Marry an American citizen

The immigration laws in the United States are becoming stricter and stricter, and the road to immigration to the United States is becoming more and more difficult. Professional immigration review is very strict, and it takes time for relatives to immigrate. It seems that only marrying a citizen has not been banned. However, the legal provisions involved before and after marriage are quite complicated. For the parties concerned, it is as important to understand the provisions of immigration laws and formulate practical immigration regulations as it is to choose a partner who can be entrusted for life for the newcomers who are about to set foot on the red carpet in the United States. The road to immigration in the United States is so long, and often the green card is not obtained, but the fate of the two newcomers has been exhausted, and it is imminent to break up. For those who immigrate to the United States, we should not only sigh with sadness, but also consider the issue of identity. In view of this, I hope that readers who are about to get married will take time to read this article when fish and geese pass on books, which may have certain reference value.

First, the prelude to marriage: K- 1 visa

For those who are destined to live apart in Wan Li in this life, the first thing to be determined is to get married first and get an immigrant visa before coming to the United States for reunion, or to apply for a K- 1 visa from the overseas consulate of the United States to get married in the United States. Let's take a look at the provisions of American immigration law on K- 1 visa.

K- 1 visa is a kind of visa specially designed for the fiance or fiancee of American citizens to come to the United States to get married. Applicants must get married within 90 days of their arrival in the United States, and then their spouses of American citizens apply for a green card.

In order to prevent fake marriages, the immigration law stipulates that applicants must produce documents to prove that they have met in the past two years. Generally speaking, this means that a party who is an American citizen has visited the country of his fiance or fiancee within a specified time. Of course, in some special circumstances, this provision can be relaxed. According to the law, if it cannot be satisfied due to extreme difficulties, the applicant may submit relevant certification materials. In one case, the fiance of an American citizen was unable to meet his fiancee by letter because he was ill in bed for a long time. After he showed the documents provided by doctors and hospitals, the Immigration Appeal Court overturned the decision of the Immigration Bureau not to approve and allowed his fiancee to come to the United States to get married.

When applying for a K- 1 visa, you need to pay attention to the following questions:

1) K- 1 Visa holders must get married within 90 days after arriving in the United States. Otherwise, you will lose your legal residence qualification and be deported by the Immigration Bureau. If you don't get married within 90 days for some reason, you should provide a detailed and reasonable explanation.

2)K- 1 Visa holders shall not change their non-immigrant status after entering the United States, such as student status (F- 1) or professional work status (H- 1). It is also not allowed to be converted into a green card status by other types of relatives.

3) When applying for a green card, the spouse of an American citizen applying for a K- 1 visa must apply. In other words, if the K- 1 visa holder comes to the United States as the fiance or fiancee of an American citizen and then marries another American citizen, then the spouse of this American citizen cannot apply for green card status in the United States, but must leave the United States and apply for immigration to overseas consulates.

4) While applying for K- 1, unmarried children under 2 1 can apply for a K-2 visa to come to the United States together.

Before applying for a K- 1 visa, the fiancee or fiance of an American citizen should apply at the immigration branch center where he lives (form I- 129F), and the following documents should be provided when applying:

1) proof of citizenship, such as birth certificate, passport, citizenship card, etc.

2) Proof of unmarried identity of both parties, including divorce certificate.

3) Proof that two people have known each other within two years before the application, such as air tickets, hotel receipts, photos, etc.

4) prove the arrangements made for the wedding, such as the reservation of the wedding church and hotel, the arrangement of the honeymoon after marriage, etc.

5) Other documents, such as letters and telephone bills. To prove their relationship and their intention to get married.

After the application is approved, the immigration sub-regional center will transfer the application to the U.S. consulate in the country where the visa applicant is located for processing. The American consulate will inform the applicant to attend the interview. During the interview, the applicant should prepare the following documents:

1) valid passport

2) Birth notarization

3) Notarization without criminal record

4) Physical examination materials

5) files of the above accompanying children

6) Economic guarantee documents

In view of the strict examination of such applications by the American consulate, it is best for American citizens to accompany applicants for interviews and answer questions from the consulate.

