Q: I'm getting married with my bf from USA. I'm in Dubai and have to stay here for 2y jobwise. Can I apply for GC?
To whom it may concern,
My boyfriend and I are planing to get married soon. I live currently in Dubai and have to stay there up to 2 years before I can move to USA. My boyfriend is American and me Croatian. We were wondering Whats was the procedure with green card? Can I apply while I'm in Dubai? Pliz can you explain me details about application for green card if i won't be able to move to USA immediately after we get married because of my job in Dubai.
A: The marriage-based petition for relative / immigrant visa consular processing type of case, which would be the type of case that you would pursue, can take approximately 1 year. Given that you do not anticipate immigrating for 2 years, what you could do is "take your time" responding to the National Visa Center's request for payment of the immigrant visa application fee and submission of the immigrant visa application. Whether you would even need to do that will in part be determined by how long the Petition for Relative case with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services takes. Currently, USCIS processing times for many types of cases seems to be slowing down. What I might suggest is schedule a consultation with a competent immigration attorney who can discuss strategy and timing with you, as well as flush out any other possible issues about which you may be unaware. Some immigration attorneys in the United States can offer online (e.g., Skype) consultations for those who are living outside of the United States.
Kelly Shane O'Reilly agrees with this answer
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