If I’m A U.S. Citizen, What Documents Should I Prepare For My Spouse To Immigrate?

Petitioning for a spouse is always potentially complicated because you have to prove that it’s a real relationship and not just a sham for immigration purposes. Proving your U.S. citizenship is probably pretty easy because you’ll have your birth or naturalization certificate. Proving that the marriage exists is also pretty easy because you’ll show your marriage certificate. Any documents that are in a foreign language need to be translated, and you need to submit both the translation and the original. If either of you has been married before, you need the divorce or death certificate, whichever document shows that the previous marriage was terminated before you entered the current one.

Are The Documents Needed For Other Family-Based Immigration Petitions Similar?

The required documents would be similar. You have to remember that the U.S. government is not going to just take your word for it that you are who you say you are and that you’re related to this person how you say you are. Everything that you’re claiming needs some piece of paper that says it’s true. The more neutral and official the source that paper comes from, the better.

To prove a parent-child relationship, a birth certificate produced by the government is always the best thing. In some countries, however, those don’t exist or have only been introduced recently. Maybe you only have the baptism certificate for a child who was baptized a few days after they were born. As proof, that’s helpful, but it’s not as good as a government-issued certificate. The church is still a sort of neutral authority, one that wouldn’t have any incentive to help you lie, and they’re in the habit of creating these kinds of records for their own purposes to track who’s in their congregation.

In the worst-case scenario, you might have to get affidavits from your friends and family, who would need to say: “Yes, I was there at the birth, and I saw the baby come out,” or, “I wasn’t at the birth, but the mom introduced me to the baby a day after he was born. I saw that they lived together and she treated him in all the ways that a mother would normally treat her child.”

While Their Immigration Application Is Pending, Can My Family Member Come To The United States?

Generally, they cannot come here. As far as the immigrant visa itself goes, that will not be granted until the process is complete. In theory, there is no rule against them getting a tourist visa or any other sort of status that they might qualify for, but you do have to be careful doing that. The government distinguishes between immigrant intent, which is an intent to come here and live here, versus non-immigrant intent, which is an intent to come here for some limited purpose or limited time before returning to your home country. Applying for any kind of non-immigrant visa while you have a green card process going on can make them kind of suspicious; they might think that you’re trying to come here to perhaps jump the line and that you’re not actually going to go back to your home country like you’re supposed to if you get a tourist visa.

So, they’ll be suspicious of it on the front end, and then, if you do come and don’t actually leave, that can really cause you a lot of problems. Then, they’ll believe that you applied for your non-immigrant visa fraudulently with the intent to not leave and that you lied to them about your intent. In conclusion, while bringing them here can be done, you need to understand that their visa may be denied. If you do get a tourist visa, a student visa, or any other kind of non-immigrant visa, you need to be very careful to obey all the rules and conditions of that visa.

How Will Immigration Determine That My Assets Are Sufficient To Meet The Financial Support Requirements For My Family Member’s Petition?

They look at your income from your tax returns, your W2s, and sometimes your current paystubs. Tax returns are good because they provide the opposite incentive of this requirement. When people file their taxes, they want to make their income look as low as possible so they can pay less in taxes, so you don’t have the same incentive to inflate your income as you might when you’re sponsoring someone. A tax return is a more honest document, and that’s why they look at it. If your income is high enough, that often is enough, but if it’s close to the minimum, they might want more, such as a current paystub, to prove that you’re still making enough income.

For more information on Immigration Law in Massachusetts, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (617) 297-7502 today.