how long dopes it take to get your green card

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i am 17 and want to marry my boyfriend who is 21 can i and what if he is an illegal resident. how long would it take for him to reacive his green card

-- Viridiana A. Gavino Torres (gavino699@hotmail.com), March 07, 2005

Answers

If he came across the Mexican border, it's a complicated process that would take many months and require returning to his home country to process the application and a waiver for his unlawful presence. The waiver is based on showing extreme hardship to you if he has to stay outside the U.S. for 10 years. If he is from Central or South America, the odds of getting the waiver are good. It is a very risky proposition anywhere else. You should get an experienced lawyer in any case.

If he came in with a tourist visa, it will be faster. Here in Connecticut it takes 10-14 months. How long it takes varies from one USICS (former INS) office to another.

There is an issue that because you are under 18 you cannot sign the affidavit of support. This problem will go away once you turn 18.

-- Michael Boyle (info@immigrantcenter.com), March 07, 2005.


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