US citizen marrying legal non-citizen resident

[kylynara]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

First off, sorry if this is in the wrong place I wasn't sure if it belonged under marriage or immigration, either seem to apply. I've tried under marriage and got no response.

The short version:
My boyfriend is a Chinese citizen who has lived in the US for the past 7 years. He works here legally already and is in the process of getting a green card through work. However, we want to get married and we don't want to wait for the green card process to finish. I don't really want surprises as I'm planning the wedding, and as a precaution would rather not get all my info through him, so my questions are:

1. What special paperwork, extra hoops, etc will we need to jump through on the way to the altar?
2. What needs done afterwards? and how soon?
3. Are there any others things that are legally different for a normal citizen to citizen marriage?


The details:
My BF and I are ring shopping, we're not yet officially engaged, but we're planning on getting engaged later this month. The wedding would be roughly a year out. I'm not sure if this is too early (laws could change in the intervening year), but I'd like to check this stuff out independently of him before I agree to marry him. I believe God specifically brought him in to my life and I don't doubt for a second that we belong together, but I do feel it is smart for me to have some understanding of things independent of him.

He has been in the US for ~7 years now. Three as a doctoral student and four as an engineer for a major multi-national corporation. I don't know the actual details of his visa. He began the process of applying for a green card through work shortly after we started dating. (Following one last visit home before that option was barred to him for the near future.) Now we want to get married. We had planned to wait until he got his green card, but that's not likely to be for another couple of years at least and frankly we're not that patient. Also neither one of us wants kids too early in the marriage and as we're already in our late 20s that extra 2 years starts putting some biological pressure on us.

He has said that once we're married he will submit a green card application as my spouse as the process is quicker that way. He made a point of discussing this with me now before he proposes to make sure I and my family will not have issues down the line and feel he married me simply for the green card.

Once again, the questions are:

1. What special paperwork, extra hoops, etc will we need to jump through on the way to the altar?
2. What needs done afterwards? and how soon?
3. Are there any others things that are legally different for a normal citizen to citizen marriage?

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

No special hoops. You get married and if he wants to file for permanent residence on the basis of marriage to you, a US citizen, then there should be no problems for so doing. I handle these types of petitions for clients on a daily basis and would be happy to answer any specific questions you might have on the process when the time comes. Depending on where he is with his employment-based permanent residence process, if your wedding is not going to be for another year or so, he might have his green card by then and then this will all be a moot point, but if his employment-based process is still in the early stages then he will probably benefit more from filing on the basis of marriage once you are legally married.

 

[kylynara]

Thank you

Thank you very much for your help.

I'm not sure where exactly he is in the process. I know he went home to China for the first couple weeks of October last year and was starting the process after that. I know his company likes to drag their feet on green cards, because it's that much longer they know they are keeping that employee, but he has had his interview with the people at the company. He has not had an interview with the government as yet, but he mentioned that he will have one at some point.

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

Employment based permanent residence petitions usually do NOT have a government interview. Find out where he is in the process or if it has been started at all. Then you'd know what you are looking at in terms of processing times for one or the other option.

 

[evcalyptos]

He has said that once we're married he will submit a green card application as my spouse as the process is quicker that way. He made a point of discussing this with me now before he proposes to make sure I and my family will not have issues down the line and feel he married me simply for the green card.

Once again, the questions are:

1. What special paperwork, extra hoops, etc will we need to jump through on the way to the altar?
2. What needs done afterwards? and how soon?
3. Are there any others things that are legally different for a normal citizen to citizen marriage?

This is where you get to put your money where you mouth is; that's why he's bringing this up now.
The most legally binding part of this whole thing is the financial sponsorship agreement you must sign to 'sponsor' hi8m in his Permanent Residency. The document is called Affidavit of Support I-864 and the one thing about is is that divorce does not end your obligation under this affidavit.

Otherwise, get married as and when you like. When you have your certified marriage certificate (recorded with your government), you can apply for the PR status.
You petition I-130, he applies I-485 & relateds. You supply I-864 + attachments.
You both wait 3-30 months, then go to an interview. If interview conclusion = success, your new husband gets a Green Card.
Two years after that, you've got another form to file (I-751) to show that you're still married, he gets his PR status extended forever and life moves on. If he wants to, he can naturalize to US citizenship and be a "dual citizen".

 

[kylynara]

Thanks again

I may be confused about the interview. I know the process has been started. He had one interview with the lawyers at his company who handle that stuff and he mentioned their would be another interview later. I may have guessed it was with the government from other stuff I read. We're supposed to find out this coming June whether it makes sense for him to apply as my spouse or not.

evcalyptos: Thank you to you as well. That sounds like a daunting amount of paperwork, but I suppose it's doable. I'll just hope he gets the one through work first.

 

[evcalyptos]

I may be confused about the interview. I know the process has been started. He had one interview with the lawyers at his company who handle that stuff and he mentioned their would be another interview later. I may have guessed it was with the government from other stuff I read. We're supposed to find out this coming June whether it makes sense for him to apply as my spouse or not.

evcalyptos: Thank you to you as well. That sounds like a daunting amount of paperwork, but I suppose it's doable. I'll just hope he gets the one through work first.

The paperwork makes a lot more sense when you are actually doing it.. I never could learn computers in theory either. When I finally wanted a specific output, the lessons made sense.

The only thing I would add for you is that you could do some reading up on Permanent Residence (article at uscis.gov called Now That You Are A Permanent Resident). If you'll be married to an immigrant, you should be aware of what he has to do to protect his status in the US and what his obligations and rights are. It's not the same as being married to a citizen, and it's not something that should be just his private business, as it affects you as well.

For example, if he's in his 78th year as an H-1B, he is running out of time. You want to make sure YOU understand what's going on.. what if "next June" is too late?