New Here, Question about Green Card Timeline

[prairiemermaid 0]

Hi there!

My boyfriend is Canadian. He's been in the US for about 4 years on work visas, sponsored by his employer. His current employer is sponsoring him to get his Green Card....he has the application stuff and plans to get that completed and sent in this week.

I was wondering two things:

1. What is the current average wait until he would get a Green Card for someone in his shoes? He's already here working legally on an H-1B visa....don't know if that matters at all.

2. If we got married while he's in this process for the Green Card, what effect, if any, would that have on his Green Card that is currently based on his H1-B status? Would it be faster if we got married or faster for him to do what he's already doing? Or would getting married just create complications we don't want?

Note: we can't live together full-time yet, because he works several states away from where I live and I have ties to where I'm living. He's tied to his location for now, because he's only allowed to be in the country to work because of his employer, so he can't quit and move to where I am. I do spend about half my time with him currently, and live with him when I'm there.

Thank you so much for any links, advice or experience you could share.

[Dan J 277]

Hi there!

My boyfriend is Canadian. He's been in the US for about 4 years on work visas, sponsored by his employer. His current employer is sponsoring him to get his Green Card....he has the application stuff and plans to get that completed and sent in this week.

I was wondering two things:

1. What is the current average wait until he would get a Green Card for someone in his shoes? He's already here working legally on an H-1B visa....don't know if that matters at all.

2. If we got married while he's in this process for the Green Card, what effect, if any, would that have on his Green Card that is currently based on his H1-B status? Would it be faster if we got married or faster for him to do what he's already doing? Or would getting married just create complications we don't want?

Note: we can't live together full-time yet, because he works several states away from where I live and I have ties to where I'm living. He's tied to his location for now, because he's only allowed to be in the country to work because of his employer, so he can't quit and move to where I am. I do spend about half my time with him currently, and live with him when I'm there.

Thank you so much for any links, advice or experience you could share.

1. 3 months to 3 years. Depending of he gets stuck in name checks or not. Although that is changing, the new policy will be to grant the GC after 6 months even if the name checks are not complete. But instead revoke the green card if the name check has failed.

2. It wont be faster to get married. I don't think there would be any complications if you did.

[pushbrk 13,263]

Hi there!

My boyfriend is Canadian. He's been in the US for about 4 years on work visas, sponsored by his employer. His current employer is sponsoring him to get his Green Card....he has the application stuff and plans to get that completed and sent in this week.

I was wondering two things:

1. What is the current average wait until he would get a Green Card for someone in his shoes? He's already here working legally on an H-1B visa....don't know if that matters at all.

2. If we got married while he's in this process for the Green Card, what effect, if any, would that have on his Green Card that is currently based on his H1-B status? Would it be faster if we got married or faster for him to do what he's already doing? Or would getting married just create complications we don't want?

Note: we can't live together full-time yet, because he works several states away from where I live and I have ties to where I'm living. He's tied to his location for now, because he's only allowed to be in the country to work because of his employer, so he can't quit and move to where I am. I do spend about half my time with him currently, and live with him when I'm there.

Thank you so much for any links, advice or experience you could share.

1. 3 months to 3 years. Depending of he gets stuck in name checks or not. Although that is changing, the new policy will be to grant the GC after 6 months even if the name checks are not complete. But instead revoke the green card if the name check has failed.

2. It wont be faster to get married. I don't think there would be any complications if you did.

I don't see any complications or other impact as a result of marriage during this process.

[prairiemermaid 0]

Hi there!

My boyfriend is Canadian. He's been in the US for about 4 years on work visas, sponsored by his employer. His current employer is sponsoring him to get his Green Card....he has the application stuff and plans to get that completed and sent in this week.

I was wondering two things:

1. What is the current average wait until he would get a Green Card for someone in his shoes? He's already here working legally on an H-1B visa....don't know if that matters at all.

2. If we got married while he's in this process for the Green Card, what effect, if any, would that have on his Green Card that is currently based on his H1-B status? Would it be faster if we got married or faster for him to do what he's already doing? Or would getting married just create complications we don't want?

