What is the process for the spouse of an EB-5 investor to get a green card?

You must get married before he gets his green card to receive green cards together. Otherwise, if you get married after he gets his green card, he will need to sponsor you as a spouse of permanent resident and you will need to wait for at least two years to be able to apply for an immigrant visa.

If you marry after the EB-5 petition is approved and before he files for a green card, then you can file for your immigrant visa (lawful permanent residency) at the same time as when he files for his green card. If you marry after his green card application is filed, you will have to wait until he is approved for permanent residency and then he would have to petition for you (on a family-based processing) as a spouse of a lawful permanent resident, which can take a few years to process based on backlogs/priority date in this category.

You have to get married before his green card is approved; that way you will get green cards together, or if you marry after his green card is approved, you will have to wait at least two to three years or longer.

Generally, if both of you get married he can add you to his I-485 application. Also, if you can secure a non-immigrant visa that allows you to legally reside in the U.S., you can join him before you receive your green card. Advisably, consult an immigration attorney before you proceed further.

If your fiancé has an approved I-526 petition and you marry before he receives his green card, you can qualify as his dependent. If you marry after he has received his conditional lawful permanent residency, he would have the right to petition for you but there would be a backlog of several years or longer under the quota, depending upon your country of birth. Ideally, you should marry before his application for adjustment of status to become a conditional lawful permanent resident is approved.

The best and quickest option is for you to marry before your fiancé begins the immigrant visa/adjustment of status process. Otherwise, you are looking at 1.5 years plus of being separated while sponsorship petitions go through.

Lawful permanent residents can file for a foreign spouse, but visa numbers are currently backlogged all the way back to 2011! Consult with an immigration attorney who can review all of your options.

If you get married after he gets his green card, he can file a petition for you for a spouse of a permanent resident. You can check the visa bulletin for wait times at www.travel.state.gov.

If you are married before he gets his green card, you could be added as derivative spouse. However, if you are married after he gets the green card, he must sponsor you as a legal permanent resident and file the I-130. Unfortunately, the visa availability for the LPR spouse is not current, which means you must wait at least two years to join him.

If you get married before receiving your green card, it will be many years faster for your spouse to get a green card, as she will be a derivative. Otherwise, FB-2A after marriage and several years wait.