Augusta, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

It is impermissible for someone to intends to become married, adjust status and remain permanently in the U.S. to enter the U.S. with a visitor's visa. Doing so can create a risk that the foreign national committed visa fraud, with very harsh immigration-related consequences. There are a couple of alternatives to consider, including applying for a K-1 fianc?e visa that would allow a foreign national to enter the U.S. and become married within the requisite time, and then file to Adjust Status to become a Lawful Permanent Resident (to get a "Green Card"). It would be wise to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant details, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies, and provide representation for the application process. Some immigration law firms, including mine, offer legal services on a "flat fee" basis so that a client will know the total expense from the very beginning, and a few immigration law firms, including mine, offer an initial consultation free of charge.

Generally a foreign national must be in valid nonimmigrant status in order to be eligible to apply to adjust status to become a Permanent Resident. There is an exception to this rule for a foreign national who entered the U.S. lawfully and with inspection, and then applies to adjust status as a spouse of a U.S. citizen - this is true even if the foreign national's initial visa may have long expired. It would be wise for you and your wife to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies to attain your goals, and who then could offer legal representation in the often complex application process (such as helping your wife succeed with a naturalization case at the earliest possible time and helping both of you with an adjustment of status application).

I presume that the "time table" to which you refer is the Visa Bulletin issued by the U.S. Department of State. That monthly document shows the Priority Date for which a visa is currently available for each visa category, and in some instances, according to the relevant nation of the foreign national. The type of application you are contemplating, by which a U.S. citizen petitions for a sibling, known as the Family-based Fourth Preference, is backed up for a long time - while it may appear to be approximately 10 years, in fact the backlog often is not reduced by a full year as each month passes, those dates often retrogress, and it would be realistic to expect that for a newly filed application in that category, it may take 15 - 20 years for a visa to become available. This is a matter of U.S. federal law, and so it makes no difference what state you may live in. As you can see, this is rarely a satisfactory strategy for attaining immigration options, and it usually makes sense to explore other possibilities, such as employment-based applications.