Embassy Interview

When you are finally called for your Embassy interview this should be very much a formality providing you are prepared. In the Embassy package you would have been asked to prepare supporting documentation for your case. Some of the information would need to be in the form of originals such as birth certificates, your passport, prior marriage and divorce certificates if applicable and last three years tax returns of both parties. In addition, the alien would need to submit their original police reports.

Embassy Affidavit of Support

In many cases the US Citizen will need to submit evidence that they have sufficient income to support their alien fiancé (e) typically during any period of unemployment. Where your attorney feels this appropriate you will be required to submit an Affidavit of Support.

Assuming that the alien case all the above-mentioned documentation to hand at the interview the decision to approve the visa will be made there and then. The alien will be required to surrender their passport to the Embassy Official so that their visa can be electronically stamped into their passport. This will take about three working days to get done and delivered back to the alien.

At this point the alien is free to enter the US as a K3 visa holder.

Arriving In The US

The Embassy may give you a sealed envelope to take with you to the US, which must be surrendered to the Immigration official at the gate at the airport on arrival.

Also, check your passport, it should be stamped with “Authorized to Work”. If this is the case you should be able to work on this for up to 90-days. If you remember, check with the Embassy official regarding the authorization to work stamp to confirm that you can actually work on it. The reason why Counsel is not 100% clear on this point is that Counsel has found that some states treat this authorization differently.

Social Security Number

As soon as you arrive in the US as a permanent resident, you should apply for a SS# from the nearest benefits office. These take about 2-4 weeks to process and your US spouse will advise you directly how important having an SS# number is. However, the Embassy may order you a SS# in advance.

Citizenship From Marriage To US Citizen

On the third anniversary of your green card status through marriage you will be able to apply for US Citizenship. In fact you can submit your application a month or two early.

Actually, the rules for acquiring citizenship this way are a little more involved so I’ll explain them this way.

In order to qualify for citizenship under the three-year rule you need to show that you have spent a total of three years physically present in the US. So any holidays outside of the US during that time will be discounted from the total. If you have spent a total of six weeks outside the US in the intervening three years then you would have to wait an additional six weeks before your case would be ripe for citizenship.

Again, your attorney will calculate these dates with you and make sure that you are notified at the earliest possibility.

Until you are a citizen, your green card status is very much a privilege, and it can be lost for a number of reasons. Admittedly it’s not easy to lose your green card status but it can be. For example, if you were convicted for a crime that had a maximum sentence of more than one year, even if you don’t serve time, it could put your green card at risk. Whilst people don’t envisage themselves ever robbing a bank, which is a good thing, it is possible, hopefully remotely, that you could commit a crime. At the time of writing this guide I had an inquiry from someone who had been found guilty of copying CD’s and was ultimately deported in 2005. How about a driving conviction where serious injury resulted or death resulted? This could happen to anyone. So it really makes sense to become a citizen.

Another positive side to becoming a US Citizen is the fact that you can in turn sponsor your brothers, sisters or parents into the US.

I hope you have found this guide interesting and I look forward to working with you on all the stages of this exciting journey.

Chris M. Ingram, LL.M., ESQ.
Attorney at Law