Hi guys,

I am a Canadian citizen in his second year of medicine at University College Dublin in Ireland. I want to do an internal medicine residency in the US and eventually practice medicine in the US. I am well versed in my visa options for my residency in the US but quite frankly, I am not very enthusiatic about any of them. The H1-B visa is very difficult to get and the J-1 visa requires that I go back to Canada for 2 years after finishing my residency (I realize I could get a J-1 visa waiver but it is my impression that this is hard to get too).

I have been looking for ways to do my residency on a different type of visa and my friend suggested an alternative way that I wanted to run past you guys to see if its realistic. My Canadian girlfriend of 4 years is currently doing her nursing degree and will finish 2 years before I finish my med degree. If she went down to the US and started working towards a greencard immediately after her nursing degree (I understand it takes 12-18 months), would I automatically get a greencard when she gets her greencard if I married her before she gets her greencard? We have been talking about marriage recently and if I knew this was an option we would plan our marriage before she went to the US. I would also hold off on getting a J-1 or H1-B for my residency and would wait until I got my greencard before I applied for residency in the US. Should I marry her before or after she gets her greencard? How long would it take for me to get my greencard if I could get it?

Thanks guys

No

Take it from someone who has been dealing with green card issues for 7+ years. My wife just finally got hers. But the only way you can sponsor someone into the US is once you get your citizenship. If your wife had a green card, she would need to reside in the US for 2.5 out of the next 5 years to be eligible for citizenship status, at which time she could then sponsor you for YOUR green card.

__________________
bleh

Hey tRmedic21,

Thanks for the advice. I am confused though because I went to the official US immigration website (http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/servic...ncy/family.htm) where it said this......

- If you are a lawful permanent resident (have a greencard) you may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the United States; however you must be able to provide proof of the relationships:

1)Husband or wife; or
2)Unmarried son or daughter of any age.

I have also had quite a few friends tell me that if your wife includes you in her greencard paper work and you are married to her before she gets it then you generally get a greencard as well.

I could be wrong but the preceding evidence is quite convincing for me. Am I missing anyting?

Hey tRmedic21,

I spoke with two different immigration lawyers yesterday during phone consultations about this matter. They said it is definately possible. As long as I marry my girlfriend before she actually receives her greencard I can receive a greencard 4-5 months after she gets hers. They said I would have no problem. After she receives her greencard the lawyer files a "following-to-Join Benefits for Spouses petition". As long as my security check clears I will receive a green card 4-5 months later. So she will receive her green card 6-12 months after she arrives in the US for a nursing job (which apparently she will easily get as their is a nursing shortage in the US) and then I will receive mine 5 months later. This is about 17 months worse case scenario. This means if I marry her within the next two and a half years and she begins the process it will work because she graduates 2 years before me (granted the laws dont change which the immigration lawyers predicted would not). I have included an excerpt from the official US immigration website on the "following-to-Join Benefits for spouses." Perhaps you didnt qualify for this because your spouse didnt receive her greencard for one of the 4 reasons stated below. If she did you should hire an immigration lawyer immediately to see if you can get a greencard.

This law makes sense because if I nursing hospital wants to hire a Canadian nurse to work she is not going to come over if she has a husband in Canada already! So the US government has added this Following-to-Join Benefits clause for Spouses so that the hospital can intice the nurse to come over and fill their nurse shortage since she is allowed to bring her spouse. Conversely, if the nurse is already set up in the US with a greencard and then marries someone AFTER, the US is not too concerned because the hospital has already gotten the nurse so it will take her 4-5 years to get her husband a greencard and come over.

I could still be wrong about this (assuming the 2 immigration lawyers are wrong and I miss-interpreted the US website) so any input from anybody would still be appreciated. I hope this information may help you tRmedic21.

