Madisonville, TX Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

You can file Form I-129F visa petition for her. The forms and the instructions are under "Forms" tab on the uscis.gov Processing of the application will take about a year. After your lady friend comes to the U.S., you will have 90 days to decide whether you two want to get married. She will not be authorized to work during these 90 days, and should not accept employment. If you do get married, you will then file a packet of documents asking the government to give your wife a green card. If everything will be done right, your wife would get a permission to work in about 90 days, and a green card in about 8-12 months. The first green card will be valid for 2 years, and will be conditioned on continued validity of your marriage: if the marriage fails, the lady will lose her status. Otherwise, you will petition the government for removal of conditions. Again, if everything will be done right, your wife will receive a permanent green card 2 years after the first green card was issued (and will be free to leave you without losing her green card). If she remains your wife for 3 years, she can become a U.S. citizen around the 3rd anniversary of the date of issue of her first green card.

If you are a U.S. citizen, then the only difference that it would make is that you would need to show a higher income in order to sponsor your parents. You should consult with an attorney before you file any applications to make sure that your parents are eligible and to confirm the amount of income that you must show.