Immigration Corner | Is it wise to get married while I’m being filed for?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I would like to get married, but my mom is filing for me to live in the USA, where she is a citizen. If I get married, how will it affect the filing process?

PB

Dear PB,

This area of immigration is one of the most problematic in the family visa petitions.

When a parent files for an adult son/daughter, that filing is placed in a preference category according to the status of the parent and the status of the beneficiary son/daughter.

1. F1 – the over 21-year-old, unmarried son/daughter of a US citizen.

2. F2A – the under 21-year-old unmarried son/daughter of a green card holder.

3. F2B – the over 21-year-old unmarried son/daughter of a green card holder.

F3 – the married son/daughter of a US citizen.

Note: A green card holder cannot file for a married son/daughter.

You indicated that your US citizen mother filed for you as unmarred. This means you are in the F1 preference category, and visas are currently available in that category for persons who were filed for before July 8, 2015. You can get married during this filing process (because your mother is a US citizen). However, this will move you from the F1 to the F3 preference category. In the F3 category, visas are currently available for filings done prior to January 1, 2020. This means that it is currently taking five years longer for a married son/daughter of a US citizen than it is for a beneficiary who is unmarried to have a visa available for them to migrate to America.

If you wait to be married, once you receive your green card you can return to Jamaica, marry your fiancé, and file a petition for them to migrate to America. That category is currently taking three years. The decision to marry and change category and wait five years longer must be made by each person with the insight that, should your petitioner pass away during the filing process, it would lengthen the time frame by years to go through the humanitarian reinstatement process.

If you choose to marry, please ensure that you notify the US government and do not proceed as if you are single. Proceeding as single while married would amount to immigration fraud and ensure the permanent separation of you and your spouse, and could lead to your removal from the United States.

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 diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator, and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com