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How can you help your spouse adjust their status if you are an LPR? Tune in to this weeks show to find out.
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Transcript
[0:00] This is the immigration answer show with Jim Hacking episode number 22.
[0:05] Welcome to the immigration answer show with your host immigration lawyer Jim hacking.
In each episode Jim will answer your questions about the u.s. immigration system. Discover why the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, national public radio and buzzfeed.com have all featured Jim and get the help you need navigating our complex immigration laws. Now onto the show.
[0:31] Welcome to the immigration answers show where we answer your immigration questions 3 days a week you’ve got questions and we’ll do our best to answer them every Monday Wednesday and Friday now on to today’s question about the u.s. immigration system.
If I’m a green card holder can my spouse stay in the United States if I file for adjustment of status for them.
Every now and then we come across a case where there is a lawful permanent resident let’s call him Juan living in the United States.
And let’s say his spouse Maria happens to be in the United States on a student visa.
She is not a lawful permanent resident, she is just the spouse of a lawful permanent resident. The question is what kind of status does Maria have to maintain in order to be able to stay in the United States.
Here’s the general rule if you want to adjust your status- you need to be in valid immigration status at the time of your adjustment.
So in a situation like this Maria would need to maintain her student status throughout the time the Green Card case is pending and the reason for this is that there is a backlog
on the processing of green card cases for the spouses of green card holders. I know that sounds a little bit confusing, but basically there are a limit on the number of green cards that are available in all kinds of green card categories and that includes green cards for the spouses of green card holders, that is, lawful permanent residence’s husbands or wives. So that is the kind of thing that can screw people up because they assume that once they file for the Green Card based on their marriage to a green card holder that that allows them to stay in the United States.
[2:08] Some of this confusion comes from the fact that the spouse of a US citizen who is out of status is allowed to adjust status so the rules are different when you’re married to a US citizen so if one were already a US citizen then if Maria were out of status at the time that they applied for Jasmine or the time of her interview, that would be forgiven- the fact that she was out of st
atus but that rule only applies to US citizens.
That rule does not apply to the spouses of lawful permanent resident so that’s really where the confusion comes in so if you are married to a green card holder and if you want to adjust your status you need to make sure that you find some valid status to be in and that you maintain that status both at the time that you file and the time of your actual adjustment.
And in a lot of situations that can be up to a year and a half or two years or even longer depending on how many people are in line ahead of you.
[3:00] We hope you found this immigration answer interesting and helpful we look forward to answering more of your questions in the future.
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If you have an immigration question that you’d like answered on the show head on over to immigrationanswershow.com/fq.
That’s www.Immigrationanswershow.com/fq and we’ll try to answer it on an upcoming episode.
[3:32] Thanks for listening to the immigration answer show with Jim hacking be sure to visit us on the web at immigration answers show.com,
if you have an immigration related question please send us an email with your questions at immigrationanswersshow.com. We look forward to serving you on our next episode and remember the answers provided on the show are of a general nature.
This show does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed. If you have specific questions about your situation be sure to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.