The timeline for your marriage-based green card depends on many different factors. The two
biggest factors include whether you are married a U.S. citizen versus a green card holder and
whether you are inside the United States or outside the United States. The difference between these
two timelines can be very large so it is important to understand what the differences are and what
can affect the timeline. The first step in any marriage-based green card case is the step of
filing the Form I-130 Petition For An Alien Relative. This is a form that is technically
submitted by your spouse, aka the sponsor, and this will establish your eligibility category upon which
you will either get your green card or your immigrant visa. Once you file your I-130 with USCIS,
they will issue a case number or a receipt number on an official notice that is sent to you by mail,
and which sometimes you can get online if you have an electronically processed case. Usually it takes
between four to six weeks to receive this receipt, but sometimes you can get it as soon as two weeks.
You can then use this receipt number to track your case through the online portal at uscis.gov,
and you can also use this to track your case through a My USCIS account. Once your I-130 is
received, if USCIS determines that something is missing that is required, they will notify you
through what is called a "Request For Evidence", and this can typically come anywhere from three to six
months after your I-130 is filed. This can slow down your case progress considerably. That is why
it is important to make sure that you read the instructions closely for the Form I-130 when
submitting your application to make sure that you're not missing any required documentation
that USCIS has requested in advance. According to the most recent data available, USCIS is taking
anywhere from 12 to 18 months to process an I-130, and this is just for the I-130s submitted by U.S.
citizens. The average processing time when the I-130 is submitted by a green card holder is 25
to 30 months. Now if you are both living in the U.S. and already married to a U.S. citizen, you're in
luck because these are often the types of cases that are processed the most quickly by USCIS.
That is because you may usually be eligible to file the form I-485 together with your form
I-130, which means that you can file both of these applications at the same time and they will be
processed together. This is called a concurrent filing, and USCIS typically processes concurrent
filing within 12 to 18 months. In addition to submitting the Form I-130 and Form I-485, you can
also submit the following paperwork. You can file the Form I-765, which is the application for a work
authorization, otherwise known as the Employment Authorization Document. You can also file the form
I-131, which is the Application for Advance Parole or future permission to travel abroad and return
to the U.S. The average processing time for the I-131 is 6 to 12 months, and the average processing
time for the form I-765 is 3 to 6 months. You can also file your concurrent filing with the form
I-693, which is the medical examination. You would need to make an appointment with a USCIS
civil surgeon and they would give you an enclosed and sealed medical exam, which you could submit
together with your form I-130 and form I-485. You definitely need to file the Form I-864, which is
the Affidavit of Support, if you are filing a concurrent I-485 with your I-130. This application
will show that your sponsor can financially support you and prevent you from becoming a public charge.
You will also need to file the form I-130A, which is a supplement for biographical information
about the beneficiary, aka you, and you definitely want to make sure that you include all supporting
evidence of a bona fide marriage and qualifying relationship. About two to three months after
filing your I-130 and I-485, you will get a Biometrics Appointment Notice, which will tell you to
show up to a certain location of a USCIS application support center to get your fingerprints and
picture taken. This appointment is typically going to be scheduled at either the USCIS field office
closest to you or at the application support center that is closest to you. And you can go to this
appointment by yourself, there is no need to take your sponsoring spouse. The next thing you can expect
in person for a USCIS appointment after the biometrics is done is your actual green card
interview. Until recently, almost every single applicant filing for a marriage-based green card
had to attend an in-person appointment with USCIS. However, due to the backlog and in an effort to
increase processing times and reduce the workload across USCIS offices, many USCIS offices have been
deciding to waive the green card interview for the majority of applicants. But if you do end up
getting scheduled for a green card interview, typically your interview will happen about one
month after you receive the appointment letter. When you receive your appointment letter, you will
get a notice in the mail that will contain the time, the date, and the location of your interview,
along with a list of any supporting documentation that you should bring with you. Assuming that you
do a good job in passing the interview and answering all of the questions of the USCIS officer
and assuming that there are no other issues in your case that would prevent a decision, typically
the decision will be issued to either approve or deny your I-485 and I-130 30 to 120 days after
your interview. Once you get your decision, your green card will be mailed to you within two to
three weeks. So altogether, the total amount of time that it could possibly take for you to get
your green card when you are inside the US and filing as a spouse of a US citizen and filing your
I-130 together with your I-485 will take anywhere from 10 to 23 months. Especially it will depend on
where in the US you live, whether this field office that is assigned to you is super busy,
and whether they decide to call you in for an interview. If you're not called in for an
interview, you can expect your processing time to be reduced by at least six months. Please note
that if you have been married for less than two years, then at the time that you are approved for
your green card, you will receive a two year conditional residency card. And you will then
need to file the form I-751 90 days before this card expires in order to convert your two year
residency card so that you can get a 10 year permanent resident card. Now what if you are
living inside the US and you are married to a green card holder instead? Unfortunately,
there could be many obstacles to you getting your green card while staying in the US and it tends to
typically take twice as long, if not more. First, if you are married to a green card holder, then
that makes you a preference category relative and you must wait until your category is "current"
according to the Visa Bulletin before your form I-130 will be processed by USCIS, and you cannot
file a concurrent I-485 application with your I-130. The reason for this is that the US government
puts a limit to how many green cards spouses of green card holders can be approved for in a given
calendar year. Since the number of visas the US government may give out to spouses of green card
holders is less than the number of spouses actually applying for a green card, a backlog may be created.
For a couple of years, the category for spouses of green card holders was current and there were
enough visas available for them. However, recently a backlog has been announced and now there is a
wait time. The visa bulletin will show exactly when the priority date is current for spouses of green card
holders, who are in the F2A category, and that is when the spouse can file the green card application.
