Information And Guidance For Green Card Marriage Petitions

Filing a green card petition for a spouse may enable your loved one to legally work and reside in the United States. I am Jason Karavias, Esq., an experienced and respected Pittsburgh green card marriage attorney. I have been practicing law for over two decades.

Whether your spouse is in or out of the country, I can assist you. I can answer your family immigration questions and determine whether your spouse is eligible for adjustment of status within the United States. I will apply my knowledge to the process of obtaining a green card for your spouse as efficiently and quickly as possible. I am committed to helping your family remain together.

The process for getting a green card for a spouse depends in part on whether your spouse is currently in the U.S. If they are, they can apply for adjustment of status. If not, the situation calls for consular processing. I can also assist you with petitioning for other qualifying relatives to join you in the U.S.

Call me at 412-223-7924 or contact me online to discuss your situation in a free initial consultation.

Green Card Marriage Processing Inside The United States – Adjustment Of Status

Does your foreign-born spouse in the U.S. qualify for a green card? The answer to the question above is yes in many cases, including the following:

• You may be a U.S. citizen with a noncitizen husband or wife who is already in this country.
• You may be a U.S. citizen hoping or planning to marry someone who is in this country working, studying or visiting.
• You may be a U.S. citizen about to marry a foreign national who entered the country with your cooperation on a fiancé(e) visa – or you may have already gotten married within 90 days of your spouse’s entry into the country under these circumstances. Now he or she is ready to apply for adjustment of status to live and work here with a green card.
• You may be a noncitizen who is married to, or planning to marry, a U.S. citizen in a situation like one of those described above.

Once you are married and both of you are in this country, the non-U.S. citizen spouse may be eligible to apply for a green card as an immediate relative of the U.S. citizen. Your petition applying for adjustment of status should prove that your marriage is bona fide and that the noncitizen meets eligibility requirements.

Green Card Marriage Processing Outside The United States – Consular Processing

If you are a U.S. citizen or a green card holder whose wife or husband is in another country and you want to bring them to live with you here, you will need to “establish a relationship between you and your relative that qualifies them to immigrate to the United States,” according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The Process In A Nutshell

USCIS accepts petitions for eligibility for a green card for a noncitizen spouse of a citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR) who is not yet in the U.S.

Be careful: Your petition might be denied if you submit incomplete or inaccurate information, miss deadlines or submit the wrong fees. The safest approach is to work closely with an immigration lawyer who has a strong track record. Jason Karavias, Esq., has helped many U.S. citizens and green card holders bring their spouses to the U.S. I also advise those whose spouses are already in the U.S.

Once USCIS approves the petition, your spouse may apply for an immigrant visa with the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in their country by way of Consular Processing.

If you have been married less than two years when your spouse is granted LPR status, he or she will receive that status on a conditional basis. In order to become a U.S. citizen, you must apply for removal of the conditions within 90 days of the conditional green card’s expiration date.

Please note: No statement on this website or any website should be considered legal advice and does not constitute a guarantee of any kind. Unique factors may affect a petition for eligibility or an application for a green card for your spouse who is abroad. For best results, work with an experienced immigration lawyer.

You Deserve Personalized Advice

Please note that every case is unique. Anything that you read on a website, including this one or a U.S. government website, may not apply to your situation. This is why it is essential to work closely with an experienced immigration lawyer as you pursue a goal as important as securing your right to live peacefully and securely with your husband or wife in the U.S.

What If Obstacles Arise?

Is there any reason in your case for which the USCIS might exercise discretion and declare that the foreign spouse is not eligible for permanent residency? When we talk, we can explore this possibility if there are doubts about eligibility.

In my years of experience as an immigration attorney, I have encountered many special cases and have helped many clients overcome obstacles to getting a green card for a non-U.S. citizen spouse. I have also helped many obtain U.S. citizenship three years after marriage to a citizen, with continuous presence in the U.S.

Proving A “Bona Fide” Marriage To USCIS

Every marriage-based green card petition goes through a layer of review designed to catch fraud. USCIS wants to see that your marriage reflects a genuine life built together, not an arrangement created to gain immigration status. The depth and consistency of your documentation is what makes that case convincing.

Most strong petitions draw from three areas of evidence:

• Joint financial records: Bank accounts, tax returns and credit cards that carry both names show that your finances are genuinely merged
• Co-habitation evidence: A shared lease or mortgage, utility bills in both names or mail delivered to the same address all point to a couple living under one roof
• Supporting personal evidence: Photos taken together across different time periods, travel records from shared trips and written statements from people who know you as a couple round out the picture

Building a file from all three categories gives USCIS a fuller view of your relationship than any single document ever could. I sit down with clients early in the process to take stock of what they have, identify what is missing and put together a submission that tells a clear and credible story before anything is filed.

Green Card Processing Timeline

The question I hear most often from clients is how long this will take. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but understanding the stages of each pathway helps set realistic expectations from the start.

Adjustment of Status

When your spouse is already inside the country, the process generally moves through three stages:

• Stage 1: Submitting Form I-130 and Form I-485 together as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, which allows both forms to be filed at the same time rather than waiting for the first to be approved
• Stage 2: Completing a biometrics appointment for fingerprints and photos, along with a medical examination conducted by a USCIS-approved civil surgeon using Form I-693
• Stage 3: Attending an in-person interview at the local USCIS field office where an officer reviews the case and issues a decision

How long adjustment of status takes varies by field office, but most cases fall somewhere between eight months and beyond a year, depending on workload and whether additional evidence is requested.

Consular Processing

When your spouse is abroad, the path runs through the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in their home country and follows its own sequence:

• Stage 1: Filing Form I-130 with USCIS to establish that a qualifying relationship exists between you and your spouse
• Stage 2: After USCIS approval, the case moves to the National Visa Center, which handles document collection and fee processing before an interview is scheduled
• Stage 3: Your spouse appears for an immigrant visa interview at the appropriate Embassy or Consulate, after which the officer makes a decision

Timeline for this route depends largely on where the Embassy or Consulate is located and how backed up the National Visa Center happens to be. I stay current on processing times for the offices most relevant to my clients and keep everyone updated as the case moves forward.

Can I apply for a marriage green card if my foreign spouse overstayed their visa?

Often, yes. A spouse who entered the country on a valid visa or through the visa waiver program but stayed beyond their authorized period may still be able to apply for adjustment of status as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen. Federal immigration law generally treats visa overstays as a forgivable issue for immediate relatives adjusting inside the country, provided there are no separate grounds of inadmissibility in play.

What matters most is how your spouse originally entered. Coming in legally and then overstaying is a very different situation from crossing without authorization. The latter raises additional legal hurdles that may require separate steps before any green card application can move forward. I go through each client’s full entry and immigration history before recommending any course of action.

Contact My Law Office Today For A Free Consultation

To discuss your legal needs with a lawyer in greater detail, please call Jason Karavias, Esq., in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at 412-223-7924. You can also contact me online to set up a free initial consultation.