Following-to-Join Benefits for Spouses
Please note: This section is only applicable to lawful permanent residents who did not gain their LPR status as an immediate relative (parent, spouse, or unmarried child under 21 years of age) of a U.S. citizen.
If you were married before you became a lawful permanent resident, and your spouse did not physically accompany you to the U.S., your spouse may be eligible for following-to-join benefits. This means that you do not have to submit a separate Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for your spouse, and your spouse will not have to wait any extra time for a visa number to become available. In this case, you may simply notify a U.S. Consulate that you are a lawful permanent resident so that your spouse can apply for an immigrant visa. Your spouse may be eligible for following-to-join benefits if your relationship still exists and if one of the following is applicable:

• You received a diversity immigrant visa
• You received an employment-based immigrant visa
• You received an immigrant visa based on your relationship to your U.S. citizen sibling
• You received an immigrant visa based on your relationship to your U.S. citizen parent when you were already married

(For information on following-to-join benefits for children of lawful permanent residents, please see Petitioning Procedures: Bringing a Child to Live in the United States.)
If you fall into one of these categories, please submit the following information to the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:

• Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition
• A copy of the original application or petition that was used to apply for your immigrant status
• A copy of the I-797, Notice of Action, for your original application or petition
• A copy of your alien registration receipt card or I-551

If the I-824 is approved, the USCIS will notify a U.S. consulate that you are a lawful permanent resident so that your spouse can apply for a following-to-join immigrant visa. Your spouse must then contact the local U.S. consulate to complete the processing.
You should file the I-824 at the USCIS office that took the most recent action on your case.

YOU NEED TO MARRY FIRST your GF/fiancee before she apply here in US as a nurse using an employment based visa(EB visa) that would give your soon to be wife a permanent resident card or in layman's term "greencard" becoz if your GF/fiancee will apply here in US as a single/not married and she was given a greencard by the hospital & she was married to you after getting her greencard you will wait until she become US citizen before you can come here in States to be w/ her..so better to marry her first ok..

She can petition you. when she gets her green card.......However the problem is, if she is able to enter the US on a permanent resident (green card) visa status. A year or two ago, USCIS have been running out on visa availability for nurses, so most of those that came in the US (after the visa availability ran out) defaulted back to H1B.....and then later that year because of the nurses using up the H1B visa availability....guess what the H1B visa numbers ran out tooo...... which created shortages of nursing staff in the whole US and not only that affected the tech sector too because USCIS cant issue anymore H1B's than what congress allowed them.

Good thing is, even on an H1B hospitals do not hesitate to petition for a green card........While on the process, prior to getting your green card, you can apply for an EAD. If you are both married, she can include you in the process when she "adjusts" her status from an H1B to a permanent resident. Once she has adjusted status with you included in it (as well as getting the EAD) it's like you already have a green card (because you can now work anywhere in the US) but not really yet a green card holder (because you do not yet have your card). Like being stuck in between. Through the "adjustment of status route, you will however, receive your green cards at the same time

Thing is.... it is to your advantage to be married to her early on, if you wanna go through her route. Also, have her apply early before the availability runs out!!!!!!

At present the tech sector is strongly lobbying for congress to increase the visa number availability for H1B, which congress voted to decrease sometime in 1997. Cross your fingers that they be successful.

wow, this maeks me appreciate being a 'yank' just a little bit more. now all we have to do is get rid of george w. and it might not be so bad to be an american again.

Hello all, My wife won a green card in the DV lottery and we got married thereafter (bad timing, we know...). She is a registered nurse in the UK and we want to immigrate to the USA. My question is: Due to the fact that my wife is a nurse can we shorten the time until i get a visa/workpermit for the USA? Many Thanks in advance!!

USCIS works within their own time. It depends on how much stuff has already been filed (that wwere ahead of yours) they have to process, and which Centers your papers will be processed at.

I dunno if they have like a fast-track service. As fas I know there's non. I could be wrong tho.......

Hey, it is quite a distinction being able to claim the worlds most stupid president.