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US Permanent Resident Status |
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Change of Status Once your Filipino Fiancée on a K-1 visa has arrived in the US and married you, or your Filipina spouse on her K-3 visa has entered the US, you will want to file a Form I-485 Change of Status for her. In this form she is the petitioner, and must sign the form, but in all likelihood you will have to help her fill it out. Along with the Form I-485, you will submit a new Form G-325 for her, and a Form I-854 Affidavit of Support. Never mind that you just filled out a similar Affidavit of Support in the Form I-385. The Form I-385 guarantees her support while she is on the K-1 or K-3 visa, while the Form I-854 guarantees her support after she obtains her permanent status (evidenced by her 'green' card - the cards are not green anymore, they are more pinkish-yellowish, but they are still commonly referred to as green cards). Along with these forms you will submit payment for the Change of Status, currently at the time of this writing $325, plus a $70 Biometric fee for fingerprinting. Never mind that she was fingerprinted at the US Embassy in Manila at her interview, and again at the port entry into the US by Immigration. She will be fingerprinted again for her permanent status. However, she will not have to have another physical exam, so that is not repeated. Fingerprinting About two weeks after submission of the above package, your spouse will receive a Form I-797 receipt and notice of where to appear for fingerprinting, usually at an Immigration service center nearest you. You must take all the Form I-797 notices relevant to I-130 petition and also all those for the Form I-485 Change of Status petition with you to the fingerprinting station, along with her passport, and, if she has one, her US driver's license of other picture ID card. Change of Status Interview Several weeks after the fingerprinting, your spouse will receive another Form I-797 notice to come in for an immigration interview. This is the final interview for her to receive her permanent status and "green card." It is a very important interview, and you and all your kids will be requested to attend with your alien spouse. The notice will advise you to bring the original and a copy of all documentation ever submitted by you or your spouse, along with all official responses and notices issued to you or your spouse in regard to the immigration petition. You might not need any of them, but then again, you might, so carefully prepare a file of originals and copies, and bring it with you for the interview. Also bring proof that you have married and are cohabitating, including originals and copies (the original is used for verifying the copy, and is returned to you.) This interview is very thorough, and the interviewing immigration officer will likely have reviewed the file carefully before calling all of you in the interview room. Much of the interview is asking you to verify information in the documentation, so you should carefully review and be familiar with what was stated in the documentation submitted. If you fudged any factual material on your submittal documents - make sure you fudge it the same way in the interview. If all goes well, your spouse will have her passport stamped at the end of the interview, and receive her "green card" in the mail in a couple of weeks. If you and your wife have been married less than two years, then she will have a two-year probation period to endure before she gets her final permanent status. If she separates, divorces, or annuls the marriage during the two-year probation, she could have her permanent status revoked. However, if she initiated action because you mistreated her, she could be allowed to stay. If you and your wife have been married more than two years, then there is no probation period. Her "green card" is valid for 10 years, and it is presumed that the holder will apply for US citizenship within the those ten years. However, an immigrant is not required to become a US citizen, and may remain a permanent resident alien and have the "green card" renewed. |
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