• I have a student visa and my spouse has a Green Card. Can he apply for my Green Card now or should we wait until after he becomes a U.S. Citizen

• Will I get in trouble if I came here to study but ended up marrying my Green Card holding boyfriend/girlfriend?

• What if I overstay my student visa. Can I still get a Green Card if my Green Card holding spouse petitions for me?

USCIS has been experiencing unprecedented delays this year in 2018 due to new immigration policies and procedures that have changed the way we now advise our clients. These changes directly impact when a marriage case should be filed, how travels have to be carefully planned, and when an arriving immigrant can begin working and also maintain their employment status after filing for family based Adjustment of Status.

Marriage in the modern day can be challenging enough as it is. Unpredictable immigration processing times, however, often end up leading to long periods of physical and emotional distance for couples waiting to live out the American Dream in the US. We have had many cases where by the time the foreign spouse arrives in the US, the marriage has already fallen apart. The question is, what can the foreign spouse do to keep themselves and their immigration case together in this new chapter in their lives?

Entering as a boyfriend/girlfriend on the visitor visa, or ESTA (also known as the Visa Waiver Program), is not in and of itself a visa violation. It can, however, become a problem if the girlfriend/boyfriend plans to use the non-immigrant visa to enter, and then take actions that are contrary to the intent of the visa by, for example, getting married to their US citizen love interest. This is because marriage to a US citizen implies immigrant intent, according to the US immigration laws, and traveling with what's called "dual intent" is strictly forbidden when it comes to the visitors visa or ESTA.