Immigration Corner | What are my chances of getting a green card?

Dear Mrs Walker Huntington,

I am in a relationship with an American citizen. We have made plans to get married, but he would like me to get a visitor’s visa so I can get married and live with him in the US while waiting on my status to be adjusted, since the filing processing time can be lengthy for Jamaicans. However, I was denied a non-immigrant visa twice, one as recently as 2019. If I apply for a non-immigrant visa again and is denied, will this affect my chances of getting a green card?

– A.W.

Dear A.W.,

If a person enters the United States as a non-immigrant with the intention of changing their status once they are in the US, that change of status can be denied. First, if you enter the United States and make any attempts to change your status within 90 days of arrival, your petition will be denied. Second, even if you move to change your status after 90 days, if it can be proven that you arrived with an immigrant intent, your petition can be denied.

The filing period for Jamaicans is no different than the majority of petitions – the ones that are different actually take much longer. As the wife of an American citizen, that petition is an immediate relative petition and is handled as quickly as the paperwork efficiently makes its way through the processing. It usually takes nine months to a year from filing to an interview at the US Embassy in Kingston.

If you were denied US visas, and as recently as a year ago, it could be that the US Embassy does not consider that you have enough ties to Jamaica to which you would return. It appears that they are correct, as you have thought about getting the visa and not returning to Jamaica. Your fiancé can marry you in Jamaica and begin the filing process for you to join him in America as a permanent resident. In all your applications, please be truthful, because if misinformation is discovered at any stage of your interactions with the US Embassy, you could complicate matters with immigration fraud.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com