Marry in the United States and Apply for Residency

Hello everyone! Even though I haven’t written in months, I didn’t forget about you all. As you know, my original plan was to keep everybody updated as I got new information. I decided it would be best to wait a while before explaining the process, so I could make sure I fully understood what I was explaining and therefore give more precise answers.

In this post, I will talk about one of the options for becoming a United States citizen through marriage:

Marry in the U.S. and apply for residency

On the surface, this may seem like the best way to go. You don’t have to get any VISA before marrying, or wait a certain amount of time before coming to the U.S. You just come, and get married! BUT one very important factor to note is that you must NOT have the intention of getting married when you enter the U.S. in order to later on get approved for residency. Here are two hypothetical situations of couples getting married in the U.S., one couple being approved for residency, and the other not:

Situation # 1: John (a U.S. citizen) met Maria (a Colombian citizen) while studying abroad in Colombia. During John’s year abroad, he fell in love with Maria and proposed to her before he returned to the states. Within a month Maria was on her way to the U.S. to marry the man of her dreams. John and Maria easily got married in the local courthouse, but when they were applying for residency, their lawyer said that they were unable to… Why?

 

Situation # 2: In this situation, John still met Maria while studying abroad, but did not propose to her in Colombia. After John left for the States, Maria came to visit. While the two were touring the U.S. together, John proposed to Maria. Within two weeks they went to the local courthouse and got married. After this, they hired a lawyer to apply for U.S. residency for Maria. In this situation, given that they met all other factors, Maria was approved for residency.

Why couldn’t Maria legally apply for residency in situation # 1, but could in situation # 2? The answer is simple: in situation # 1, Maria entered the U.S. with the intention of marrying John, while in situation # 2, Maria entered the U.S. with the intention of visiting John. In order to legally apply for residency in situation # 1, Maria would have had to apply for a Fiancé VISA before entering the U.S. (I will get back to this option in a later post).

Let’s bring this example back to my situation: My boyfriend proposed to me in the United States. All good and dandy, right? We can get married in the U.S. and easily apply for residency, right? WRONG. If we had married BEFORE he left to Argentina again he could have legally applied for residency through marriage, but we didn’t. So now here we are in Argentina knowing very well that we want to get married and apply for his residency in the States. We can do this, but just not through the option I am explaining in this post. I will get back to what we have done in a different blog entry, but for now let me explain the “Marry in the U.S. and apply for residency” option, as it may be a viable way to apply for residency through marriage for some couples.

*note: My boyfriend has not yet started to apply for U.S. residency, so while the remainder of this post will not mention too much of the ins and outs of applying for residency, it will answer some practical questions that you may have about marrying and life in the U.S. before being approved for residency.

1. Out of all the options for getting residency through marriage, which is the easiest/least time consuming? Getting married in the U.S. and applying for residency.
2. What documents are needed in order to get married in the U.S? The documents needed to marry in the U.S. are different in every state. Click here to find out the requirements for each state. 
3. What is the difference between a getting a K3 immigrant VISA and directly applying for residency? After marrying in the non-U.S. country, the foreigner can apply for a K3 VISA in the U.S. consulate in his or her respective country. If approved, he or she will become a U.S. resident upon entering the states. A K3 VISA requires one to get married in the foreign country, while directly applying for residency requires one to have gotten legally married in the U.S.
4. How long will it take to get approved for residency? Once all of the paperwork is filed, it will take an average of 6- 12 months.
5. How long until the non-U.S. citizen can start working? After sending in the residency paperwork, it will take about 2 months until he or she can start working.
6. When can the non-U.S. citizen get a bank account and driver’s license? He or she can get both right away.
7. How long should we wait from the time we enter the U.S. to the time we get married? There is no rule for this, but one may want to wait at least 30 days… otherwise government officials may suspect that the foreigner came to the U.S. with the intention of getting married, which as I stated before, is not legal.
8. What is the price to apply for residency? The filing fees add up to $1,700.
9. What is the price to hire a lawyer to file the papers necessary to apply for residency? All lawyers’ fees differ, and some are of course cheaper than others. My lawyer in California gave me a price of $3,000. So paying the filing and lawyer’s fees would cost about $4,700. Yep. It’s not cheap.
10. How much income should I and my partner make in order to be eligible for residency? The joint income of you and your partner must be above the U.S. poverty guidelines. The price will depend on the number of people in your household, what state you live in (Alaska and Hawaii have different numbers than the rest of the states), and if the U.S. citizen is on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. Click here to check out the 2015 number.

Did you look at the income numbers? (now would be a good time to do so if you haven’t already). Now that you have looked at them, don’t freak out. Although this may be a lot of money for some people (I am one of those people!), you can have someone “sponsor” the foreign spouse. This means that someone (generally a U.S. family member, in my case my parents) who has this amount of income or more can sign a form saying that they will be responsible for this person, therefore letting your loved one be clear for residency, as far as money requirements go. Of course this sponsorship comes with it’s fair share of responsibilities. Check this site out where it says “Obligation Duration” for more information.

Feeling a little overwhelmed? Don’t worry, I would be concerned if you weren’t. Immigrating to the U.S. (through marriage, or other means) is no cake walk. It takes a lot of time and money. Although all of the forms and lawyer-talk can seem complicated at first, what I’ve realized is that after researching your options and getting multiple opinions, everything becomes a bit clearer. The process that I thought was completely confusing about a year ago, no longer seems that daunting. If you are truly committed and have the financial means to bringing your loved one to the U.S., it will happen!

I answered these questions with the help of my Lawyer and the internet. I hope you have found the information useful. Keep checking back for more information!