guessbg

Hi.I have one question regarding my case.
I won green card on lottery last year,and my interview is scheduled 14 days from now on(25th september 2003).My girlfriend who has J1 visa(in passport on visa says:2 years rule does not apply) and i we want to get married before my interview.
Question is,what happens with her,does she gets gc when i do or she has to wait 56 months (more-less)to get gc?

Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 00:01:54 +0000, guessbg wrote:


    > Hi.I have one question regarding my case.
    >
    > I won green card on lottery last year,and my interview is scheduled 14
    > days from now on(25th september 2003).My girlfriend who has J1 visa(in
    > passport on visa says:2 years rule does not apply) and i we want to get
    > married before my interview.
    >
    > Question is,what happens with her,does she gets gc when i do or she has
    > to wait 56 months (more-less)to get gc?

You have to be really, really quick. Make sure that you have ALL paperwork
for her ready, including the marriage certificate and an English
translation, her birth certificate, and whatever else may be required.
Contact the consulate immediately for instructions. By immediately, I
mean, when you read this, turn off your computer and pick up the phone
right away. Oh, and don't just get married "before the interview". Get
married TODAY. Just getting the paperwork together in two weeks may well
be quite a scramble. Here in the US, in some places it can take four weeks
just to get the marriage certificate.

If I was you, I would also call my boss and say that you may not be in
much during that time. You may well end up running around like a chicken
with a head cut off, as the expression goes. You will probably have to
drive to various offices to get paperwork etc. for her together, find a
translator, have all required documents translated - and if I was you,
given the time factor, I would not mail the documents, but hand-deliver
them, and ask the translator to translate while you wait. That kind of
thing. With such little time to spare, you really need to make sure
everything works flawlessly.

The problem is that your girlfriend/wife absolutely must get her own
immigrant visa issued together with yours, and you cannot postpone your
interview - September 30 is the deadline.

If she does not have an immigrant visa by September 30, then you would
have to move to the USA without her, petition for her, and wait for her
for about five 1/2 years (the time fluctuates, but currently it is well
over 60 months). So my guess is that two weeks of mad scrambling will be
less of a burden ;-)

--
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guessbg

I forgot to write that i'm now in USA,and my girlfriend too.And i have interview here in Philadelphia.Does that change situation.?

Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

Ooops. That's worse. In that cases, your chances of getting her a Green
Card together with you are somewhere between zero and non-existent.

You could try marrying and filling out an I-485 for her, and presenting
that at the interview. But, realistically, I would be extremely surprised
if the officer accepted that - in fact, just the fingerprint checking
alone would take weeks. The proper way would have been to get married
before filing your I-485, and then file both your and hers together. There
is a VERY slim chance that an officer would bend the rules in this case,
knowing about the consequences. But you'd have to get an awfully nice and
cooperative officer, who is willing to bypass all kinds of laws.

The other thing I would try - but, again, with so little time left, won't
expect any success - is contact your Congressperson. The same thing I said
before, run, don't walk, to the nearest opportunity to get married (do
they have drive-through weddings in Atlantic City?), then run to the
Congressperson's office.

Plus, keep in mind that doing so would alert him of your girlfriend's
immigration intent. Depending on what type of status she has, that may or
may not be a problem.

Overall, though, unfortunately, in this case you are probably stuck with
the five+ year delay.

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 15:59:22 +0000, guessbg wrote:

    > I forgot to write that i'm now in USA,and my girlfriend too.And i have
    > interview here in Philadelphia.Does that change situation.?

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please support H.R. 539, H.R. 832 and S. 1510. More information at
http://www.kkeane.com/lobbyspousal-faq.shtml

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection. See
my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Now with new photos! Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my
new Web site http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.