Applying for a Green Card

mango

Thu, Aug 02 2012, 5:20 pm

thankyou wrote:

Wow that's great - thanks everyone.

A couple of questions, especially to the posters who say they have done it lately and still remember:
-I know that for a few years you cannot leave the US, how many years? (unless you ask for permission as mentioned above). Someone told me 6, someone else 5...?
(and is that after you get the green card ?- because everyone here says they got it in about a years time).

-what if the spouse (me) has an american passport but never lived in the USA? Would DH still get the green card if only they see we really are married?

-If you live meanwhile outside of the US, do you have to fly for each thing- finger prints, interview etc? and do you need to get a visa for it?

-shabbat----- how did you baby become american automatically in Israel???

I have never heard of not leaving the country for a few years. You only can't leave while you're in the process of applying and you don't have advanced parole papers. I have been home twice Dundee I have recieved it with no trouble.

I don't know about your husband living out of the USA since my husband has lived here all his life. Was he born in the US? That could affect it if he wasn't not 100% sure on that one though.

I'm assuming that if you apply outside if tree US you would have the fingerprinting and interview in the local American consulate. Again I'm not 100% sure as I applied in the US.

wife2

Thu, Aug 02 2012, 6:14 pm

thankyou wrote:

A couple of questions, especially to the posters who say they have done it lately and still remember:
-I know that for a few years you cannot leave the US, how many years? (unless you ask for permission as mentioned above). Someone told me 6, someone else 5...?
(and is that after you get the green card ?- because everyone here says they got it in about a years time).

I am not sure what you mean about not leaving the country. Do you mean how long will it take from when you get a green card to be a full U.S. citizen? once you have a green card (a few months to a year), you can travel anytime. you cannot LIVE in another country for 3 years or you will lose your status. living means being out of the country for more than 6 months at a time. they want to see that you are interested in living here, establish residency, pay taxes every year, etc. it depends when you got married. we got it when we were first married so we have 2 years of conditional and then one more year until full citizenship so it is 3 years. if you were already married for 2 years and then apply, it is different.

the laws and process is very complicated and overwhelming. we were going to use a lawyer but it was $2000 so in the end we did it ourselves with some help from friends and organizations (UJO, HIAS). I did it recently so I know all the forms you need and where to start. it is different if you are doing it from in the country or out of the country also. we were in israel and then came to u.s. and did it here but it was very hard for my husband to get in the country (we flew separately and he had to pretend we were just visiting and not living here).

Laughing Bag!

Thu, Aug 02 2012, 9:58 pm

leaving is only not allowed until you get your green card unless you applied for permision.
doing it out of the country is a bit different than in the country but all appointments will probably be done at the local US consulate.
there shouldn't be a problem of getting a green card as long as he's a US citizen and you can provide enough valid proof that you're married and you got a sponsor to show you will not be a financial burden on the state.
good luck!

kids who are born to a US citizen are automatically US citizens you even if the birth was out of the US. you have 2 options either you get a certificate of citizenship through birth (not sure what the actual thing is called) or you apply for a US passport ( which we were told to do ) for both you need to provide extra documents proving the parents citizenship. I don't remember exactly what but I remember sending in the passport form and getting back a letter with exact details. the idea of a passport is that its the strongest form if identification even when expired.

zehavatov

Thu, Aug 02 2012, 10:23 pm

Leaving the country is not a prob once ur app is approved or u received ur advanced parol. Leaving for an extended period of time, like 6 months can make an issue.

DH has bh just finished w/ his card and I aould recommend you do it thru UJO in Williamsburg. They helped w/ all prep and questions n concerns.

thankyou

Sun, Aug 05 2012, 2:37 am

Wow thank you all SO much - this is really helpful. For some reason I've always heard that you must stay in the US for a few years, without leaving, in order to get a green card. Guess that's not true- great!
We will do the process through a lawyer (not sure who or how- thanks for the recommendation we will look into it!) and we are trying to find out now if it matters if the american spouse was not born and never lived n the U.S.
Thanks for all the offers of help - I will def take you on it if needed Smile

THANK YOU!

chocolate chips

Sun, Aug 05 2012, 8:59 am

thankyou wrote:

THANK YOU!

I didn't do it with a lawyer, I did it through UJO but I know two people who did it through a lawyer and they had a really hard time. It took ages and cost them A LOT of money.

