Young Immigration Couple

Spouse Green Card: Non U.S. Citizen Petitioner

Family Immigration

Green Card holders (permanent residents) may petition for their Spouse (husband or wife).

First let’s look at the rules for the spouse of U.S. citizens. They are pretty straight forward.

Petitioner is a U.S. Citizen

A U.S. citizen (petitioner) files the I-130 petition and the spouse (beneficiary) can can file the I-485 at the same time. In other words the U.S citizen files the petition to prove that their alien relative is in a real marriage and the beneficary, the foreign national, applies for adjustment of status at the same time. They want to adjust their status from whatever non-immigrant visa they entered on into that of Lawful Permanment Resident.

Petitioner Is A Green Card Holder (Non U.S. Citizen)

Now, when the petitioner is only a green card holder things are more complicated because there is a backlog right now. Congress has limited the number of visas for the spouses and under-aged children of Lawful Permanment Residents. So in this situation under current processing times and guidelines you have to file the I-130 petition first.  The beneficiary is given a priority date when the I-130 petition is filed. This is the receipt date. The priority date is the beneficiary’s place in line. The beneficiary then must wait for that date to become current. Each month they have to check the visa bulletin to see when that priority date is going to become current. Once it becomes current then they can apply for the I-485 Adjustment of Status. This is called a “2 Step” process.

1 Step vs 2 Step Process

When a U.S. citizen files this is called a “1 Step” process because it is all done in one step. However, when the petitioner is a Green Card holder it is called a “2 Step” because it takes two steps. First the petitioner files the I-130 and the beneficiary is provided with a priority date. Once the priority date is current the beneficiary can file for Adjustment of Status.

Now given the fact that right now we are looking at 4 years plus for the processing of the spouses and under-aged children of Green Card holders to get a final decision it is most likely that the prority date will not become current until after the petitioner, the Green Card holder’s spouse, becomes a U.S. citizen and then upgrades their case. Now the petitioner is a U.S. Citizen and the USCIS is going to go ahead and process their petition and hopefully approve it and the beneficiary, the children or the spouse, can apply for the I-485 Adjustment of Status and get their Green Card. So it is a little bit trickier when the petitioner is only a Green Card holder.

Spouse Green Card Questions?

Questions about the spouse green card immigration process? Looking for help to make sure your petition or application can be processed as quickly as possible? Please contact immigration attorney Jessie M. Thomas. Call (214) 838-0045, Text (214) 838-0045 or Email contactus@staylegally.com today.