Q: How soon after marriage can i apply for my non us citizen spouse to live and work in the country

A: Did she enter the country legally? You should have a private phone call with an attorney on the phone to discuss all the forms and all the documents and everything that you need to file.

A: For an attorney to advise you WHEN to file for a green card would require more information about your and your spouse's specific situation. Obviously, the first step an attorney would want to do is to make sure that your spouse even qualifies for a green card. For those reasons it would be best to do a consultation with an immigration attorney. But if you decide to do it yourself, you can find more information about green card eligibility and the process on USCIS's website: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card. Best wishes!

A: Assuming you are either a U.S. legal permanent resident or U.S. Citizen, you can file a Petition for Relative for your spouse immediately upon marriage. Whether it may be approved depends on a number of factors, including whether USCIS believes your marriage is bona fide and/or whether or not your wife has ever been determined previously to have engaged in marriage fraud. If she is not presently inside the United States or is present but has certain immigration history that would make adjustment of status not possible, then an immigrant visa consular processing case is likely the manner through which she would conclude her case enabling her to live and work in the country. A consultation with a competent and experienced immigration attorney is advisable to determine whether any grounds of inadmissibility exist that, if in existence, might foreclose the possibility of consular processing or require the filing of a waiver. A consultation is also advisable to determine whether an adjustment of status case is possible from inside the United States (if she is present already following a lawful inspection and admission). Note that ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic many attorneys offer online video or telephone consultations. This may be helpful, if not for COVID-19 concerns, if you find an attorney you like, but who is not local to your geographical location.