UJO is cheaper and they do not send the application out until you have every little thing. Lawyers can forget things, lose things etc....it has happened.

If you are in NY area, I would recommend to get in touch with UJO.

Good Luck!

moonstone

Sun, Aug 05 2012, 9:25 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

MaBelleVie wrote:

Anyone married to a US citizen is eligible for a green card, regardless of where they live. Same for children. Many countries have that law.

Are you sure? We live in Israel. We asked the consulate here and were told that in order for my husband to get a green card, we would have to live in the states for a certain amount of time (Any children born to an american citizen here at least, are automatically american citizens. Makes traveling to america simpler)

I think you're right, Shabbat. I work with a woman (American) who married an Israeli. He actually did receive a green card, but it was revoked because they only spent a few weeks a year in the US. Apparently you have to live there for a certain amount of time. He did, however, have an easy time getting a visa to visit the US- I think they gave him one for several years instead of the usual 1 year visa.

Funny, she was just telling us this story last week.

thankyou

Sun, Aug 05 2012, 9:39 am

chocolate chips wrote:

thankyou wrote:

THANK YOU!

We are out of the US and will do it from where we are now so that we don't have to obtain visa etc first. We might not end up doing it this way and go through the longer route and do it from the US and then I will def check out the UJO.
Thanks!

and Moonstone- I asked and Im guessing the reason my experience is different is becuase by us the american citizen never actually lived in the states...

thankyou

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 3:57 am

Does anyone know what happens if we get a green card but don't move to the us? Go visit here and there but nothing more ? How soon would the green card be taken from us? What if it's taken away but then we decide to move to the us after all- we start the process all over again or do we have a short cut?

Tia!

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 4:02 am

thankyou wrote:

Like I posted in your thread two years ago, I think you have to LIVE in the usa for a certain amount of time to get and be allowed to obtain the green card. You cant be coming in and out all of the time.

hotmom

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 4:11 am

thankyou wrote:

I assume you don't yet have a green card.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 4:25 am

thankyou wrote:

I just noticed that I never answered this question. Anyone born to an american parent has to get citizenship (thats how its done in Israel, I dont know about other countries). So, in other words, if my daughter would have wanted to travel to america, we needed to get her an american passport because she could not use a visa because I am american and therefore she is automatically a citizen. We went to the consulate (or was it the embassy) and there were forms t fill out, pictures to take, money to pay and it was done. Took a few weeks. It was not a big deal.

Thankyou, are you in Israel?

thankyou

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 4:45 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Right. im trying to figure for how long... its frustrating that they don't give you this info.
Yes we live in Israel. We were going to move to the US becuase we had a job there but in the middle of the process we realized this job wasn't what we were looking for and not worth moving for. Now we are trying to decide if to keep pushing off the process or get it done. We wonder what happens once you get the GC and NOT move. DH claims they will take it and not give us another chance if we ever do want to move and need a GC.
Sorry for the long post.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 4:47 am

thankyou wrote:

So speak to someone at the american consulate. They should have all of the answers that you need.
We were told that we would have to live in america for a few years (I dont remember the amount exactly) in order to get the green card.

chocolate chips

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 8:32 am

A green card is also known as a permanent resident card meaning you kind of need to be a resident here to have one.

As far as I last heard, if you have not been in the country for more than 6months (I am not sure if this is 6months living here or 6months out of us) then they will take it away.
And be careful because they could then not allow you into the country for a certain amount of time.

Try call US Immigration. Or their website and see what happens.

MaBelleVie

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 8:45 am

You can apply for the green card abroad, but you will not actually receive it until you arrive in the US. Once you receive it here, you must make the US your permanent home. Leaving for more than a year will raise red flags and you risk having it removed. No, they don't give second chances.

hotmom

Tue, Jul 15 2014, 9:21 am

Inorder to get a Green card you must be currently living in the USA for a minimum of 2 months. Then you can apply for a green card. Once you apply you cannot leave the USA till you get the green card. You can apply at the same time for permission to travel and work. You will receive (Takes couple months about 3Mnths) separate cards for that which becomes void once you have your green card. Application for green cards can no longer be done in countries outside the USA. (This has been in effect some time already with laws changing back n forth. But for the last 10 yrs it stayed as No).
Lately my family from Israel have stated that they have problems getting green cards.
UJO is Best to ask. They know everything. I got mine through them in a matter of 3 months.