How can I add my new spouse when filing my I-829? - EB5Investors.com

How can I add my new spouse when filing my I-829?

I am currently residing in the U.S. as a conditional permanent resident and recently got married. My spouse is currently living overseas and I need to submit my I-829 this summer. How can I include her in my application while filing the I-829? When would she be able to relocate to the U.S.?

Answers

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

An after-acquired spouse would have to qualify under the F&A category, which has a two- to three-year year waiting line.

Julia Roussinova

Julia Roussinova

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You may not add your new spouse to I-829. Because you got married after you received your conditional resident status in the U.S., you must petition for your spouse to immigrate to the U.S. under the F-2A immigrant visa category for spouses of lawful permanent residents. Once you file your I-130 petition, it must be approved by USCIS first before your spouse can consular process for an immigrant visa abroad. There will also be a waiting line for an immigrant visa number to become available under F-2A category once your I-130 is approved. Current wait time is about two years (this does not include the time while your I-130 will pend with USCIS). Your spouse may consider other options to come to the U.S. quicker, such as a student visa, for example, and then adjust her status in the U.S. when your I-130 is approved and her immigrant visa number becomes available. But she needs to maintain an underlying lawful immigration status.

Charles Foster

Charles Foster

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

With respect to your recent marriage and your desire to add your spouse at the time you submit your petition to remove conditions on Form I-829, your spouse can no longer be viewed as a derivative. You are already a lawful permanent resident of the United States. As a permanent resident you can petition for your spouse, but there is a backlog under the quota. In another three years or so, you would be eligible to become a citizen and you can petition for her and qualify her then, and she is not subject to any quota provision. Alternatively, she could seek to qualify for a non-immigrant work visa status that is not subject to Section 214(b) that would provide her an interim basis to be in the United States.

BoBi Ahn

BoBi Ahn

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

If you marry after you complete your green card processing, within a reasonable time thereafter, you can file to have her "follow-to-join" your green card processing. However if it has been almost two years since you have completed your green card processing (i.e. I-526 plus an adjustment of status or immigrant visa processing), then at this point your new spouse will have to be petitioned by you in the family-based category. As a spouse of a lawful permanent resident, there is a "waiting period" of approximately two years before the priority date would be current for her to apply for immigrant visa, however.

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You should include your spouse in the I-829 when you are filing and provide all the necessary documentation. The fact that she is currently living overseas should not be a reason for leaving her out of the I-829 filing.

Lynne Feldman

Lynne Feldman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You cannot. You will need to file an I-130 for your new spouse in the family-based FB-2a category (unless you were married before you got your two-year green card).

Belma Demirovic Chinchoy

Belma Demirovic Chinchoy

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You cannot. You need to sponsor her by filing an I-130.

Jinhee Wilde

Jinhee Wilde

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You may not simply add your new wife to the I-829 to give her the immigration benefit as your derivative. If you were married even before you filed the DS-260 or I-485, you could have added her to your application, but now it is too late. You may sponsor her as the spouse of the legal permanent resident by filing I-130 and then when her visa number becomes current under F2A, file for adjustment of status (I-485) or visa application (DS-260). If you have been married less than two years, however, her green card will also be conditional based on your marriage lasting more than two years, at which time she will have to file the I-751 removal of condition application. All this should have been explained to you by your immigration lawyer helping you with the EB-5 process, as it is a simple immigration process.

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You cannot add your spouse on the I-829. Since you married after you received your conditional resident status, you must petition for her under the F-2A immigrant visa category (spouse of LPR). The current waiting time for an immigrant visa number in this category is about two years.

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