What Are Marriage-Based Visas?
If you have a fiance or a spouse in another country, you may be considering bringing this person to the United States. If this is true for you, you probably want to know what kind of visa you need and how you can go about getting it.
These are some of the facts you need to know about marriage-based visas.
When Can Somebody Get a Marriage-Based Visa?
You can get a visa based on marriage if you are a U.S. citizen and are married to or will marry the citizen of another country. A visa can allow your spouse to be a lawful permanent resident of the country.
Why Is This a Better Visa Than Other Options?
When you want to immigrate and become a resident of the United States, you generally have to meet specific criteria. For example, you may have to fit into specific categories of employment and you might have to have a job lined up. With a marriage-based visa, you can skip the line.
Can This Visa Lead to Citizenship?
Yes, somebody can move to the United State with a marriage-based visa and then become a citizen in the future. Each case is different, and it typically takes a few years to meet the requirement.
What Makes You Eligible for a Visa?
For a visa to be valid, you must be engaged to marry or married to a foreign national. You must also be able to have this person present in the United States, and they must not have a history of criminal or immigration issues that would make them not admissible into the country.
Why Should You Work With an Immigration Attorney?
You might think that the immigration process will be very easy to work through, but it's not necessarily as obvious as you think. It's very easy to miss deadlines or to misread something. It's possible that you might not realize which documents you need.
An attorney makes sure that you don't make a mistake and submit the wrong documents or miss out on a deadline that could cost you a visa. They streamline the process for you.
Speak With an Immigration Attorney
An immigration attorney can help you get marriage-based visas and other documentation in order. Once you go through this process, you can make better decisions for yourself and your spouse. An attorney helps you avoid any of the mistakes people make along the way.