Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York

You can petition for her once you are married. Before filing any documents with USCIS, you may want to speak with an attorney to determine whether she is eligible to receive her green card. Note that you will have to file an affidavit of support with USCIS with your application for her, and depending on your income, you may need a joint sponsor.

Please note that content of this reply does not constitute legal advice or create an Attorney/Client relationship in the absence of an agreement for legal services/retainer with my office. This is just a place to start in deciding what to ask your lawyer.

You can petition for her even though her father petitioned for her previously and she is waiting for an immigrant visa number in connection with her father's petition. The spousal relationship is an immediate family relationship and therefore there is no wait for an immigrant visa typical of other family relationships. Your child support arrears may present an issue in terms of the affidavit of support aspect of the adjustment of status application. Therefore, depending on the particular facts of your case, you may need to obtain a joint sponsor for the application. You can file the marriage green card application immediately after you marry, but I highly suggest you discuss the particular details of your case with an immigration attorney before moving forward.

If you'd like assistance with this process, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or at 212-643-0985.

I also suggest reviewing the following page on my website for an overview of the process: Green Card Through Marriage.