Vimto

I am not sure if this is the right forum for my question.
I am a UK citizen and have been happily married to my wife who is a USC for 2 ½ years.
We got married in the US, I flew in on a visa waiver and we left the US 2 weeks later to live in Dubai where I worked at the time.
Last year my company relocated us to the US, me on an L1 visa. We are now looking at getting me permanent residence in the US but are unsure how to do this? The company may sponsor my green card application but not so soon after they have transferred me. Is there a route my wife and I can take to apply for a green card for me by ourselves without involving lawyers.
She is not working at present so would not probably be able to qualify on the support part of sponsoring me, I earn a decent salary which I could prove to the USCIS.
Your thoughts are appreciated

ian-mstm

If you are in the US now, your wife needs to file an I-130 and I-864, and you need to file an I-485, I-131 (if you want to travel outside the US), and an I-765 (if you want to work independent of your current visa). These can all be filed at the same time. There's a lot of supporting documentation, medical exam, and you'll need copies of your birth certificate, etc., and there will be a background check... but it's certainly doable without an attorney. Your wife did file taxes while she was outside the US, right? Your wife *must* be your sponsor, but since you've been living together for more than 6 months, your income can be used for the I-864 and, if it's more than the 125% of the poverty level for your size family (you don't mention any children), then you won't need a joint sponsor. I don't see any issues as long as you're in the US legally.

Ian

Noorah101

I don't know if there's any restriction as far as having an L1, but if there is not, you can apply for adjustment of status by filing an I-130, I-485, I-864, plus any other applicable forms required all together to the Chicago lockbox address listed at www.uscis.gov. You will be able to include your income on the affidavit of support, so no problem there. Not sure if you'll need to file for work authorization or how that works with your L1. Also not sure if you'll need to file for advance parole for travel purposes and how that relates to the L1. You'll need a full medical done to send along with the AOS package also.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Noorah101

Hi Ian,

The 6-month rule is a thing of the past. There's no time requirement now.

Rene

Elvira

AFAIK, for as long as the L1 remains valid and he continues to work for that company, he does not need an EAD or AP.

hcj1440

L1 is dual-intent, no problems/restrictions there.

Vimto

Ok guys got the idea, lots of form filling but its do-able without costing an arm and a leg, it just takes a while.
FYI my wife did pay US Taxes up until our marriage in 2004 and her departure from the US, she even came back to the US to file them in 2005 as we got married in August so she was up to date with the IRS.
I have added her to my tax return for 2006. I do earn over 125% of the poverty level so my income is also classed as my wife’s income as we live at the same address and I also expect to continue to work for the same employer for the foreseeable future having worked for them for the past 8 years.
My company will possibly sponsor my green card application however I understand from others that they normally wait until after the first renewal of L1 visa, which is after 3 years. I would rather have the permanent residency in my back pocket just in case top management decides that the rules need to change.

hcj1440

Go the marriage-based GC route if you feel secure in your marriage. It's much faster and much simpler.

My husband was here on L-1B also and he managed to get his company to start filing for his GC just 6 months or so after he got here. A whole year later when we got married, they were still in the labor certification phase or something (I'm not entirely clear as I never talked to the lawyers myself). We ended up cancelling the employer one and just filed based on our marriage instead.

Vimto

Wife and I are very happily married, I have put her thru enough to know how strong our marriage is.
We were engaged for 3 years with me living half a world away, (thank heavens for the internet and web cams), almost straight after our wedding I dragged her from her family and the comfort of the US mid-west to the heat, dust and mayhem of the mid-east.
We were considering using the spousal visa route while in Dubai but I was lucky enough to persuade the company to relocate me, that saved us a fortune in relocation expences and visa hassle (L1 only took 6 weeks in total to process) as they paid for it all.
I was able to get a decent salary increase too to offset the taxes I now have to pay versus my tax free Dubai salary.
All in all its been a good move, the permanent residency for me would be the final icing on the cake.

Noorah101

Cool, sounds like you're good to go. Start gathering all the forms and backup info you'll need, and come back to see us with any questions!

Best Wishes,
Rene

keith.070

It's so good to see someone who we know will have very very little problems if any at all... usually everyone here has some kinda of problem with immigration or something that went wrong.

His case makes immigration stuff sounds so easy.

hcj1440

Immigration *is* pretty straightforward if you play by the rules. These guys played by the rules.

Elvira

<<< sigh >>>

If only it were that simple...

hcj1440

Our experience was pretty straightforward, as were many of the couples we know. Also many I have followed online. Sure you have to figure out some forms, but I'm curious if there are specific reasons why you feel it's not straightforward for a "vanilla" case?

Just Jenney

I don't get that impression at all. Most of us here aren't "problem immigration cases" but rather people who are trying to make sure all their T's are crossed and I's are dotted. Even those with super-straightforward cases -- meet all the requirements, no criminal histories, etc -- need to make sure they've got all the right forms and understand the various deadlines involved, etc.

It might seem like there are more people like you describe who post on here if you count all those people who actually have simple, straightforward cases but who are impatient and want the entire immigration process to happen RIGHTNOW.

You know -- the people who say, "We just can't live apart for one more day! What's the fastest and easiest and best way to get to the US? We are planning to get married in two months, have paid for all the wedding arrangements and everything and it's nonrefundable, have tons of relatives who are flying from all over the place to attend it as well. Do you think we can get the K1 visa in time?"

There are quite a few people who post stuff like that on here, but that doesn't mean that their cases are problematic. It just means that they are impatient and made the unfortunate mistake of paying for a wedding that will probably have the foreign groom or bride missing.

Sorry, didn't mean to go off-topic here...

~ Jenney