Should I wait?
Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington, I CAME across one of your online articles on green card application recently. I am currently in a similar situation where my sister filed for me a couple years ago. My priority date is September 2010 and I am in the F1 status.
However, I recently got married and have another child and would like to include my husband and child on the file. Now, I am thinking that if I notify the US Immigration I may have to wait longer. Should I wait until I get a date for my interview, and upon the interview, submit my marriage certificate and birth certificate of my son? Please advise. – SL Dear SL,
If your United States citizen sister filed for you to migrate to the United States, you would be in the F4 preference category – sibling of an American citizen. The F1 preference Category is for and unmarried, over-21-year-old son/daughter of an American citizen. You should check carefully to see who actually is the petitioner in your case, because it makes a big difference.
If your mother filed for you when you were single and you marry before you enter the United States as a permanent resident, that will change your preference category from F1 to F3 and increase your waiting period by five years.
If your sister filed for you (F4 preference category) and you marry during the process, there is no change of categories. You would maintain the same category and processing date as if you were single. In either situation, you must notify the National Visa Center that you are married in order for your family to be able to migrate with you at the appropriate time.
If it is your mother who filed (F1) and you do not notify the US government and accept the green card as single, that is immigration fraud. If your sister is the petitioner, the notification must occur before your interview or it will delay your interview process. Each member of your family will be required to pay a visa fee and your petitioner will have to demonstrate that she meets the financial requirements to sponsor the entire family. If she cannot, a joint sponsor will be required.
There is no way of legally getting around the fact that once you marry and/or have additional children during the pendency of a green card filing, you must notify the US government by sending marriage and birth certificates or risk the consequences of your failure to notify. The consequences can be a small delay, a long delay or risking the revocation of an improperly issued green card.