For example, according to this month's visa bulletin, anyone in the F2A category who submitted
their application for the I-130 on or before September 1st, 2023 would be considered current and
can now file the form I-485. But if your I-130 was filed after this date then you would still need to
wait. But the problem that this creates for so many spouses of green card holders is the following.
In order to file a Form I-485 if you are not an immediate relative, meaning if you are not the
spouse of a US citizen, you have to show that you are in current lawful status, meaning that your
visa status has not expired. Number two, you also have to show that you don't have any unlawful
presence. Now because of the backlog situation that has been created because of the visa bulletin
and the long time that a spouse may now need to wait to file the green card application,
it may actually create situations where the spouse of a green card holder is not able and not
eligible to file the form I-485 because of these two reasons. Therefore, if you are the spouse of a
green card holder you must make sure that you maintain current lawful status and not accrue any
unlawful presence lest you be prevented from filing your I-485 in the future. But if that
does happen to you, there are two solutions usually to this situation. Number one, you may
need to do a waiver for unlawful presence and exit the United States to do processing at the consulate
abroad. Or number two, you may need to wait for your spouse to naturalize and become a US citizen
instead, which would remove those two problems. Therefore, the form I-485 for the spouse of a
green card holder can take very long to process. However, nobody knows how long USCIS is going to
take to work through their backlog and in the future the wait time for a visa according to the
visa bulletin may even increase in time. So keep checking the visa bulletin to make sure you see
how it is progressing every single month to see if it is current or to see if there is any other
additional information you need to know. Assuming that the visa bulletin is current in the F2
category, then you would follow the same process as mentioned earlier about filing the form I-485,
go to your biometrics appointment, and go to your green card interview or possibly have it waived.
Your interview here inside the US will also be held at a local field office. And once you have
your decision approving your I-130 and I-485, you'll typically get your green card in the mail
within one to two weeks after the interview date. Altogether, current estimates put the processing
time for most I-130s and I-485s for the spouse of a green card holder anywhere from 13 months to as
long as 25 months. Coming up, I'm going to share with you my timeline for when you are living
outside the United States so stay tuned. But first, I want to let you know that I am accepting new
clients. My name is Moumita Rahman and I have been practicing immigration law for the past 14 years.
If you would like my help on your immigration case, you can call us at 212-248-7907. I'm based
in New York but I have clients all over the US. Okay, so what if you are married to a US citizen
or to a green card holder and you live outside the United States? Your case will have to go through
what we typically call "consular processing" because you actually need to do some additional
processing with a US consulate in your country to ask them to grant you an immigrant visa to come
live in the United States. Your case would start out the same way by filing an I-130, and a case
receipt number would be issued, and USCIS needs to process this I-130 first. Once the I-130 is
approved, then USCIS would actually transfer your case to the National Visa Center where a new case
number will be created for you so that you can process outside the US for your consular interview
abroad. We call the National Visa Center "NVC" for short. Typically, after your I-130 is approved,
it will take anywhere from one to three months for USCIS to transfer your I-130 to NVC and NVC
will typically create a new case number for you within 30 days after your case is received by them.
But here is where the timeline will split. If your I-130 is based upon a marriage to a US citizen,
NVC will begin processing your case right away. However, if your I-130 is based upon marriage
to a green card holder, then they will not begin processing your case until the visa bulletin is
current in your category. And again, the wait time according to the visa bulletin right now
can go up to 25 months and even possibly more. However, once your case can proceed with the NVC,
you will receive an email giving you an invoice number which you must pay by going to CEAC.state.gov.
You must pay the invoice numbers and you must fill out the form DS-260 Application for an Immigrant
Visa online. And you must also upload the qualifying documents. Once you have finished
uploading all the required documents, NVC can take typically up to 30 days to review your documents.
if it is an electronically processed case, or can take up to four months to review your documents
if you have had to supply all of your documents by mail. Once they have finished reviewing your
documents, they will either request further paperwork or deem you "Documentarily Qualified",
and then they will forward your case to the US consulate in your country where you will await
a time slot for your appointment for an interview. This is again where the timeline can diverge a
little bit. If you are processing as the spouse of a US citizen, then typically you may only have to
wait one to three months for an appointment at the consulate. However, if you are processing as the
spouse of a green card holder, you may be given a lower priority and you may have to wait longer
than that. But also other factors such as the busyness of the consulate and the availability
of consular officers to conduct appointments can also impact how quickly interviews are being
scheduled abroad. But during this time, once you have been notified about your appointment at the
US consulate, you will have to get your medical exam by a qualified civil surgeon. You will have
to confirm your passport delivery information and you will need to attend a fingerprinting
appointment. Because your interview is abroad, your spouse would not need to attend this interview at the consulate,
so you would go by yourself. The consulate will typically let you know that day of the interview
whether they are refusing your visa or whether it is approved, and then you would get your passport
back within one to two weeks with your immigrant visa foil stamped inside. You must use this
immigrant visa to enter the US within 180 days before it expires, and once you have entered the
US with this visa, you are automatically considered to be a legal resident of the United States. You
will get your green card in the mail within six months after entry. So all together, the estimated
timeline for spouses living abroad can take anywhere from 13 to 16 months and for spouses
of green card holders can take two and a half to three years. Now if you want to increase the
likelihood that your green card interview is going to be waived, you need to make sure you submit
your application with as much good bonafide marriage evidence as possible. That's why I have
created The Ultimate Guide to Proving That Your Marriage Is Real. In it, I explain exactly what
sort of evidence you should include and what types of evidence USCIS loves to see. I'll include a
link to this video here, so click to watch next and I'll see you there.