How can marrying a U.S. citizen accelerate my green card application compared with EB-5?

If you are married to a U.S. citizen, U.S. rules require you to apply through marriage unless you can show why your spouse will not or cannot sponsor you. You can file a new I-130/I-485 based on marriage, and you should.

Obtaining a green card through marriage is different from the employment-based adjustment case under EB-5 you currently have pending. I would advise not to file for your green card through marriage if you already have a pending I-485 based on approved I-526, since processing times for I-485s based on either category will be relatively the same and you will avoid extra USCIS fees and possible legal fees. Unless you have issues with your pending I-485 because your regional center project is struggling and your future I-289 may not be approved, then you should stay with your pending I-485 case based on approved I-526.

If your I-829 is pending, the issue is how long will it take for eventual approval. Typically, concurrent of I-130 and I-485 is preferable when a citizen files for family immigrant visa because the filers then get simultaneous treatment and a shortened processing time. In fact, the processing time for the I-130 and I-485 that are proper tends to be about six to nine months. If you eventually pursue this process, the USCIS may ask the pending EB-5&#39s I-485 be withdrawn. Advisably, you should contact your EB-5 attorney or consult an immigration attorney to discuss about these alternatives and compare their processing times.

You should proceed with the permanent residency case based on marriage to your U.S. citizen spouse. This will be a faster route for you to become an unconditional U.S. permanent resident than your current EB-5 case. You should retain an immigration attorney to represent you and your spouse for the permanent residency case based on the marriage. As a first step, you should have a consultation appointment with an immigration attorney to discuss the permanent residency case based on the marriage and your overall situation, which includes your ongoing EB-5 case. Also, after the marriage case has been filed with USCIS, your EB-5 case and your pending I-485 can continue.

Being married to a U.S. citizen simply gives you another option to qualify for lawful permanent residency. Since you have already qualified to apply by virtue of having an approved I-526 petition and you have a pending application for adjustment of status on Form I-485, it would be somewhat redundant to file a new application for adjustment of status based upon your wife&#39s immediate relative petition on Form I-130. It would not likely make your case go any faster. The best thing to say is that if for whatever reason your EB-5 investment were to fail, you would have a backup plan through your U.S. citizen spouse.

That would not be advisable unless there are issues with your I-485 application based on your I-526. To re-file an I-485 (through marriage, even as a "one-step" such as filing I-130 and I-485 simultaneously) would require you to withdraw your pending I-485 (since you cannot have two I-485 applications filed/pending) as well as require you to pay all the fees again, do the medicals again, etc.

If you already filed I-485 based on the approved I-526, then you should stick with that process. Filing an I-130/I-485 will take approximately 12 months to process.

Submit together. You can have both pending and when you go to the marriage interview, indicate you are withdrawing the other I-485.

I-130 marriage-based immigration is a family immigration process instead of the employment-based immigration that you are currently under in EB-5. Both tracks require an immigration petition approval before your adjustment of status I-485 could be approved. Since you already have I-526 immigrant petition approval and have filed I-485, there is no benefit to you for filing a new immigrant petition of I-130. The I-485 processing times should be similar in both categories. Thus, I would advise you to stay the course and be patient instead of incurring additional attorney fees and filing fees expensed trying the family-based immigration track.