For Better or Worse? Complexities of Marriage-Based Immigration

• Author: Maurice Goldman
• Pages: 10-15

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1. Fiancé visa: If unmarried, they could apply for a ancé

visa, also known as a K-1 visa, and bring the foreign ancé

to the United States to marry and apply for adjustment of

status.

2. Consular processing: If unmarried, they could marry

inside or outside the United States, and then the U.S.

citizen can petition for the foreign national spouse via an

I-130 petition. Ultimately, the foreign national spouse will

process his or her immigrant visa at the U.S. consulate

and, if approved, will be admitted to the United States as

a lawful resident.

3. Adjustment of status: A married couple could apply for

adjustment of status inside the United States and avoid

traveling to the U.S. consulate for processing of the

immigrant visa.

Which approach is best? It depends (we say that a lot in

immigration law). Some applicants would prefer the consular

process over adjustment of status. Some would prefer

adjustment of status over consular processing. ere are pros

and cons to all three of these processes. Please note, while the

Immigration. It’s a topic that is unavoidable nowadays.

Nearly every day there is a story in the news about the

plight of immigrants trying to discover their American

dream and the roadblocks they may face. It’s even been

injected into the weekly television programming with

reality shows like 90 Day Fiancé, which proles couples who

want to marry and pursue the green card process. e true

reality, however, is that the seemingly incessant policy

changes make an already-confusing system very dicult to

navigate without legal assistance. By the time this article is

published, I cannot even guarantee that a policy change or

precedent court decision will impact one of the topics

discussed below. However, there are some general principles

and processes that remain constant throughout all the

modications.

I’m a U.S. Citizen in Love with a Foreigner;

What’s Next?

When a U.S. citizen is considering how and when to bring his

or her foreign ancé or spouse to the United States, there are a

few dierent scenarios that can be discussed with the couple:

For Better or Worse?

COMPLEXITIES OF MARRIAGE-BASED IMMIGRATION

By MAURICE GOLDMAN

Published in Family Advocate, Volume 43, Number 2, Fall 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof

may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.