What is the best visa to come live temporarily with GC holder?

[fpwl 1]

 

Hey guys, my boss is a GC holder for less than 2 years ( She got her green card through a work visa ), her boyfriend is a French citizen that had already visited the US with ESTA, but he lives in France.

 

If he wants to come stay 2-3 years with her in the US, what Visa/Visas do you recommend? Is it even worth applying for a GC ( in case they decided to get married first )

 

Thanks

[appleblossom 2,319]

7 minutes ago, fpwl said:

 

Hey guys, my boss is a GC holder for less than 2 years ( She got her green card through a work visa ), her boyfriend is a French citizen that had already visited the US with ESTA, but he lives in France.

 

If he wants to come stay 2-3 years with her in the US, what Visa/Visas do you recommend? Is it even worth applying for a GC ( in case they decided to get married first )

 

Thanks

If they get married, she can petition him for an immigrant visa. It’ll take many years. 
 

If not, then he’ll need to qualify for a visa in his own right. What does he do for a job? 

[fpwl 1]

5 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

If they get married, she can petition him for an immigrant visa. It’ll take many years. 
 

If not, then he’ll need to qualify for a visa in his own right. What does he do for a job? 

 

he is retired!

[appleblossom 2,319]

2 minutes ago, fpwl said:

 

he is retired!

 

Ah. So employment based visas are out. Investment based if he has the cash for an EB-5? 

 

If not, then marriage is probably their only option. It would be much quicker for her to petition a spouse as a citizen, rather than a green card holder, but looks like she's still 3 years off being able to apply to naturalize.

Edited October 15 by appleblossom

[SalishSea 17,736]

2 hours ago, fpwl said:

 

Hey guys, my boss is a GC holder for less than 2 years ( She got her green card through a work visa ), her boyfriend is a French citizen that had already visited the US with ESTA, but he lives in France.

 

If he wants to come stay 2-3 years with her in the US, what Visa/Visas do you recommend? Is it even worth applying for a GC ( in case they decided to get married first )

 

Thanks

No such visa exists.  If they marry, she can petition him for an immigrant visa (F2A), but he cannot live here in the years it takes for a visa to become available (that class is numerically limited).  Like anyone with an ESTA, he can visit per CBP discretion, but under no circumstance should he overstay or work on ESTA.

[fpwl 1]

16 hours ago, SalishSea said:

No such visa exists.  If they marry, she can petition him for an immigrant visa (F2A), but he cannot live here in the years it takes for a visa to become available (that class is numerically limited).  Like anyone with an ESTA, he can visit per CBP discretion, but under no circumstance should he overstay or work on ESTA.

 

but if they get married, for example, today, and she applies for his GC, tomorrow....does it take a long time until he get a work permit / travel permit while Green Card is pending? I mean, coz then he could stay in the US ( and be able to travel to France ) while GC is pending....

 

ps: he doesnt want to work in the US, but I know while GC is pending people can live here )

 

 

 

Edited October 16 by fpwl
wrong info

[fpwl 1]

18 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

Ah. So employment based visas are out. Investment based if he has the cash for an EB-5? 

 

If not, then marriage is probably their only option. It would be much quicker for her to petition a spouse as a citizen, rather than a green card holder, but looks like she's still 3 years off being able to apply to naturalize.

 

investment based he can't do it . he wants to buy a house for her in the US

what about a F1 ( student visa )?

[milimelo 4,463]

1 minute ago, fpwl said:

 

but if they get married, for example, today, and she applies for his GC, tomorrow....does it take a long time until he get a work permit / travel permit while Green Card is pending? I mean, coz then he could stay in the US ( and be able to travel to France ) while GC is pending....

 

ps: he doesnt want to work in the US, but I know while GC is pending people can live here )

 

 

 

There is NO option for someone who's being petitioned by a green card holder to hang around the US while the process is underway which will be several years. Reminder that overstay is NOT forgiven for family members of green card holders. 

 

 

[appleblossom 2,319]

9 minutes ago, fpwl said:

 

investment based he can't do it . he wants to buy a house for her in the US

what about a F1 ( student visa )?

 

He can try, him being from France helps, but not sure it would be enough to overcome him being retired and having a US based gf. Roughly how old is he? When you say retired I'm picturing somebody in his 60's, but of course he could have retired at 25! 

 

But he can apply, just bear in mind that if it's refused then he'll have to redo his ESTA and declare the visa denial, which will likely take away the option of the VWP for a while too. 

 

It may be easier to just go straight to marriage and an IV application if they're sure they want to get married - might be worth suggesting your boss signs up to VJ herself to get info on all options. 

 

 

Edited October 16 by appleblossom

[SalishSea 17,736]

2 hours ago, fpwl said:

 

investment based he can't do it . he wants to buy a house for her in the US

what about a F1 ( student visa )?

Student visa?   I thought you said he was retired?

[SalishSea 17,736]

2 hours ago, fpwl said:

 

but if they get married, for example, today, and she applies for his GC, tomorrow....does it take a long time until he get a work permit / travel permit while Green Card is pending? I mean, coz then he could stay in the US ( and be able to travel to France ) while GC is pending....

 

ps: he doesnt want to work in the US, but I know while GC is pending people can live here )

 

 

 

Nope, doesn’t work that way, sorry.   Why are you so invested in the situation of a “friend”?   

[fpwl 1]

5 hours ago, SalishSea said:

8 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

He can try, him being from France helps, but not sure it would be enough to overcome him being retired and having a US based gf. Roughly how old is he? When you say retired I'm picturing somebody in his 60's, but of course he could have retired at 25! 

 

But he can apply, just bear in mind that if it's refused then he'll have to redo his ESTA and declare the visa denial, which will likely take away the option of the VWP for a while too. 

 

It may be easier to just go straight to marriage and an IV application if they're sure they want to get married - might be worth suggesting your boss signs up to VJ herself to get info on all options. 

 

 

Student visa?   I thought you said he was retired?

 

They really don't wanna get married ( that would be the last last option ), we are just here today talking and trying to figure out the best visa for him to come... I thought about Student Visa because that allows you to stay in the US while you attend an English school... age is 64....

 

5 hours ago, SalishSea said:

Nope, doesn’t work that way, sorry.   Why are you so invested in the situation of a “friend”?   

because I like this topic

Edited October 17 by fpwl
information extra

[fpwl 1]

5 hours ago, SalishSea said:

Student visa?   I thought you said he was retired?

 

he is retired. But he needs a visa to "live" in the US....if he came to a language school he could get a visa to study english, something like that.... since GC is not a option!

 

Edited October 17 by fpwl
error

[Boiler 45,292]

EB5 allows him to buy a GC

[OldUser 6,455]

58 minutes ago, fpwl said:

 

he is retired. But he needs a visa to "live" in the US....if he came to a language school he could get a visa to study english, something like that.... since GC is not a option!

 

Convincing embassy staff he's coming to study at age of 64 is going to be a difficult task with almost certain outcome - denial.

 

He cannot do what he wants, live in the US indefinitely without a valid path.

 

There's only four ways of coming to the US on permanent basis:

 

- Employment

- Asylum

- Visa diversity program (Green Card Lottery)

- Sponsorship by spouse, parent, child or sibling (siblings are out of the question due to super long wait)