Bulent

Hello there:

I know this will sound almost impossible but I am going to ask it anyway:

I have a green card and recently got married - I can apply for Citizenship next May,
and I guess it will take about 1-1.5 years before I become a Citizen. In the
meantime, my wife has to find a job here and get an H-1 visa to fill the gap (she is
on OPT but that will expire next May.)

I think it is ridiculous that my wife is not given a permit to stay in the US until
she finds a job and gets an H-1 or until a green card for her is processed. For
spouses of Citizens, it is easy - the green card application for the spouse is
processed immediately, but not for a spouse of a green card holder. A green card is
given to a "Permanent Resident" - that means this person will live in the US
permanently. So at least one would think that the spouse would be awarded a
temporary permit to stay in the US (not necessarily a green card). The reason that
people get married is because they want to live together - but in our case, if she
cannot obtain a non immigrant visa until next May, they are going to send her back to
our home country, which I think is not fair for married couples.

Do you think that I have a case here if I write to my Congressional Representative
and ask for their help? Any comments appreciated. Thanks.

Mona Lisa

In article <[email protected] >, [email protected]
(bulent) wrote:

    > Hello there:
    > I know this will sound almost impossible but I am going to ask it anyway:
    > I have a green card and recently got married - I can apply for Citizenship next
    > May, and I guess it will take about 1-1.5 years before I become a Citizen. In the
    > meantime, my wife has to find a job here and get an H-1 visa to fill the gap (she
    > is on OPT but that will expire next May.)
    > I think it is ridiculous that my wife is not given a permit to stay in the US until
    > she finds a job and gets an H-1 or until a green card for her is processed. For
    > spouses of Citizens, it is easy - the green card application for the spouse is
    > processed immediately, but not for a spouse of a green card holder. A green card
    > is given to a "Permanent Resident" - that means this person will live in the US
    > permanently. So at least one would think that the spouse would be awarded a
    > temporary permit to stay in the US (not necessarily a green card). The reason that
    > people get married is because they want to live together - but in our case, if she
    > cannot obtain a non immigrant visa until next May, they are going to send her back
    > to our home country, which I think is not fair for married couples.
    > Do you think that I have a case here if I write to my Congressional Representative
    > and ask for their help? Any comments appreciated. Thanks.

You will be wasting your time and theirs. It's the law, and unless they can pass a
change in the law, you are stuck. I would not count on the congressman being any
help at all.
--
Mona

Andy Platt

"bulent" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Do you think that I have a case here if I write to my Congressional Representative
    > and ask for their help? Any comments appreciated.

You don't have a rep. because you are not a citizen - that's partly the reason the
law is like this!!! Congress were given ample opportunity to review this a few years
ago, and chose *specifically* that only those spouses of PRs who had been waiting for
three years at the time the LIFE Act became law could get temporary 'V' visas. They
didn't make it a rolling three years - just three years at that point. I think their
idea was that everyone else knows it's going to be a long wait so it's their choice.
Personally I agree with you - it's ridiculous that if you marry one day before you
are a GC, your spouse will be eligible for a GC but if you marry on the day you
become a GC they have to wait five years.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

cmp

As much as we think that Congressional reps can do something, they can not. I know of several people recently (myself included) who have had various INS applications and have been denied.

Change the system and vote for legislators that support family-friendly INS beauracracy and laws...

I'm not jaded, I used to work in WDC, and it's just the stinky reality!

[email protected]

ulent wrote:

    > I think it is ridiculous that my wife is not given a permit to stay in the US until
    > she finds a job and gets an H-1 or until a green card for her is processed.

    > Do you think that I have a case here if I write to my Congressional Representative
    > and ask for their help? Any comments appreciated. Thanks.

What possible case would there be? The law says your wife has to wait for the
priority date to become current. There is a limited number of immigrants in this
category permitted per year. What special circumstances should permit your wife
to avoid the 5 1/2 year wait for the priority date to be processed for this
immigrant category?
Note: I am not suggesting she shouldn't be here, I am simply suggesting she is no
different than the thousands of other people waiting 5 1/2 years in this
category. Personally, I think it is too long, HOWEVER, I do not believe you
should have the same ability to sponsor immigrants as a citizen. After all,
citizens should have a smoother path to sponsor relatives than non citizens.

Bulent

Thanks for all the responses.

Andy:

You are right. Unfortunately I don't have a rep yet. But in 2 years I will be a
citizen and will have one. I was planning to bring this up in my correspondence. In
fact, when I was having a lot of problems with my GC application 4 years ago, I wrote
to IL Rep and they helped me a lot with my GC application (found the paperwork lost
in local INS office, helped arrange an interview etc.). So it helps to contact them.

[email protected]:

As you say, for the time being, there is no valid case. When I contact my rep, I am
planning to propose a law change - I do not know how succesful I will be but it is
just a start - It will give them an idea how hard it is to have a GC and be married
to a non-resident alien.


"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > ulent wrote:
    > > I think it is ridiculous that my wife is not given a permit to stay in the US
    > > until she finds a job and gets an H-1 or until a green card for her is processed.
    > > Do you think that I have a case here if I write to my Congressional
    > > Representative and ask for their help? Any comments appreciated. Thanks.
    > What possible case would there be? The law says your wife has to wait for the
    > priority date to become current. There is a limited number of immigrants in this
    > category permitted per year. What special circumstances should permit your wife to
    > avoid the 5 1/2 year wait for the priority date to be processed for this immigrant
    > category?
    > Note: I am not suggesting she shouldn't be here, I am simply suggesting she is no
    > different than the thousands of other people waiting 5 1/2 years in this
    > category. Personally, I think it is too long, HOWEVER, I do not believe you
    > should have the same ability to sponsor immigrants as a citizen. After all,
    > citizens should have a smoother path to sponsor relatives than non citizens.

Mrtravel

bulent wrote:
    > [email protected]:
    > As you say, for the time being, there is no valid case. When I
    > contact my rep, I am planning to propose a law change - I do not know
    > how succesful I will be but it is just a start - It will give them an
    > idea how hard it is to have a GC and be married to a non-resident
    > alien

Good luck. I don't see it getting changed anytime soon.
Congress is well aware of the issue, and that is the reason V Visa was
created. Even when they were available, you would have still had to be
waiting for at least 3 years after the I-130 filing. Congress doesn't
seem to be in the mood for speeding up the process very much for non
citizens.
They can't even do a good job of speeding up the process for citizens.
Once they find a way to do that, green card holders might have a chance.
But, green card spouses are limited by law and I don't see much change
in that in the near future.

The alternative... Finding another way to get a green card, such as
through your employer. Then, it is possible that you can give up your
card and then get another immigrant visa at your "home" consulate. Then
your spouse would be eligible to enter as the spouse of a "new"
immigrant.