From: Sashti Srinivasan, Founder
www.ads4matri.com
Arrival of Long Awaited Green Card poses new Challenges?! (Updated on October 12, 2016)
Dear Parents of Brides and Grooms Living the World Over!
First of all, my congratulations to your son/daughter on his/ her receiving the most "coveted" prize that all Indians "throng" to get ~ a priceless possession ~ " U.S.A. The Green Card".
While the Green Card relieves an Immigrant’ "mental agony and anguish" that most of us go through, in seeking it and while being in different "uncertain" visa status until we get it, it also brings certain challenges in boys/girls seeking to get married, in that one cannot marry any one of her/his choice from anywhere in the world freely, any more!
UNLESS OF COURSE HE/SHE IS CLOSE TO GETTING HER CITIZENSHIP! Which process takes about 5 years in being on a “Green Card” status.
GREEN CARDS are Immigrant visas that are granted to many eligible dependents of U.S. citizens under various preferences, their children besides those who filed for H1B visa holders transitioning into Green Card, usually sponsored by their employers, or PhDs who have sponsored their own petitions for Green Cards.. These Green Card Holders are also called Permanent Residents. Availability Green Cards is limited on the "Quota" of Green Cards granted to each country every year, so the prospect of one getting a Green Card as a dependent of U.S. citizens stretches out to almost 15-20 years now. Since the total number of Green Cards is limited in numbers by quota to every country, every year, different for different countries, and since everyone from India is lumped into that pool of "quota for GC for India", sometimes the availability of the visa numbers extends the time as to how soon one can get them; often, H1B visa holders transitioning into the Green Card category are limited by visa availability number under Green Card category, which I understand is about 3,000 ~ 5,000 or so per year! Reportedly there was a provision included in the 2013 Immigration Reforms Bill introduced and passed by the Senate to hand out Green Cards to those who have graduated with a M.S. Degree from the U.S. but the House of Congress has decided to not move ahead with Immigration Reforms Bill of the Senate version! There is no knowing, if and when this Bill will move through the House this year! Immigration Reform has been a contentious issue over the last few years and is not expected to make much headway, until a new President is seated in the White House, early in January 2017.
GREEN CARD HOLDERS cannot be away from the U.S. for an extended period of time, beyond 6 months, without obtaining a parole ~ otherwise their re-entry is becoming an altogether difficult with a different procedure to reapply and seek re-entry. It is an inconvenience that Parents of children who have become Green Card holders go through, because they have to be back in the U.S. every six months to keep their GC "alive"! Moreover, Permanent Residents must file U.S. Income Tax returns every year, exposing them to include their Indian income and Properties and capital gains taxes, if they should occur later, when properties are sold in India, and so on!
For you the brides from India and other countries, seeking bridegrooms who are Green Card Holders or Permanent Residents, from the U.S., our advice would be to shy away from Green Card Holders, as it is going to take a’t least 4 to 5 years, before you can join your spouses in the U.S .
Application Final Action Dates for Family sponsored preference as per Department of State Visa Bulletin dated October, 2016 stood as follows: (2FA is a classification for dependents of Permanent Residents/Green Card Holders in the U.S., (spouses and children included. Living in India or abroad).
Application for Final Action date for F2A for India stood at November 15, 2014,
with a Filing Date of November 22, 2015.
About 2 years’ backlog in pending applications translates roughly to 4-5 years in waiting time before your spouse can join you from India (or abroad). So Permanent Residents/Green Card Holders should seek their spouses from within the U.S.A. in matrimony.
What is a Final Action Date? (introduced by USCIS in May 2015, as a new step in (Final Action date is the actual date for which USCIS is currently processing (hand out of) the Green Cards for those who have already filed their (I-485s) . Filing date is the actual date when one is allowed to file their I-485 Petitions.
In other words, someone with a Green Card in the U.S., has to first get married to a bride of his choice, and then he has to file a I-140 in her behalf as soon as his marriage to her, with necessary accompanying documents (in this case a Marriage Certificate or a Marriage License). He will then get an acknowledgment of her I-140 which is "deemed to be" her Approval date for Filing. In order for the Green Card holder to file a I-485 on her behalf, the Filing Date (to be) announced by the Department of State, in the future, has to cross her “deemed approval” Filing Date. Until that time, he cannot file her I-485 form. If someone gets married to a H1B visa holder, and if that filing date does not become current, before her H1B validity expires, then she will have to leave the shores of the United States, and wait for her Green Card number to come up, (obviously from India, eventually), receive the same in India and then enter the United States with a Green Card. She cannot extend her stay in the U.S. beyond her H1B expiration date, on the strength of a filing an I-140 for her, by her spouse, otherwise USCIS will deem that she has violated the visa rules, by over-staying in the U.S., and could refuse her a Green Card.
So those Permanent Residents (on Green Cards) in the U.S. seeking matrimony to those on H1B visa Status in the U.S. BEWARE, you have to be extremely, extremely careful to assure that your spouse has enough longevity on her H1B to get married to a Permanent Resident and stay in the U.S. until she could receive her Green Card in her hands.
H1Bs, OPTs, F1s living in the U.S. can court Permanent Residents and get married to them, seeking an Adjustment of their status, as long as their eligibility to stay in the U.S., is valid for quite some time, to go through the filing process and obtaining approvals from USCIS, (as explained in the preceding paragraph) during which time the other spouse can legally remain in the U.S. Talk to your Immigration Attorney about this process.
Brides from India have to be extremely careful to accept matrimonial proposals from U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card Holders). One year and 10 months of backlog in pending applications (from the current final action date of November 22, 2014) could translate roughly to 4-5 years in waiting time before the spouse can join Green Card Holders from India (or abroad). This is because of limited number of immigrant visas available for issuance to this category of applicants under F2A under "country India" Quota, each year. So Permanent Residents/Green Card Holders should be very careful in seeking their spouses from within the U.S.A. or India, in matrimony!
For those on F1 and/or H1B status in the U.S., you can court and marry Green Card Holders and seek a change of your visa status and get a Green Card, as long as there is enough longevity on your visa, be it F1, OPT or H1B, to hit the current filing date! Be sure to talk to your Immigration Attorney on your specifics! 2FA spouses joining their husbands on a Green Card can take up jobs right away upon arrival! they do not face a situation like the H4's marrying H1B's.
DISCLAIMER: In the U.S. only a practicing Immigration Attorney can give advice on immigration matters; I am not a qualified and practicing Immigration attorney, thus cannot give specific advice on immigration matters! What has been discussed above, by way of sharing immigration information, is based on broad general guidelines obtaining (only) and may not apply to specific individual cases ~ you should contact an Immigration Attorney for your specifics.
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