Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Lee
If you get a mail order bride, I think a pre-nup is a must. I also believe Green Cards are conditional on the marriage being entered by both parties with no intentions of fraud. So, if a woman were to leave a guy as soon as she got her Green Card, he would be able to file some kind of complaint and she could have it yanked.
|
Dude, No. That statement is wildly inaccurate. IME, very few Americans actually have any idea of what is involved, unless they go through the process themselves (like for their fiance) - and the widely-believed myths and misconceptions are quite astonishing.
The granting of a Green Card (and they're actually pink and have been for decades) means that they've been approved as a permanent resident. They've
already passed all the tests and have nothing left to prove - there is no requirement to remain married after that.
(Recent - like in the last 10 years - legislation means they could potentially get their Green Card revoked for offences like DUI or stealing a car - in some cases being deported back to countries they haven't been in since they were a toddler. There's no time limit on that).
In fact, IIRC, in certain cases (like abuse), a spousal partner could be separated and in divorce proceedings and still granted residency.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Deschodt
Like I said in that case she waited 4 looong miserable years ;-) That's green card + 2 or something...
|
The INS as-used-to-be - now an off-shoot of Homeland Security, probably take about that long to process an application these days - which also costs not insubstantial 1000's in filing and legal fees.
It took over two years to get to an immediate family-sponsored Green Card (the highest "normal" priority in the queue, BTW) interview in 2000. Granting of status normally doesn't take very long after the interview.
By way of contrast, a US Citizen spouse can get a UK resident stamp for $150 in less than 10 days - for what is effectively the same thing..
FYI, that 4 years the woman spent in the country was long enough to permit her to apply for citizenship, IIRC - which she would be eligible to do, as soon as she had permanent residancy.
BTW, I'm not a lawyer, but I did itemize $24,000 one year for several of them, and I know certain very specific aspects of US Immigration law really quite well - in fact, better than most para-legals.
Ha. Another observation about lawyers - they're very much like Porsche workshops, in that you will pay pretty much exactly the same hourly rate for a really, really, good one as you do for a sloppy haphazard job that costs you big $$$$ to sort out properly later on.