Choosing the filing route
Review each spouse’s location, the petitioner’s status, entry history, and visa availability before selecting the procedure.
Adjustment or consular processing
RELAWCATIONU.S. IMMIGRATION LAWMarriage and family
Marriage green card lawyer for couples in the U.S. and abroad.
James Cohen prepares spouse petitions and marriage-based green-card cases, including relationship evidence, financial sponsorship, and interview preparation. The legal path depends on the petitioner’s status, the spouse’s location and immigration history, and whether adjustment of status or consular processing is available.
Request a case assessmentYour starting point
Where does your case stand?
Preparing relationship evidence
Build a record of your shared life and explain gaps or circumstances that need context.
Bona fide marriage evidenceAnswering an RFE or NOID
Start with what the notice actually questions, the existing record, and the response deadline.
Marriage RFE and NOID response
Eligibility framework
The central marriage-case questions
- Is the petitioner a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and what category applies?
- Is the marriage legally valid and supported by evidence that it is bona fide?
- Can the spouse adjust status in the United States, or is consular processing required?
- Do immigration history, admissibility, financial sponsorship, or prior filings create additional issues?
Case preparation
Prepare the relationship and procedural record
- Document the history and shared life of the couple with consistent, credible evidence.
- Prepare the family petition and coordinate the chosen immigrant-visa or adjustment process.
- Address the affidavit of support and supporting financial evidence.
- Plan for interviews, requests for evidence, and conditional-residence issues where applicable.
How James Cohen prepares a marriage-based case
James Cohen brings more than 30 years of legal practice and experience with hundreds of successfully completed immigration cases. Marriage-based preparation begins with the sponsoring spouse’s status, the couple’s marriage, the applicant’s immigration history, and the appropriate route to permanent residence.
The work organizes the petition, relationship evidence, financial sponsorship, and the records needed for adjustment of status or consular processing. Names, dates, addresses, prior marriages, and immigration history are checked across the forms and supporting documents. Interview preparation focuses on the couple’s actual facts and submitted record; any request for evidence or notice of concern is reviewed for its specific issues and deadline.
Choose the route before assembling forms
A marriage petition and a green-card application are related but distinct. The petitioner’s status, the foreign spouse’s location, manner of entry, current status, immigration history, and visa availability determine whether adjustment of status in the United States or immigrant-visa processing abroad is the appropriate route.
The analysis should occur before filing because an incorrect sequence can create delay, inconsistent answers, travel problems, or exposure of an inadmissibility issue. A pending or approved Form I-130 does not itself provide lawful status, employment authorization, or permission to travel.
Build a relationship record that reflects real life
USCIS evaluates whether the marriage was entered in good faith and not principally to obtain an immigration benefit. There is no single mandatory exhibit that proves a bona fide marriage. The useful record is cumulative and should reflect how the couple actually lives, makes decisions, combines responsibilities, and presents the relationship over time.
Joint residence and financial records can be important, but couples do not all organize their lives in the same way. Age, culture, prior marriages, work assignments, periods of separation, family obligations, and limited access to documents should be explained directly rather than hidden behind generic evidence.
Identify admissibility and sponsorship issues early
Prior entries, overstays, unauthorized employment, misrepresentation concerns, removal proceedings, criminal matters, health grounds, and earlier family petitions can change the procedure or require separate analysis. The legal effect of a fact often depends on whether the petitioner is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and whether the case is processed inside or outside the United States.
The petitioner generally must also complete the financial sponsorship process. Income, household size, tax records, assets, domicile, and any joint sponsor should be reviewed for consistency before submission. Financial sponsorship is a legal obligation, not simply a supporting document for the interview.
Important
Facts and procedure determine the route.
Filing a Form I-130 is the first step for an eligible relative; it does not by itself grant immigration status or guarantee a green card. Entry history, unauthorized employment, prior petitions, removal proceedings, criminal history, and other facts may change the route.
Official reference: USCIS Form I-130Questions clients ask
Issues to resolve before filing.
Adjustment of status or consular processing?
The route usually depends on where the foreign spouse is located, how the spouse entered the United States, current status, visa availability, immigration history, and admissibility.
What proves a bona fide marriage?
The evidence should show a real shared life over time. Useful records can include joint residence, finances, insurance, travel, communications, family events, photographs, and credible explanations for unusual circumstances.
Can a permanent resident petition for a spouse?
Yes, but the spouse generally falls within a preference category subject to visa availability. The timing and filing options differ from those available to an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen.
What if the marriage is less than two years old?
If permanent residence is granted before the second anniversary of the marriage, the immigrant spouse generally receives conditional residence and later must seek removal of conditions through Form I-751.
Talk through the facts
Explain where both spouses are and where the case stands.
For an initial inquiry, briefly describe:
- Whether the petitioning spouse is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
- Where each spouse lives, the marriage date, and the foreign spouse’s current U.S. status if any.
- Any prior filing, denial, interview, departure plan, or known deadline.
A short summary is enough. Send no passport numbers or confidential documents.
Initial contact does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case acceptance follows conflict and scope review.