The Following-To-Join Application for Green Card Holder's Spouse

Question:

I recently got my family-based I-485 application approval and the Green Card. Now, I want to bring my wife to United States. We married a few years ago before I come to the United States. Please let me how would I do this, Thank you very much.

Answer:

Follow to join benefits allow the spouses and children of U.S. permanent residents to get green cards at a later time. This benefit is available to the eligible dependents of those who got their green cards based on family sponsorship or employment sponsorship program. Dependents of immigrants who received green cards in the United States based on an immediate relative petition are not eligible for follow to join benefits.

Permanent residents need to file Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, for their spouses or children who are eligible for follow to join benefits. USCIS will grant the eligible spouses or children permanent resident status in the same preference category as their permanent resident spouses or parents. They need not wait for visa numbers to become available as visas will be issued to them immediately.

At the time of filing Form I-824, applicants must prove that a family relationship existed between them and the beneficiaries even before they became U.S. permanent residents. Also, spouses and the children of the applicants must have been living abroad when the applicants entered U.S. with their green cards or adjusted their status to permanent residence from within the country.

Since the spousal relationship have existed before your admission to the United States, your wife may qualify for the following-to-join benefit for a permanent resident's spouse. You should file Form I-824 at the USCIS office that took the I-485 approval on your case. The documents you must file with the USCIS include a copy of the I-797, Notice of Action, for your original I-485 application.

If your I-824 application is approved, USCIS will notify a U.S. consulate in your wife's country that you are a U.S. lawful permanent resident, so that your wife can apply for a following-to-join immigrant visa. Your wife must then contact the local U.S. consulate to complete the visa processing.