British Expatriate Network

I've looked through this forum and on various other sites, but can't find a good reply to my situation, so hoping you guys can help.

I've been in Florida since July 2005 on a B1/B2 visa, and have been back to the UK once. I've been lucky, as CBP have been giving me 6 months at a time on my I-94.

I don't think I'll be that lucky next time I go out and come in again (end of April when my current I-94 is up). I'm sure they can see my movements and will be questioning me. So far I've been telling them I'm looking to buy a condo but the hurricane situation in Florida has been impeding my purchase.

I am in the middle of a divorce, and intend to marry my US boyfriend with whom I am currently living, as soon as I get that divorce.

As I am already in the USA I don't need to apply for a K1 visa, right? That's just for bringing your fiancee into the US and it has a time limit for you to get married.... so as I'm already here...

So, when we DO get married, do I then apply for a green card?
Do I have to have an interview and/or medical for the 2 year temporary green card?
Do I have to go back to the UK and apply from there?

I hear it can take months and months to get the temporary 2 year green card and then they check up on you again after that time to make sure you're still together, then you get a 10 year card or something?

What happens if it takes say 10 months to get my green card but my I-94 runs out WAY before then but I'm married to a US citizen?
Do I get some sort of interim papers so I don't have to leave the country while my greencard is being processed?
Can I leave the country while it's being processed?

When do I get a Social Security Number?
Can I work as soon as I'm married or do I have to wait until I get a green card?

Sorry for so many questions, it's so damn hard to find all the info in one place...

THANKS ! smile

First of all, this is one of the naughty ways of doing it.

That said, I pretty much did the same and have permanent residency.

Assuming not much has changed clerically since 9-11 (which changed a lot of things since a few of us came here), when you are married, you literally jump the visa queue. This is why it is scrutinised so hard because obviously it gets used illegally on occasions but if you are marrying with good intent and have nothing to hide, then it's a formality that you can deal with.

I think that the basics are you would marry before your visa runs out and then file an Adjustment of Status. This involves an application fee and filling in several forms, including an Affadavit of Support from either your spouse or someone else who promises to support you in case of hardship for several years. There may be a complete list of the forms you would need to submit after your marriage at the Bureau of Citizenship website but when I did it, I saw an attorney for just one hour, to get a checklist and go over any caveats so that the application would be accepted first time.

You are granted a temporary work permit within a short while after applying so that you can work while the processing goes on - sometimes for months at a time. The permits need renewing in person each year (or at least that is how it worked a few years ago when I was doing this). I do recall an interview and a medical, plus fingerprinting which must happen before a card is issued.

To leave the country before getting residency (provisional or full), you would need either a Parole document (I always forget the correct name for this but other threads here refer to it correctly) or a stamp in your passport to allow entry. Until you get a card, I would think you have to apply for parole and this is not always granted - when I did it, I truthfully stated that I had ailing grandparents and might need to go back suddenly which was acceptable. Once I had a card, when it expired (after two years), they would let me go into the office and get a passport stamp to permit re-entry until my 10 year card was processed.

Hope this helps.

Ours happened that way. I'm still here 7 years on. Again it was pre-9/11.

Before my VISA runs out or my I-94? My visa is good for another 8 years, so I presume you mean my I-94...?

So... is filing for an Adjustment of Status after I'm married the same as filing for a green card?

If not, does filing for an Adjustment of Status somehow allow me to stay in the US until a decision is reached/status is granted? What documentation will I be able to show to prove that I can stay in the US until I have status / green card? Do I get a letter or something saying it's in process and I have 'leave to remain' or whatever they call it?

I'm still confused. While the adjsutment of status and green card process is happening (can someone confirm that these are different things and in which order they happen?) can I apply for a work permit, or not until I have a green card?

thanks :smile:

That sounds an awful long time for a B1/B2 visa - they generally only run for six months at a time, extendable up to a maximum of one year and then you have to go back to your home country, IIRC. You mentioned that you've been back once since you came here so that might start the clock again but I still think it is six month limits unless you apply to extend up to a year.

Basically that is correct although you are actually going to file several forms, some of which will relate to permanent residency. This is why I hinted earlier at getting some kind of crib sheet together before you embark on this as it is probably painful to submit an application and then get it returned.

In my experience, filing for AoS does permit you to stay until adjudication occurs. When they begin processing your application, you will be called there to pick up temporary documents like a work permit and probably a stamp in your passport that supercedes whatever else you had before. When you get your work permit, you can get a social security card that is marked with something like 'Only valid with INS authorization' (replace INS with whatever they call them now - BCIS or what-have-you. I can't keep up).

IIRC, AoS is parallel to applying for permanent residency or may even be included - I can't remember as it was back in 1998 that I did this. The work permit is either applied for at the same time too or is included in the application. Again, you'd be better off consulting with an immigration attorney or looking in a specialist immigration web resource for the full details unless someone else who has done this more recently than me can help out.

All in all, it is a process of jumping through hoops, filing forms and paying fees, from the AoS beginnings to receiving your Provisional Permanent Residency document (Green Card) but the good news is that you can work during this period. The bad news is that you may have to visit the Immigration offices a few times and rack up a few fees for each stage.

Thanks Pilgrim, I think I understand the order of events a little better now.

With regard to my Visa... are you sure you're not getting a 10 year Visa and an I-94 departure record mixed up? Not meaning to be rude... just that I have it right here in front of me !

