If you are currently in the U.S. and want to bring a relative here:
If you are a U.S. Citizen married to a foreign national, you have the right to file various
applications with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
office which will allow your foreign national spouse to remain in the U.S. in a
more or less permanent manner. Your foreign spouse will be granted Lawful Permanent Residency, commonly
referred to as a “green card”. To perform this processing, we will need to complete the appropriate forms and
collect together the necessary supporting documents in order to file the application packet. When ready, we
will file the application packet; the day of filing we will call day #1. By day 10 we should have received receipt notices from USCIS. About day 30, your spouse will receive fingerprinting instructions. About day 90 your spouse will receive a work authorization card and travel document if desired. At about day 120, you will receive a notice indicating your interview date. On the interview date (about day 150 to 180), we will go to the USCIS office and meet with an Immigration Officer. The reason for the interview is for the Officer to meet both of you and understand that you have a real marital relationship and are not just one person doing the other a
favor. Marriage fraud is a big problem and USCIS takes it seriously. But don’t worry, all you have to do is bring your wonderful personalities and documents to the interview that demonstrate that you are joining your lives
together. This might include: children’s birth certificates, joint assets, joint insurance, joint bank accounts, credit cards, bills, photos, etc. Of course we will talk about this in detail. So, to get started and prepare to file the application packet for your green card, we will need the following items from you:
1. 4 passport style photos of Beneficiary (the foreign spouse)
2. 2 passport style photos of Petitioner (the U.S. citizen)
3. $1,490 for filing fees ($985 I-485, $85 fingerprints, $420 I-130)(make all checks payable to ANNA& ANNA, P.C. and we will send a law firm check with the applications).
4. $2,500 for legal fees (payable as agreed upon, please send at least $1,000 to start)
5. Medical exam envelope for Beneficiary (you need to go to a doctor that is registered with Immigration to perform the immigration medical exam, a couple of possibilities are in Avon Grove, PA 610-268-3777 and Philadelphia, PA 215-235-3000)
6. Copy of Beneficiary’s I-94 card (white or green entry card)
7. Copy of Beneficiary’s passport (only pages containing information, blank pages are not necessary but entry and exit stamps are necessary)
8. Copy of Beneficiary’s birth certificate
9. Copy of marriage certificate
10. Copy of divorce decrees or death certificates for all prior marriages of both of you.
11. Copy of Petitioner’s birth certificate, passport, or naturalization certificate
12. Letter from employer of Petitioner stating employment and salary
13. Copy of Petitioner's most recent tax return with copies of W2 forms (if not available, you can request transcripts from the IRS at 1-800-829-1040)
14. If the Petitioner and Beneficiary's income is very low, we may need a Cosponsor's signature, taxes, job letter, etc.
To start this process, just forward this group of documents to our office and we will call you to start filling out the necessary forms. Also, do not let hard to get documents slow us down because we can do most of this work while waiting for slow documents. As always, we are available to discuss any issues. Thank you!
applications with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
office which will allow your foreign national spouse to remain in the U.S. in a
more or less permanent manner. Your foreign spouse will be granted Lawful Permanent Residency, commonly
referred to as a “green card”. To perform this processing, we will need to complete the appropriate forms and
collect together the necessary supporting documents in order to file the application packet. When ready, we
will file the application packet; the day of filing we will call day #1. By day 10 we should have received receipt notices from USCIS. About day 30, your spouse will receive fingerprinting instructions. About day 90 your spouse will receive a work authorization card and travel document if desired. At about day 120, you will receive a notice indicating your interview date. On the interview date (about day 150 to 180), we will go to the USCIS office and meet with an Immigration Officer. The reason for the interview is for the Officer to meet both of you and understand that you have a real marital relationship and are not just one person doing the other a
favor. Marriage fraud is a big problem and USCIS takes it seriously. But don’t worry, all you have to do is bring your wonderful personalities and documents to the interview that demonstrate that you are joining your lives
together. This might include: children’s birth certificates, joint assets, joint insurance, joint bank accounts, credit cards, bills, photos, etc. Of course we will talk about this in detail. So, to get started and prepare to file the application packet for your green card, we will need the following items from you:
1. 4 passport style photos of Beneficiary (the foreign spouse)
2. 2 passport style photos of Petitioner (the U.S. citizen)
3. $1,490 for filing fees ($985 I-485, $85 fingerprints, $420 I-130)(make all checks payable to ANNA& ANNA, P.C. and we will send a law firm check with the applications).
4. $2,500 for legal fees (payable as agreed upon, please send at least $1,000 to start)
5. Medical exam envelope for Beneficiary (you need to go to a doctor that is registered with Immigration to perform the immigration medical exam, a couple of possibilities are in Avon Grove, PA 610-268-3777 and Philadelphia, PA 215-235-3000)
6. Copy of Beneficiary’s I-94 card (white or green entry card)
7. Copy of Beneficiary’s passport (only pages containing information, blank pages are not necessary but entry and exit stamps are necessary)
8. Copy of Beneficiary’s birth certificate
9. Copy of marriage certificate
10. Copy of divorce decrees or death certificates for all prior marriages of both of you.
11. Copy of Petitioner’s birth certificate, passport, or naturalization certificate
12. Letter from employer of Petitioner stating employment and salary
13. Copy of Petitioner's most recent tax return with copies of W2 forms (if not available, you can request transcripts from the IRS at 1-800-829-1040)
14. If the Petitioner and Beneficiary's income is very low, we may need a Cosponsor's signature, taxes, job letter, etc.
To start this process, just forward this group of documents to our office and we will call you to start filling out the necessary forms. Also, do not let hard to get documents slow us down because we can do most of this work while waiting for slow documents. As always, we are available to discuss any issues. Thank you!
