green card holder to petition my non-citizen girlfriend

[alex_03 0]

hi guys! i'm a new member here and just found your site by browsing the net. To begin with, I am Green card holder since 2009 but since 2009 I go back here in the PI thrice.my first visit here took me 5 months, the 2nd one is 5 months and lastly my 3rd-i'm here in the PI and I stayed here since march 30, 2011 and plan to go back in the U.S on Jan. 2012.FYI, I already talk to the consul and approved my stay here up to jan. 2012. Here's my problem guys, coz I really don't have an idea, I have a GF here in the PI thats why I came here back & fort to U.S. I just got her pregnant now and that's really our plan.

The question is

*** can I marry her now and file a petition for her as my wife,knowing that I am still a green card holder? how long will it take b4 she can join me in the U.S? and what are the papers needed.

*** don't marry her, instead wait for my USC? How long will it take us to wait before I can get her?

thank you guys, and hoping that you could really help me coz i'm so much lost in here.

Edited October 15, 2011 by alex acuna

[aleful 1,905]

hi guys! i'm a new member here and just found your site by browsing the net. To begin with, I am Green card holder since 2009 but since 2009 I go back here in the PI thrice.my first visit here took me 5 months, the 2nd one is 5 months and lastly my 3rd-i'm here in the PI and I stayed here since march 30, 2011 and plan to go back in the U.S on Jan. 2012.FYI, I already talk to the consul and approved my stay here up to jan. 2012. Here's my problem guys, coz I really don't have an idea, I have a GF here in the PI thats why I came here back & fort to U.S. I just got her pregnant now and that's really our plan.

The question is

*** can I marry her now and file a petition for her as my wife,knowing that I am still a green card holder? how long will it take b4 she can join me in the U.S? and what are the papers needed.

*** don't marry her, instead wait for my USC? How long will it take us to wait before I can get her?

thank you guys, and hoping that you could really help me coz i'm so much lost in here.

If you marry and file now, the wait currently is more than 2 years, you will have to wait 3 more years until you are able to file for naturalization, 90 days before your 5 year date of being a LPR, you can file for citizenship.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

hi guys! i'm a new member here and just found your site by browsing the net. To begin with, I am Green card holder since 2009 but since 2009 I go back here in the PI thrice.my first visit here took me 5 months, the 2nd one is 5 months and lastly my 3rd-i'm here in the PI and I stayed here since march 30, 2011 and plan to go back in the U.S on Jan. 2012.FYI, I already talk to the consul and approved my stay here up to jan. 2012. Here's my problem guys, coz I really don't have an idea, I have a GF here in the PI thats why I came here back & fort to U.S. I just got her pregnant now and that's really our plan.

The question is

*** can I marry her now and file a petition for her as my wife,knowing that I am still a green card holder? how long will it take b4 she can join me in the U.S? and what are the papers needed.

*** don't marry her, instead wait for my USC? How long will it take us to wait before I can get her?

thank you guys, and hoping that you could really help me coz i'm so much lost in here.

An LPR can not file anything for a girlfriend (fiancee). Only a US citizen can file for a fiancee.

An LPR can file for a spouse. It takes about 2-3 years currently.

It will take at least another 3 years for you to be able to naturalize (5 years after you got your green card - 2009 to 2014) and become a US citizen.

The fastest way for you to bring your girlfriend and child to the US is to marry your girlfriend now and file for her while you are an LPR. She will likely be here before you become a US citizen.

Read the Guides: http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

If you plan to become a US citizen then you should probably also be careful about those extended trips outside the US. In addition to the requirement that you must have been a permanent resident for five years, there are also requirements for continuous residence and physical presence in the United States, both of which are also based on five year rules. You stop accumulating continuous residence when you've been outside the US for six months, and the clock starts over if you've been outside the US for more than a year. Your first two trips were ok, but you stopped accumulating continuous residence on this trip at the end of last month. That means you're not going to be eligible for US citizenship on the five year anniversary of getting your green card. At a minimum, you'll have to wait at least an extra four months.

You also need at least 30 months of physical presence in the previous five years. So far, it sounds like you've spent the bulk of the time you've been a permanent resident actually living outside the US. Besides not accumulating physical presence during that time, you're taking a risk that a CBP officer could presume you've abandoned your residence in the United States, and you could lose your green card. Be careful!

[alex_03 0]

tnx for the help.. really appreciate it guys.. sorry for the late reply.. i've been bc for the past week

[PD is Current. 50]

If your are out if the us more than 6 months out of a year

I think it breaks the 5 year count to become a USC

I'm not sure so look up the law

[sephiroh 0]

same situation here

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

If your are out if the us more than 6 months out of a year

I think it breaks the 5 year count to become a USC

I'm not sure so look up the law

Yes, the clock on accumulating 5 years continuous residence stops when you've been out of the US for six months. If you're out of the US for more than a year then the clock rewinds to zero, and you start over.