NON-PREFERENCE RELATIVES
These are called Immediate Relatives. These include children (the terms sons and daughters mean something else in immigration law), parents and spouses of U.S. citizens. You can sponsor (the real word is petition) for these people and they can enter much more rapidly than Preference relatives. However, a common problem immigration lawyers hear is that people want to marry someone and then bring them back to the U.S. That is not possible.
If you fall in love and marry someone, you will have two choices. You can apply for a Green Card directly and wait approximately a year, or apply for the K-3 visa in addition to your case and bring them in sooner. The K-3 is a catalyst, or speed-up visa. It allows you to wait in the United States for the Green Card to continue processing (as contrasted to waiting in your home country for its completion).
Another issue people do not realize, but is very serious in immigration law, is having their spouse enter from a foreign country and then apply for a Green Card once that person is here. Of course, just as in a fiancée visa case, as mentioned above, the person would have to deceive the officer at the border to enter. This is a violation of §214(b) and will keep you out of the country. Potentially there are immigration fraud issues. This may not sound like a big deal to many people, but for lawyers having to tackle the issue, be assured this is not one of the easier cases to overcome. It is a similar situation in immigration law when someone has their parent visit, making it look like a pleasure trip, when the true intent is to have them enter so that a Green Card can then be applied for. Beware of these immigration law issues as they can hurt you. Yes, it is possible to file the case and obtain a work permit (called an EAD or Employment Authorization Document), but at the time of the interview is where someone can leave with handcuffs. Don’t take chances with this dangerous area.
