QUESTION
What steps do I need to take to marry my girlfriend on a j1 visa?
Asked on Feb 04th, 2013 on Immigration - Colorado
More details to this question:
My girlfriend is here on a J1 visa from Peru doing an internship. We would like to get married but we do not know the steps we should take to make sure we do it legally.
3 ANSWERS
Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney serving New York, NY
Partner at
Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law
3 Awards
To become married, you can simply register before the civil registrar in your municipality or go through a religious ceremony. Regardless of which, you should have photographs taken of the occasion. When you later file for your wife's paperwork, an immigration officer will likely wish to see the pictures. If you have a religious ceremony, you should have the official certificate of marriage from the state before filing for your wife. Finally you should ascertain whether she is subject to a two-year foreign residence requirement because of her acceptance of a J-1 visa. That can be ascertained by examining both her visa and her form DS – 2019. If subject, the visa will say "subject to section 212(e) or the DS – 2019 will have checkmarks in the lower left section as to whether she is subject by way of a skills list or governmental financing. Being subject to a two-year foreign residence requirement means that your wife would not be eligible to file for final immigration either in the U. S. or overseas at an American consulate or embassy until she has either been overseas for 2 years or has obtained a waiver of the foreign residence requirement. We note that Peru has an extensive skills list (a listing of those skills that a country designates as wanted back). If she is subject, the first step would probably be to approach Peru’s consulate or Embassy in the U.S. to request a no objection statement to staying in the U.S.
Answered on Feb 22nd, 2013 at 6:19 PM
The first key is to determine if your girlfriend is subject to the J-1 two year home residency requirement. One of the most significant drawbacks of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa Program is that foreign nationals who participate in a J-1 exchange program may be subject to a two-year home residence requirement. This rule prohibits certain J-1 exchange visitors from changing to certain other nonimmigrant classifications, or obtaining an immigrant visa, until he or she has spent two years in their home country. However, a waiver may be obtained for this requirement in certain situations.
One initial way to obtain a sense if she is subject is to look at the visa in her passport. On the bottom left, does it read that bearer is subject to 212(e)? If yes, she may be subject to the two year home residency requirement, but that should still be checked to ensure it is correct. You can also look on her DS-2019 paperwork. You can also look at the Exchange-Visitor Skills list under Peru to see if her J-1 program falls under a two year home residency requirement.
If it does not apply, she may be eligible to pursue permanent resident status from within the U.S.based on marriage to a U.S.citizen. This is generally known as the adjustment of status process and requires filing the I-130, I-485, I-765 (work permission), I-131, I-864 affidavit of support, I-693 medical etc. See:
http://www.familytousa.com/green-card-through-marriage-ad/
You could also look at processing green card paperwork for her while she is outside of the U.S. through immigrant visa processing. See:
http://www.familytousa.com/i-130-immediate-relative/
http://www.familytousa.com/immigrant-visa-processingconsu/
Regards,
Andrew M. Wilson, Esq.
Serotte Reich Wilson, LLP
www.srwlawyers.com
awilson@srwlawyers.com
Answered on Feb 07th, 2013 at 6:27 PM
Dear Jared: As long as your girlfriend is not subject to the 2-year home return requirement for some J's if she marries a USC you can file a relative petition for her and she can concurrently file for Permanent Residence, work and travel cards. If you will email me at psb@barnett-lawgroup.com I'll send you a summary.
Pam Barnett
Answered on Feb 04th, 2013 at 3:42 PM