Immigrating to the US with Argentine spouse?

[Stevied]

You cannot convert a tourist visa to a green card - so don’t travel to US and apply there - it will get rejected (your tourist visa does not give you the right to apply for permanent residency). You will need to stay in Argentina and apply from there.

 

[NoVegetables]

I think this is what we're going to do. We have all the paperwork ready. I'm just waiting to receive my new passport. I realized just before we got started with everything that my passport was going to expire in March. I'm waiting to send everything in with a copy of the new one just to be sure they can't say that I filed it all with an expired passport.

My wife’s passport expired in the middle of the process as well. They were very accommodating they ask that we bring the old and the new to the interview. It didn’t cause any major hiccups.
As I said, the entire thing, though long (18 months), was pretty painless if you followed the step by step instructions.
As we just completed the process in December and my wife got her green card in the mail in January, it’s still fresh in our minds so I can tell about our experience and answer any specific questions. Good luck. Feel free to message me directly as well, I’m happy to help

 

[sergio]

Hire an immigration lawyer in the US and get professional answers.

 

[dlish]

My wife is Argentine. We did it there. Her visa expired a few days after we started the green card process; if you have a decent lawyer, it doesn’t r matter that the visa expires as long as it expires after you start the process and not before.

Make sure your lawyer also applies for Parole. Depending on the state you move to, it can take more than a year to get the green card and without Parole you won’t be able to leave the USA at all until the process is finished. You need to apply for Parole together with the initial green card application.

If you’re moving to NY I have a good lawyer

 

[Jaredberryman]

Some of the posts here were really bad info, some of them good info.

I got the visa for my wife about two years ago. A few things.

- First, do NOT hire a lawyer if you are married and have a child. A lawyer will run you $4000. This is completely unnecessary. You can do the process yourself, the spousal visa is a slam dunk, especially if you have children together.

- Use a service like Simple Citizen. It's actually better than a lawyer, and at most, it'll run about 1K if you choose their best option. If not, their cheaper option is like 500. It will literally make your life so much easier, worth every penny. It will take you through the entire doc process, put the application together, and then their team sends you a curated package to send in to immigration. It will also be vetted by an actual lawyer. As your case is pretty straightforward, you can probably get away with the cheapest package.

- You can go to the USA, and get the Visa there. However, this is called a "change of status." The advantage of doing change of status is that you can go ahead and leave, and start the process in the USA. You can go on a tourist visa if you like, but don't put in your application right away, wait a few months. The change of status is not technically supposed to be the way you get your wife's visa, but it's meant if you visit the USA and suddenly for some reason have to stay. Once your application is accepted, you won't have to worry, she's not going to be deported. However, you will be unable to travel outside the USA until she gets her visa. From the time I submitted my wife's paperwork and got the visa, it was about six months. Yours will be expedited because it's a slam dunk; you've been married a while and have a child. The advantage of doing things like this is that you can go ahead and leave.

- If you are not in a hurry, then you can also go through the proper channel and do things from here in Argentina. It's a similar process, except you'll do interviewing, fingerprinting etc. in conjunction with the US embassy. Since the pandemic, I don't know how long this takes, but probably a while. It used to take about six months before the pandemic. It's virtually the same process just done from here, and then they give you some paperwork to show when you enter the USA.

Either way, Simple Citizen is worth it for sure, it will make your life way easier.

 

[Jaredberryman]

You cannot convert a tourist visa to a green card - so don’t travel to US and apply there - it will get rejected (your tourist visa does not give you the right to apply for permanent residency). You will need to stay in Argentina and apply from there.

This info is not correct at all. You can do what's called a "change of status." It's a different process. It's not that the tourist visa gives you the right to apply, it's the fact that she is married to a citizen.

 

[dlish]

A lawyer will run you $4000.

Maybe if you live in Beverly Hills. My lawyer in NYC cost $1000 and did everything.

 

[Jaredberryman]

Maybe if you live in Beverly Hills. My lawyer in NYC cost $1000 and did everything.

Make sure you share that info. I was in Texas and the cheapest I found was 3000 for a simple spousal visa. That is super hard to find. Share the info for these people!

 

[Fooze]

This info is not correct at all. You can do what's called a "change of status." It's a different process. It's not that the tourist visa gives you the right to apply, it's the fact that she is married to a citizen.

I've read in several different places that if this goes wrong it could mean permanent denial of any future visas. They can reject the application if they suspect that you entered the country on a tourist visa with intent to stay and apply for residency. It's considered immigration fraud. I would love to do it this way, it would certainly be the best way for many reasons, but the risk that my wife might be permanently refused entry to the country is not one I want to take.

 

[Brian_is_here]

If you want to do the change of status plan aka enter USA on tourist visa. This is the path to take.

1. Get a vacation to Disney. Maybe a road trip. Make it a few weeks. Enter the us explicitly and solely for this.
2. Tell immigration at airport your amazing vacation plans and how you love Argentina and can’t wait to be home.
3. Change your plans. Extend to 48 days of vacation. Make a bigger road trip.
4. Reschedule your return flight.
5. On day 46 find a reason to stay. Perhaps you found a job. Perhaps you lost one. Perhaps you had a great business opportunity. Something like that. Maybe your mom feels ill. Maybe you got accepted into Harvard. Idk. Find something plausible.
6. Petition uscis for a change of status and start the pr process.
7. Refund your return tickets.
8. Once this begins you are chained to the USA. No leaving.
9. After a few months you can apply for advanced parole. It’s freedom to travel again.
10. Wait.
11. Get the green card potentially before the parole.
12. Profit.

I think this is about 18 months.

Things not to do:

1. Tell immigration that this is your plan at all. Your only reason for visiting the USA on a visitor visa is to be a visitor. Which means leaving.