Hi, Im on an H1b (expiring next year) and about to marry my fiancé(US Citizen) in court in April. Ceremonial marriage will be at the end of the year in India. 1. What is the earliest I can apply for a green card? 2. Will there be a problem in traveling to India for marriage if we apply after the court marriage? 3. Whats the average time for receiving an EAD and Green card? TC: 250k
File after April right away, hire an immi attorney and gather all documentation prior so the application is submitted soon after the marriage. It took me 5 months from application to get the GC. I had applied for EAD but GC arrived first.
When did your green card arrive?
When did you applied. Please share the timelines if you don’t mind
I went through this last year. You can apply anytime after you get married. These days the process to get the GC is pretty fast and finishes in 2-3 months. If you leave the US without your advance parole then it gets cancelled but your i-485 will not get cancelled because you're on H1b.
What is advanced parole? (Is it EAD?) Im guessing i485 is the green card
you apply for advanced parole(131), ead(765) and gc(485) together. advanced parole is a temporary permit you can use to enter US until 485 is approved and you get gc. you usually get ead, advanced parole as a combo card.
you can apply as soon as you're married. to travel to India better wait until you get Advanced parole.
How much time does advanced parole take. I have a valid visa stamp till October 2025 so reentry wont be a problem. Will I lose advanced parole if I travel?
You *technical will loose your advance parole but I did it and it was fine. Your GC likely will arrive before your stamp expires next year. My process took 11 months with 9 months to receive the ead
A1. As soon as you have the marriage license/ certificate of marriage. A2. Nope no issues, you can travel on valid H1B stamp while you wait for GC application to go through. A3. Depends on field office 6months to 1 year unless you get RFE.
2. No issues for rentery I guess but people suggest not to travel since you can lose advanced parole
I travelled overseas for work on H1B while waiting for 130 and 485 concurrent filing to go through, had no issues at immigration.
My wife’s gc processing has taken 12 months already.
That is unfortunate. When did you receive advanced parole and ead?
Haven’t receive advance parole yet. She has ead From her company
Expect that TC to double in one year after marriage, as you will gain countless hours lost dealing with immigration headache.
Lmao hope this is true
File the next day if you want. There will be a rfe but you'll have enough evidence by the time it comes.
As long as you have good proofs of your relationship I think you will be fine to apply immediately after you get married
File as soon as you get the marriage certificate. It took me 20 months to get the green card, I got the EAD in 2 months
Did you get 10 year one?
Nope
I went through the same. I applied around a month after getting married just to build the evidence for the case. My lawyer asked for a bunch of stuff If before you apply for i130 no, if after you need to wait to get your advance parole, takes 2-4 months Last year it was about a year wait for GC. Depends on some factors like where you're located, if they ask for more info, etc
Congratulations 🍾. I think you can start after April
Ty ❤️