside of the U.S. during those 5 years. I do not "believe" having a citizen spouse would further qualify or give some kind of preference to the applicant or speed up the process. If important, would contact INS or a good immigration attorney. Sorry for the inability to give you complete answers. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Thanks HH. I have found that you have to be married to a U.S. citizen for 3 years for marriage to matter. Thanks for all your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSTEACH Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 It took almost a year to get the I-130/K-3 approved for her to come to the US. Once here, it took two years to receive permanant resident status. Because we had been married more than two years when she received her Green Card, her's is a full ten year card. If married less than two years, it would have been a conditional Green Card, which would involve filing to have the conditions removed, with another interview and more fees to Uncle Sam, after two years. If approved at the removal interview, she would be issued a full ten year card. For Steve... the only time marriage would have an effect on citizenship filing would be if the lady filed for her initial PR after marrying a US citizen. Then she could apply for naturalization after three years of receiving the GC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YimSiam Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Used to be two years, nine months you could file your application for natz if on the basis of marriage -- give you a little headstart on the backlog wait, which was a couple of years in many INS regions in 97-99. Not sure whether that still applies, or even if there's a backlog these days. YimSiam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Huge backlog keeps growing. The official site says that there are 2.5 million filings as opposed to 1.5 the year before. I've heard it took about 10 months in the LA area and now it may take 16 to 18 months after filing. Fees have shot up as well. Its about $600 or so now. I guess its a way for the government to make money as I assume very few people won't pay an increased fee as a reason for not becoming a citizen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I guess its a way for the government to make money as I assume very few people won't pay an increased fee as a reason for not becoming a citizen. Actually, the fee was increased to help defray the cost of a computer system for the INS to handle the naturalization process. The excellent theory (IMO) is that citizens here should not bear the cost for somebody who wants to join the crowd. If citizenship isn't worth 600 bucks, let em go without or find another country. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSTEACH Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 The cost to file for naturalization is now $675.00 and to file for permanant residence (Green Card) is $1010.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 Just as a side note: I know a married couple in US who are both attorneys/lawyers. Their daughter married a fella from Ecuador. In order to get fella from Ecuador to US, these two attorneys hired an immigration attorney in US in big city. Everything was sped up. In other words, the attorneys/lawyers hired a specialist attorny/lawyer. As another side note, daughter did volunteer university studies in Ecuador. She met a busboy at local hotel. Her first boyfriend/lover. The daughter continued her education and is now a full fledged MD doctor. The busboy/husband - they lived together for about 6 months - he left to work in NYC as a busboy. Divorced now. Daugher is MD/doctor in New Mexico - USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSTEACH Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 As a general rule, unless you have extraordinary circumstances that require the services of an attorney, filing USCIS petitions are fairly simple. Aggravating at times, but doing it yourself yields the same timeline as having an immigration attorney file for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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