Second, marriage and green card.

Applicants who are already in the United States can generally apply for a green card as long as they are married to American citizens. The key to this application is to prove the authenticity of the marriage. Immigration law stipulates that if the purpose of marriage is only to get a green card, this marriage will be considered as a fake marriage. Applicants cannot get a green card on this basis. When judging whether a marriage is a fake marriage, whether the two parties intend to spend their lives together when they get married. Of course, the subjective will of both sides should be proved by objective facts. Therefore, when applying for a green card, married couples should show relevant documents before and after marriage to prove the legitimacy and credibility of their marriage. Therefore, when applying for a green card, the following documents should be provided:

1) marriage certificate

2) divorce certificate with ex-wife or ex-husband.

3) Evidence to prove that two people live together, such as

-Apartment rental

-* * * Same bank account

-Life insurance

-Communication

-Vehicle registration documents

-Photos taken with family and friends.

-if there is no such certificate, relatives, friends and colleagues can testify that the married couple are indeed husband and wife.

live together

4) Relevant immigration forms, such as

——I-485

——I- 130

-G-325 and prescribed application fees, photos, physical examination forms, etc.

For the marriage green card application, the Immigration Bureau will generally conduct an interview. Most of the interviews were conducted in the office of the Immigration Bureau. Both parties to the marriage should attend. If you don't know English, you can hire an interpreter. Applicants also have the right to ask the Immigration Bureau to allow their lawyers to be present. Under normal circumstances, the interviewer of the Immigration Bureau will ask the applicant some personal information before and after marriage to verify the authenticity of the documents provided. If the immigration officer thinks it is necessary, the husband and wife can interview separately. In this case, the immigration officer will ask some very personal questions, such as the first meeting, favorite food, the color of wallpaper at home, the brand of toothpaste, and even the style of underwear. If in doubt, the Immigration Bureau may make a surprise inspection to see if they really live together.

If the interview is successful, the Immigration Bureau will stamp the passport of the applicant, indicating that the green card has been approved. If they have been married for less than two years at this time, the green card applied for is a temporary green card, valid for two years. Within 90 days before the validity period, the applicant should apply to the Immigration Bureau for changing to a permanent green card.

When applying for a permanent green card, if the marriage relationship with an American citizen still exists, it can be submitted by both the American citizen and the applicant. If both men and women have divorced or separated after obtaining a temporary green card, the applicant can apply for it himself. The key to applying for a permanent green card is whether the marriage between men and women is true. If it is not a fake marriage, even if the two parties get a temporary green card and divorce, the immigration office will approve the application for a permanent green card.

The application for a permanent green card should be submitted to the immigration sub-center of the applicant's residence. If the Immigration Bureau thinks there is no problem, it can directly approve the permanent green card. If the immigration office has any questions, it is possible to transfer the application to the local immigration office for an interview.

Because the current review time is quite lengthy, after applying for a permanent green card, applicants often cannot get a permanent green card after the temporary green card expires. At this time, if the applicant needs to leave the United States, he can freely enter and leave the United States within six months after receiving the application for permanent green card.

3. What if the husband and wife have separated during the interview?

Any marriage will produce resentment. International marriage is no exception. Immigration application procedures are cumbersome, often the green card has not been issued, but the marriage has turned red. Husband and wife either go their separate ways and become passers-by, or go to court and become enemies. In this case, what should the waiting party do?

The immigration law stipulates that if an applicant divorces a citizen, the immigration application will automatically become invalid. However, in real life, although the husband and wife are not divorced, they have separated when the Immigration Bureau sends an interview notice. Although their fate is over, American citizens are still willing to help applicants get green cards. The question is whether to tell the Immigration Bureau the fact that they have separated.

Two cases of the Court of Appeal of the Immigration Bureau provide us with clear answers.

In the first case, the American citizen and the applicant had separated at the time of the interview and were in the process of divorce by agreement. During the interview, the two told the immigration officer who presided over the interview truthfully. Although immigration officials decided that their initial marriage was not false, they refused to approve the applicant's green card because they had separated during the interview. The applicant appealed to the Immigration Court of Appeal. The court ruled that even if they were separated at the interview, their marriage was still valid, so the applicant should get a green card.

