Family Based Green Cards

This post concludes my second week of researching. As promised, I will talk about family based Green Cards.

As the name suggests, family based Green Cards are filed for by immigrants who have family members who are U.S citizens or U.S permanent residents.  The first category is the immediate family. This includes the spouse, unmarried children under 21, and the parents of the U.S citizen over 21. The U.S citizen will file for their immediate family, who will most likely get a Green Card. The next group is called the preference category, which includes married children of any age, unmarried children over 21, and siblings of the U.S citizen. The third group includes any family member of a Green Card holder. Lastly, battered spouses or children, a K nonimmigrant, children born to foreign diplomats in the United States, and a V nonimmigrant or widows and widowers of a U.S. Citizen are included in the fourth category. The difficulty of obtaining a Green Card increases from category one to four.

A K nonimmigrant means a person with a K-visa. The fiancée of a U.S citizen and his or her accompanying children will have this visa type. This visa type was created so that the immigration process may be sped up for those with this situation.

A V nonimmigrant means a person with a V-visa, which allows the spouse or the child of a U.S permanent resident to work in the U.S while waiting to obtain their Green Card.

The forms needed to apply for a Green Card vary with each category. Some say the family based Green Card is the second easiest to obtain, but it would depend on your situation. I will cover work based Green Cards next week. Have a good weekend!

I Gained Access! ( and Marriage Based Green Cards)

Yesterday I gained access to a large law database called Westlaw. It has a lot of articles written by lawyers and law professors, as well as cases and briefings. I am excited to go back and read through the various opinions of the professionals. You can also highlight and take notes online. It's pretty cool! 

I found that there are four common ways to obtain a Green Card. There are marriage based Green Cards, working based Green Cards, family based Green Cards, and lottery gained Green Cards.

Let’s talk about marriage based Green Cards. This is when an immigrant marries an U.S citizen or lawful U.S permanent resident. Some people even come to the U.S solely to marry a U.S citizen in order to obtain residency. This is commonly called marriage fraud. I remember watching a movie called “Kites,” a Bollywood film, about a guy who creates fake marriages with immigrants to help them obtain permanent residency. This is one of the reasons why it is so hard to get travel visas, because many people use the B-2 visa to come here to get married. Therefore, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service will issue a “conditional Green Card” to a newlywed immigrant for the first two years, in order to assure that the marriage is not solely for obtaining permanent residency. 
The conditions may be removed if the immigrant is still married to the same U.S citizen after two years, has become a widow or widower, is divorced (with a valid reason. i.e. domestic abuse, extreme hardship, adultery) but married on the grounds of good faith, or will encounter extreme hardship if they leave the U.S. In order to renew the Green Card, the immigrant must jointly file the renewal with their spouse, or get a waiver. The waiver must be obtained within the expiration date. The eligibility standards to get a waiver are the same as the above scenarios to remove the conditions on a conditional Green Card. If the waiver or renewal is not filed in time, the immigrant will be deported. So, it is a misconception that marriage is the quick and easy pass to permanent residency, especially when you marry just for that. In such cases, your spouse, or “contract groom,” holds something over you, and your life will not be as happy as you imagined it to be. I suggest marrying for love.

I will cover family sponsored Green Cards in my next post, sometime in the next two days. 

Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments.

Costly Process

Today concludes my first week researching immigration law. I have learned a lot about the different kinds of visas this week. My mom has been asking me for advice and information about the B-2 visa and the H-1B visa. Did you know that it costs a lot of money, about $140 per person, to apply for a B-2 visa? There’s also an interview with an U.S embassy worker, pertaining to the reason why someone wants to travel to the U.S. If the interviewer has reasonable doubt that the applicant intends to stay in the U.S for a long period of time, then the interviewer will not issue the applicant a visa. They also will not refund the $140. The interview has become something to be nervous about.

 It is quite hard to achieve permanent residency. Next week I will be researching what visa types will allow a foreigner, or alien, to apply for a Green Card (which is not actually green), and what documents a person needs in order to apply. 

The difference between a citizen and a permanent resident is that a U.S citizen may live in another country and still return to the U.S, whereas a permanent resident cannot be out of the country for too long, unless you are a religious worker. Also, the Green Card must be renewed. There are a lot of exceptions and nuances. That’s what makes the case laws unique and interesting. I found that there are immigration lawyers here in Arizona who will help clients apply for a Green Card, but they charge a lot (around $5000 just to apply). Hopefully, I will be well versed enough in immigration law to help those who have questions, for free.

First Day as a Researcher

Love is in the air on my first day as a researcher of immigration law!

Today is also Arizona's 100th birthday! Arizona's getting old. 

I have my own office (research space), with a swirly chair and an office style telephone, like a lawyer.

I'm currently reading through the Immigration Procedures Handbook 2011-2012 edition. There are two volumes, with 1200 pages each. There's also an 800 page supplement handbook. I think I'll just skim the important points. 

I'm connected to the wireless internet, so online research is but a click away. While online, I found out that someone has already compiled information about the different types of visas. They have a good starting point, but I'm going to have to research more in depth. I also found out that my grandparents, currently living in China, can visit me in the U.S on a B-2 visa, which only takes five days to process, provided there are no other "complications." I'm pretty sure my grandparents would get their B-2 visa very quickly. I’m going to try to convince them to visit, since my grandpa is an adamant NBA fan of 20 or so years, and has never been to an NBA game.

Yesterday, all the seniors who are participating in the Senior Research Project attended an orientation at the library, on how to do research. They taught us how to access the library’s database. I also have access to a special law database called Westlaw, two large handbooks, and the internet. I think I will go through the different types of visas for now, and then study the naturalization process tomorrow. Prepare to be overwhelmed with information!

On a side note: Happy Valentine's Day!