Note: we can't live together full-time yet, because he works several states away from where I live and I have ties to where I'm living. He's tied to his location for now, because he's only allowed to be in the country to work because of his employer, so he can't quit and move to where I am. I do spend about half my time with him currently, and live with him when I'm there.

Thank you so much for any links, advice or experience you could share.

1. 3 months to 3 years. Depending of he gets stuck in name checks or not. Although that is changing, the new policy will be to grant the GC after 6 months even if the name checks are not complete. But instead revoke the green card if the name check has failed.

2. It wont be faster to get married. I don't think there would be any complications if you did.

I don't see any complications or other impact as a result of marriage during this process.

Thanks for the quick replies! :-)

When you say 3 months to 3 years. . .but then you mention name checks and granting the GC after 6 months regardless of name check...what does that mean? When does the "new" policy go into effect? Does that mean he's going to have his GC in 6 months at the latest? (His last name and first name are unusual, I don't know if that makes a difference.)

Is the average wait 1 1/2 years? What makes someone get the GC in 3 months versus someone getting it in 3 years?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for the answers! :-)

[prairiemermaid 0]

Hi there!

My boyfriend is Canadian. He's been in the US for about 4 years on work visas, sponsored by his employer. His current employer is sponsoring him to get his Green Card....he has the application stuff and plans to get that completed and sent in this week.

I was wondering two things:

1. What is the current average wait until he would get a Green Card for someone in his shoes? He's already here working legally on an H-1B visa....don't know if that matters at all.

2. If we got married while he's in this process for the Green Card, what effect, if any, would that have on his Green Card that is currently based on his H1-B status? Would it be faster if we got married or faster for him to do what he's already doing? Or would getting married just create complications we don't want?

Note: we can't live together full-time yet, because he works several states away from where I live and I have ties to where I'm living. He's tied to his location for now, because he's only allowed to be in the country to work because of his employer, so he can't quit and move to where I am. I do spend about half my time with him currently, and live with him when I'm there.

Thank you so much for any links, advice or experience you could share.

1. 3 months to 3 years. Depending of he gets stuck in name checks or not. Although that is changing, the new policy will be to grant the GC after 6 months even if the name checks are not complete. But instead revoke the green card if the name check has failed.

2. It wont be faster to get married. I don't think there would be any complications if you did.

I don't see any complications or other impact as a result of marriage during this process.

Thanks for the quick replies! :-)

When you say 3 months to 3 years. . .but then you mention name checks and granting the GC after 6 months regardless of name check...what does that mean? When does the "new" policy go into effect? Does that mean he's going to have his GC in 6 months at the latest? (His last name and first name are unusual, I don't know if that makes a difference.)

Is the average wait 1 1/2 years? What makes someone get the GC in 3 months versus someone getting it in 3 years?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for the answers! :-)

Just bumping in hopes of more information. Thanks!

[Erin and Muraari 0]

See my answer to your other post as well, but you can go through the AOS marriage based process while on an H1B, just some things you need to be careful about.

Now was your boyfriend born in Canada? If so it is conceivable that the employment based process through his employer may not take that long. It might be easier to do given your lvining situation (where for the marriage based process it makes things difficult.. not impossible just difficult if you arent living together in terms of proving the bonafides of your marriage). If on the other hand he was born in say the Phillipines or India (regardless of citizenship), then without a doubt the marriage petition is the way to go given the timeframe.

Hi there!

My boyfriend is Canadian. He's been in the US for about 4 years on work visas, sponsored by his employer. His current employer is sponsoring him to get his Green Card....he has the application stuff and plans to get that completed and sent in this week.

I was wondering two things:

1. What is the current average wait until he would get a Green Card for someone in his shoes? He's already here working legally on an H-1B visa....don't know if that matters at all.

2. If we got married while he's in this process for the Green Card, what effect, if any, would that have on his Green Card that is currently based on his H1-B status? Would it be faster if we got married or faster for him to do what he's already doing? Or would getting married just create complications we don't want?

Note: we can't live together full-time yet, because he works several states away from where I live and I have ties to where I'm living. He's tied to his location for now, because he's only allowed to be in the country to work because of his employer, so he can't quit and move to where I am. I do spend about half my time with him currently, and live with him when I'm there.

Thank you so much for any links, advice or experience you could share.