I applied for my American Visa in April 2004 as I couldn't travel from the bahamas (where I USED to live) to the USA by boat or private plane (which was cheap or free for me a the time) on a Visa Waiver; I could only travel by scheduled flights - some stupid reason... so CBP told me to apply for a 10 year visa so I could enter the USA by whatever method I had available to me.

My 10 year Visa says
Visa R
Type/Class B1/B2
Expiration April 2014

Of course that still doesn't give me a RIGHT to enter the USA, I can still be refused, and it's still upto CBP as to how long they give me on my I-94 which is entirely different as you get a new I-94 each time you enter the USA.

make sense?

Yeah that makes sense. I probably wasn't very clear but you can't stay for ten years - it just permits you to come in and out for that period. I think the maximum is six months at a time (usually 3 months which is what you are referring to with your I-94, right?) so if you overstayed that and then tried to come back in, it would probaly not be good.

I came in on a B2 18 months ago with similar intentions to yours. Here's the process:
No, you don't need a K1. Our timescale was to get married about 1/2 way through my 6 month stay.

You need to apply for Adjustment of Status (i.e. your green card). Your new hubby will also have to file a petition for you to be here - showing that he can support you, etc. You will need to have a medical and an interview (new hubby will also be required to attend the interview), they'll take pictures of you and you have to have your fingerprints taken. You apply for this from within the U.S.

It can apparently take several months to get your conditional green card. Fortunately for me, mine was actually through in around 4 months. Make sure you save anything and everything which ties you to your new husband when you get to this stage. Our solicitor advised us to bring along our wedding photos, cards, anything that referred to "Mr & Mrs". You will have to go through immigration again when the two years are almost up. We've been advised to continue to accumulate anything and everything that is in joint names.

Once you submit your application, it doesn't matter if your I-94 expires - mine expired before everything was completed. They send you a letter to show your application is pending. This keeps your status here legal. If you want to leave while your application is in the process, you need to also apply for Advanced Parole - you can file this at the same time as your AOS. In my case, I had no reason to file for it or pay the extra charges.

You can get a Soc Sec number as soon as you have your green card. You can't work legally without one - at least not in Texas. Not sure about anywhere else.

We actually had a brilliant immigration attorney, who is apparently well-known and respected by the folk down at immigration. It cost us around $2,800 altogether, including the immigration fees, but he was well worth the money. From our first appointment with him we only waited a couple of weeks for our interview and from that day it was exactly 89 days until my green card came.

I think I remebered it all, but if there's anything else come on right back at me.

Hope all this is of some help to you. Let us know how you get on. :smile:

OK, a liitle terminology clarification.

Permanent Resident (PR) is the status you need to hold to be allowed to stay in the US. When you want to become a permanent resident, you apply to adjust your status from visitor to permanent resident.

When you are granted permanent resident status, you are issued a card known as a green card, although it is actually white with shiny bits.

So yes, filing for an adjustment of status and applying for a green card are the same thing, the first is the official terminology and the second is the "slang".

Awesome. Thanks everyone for your help. I think $2800 for the immigration attorney including the paperwork filing fees (was that right?) is pretty good. As it seems to be several hundred bucks per form, AND Celticana got the GC in 3 months, that's pretty awesome.

A big relief also, to know that once AoS is applied for, I don't have to worry about my I-94 running out.

The only problem I can forsee is our age difference - 23 years. So it looks like it's one of those 'arrangements' but it's not and I can prove that one of my previous partners was 30 years my senior, so it's not out of character for me grin , and we have 9 months of email correspondance before we lived together, have now been living together for 8 months, with a bunch of photos, trips, plane tickets, joint invitations etc, to show nosey immigration people...

Now I just gotta get the divorce finalised!! mrgreen

Just to clarify a little for you. I got my green card quickly because we happen to be in Dallas. The immigration office here is part of some pilot "fast track" scheme where they aim to process AOS applications within 90 days. I do recall there were a couple of other places in this pilot, but I can't remember where. Sorry.

Our waiting time for an interview was also very short simply because our Attorney already had a block of pre-booked appointments so all we had to do was to find a time to fit one of "his" slots. He also attended the interview with us. And yes, the whole deal cost us $2800, including the filing fees. Actually, although he told us to gather as much "joint" stuff as we could, the immigration Officer at our interview barely flicked through them. I rather think they trusted our Attorney's reputation. He was obviously well-known to them.

We too have an age difference,- of 12 years - I am the older one (female), but we really had no problems on this one. In fact, no one mentioned it at all. smile

It's not as easy as it all sounds. I did everything the right way and my Permanent Resident application took just over a year. I got my Green Card in June/July of 2005.

Once you file for AOS and have your biometrics done you need to apply for an EAD (employment authorisation document), and AP (advanced parole) if you wish to leave the country and return during the process. This all costs money. And the system is designed so your documents expire just enough before your interview so that you spend the money to apply for them again "just in case" and then it's wasted.

Immigration attorneys are expensive but they supposedly ensure that you don't get your paperwork sent back 5 times because you missed something out, therefore making the process even longer.

The whole thing was expensive, tedious and needlessly hassled. I had lived with my Husband for over two years and known him for more than three when we applied for AOS. And I'd started the whole process correctly rather than from a tourist visa.

Stel.

I didn't, I came here on holiday and married my wife and then went to an attorney and said, "right, what do we do now?"
We filed an adjustment of status. You can't leave while that is going on without getting a travel warrant, which wasn't hard either. The whole thing including the lawyer cost me $1000 and now I am a miserable holder of a Green Card..

Oh that's a funny line....

Andrew :)

Eastendboy needs a genie and a lamp, I think.....