In this video we'll learn the difference between the marriages based adjustment of status inside
the United States how to get a green card this way versus Consular Processing where
you file the application abroad and complete the process abroad stay tuned.So let's start
with the adjustment of status process what is an adjustment of status so imagine you
are a US citizen in your potential spouse or spouse already is in the United States
as it typically is as a visitor so they'll come as a visitor and after 90 days you decide
to get married and you get married in the United States and at that point you decide
that you don't want to go back to your home country you want to finish the process inside
the United States that process is called adjustment of status what does it mean it means that
you the foreign spouse entered legally as a tourist and if you if you know that person
was a fiancee before somebody that was not married yet they can go ahead and initiate
the marriage process inside the United States and once that happens they can proceed with
adjustment of status from tourist or a student or any other legal status that they had before
to a green card status through the adjustment of status process what does it entail it entails
forms like in i130 i485 an application for a work permit and a travel permit documents
for affidavit of support to prove the financial stability of the US citizen sponsor all these
documents are assembled into one package and then they're being submitted to the US immigration
office inside the United States typically the certain areas some centers that control
the application process depending where you live but at the end of the day your interview
will take place in the area where you reside once the application is filed the US citizen
spouse and the foreign national will wait about 30 days to get a fingerprints appointment
for that foreign national to go and get their fingerprints taken once they do that then
they have to wait for the final interview that interview will take place in the United
States at the local USA office where they reside and that interview they'll question
both the US citizen spouse and the foreign national about the the bona fides of their
marriage and if all goes well then the case will be approved and the green card will be
mailed within a couple of weeks so altogether the adjustment of status process can take
anywhere from four to six months now if the foreign national is not able to come to the
United States or they cannot move yet because they have to finish a job or because they
have other issues that are prohibiting them from coming to United States then the second
process is called consular processing at that point the US citizen spouse will file form
i-130 only that form initiate to initiate that process and then once the form is going
to once the form is approved within four to five months then the application is sent to
the National Visa Center which is another agency in the United States it's controlled
by the State Department and during that process the National Visa Center will request further
documents from the sponsor and the foreign national like financial documents and other
issue and other forms that are required to finish the application and then send that
file to the US Embassy in the foreign country in the foreign nationals home country now
we've done a video that outlines this consular processing process step by step and we can
link that video in the in this video as well and if you once the application is is arrives
for the U.S. embassy then the foreign national will show up for an interview the US citizen
spouse is not required to be at that interview and if all goes well they'll be issued an
immigrant visa only and only when they arrived in to the United States and and the port of
entry there was certainly a petition package and once the end of the United States then
a green card will be mailed to them within a few weeks that consular processing process
will take almost a year and sometimes longer than than the adjustment of status process
however again some national some immigrants are not able to come to the United States
either because they don't hold a tourist visa or because they are able to leave their home
country and so the consular processing is very effective process it's the right way
how most immigrants emigrate United States if they are married to your citizen or if
they're petitioned by another family member but there are situations where it's more convenient
to do an adjustment of status either because the person who's already here is a visitor
or because the foreign national is studying in the United States or if they are working
here on an h-1b visa own or one visa own e 2-visa in those cases it's much easier and
much more practicable to file the application to adjust status inside the United States
so this is essentially the difference between an adjustment of status versus a Consular
Processing application that takes place outside of the
United States once again we can link our older videos explaining an adjustment of status
process as well as a concept of processing a application but in this video I just want
to explain the difference between the two the first one that just understands will be
a quicker process but the person must be already in the United States and their legal status
the other process consular processing is a little bit more is a lengthier but the foreign
national is not required to be in the United States while that process is taking place
hopefully this video makes sense to you and it and explains the confusion because we get
a lot of emails and enquiries and questions about the two if you have any more questions
post them in the comments and don't forget to subscribe to our Channel we have plenty
of videos coming up every week and look forward to seeing you in our next video thanks for
watching