Contrary to the first case, in the second case, an American citizen and the applicant concealed the fact that they had separated during the interview and got a green card. In the subsequent investigation, the Immigration Bureau discovered the fact that the two separated and revoked the applicant's green card. The court of appeal held that the applicant concealed important facts during the interview, so he obtained a green card by deception. The applicant was eventually deported.

The moral of these two cases is clear: respect the law, seek truth from facts, and don't cheat and bring shame to yourself.

4. The abused spouse can apply for a green card by himself.

Many applicants who marry American citizens have suffered a lot. But for a green card, I had to submit to humiliation, but I was more and more ravaged by American citizens. In view of this, the US Congress passed the Violent Crime Prevention Act in 1994. The provisions in the Prevention of Violence against Women Act stipulate that foreigners who have been abused by their spouses or parents can apply to the Immigration Bureau for immigration on their own.

It is well known that American citizens or permanent residents who abuse their spouses or children will not apply for immigration for their spouses or children. Because they find that their spouses or children suffer silently because they have no legal status. The implementation of the Violent Crime Prevention Act undoubtedly pointed out a way out for these abused women and children (including men, of course). According to this act, spouses or parents of American citizens or permanent residents can apply for immigration on their own if they are abused or beaten. If the children of the applicant's spouse are under the age of 2 1 year, they can apply at the same time as the applicant or separately.

The application conditions are as follows:

1, the applicant must live in the United States at the time of application;

2. Meet other conditions for immigration;

3. Maintaining a marriage relationship when applying is not a fake marriage;

4. being abused after marriage;

5. Good conduct;

6. It will be extremely difficult to return to China.

The bill further explains the meaning of "abuse". The text of the bill uses the word extremely cruel, that is, "extremely cruel." According to the interpretation of the Act, "extreme cruelty" includes acts of violence or threats of violence against victims. These acts include, but are not limited to, forced detention, psychological or sexual abuse, including rape, incest, forced prostitution and so on, which cause or threaten to cause physical and mental harm. In addition, some other independent behaviors, which do not seem to be abuse, will cause long-term harm to the victims.

The following documents or facts can be used to prove the abuse:

-Police reports and testimonies;

-The judge's decision;

-Diagnostic materials for volunteers;

Testimony of school officials;

-Testimony of social workers;

Other relevant evidence, such as photos and neighbor's testimony, can also be accepted by the Immigration Bureau.

Before filing an application, the applicant should ask the police station where he lives for a certificate of innocence to prove the applicant's good behavior. It is also necessary to provide relevant supporting materials to explain that if you leave the country by force, you will encounter great difficulties.

Spouses or children of American citizens can apply for green cards directly. You can apply for a work card when you wait for a green card. For spouses of permanent residents and their children, they can go through automatic departure procedures. After the automatic resignation procedure is passed, you can apply for a work card and wait for the shift while working. If the spouse of a permanent resident in the United States has applied for his spouse before, even if the application is later withdrawn, the immigration schedule of the abused spouse will still be calculated according to the original schedule. In this way, the applicant can get the green card as soon as possible.

5. Till death do us part: What if a citizen's spouse dies?

This is a true story.

An American citizen and his wife are waiting for an interview at the American consulate. At the end of the interview, the American citizen had a heart attack and died at the consulate. The consular officer who should have approved the applicant's green card immediately rejected the applicant's green card application.

The law is merciless. But the law also has some flexibility. According to the provisions of the immigration law, even if an American citizen dies, the applicant can still get a green card as long as the following conditions are met:

-The applicant has been married to an American citizen for more than two years;

-The applicant filed the application within two years after the death of an American citizen;

-At the time of the death of an American citizen, the applicant maintained a legal marriage relationship with the American citizen;

-The applicant did not remarry when submitting the application.

If the above conditions are not met, the only way is to apply for a private law case, that is, a member of the US Congress will propose a special bill to let the applicant stay in the United States.