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Immigration to the U.S. thread
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Immigration to the U.S. thread

I’m starting this thread to hopefully help guys who wish to understand U.S. immigration laws, for example, if you’re in the U.S. and wish to marry a girl abroad, or if you’re not an American but might want to live or work in the U.S. I figure that if guys have specific questions, they can post or direct message me and I’ll try to help. We can also cover some politics if you want. This is information only and should not be considered legal advice.

Marrying a girl – green card sponsorship

This assumes that you’re an American citizen. If you only have a green card, some of these options may not be available.

If you’re enjoying yourself abroad and meet a girl with whom you’d like to get married, you can bring her to the U.S.

Option 1 – if she has a visa to the U.S. already (usually a tourist visa), she can come to the U.S. with her visa. You can either get married abroad beforehand, or you can get married in the U.S. You then apply for her green card – a process called adjustment of status. You have to show that it’s a real marriage, and not entered into solely for the purpose of her getting a green card (also called a business marriage, or a green card marriage). So you show photos together, joint bank account statements, you sent her money abroad, joint residence, etc.
Some people are willing to enter into green card marriages. The rate seems to be at least $10,000. In my eyes, the fair value should be more like $40,000.

Option 2 – she doesn’t have a visa, and you get married abroad. This is a slower process than option one. After filing the petition for her, you might expect about a year’s wait before she is in the U.S. with her green card. You file the form I-130 and some other forms, showing that it’s a real marriage, etc. She has her immigrant visa (green card) interview at the U.S. embassy/consulate abroad. If approved, she enters the U.S. with an immigrant visa, and USCIS mails her the green card. Option 1 is preferable to option 2, generally.

Option 3 – fiancé visa. This takes about a year also, and she has an interview at the consulate/embassy abroad. She enters the U.S. with a fiancé visa and you have 90 days to get married. You then file her adjustment of status forms and you have a second interview in the U.S. If you pass, she gets a green card.

For all of these options, the fees will run around $2,000. You have to show that you have sufficient income to support her. For a family of two, that’s currently around $20,300. If you don’t make that much, you can show significant assets instead. Or you can have someone else be the sponsor, but they must be a U.S. citizen or have a green card.

After having a green card for three years, she can apply for U.S. citizenship.

If she gets a green card within two years of your marriage, she’ll have to file an I-751 about two years after she gets her green card. This is to remove the conditions on her green card – basically to show USCIS that it’s a real marriage and that you’re still together.

After she’s a U.S. citizen, she can petition for her parents, brothers and sisters, half-brother and half-sisters, and any children. A lot of girls will bring their mother to the U.S. to take care of the kids while she works. If she brings her dad, usually he sits around the house and refuses to learn English.

Temporarily visiting the U.S. (no green card/citizenship)

These are just some of the more common options.

Temporary visas run the gamut, from a B2 visitor’s visa (tourist visa) to a student visa to an E investment visa. If you’re from a developed democracy, you likely won’t need a visa (you enter on a visa waiver), but you may still need to apply for an ESTA account online before flying to the U.S. Canadians don’t need ESTA.

B2 tourist visa – you generally will only get a B2 visa if you have money. You can apply for the visa online but have to go to an interview at the local U.S. embassy/consulate in your country. They will give you the visa, generally speaking, only if you have very good reasons to go back home after your visit, i.e., a good job, married back home, young children, etc. But mostly it’s about a good job/being middle class or upper class.

B1 temporary business visa – basically the same as a B2, except that you’re coming to the U.S. to conduct temporary business, like seeing clients, holding meetings, attending a conference, etc.

E1/E2 investment visa – not every country’s citizens can do this. Check if your country is on the list. If you have money, you can invest in a business in the U.S., and stay in the U.S. for a while. You can invest in your own business, or someone else’s. Also check out the entrepreneur visa.

E3 visa – for Australians. This visa was set up for Australians only, after Australia supported the U.S. in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It allows Australians to work in the U.S.

H-1b visa – the idea for the H-1b is for high-skilled foreign workers to fill knowledge/skill gaps in the American economy (that is, when American workers can’t satisfy all of the needs of the employment market, like in engineering). They only give out 65,000 H-1b visas each year as a general rule, but you can go above that number if you have a master’s degree or if you’re sponsored by a university, non-profit organization, etc. The general path that students take to try to stay/work in the U.S. is: student visa (four years, six years, etc.) --> optional practical training (OPT) work authorization for maybe a year to gain work experience --> sponsorship by the same company for an H-1b work visa --> sponsorship by that company for an employment green card. It’s generally a really difficult process. Compare that to Canada, for example, where people who finish university in Canada on a student visa generally have a good path to permanent residence and eventually Canadian citizenship.

Student visas – F student visa, J student visa, M student visa, etc. The most common student visa is the F student visa. You can apply for the student visa after you’ve been accepted into an American university. You have to show that you have sufficient finances to support yourself for the next year or few years.

H-2b work visa – this visa is for temporary workers who serve to fill temporary employment needs, seasonal demand, etc. Think ski lift operators in Colorado during the winter.

L visa – for those already working in their home country for transfer to a company branch in the U.S. Must be a management position.


EB5 investment visa – buy a green card

You can buy a green card for $1,000,000 if you invest in the U.S. Or you only need $500,000 if you invest in a rural area, or an area with high unemployment. Apply for U.S. citizenship five years later.

Employment green card sponsorship

It’s generally difficult to get a green card through employment. You generally have to show that there is no American worker who can do the job. Realistically, you’re not going to get a green card through employment unless you have very special skills. Like STEM, a physician, etc. You can also sponsor your own employment green card, but you have to be really exceptional.

Join the military

If you’re in the U.S. temporarily on a visa, you may be able to join the U.S. military and immediately become an American citizen. It’s called the MAVNI program. MAVNI is currently closed to new enlistees, but they may open it back up again one day. The military might accept you if you have special skills like you’re a doctor, a nurse, etc., or if you speak a certain language (Chinese, Arabic, Russian, etc.).

Miscellaneous

Birthright citizenship – nearly everyone born in the U.S. is a U.S. citizen. There are some limited exceptions, like if you’re the progeny of foreign invaders, or the child of a diplomat. Birthright citizenship comes from the 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution, which was passed to ensure that citizenship was never again denied to black people after the U.S. civil war. That’s part of the reason that immigration reform is such a contentious issue, because for example, if you start to talk about getting rid of birthright citizenship for the progeny of people who sneak across the border, it means that you’re going up against the 14th Amendment, and that you therefore hate black people.

Working holiday visas for Americans abroad – Americans can apply for their own special work visas abroad in certain countries. Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Ireland, and maybe some other countries all allow American citizens to work temporarily. Though these visas are generally greatly inferior to the options available to Europeans, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, etc.

That’s all for now. Maybe I’ll write some more later. Guys with specific questions can feel free to post here or direct message me.
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