1. Can I Request I-485 to be Joint?
We file I-130 a week ago for my wife. We get the I-797c notices I have been reading around and it state it most case the I-485 can be requested to joint to the I-130. I just want to know if I can go ahead and send I-485 even thou I 130 is pending.
Mr. Lee answers:
As you have the I-797C receipt notice, you are able to use that to file an I-485 adjustment of status application to permanent residence for your wife at this time if you are a US citizen and she entered the country legally. You would attach a copy of the I-797C receipt in the I-485 filing to show that the I-130 petition is pending. U.S.C.I.S. will process the I-485 and usually link the I-130 petition with the I-485 filing in time for the interview.
2. If I Get Paid $12.50/hr with 40 Hours a Week, Is This Enough to Bring My Girlfriend to the USA from Philippines?
Mr. Lee answers:
$12.50 an hour with 40 hours a week or $26,000 per year may not be enough to convince a skeptical consular officer to issue a B-2 visiting visa. American consular officers like to be convinced that a visa applicant has enough support to visit the US without having to work. If your girlfriend or her family have monies of their own, she could show that to the consular officer as proof that she would not have to work in the US. Also if you have close relatives who are capable of giving an I-134 affidavit of support, that might help. She will also have to convince the consular officer that she intends to just visit and will return at the end of her stay.
3. Can You Get Married in the US Even If You Are Still Legally Married in the Philippines?
I knew somebody who came here as a J1 intern for a year. He is married legally in the Philippines and has a kid with that marriage. Now he is married to an American. Is it even legal? How can he get a permanent residency card in that situation?
Mr. Lee answers:
If a person is still legally married regardless of wherever that person was married, he or she would be committing bigamy by marrying another without having the marriage annulled or otherwise dissolved. U.S.C.I.S. would not approve a permanent residence application if it knew that the applicant was not free to marry the petitioner.
