Q: I’m a
lawful permanent resident (LPR) (i.e. I have a green card), and my spouse
entered the U.S. with a tourist visa. If I file an immigrant visa petition for
my Mexican husband, Form I-130, how long will we have to wait?
A: Two
years, approximately. The June
2015 Visa Bulletin shows that the current priority date for F2A Mexico is
08AUG13. The difference between June 1, 2015, and August 8, 2013, is about two
years. So today, June of 2015, Mexican spouses who filed their I-130s about two
years ago, on or before August 8, 2015, now have an immigrant visa available. --- BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE: The problem is that even though the Mexican spouse entered the U.S. with a tourist
visa, his stamp or I-94 expired already. Any 6-month extension would have also
expired already. By overstaying, your husband failed to continuously maintain
lawful status. Falling out of status makes one ineligible to apply for
adjustment of status. This means your husband can’t get a green card inside the
U.S. and there isn’t any waiver. Your husband will have to go to Ciudad Juarez,
then apply for a waiver, Form I-601, AND WAIT OUTSIDE THE U.S. for the waiver
to get (hopefully) approved. He could be trapped outside the U.S. for an
unknown number of months, with zero guarantee. The solution is for the LPR wife
to naturalize. The moment he is the husband of a U.S. citizen, two things
happen: 1) there’s no penalty for his failure to continuously maintain lawful
status, and 2) he’s adjustment eligible. This means he’ll be able to get a
green card inside the U.S. and he won’t need any waiver. Whew!
