Process for getting UK hubby a US green card or passport?

We live in the UK.

I am USC, he is UKC. We have been married almost 2 years.

What would be the process for getting him a US green card please?

Does the process become easier if we do it after we have been married for a longer period of time?

(I looked it up and found it confusing!)

Many thanks!
L.

You're settled in the UK. That means you qualify to file directly at the US Consulate in London. This saves you time.

You don't apply for a green card directly. What you apply for is either a CR-1 (married less than 2 years) or an IR-1 (married more than 2 years) visa (same application, same process, you don't need to worry about which). Upon activation of the visa, a green card is issued, which supercedes the visa.

You'd fill out and file the form I-130 (along with a G-325A biographic data form) at the consulate. That's the petition to apply. Once your petition to apply is approved (about 10 weeks, give or take, and much faster than Stateside processing), you receive a paper called the NOA-2 (Notice of action) and the papers are sent to the immigrant visa processing unit. Your husband will then receive his invitation to apply, along with the actual application form (DS-230), IV-15 checklist telling him what documents to collect, an I-864 for you (financial support form) and information on how to schedule the medical exam.

Once the documents are gathered, the medical scheduled and you're ready, you send back the DS-230 and IV-15 checklist. Your interview is scheduled.

On the day, you bring the documents to the Embassy. They give you a number. You're called up to hand in the papers. You sit back down again and wait, wait, wait. You get called again, your husband answers questions on the paperwork and you're given the decision. If the decision is good, you go over to the payment desk and pay for delivery. If the decision isn't resulting in a visa, they'll tell you the next steps.

If you do receive the visa, then when he enters the US a green card will be produced for him. If you enter on a CR-1, you get a 2 year green card that needs renewal. If you enter on an IR-1, you get the 10-year green card.

That's it in a nutshell.

You do need to have intent to reside in the US. Its not just a case of going through the  immigrant visa process, your husband receiving a green card, and then returning to live indefinitely in the UK.

Thank you!

The application fees seem very low! Do we need to show that we have jobs in the USA lined up (nope), or savings (gotta have that anyway, for the move, but if so how much?), or a place to live (easy)?

I'm assuming we need to show some of that, right?

Or, have a sponsor?

I read that once approved we would have 6 months to move there, or there is no point in applying.

Anyone happen to know how long UK hubby can stay in the USA (without working) on a regular visitor visa?

Anyone happen to know how long UK hubby can stay in the USA (without working) on a regular visitor visa?

90 days on the VWP.  Usually six months on B2 (although I don't know those eligible for VWP are even allowed to apply for B2).

Thank you!

The application fees seem very low! Do we need to show that we have jobs in the USA lined up (nope), or savings (gotta have that anyway, for the move, but if so how much?), or a place to live (easy)?

I'm assuming we need to show some of that, right?

Or, have a sponsor?

I read that once approved we would have 6 months to move there, or there is no point in applying.

Anyone happen to know how long UK hubby can stay in the USA (without working) on a regular visitor visa?

You need to meet the requirements set out in the I-864, which is 125% of the poverty line for the year for your household size. You would be your husband's primary sponsor; if you don't have a US-based income you can use assets, savings or have additional sponsors (who fill out the I-864a). If you use assets, that includes savings, stocks, bonds and property, and the total amount needed is five times the difference between your income and the 125% figure. If you can't do this, you can have a sponsor, who fills out the exact same forms.

They don't care that you have a place to live, so you don't need to show that. Just the money.

Once issued, the visa is valid for six months. It needs to be activated before it expires. You can use it for multiple entries while it's valid; we needed to do so and it wasn't a problem.

Thank you!

I think we might look into the B2 visa for 6 months. See if it is possible.

I'm asking because I was offered work over there, which is well paid but for only 8 months (in a university, sabbatical cover), which would start 3 months after we do our (in person) ILR.

I can stay for free in my old apartment, because I gave it to my cousin.

But... I'm not going to even consider going if I can't have my hubby with me.

So, I'm trying to figure out what the possibilities are for us.

Sounds like a great opportunity.

Honestly, it can sometimes be more difficult to get a visitor visa approved than to get the IR-1/CR-1, reason being that they feel people who are eligible for VWP travel should use that route, and why would you want to stay longer? I don't know that your temporary work situation would pass muster for a B-2 -- after all, he'd be living there with you, not visiting you there -- and if you apply and fail it complicates the process.

Plus, a green card is just handy to have in case you (like us) change your minds about where to be on an annual basis. My DH has citizenship now, but we did a K-1 visa, a CR-1 visa, a 10-year green card, an Irish permit (for me), two lots of FLR (for me) and eventually ILE. It would have been a lot easier to do it all in a different order, having the green card made things much easier!

Ah, I see... Hmmm... Thank you.

So, if he has the green card, and he leaves after 8 months, will he not then automatically lose the green card anyway?

If he does not lose it, he will have to file USA taxes, right?

(It is not really a 'great opportunity' but it is at least 'An Opportunity' which is more then I have managed to find in the UK in the last year and a half.)

Hey, in the face of no opportunity, *an* opportunity is nice too!

No, he will not lose the green card unless he fills out a form and returns it, specifically relinquishing his US status. If he does not do this, the green card will expire after one year outside of the US unless he's requested a re-entry permit in advance. That's simplifying things a great deal and of course there are plenty of people who skate the legal grey area of entering the US on their green card for a week or so at a time to keep it "active" -- but that is the general idea.

Yes, he'd have to file taxes too.

If you are applying as a spouse, you only need 3 times the poverty level.  At least according to the website.

Thank you peeps! xoxoxoxxo!!!

I think we might look into the B2 visa for 6 months. See if it is possible.

I would not attempt to apply for a B2 visa unless he has a very, very good reason for needing one.

If he applies for one and they refuse it (which is likely because he is eligible for the VWP), then he will need to apply for a visa to enter the US for the rest of his life.

It's a catch-22 situation: he applies for a B2 and it is refused because he is eligible for the VWP instead. However, the visa refusal then makes him ineligible for the VWP, so he has to apply for another B2 visa because of the first refusal, but because he has a visa refusal, it will lower the chances of him being granted the second visa! And all of this process can take several months (in my experience, approx 2-3 months per application), so it's just a big headache really.

I have been granted two B2 visas for the US, but not because I wanted to have to apply for them. Due to a DUI on my record I was told by the US Embassy that I was no longer eligible to travel to the US without a visa and that I would need a B2 visa to visit the US for the rest of my life.

The first B2 visa application cost me about £400 in visa fees, police certificates, blood tests, travel and accommodation costs and it took nearly 4 months to get. The second one cost me about £200 (because I no longer needed to get the £200 blood test done) and again took nearly 4 months to get.

Also, now that I have a B2 visa, every time I enter the US, I get questioned on my reasons for having one and have to show the IO even more evidence than normal of my travel plans and ties to the UK (when I used to travel on the VWP, I was never asked for extra paperwork or information other than the purpose of my trip, but when I travel on the B2, I am asked for my itinerary and for information about my employment in the UK).

I would not recommend anyone willingly go through the B2 visa application process if they can help it. I would give anything not to have to apply for one every 10 years for the rest of my life now.

Wow. OK.

Thank you.

Lara

As previously mentioned DO NOT apply for the B2 visa. I do not know of a single person that has been granted one and I know of a few people that have tried.

Mike