Hello, my husband is an American citizen. My son was born in China. After my son and I came to the United States, I obtained a green card. Now I hold a Chinese passport and green card.

There are no scheduling restrictions for spouses of U.S. citizens. There are different application procedures depending on whether the spouse is in the United States or overseas.

1. Foreign spouse in the United States:

1) One-step application: Citizens and their foreign spouses can apply for immigration and adjustment of status at the same time. Citizens must apply for immigration in the I-130 form for their spouses, and foreign spouses must use the I-485 form to apply for adjustment of status in the United States and apply for an employment card (I-765 form) and an Advance Parole at the same time. This type of application is called a "one-step application."

Although immigration law allows spouses of U.S. citizens who have overstayed in the United States to adjust their status in the United States and obtain a green card without returning to their home country to undergo immigrant visa procedures. But one thing to note is that if you have overstayed your visa when applying, it is best not to apply for leave to go abroad. Because it is possible that the Immigration Bureau will not allow the applicant to enter the United States for 3 or 10 years under Article 222(g) when entering the country. Green card spouses do not have such a favorable offer. If green card spouses want to adjust their status in the United States, they must maintain valid non-immigrant status and wait for the waiting period. They can only file the I-485 application for adjustment of status after the waiting period is reached. If the foreign spouse of the green card cannot maintain his legal status, he will need to return to his country for immigration visa procedures and cannot adjust his status in the United States.

2) Interview: After receiving the application, the Immigration Bureau will arrange an interview for the citizen and his spouse. If the two people have been married for 2 years when the interview is approved, the green card obtained will be a permanent green card. If the interview is approved, the green card will be permanent. The two had been married for less than 2 years, and the green card they obtained was a conditional green card.

3) Eliminate the restrictions on conditional green cards: The rights, obligations, and legal protections of foreign spouses who obtain conditional green cards are the same as those who obtain permanent green cards. The spouse of a U.S. citizen whose status is restricted only must apply to lift the restrictions within 90 days before the second anniversary of obtaining this conditional green card, so that he can obtain formal permanent resident status.

If the foreign spouse does not apply for lifting the restriction within the second anniversary, the conditional green card will automatically expire on the second anniversary of the foreign spouse obtaining the green card, and the foreign spouse will be considered overdue. Residence. Therefore, it is very important to remember the second anniversary of obtaining a conditional green card to maintain legal status.

2. Foreign spouse abroad:

U.S. citizens must apply for relative immigration for their foreign spouse. After the application for family-based immigration is approved, the Immigration Bureau will forward the information to the National Visa Center, which will send it to the consulate of the country where the foreign spouse is located. The foreign spouse will obtain an immigrant visa to come to the United States after passing the interview at the consulate. The foreign spouse will arrive in the United States. In the United States, the immigration officer will stamp a green card stamp on the passport. This green card stamp is a proof of having a green card before the green card card is produced.

3. K-3 visa for foreign spouses of U.S. citizens

Due to the serious backlog during the processing of family-based immigration visas, in order to enable the foreign spouses of U.S. citizens to come to the United States as soon as possible For family reunification, former U.S. President Clinton signed the "Legal Immigration and Family Affirmative Act" (LIFE), which also created a new "K" visa for citizens' overseas spouses and minor unmarried children. Like current "K" visa holders, these "K" visa holders could also apply for work permits until they obtained legal status.