Green Card Application
I was born in India, which means that by default I have a long wait to get to be a US Permanent Resident. This is because only 7% of Green Cards in each Employment-Based category can go to people of each birth nation. This is, in theory, so that a diversity of nations are represented in US immigration. Since there are lots of Indians and Chinese coming in through the EB category, we both have waits.
I married Julie in Aug 2023, which allowed me to apply for residence in the US as the spouse of an American. This is the timeline and the process for what we did.
Most of the paperwork is quite straightforward but it is typically annoying to do and there's a lot of work. In this sort of situation, I prefer to have a lawyer. Emily Wages came well recommended to me, so I went with her.
Timeline
[edit | edit source]| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2023-08-02 | I got Married |
| 2023-08-10 | I Started Application |
| 2023-12-19 | I Finished Application |
| 2023-12-20 | USCIS Acknowledged Receipt |
| 2024-01-18 | I went to my Biometrics Appointment |
| 2024-02-01 | USCIS Approved EAD (received I-797) |
| 2024-02-05 | USCIS Produced EAD Card |
| 2024-02-08 | I received my EAD (Has Advance Parole) |
| 2024-07-20 | USCIS Started Reviewing I-130 |
| 2024-07-22 | USCIS Approved I-130 |
| 2024-07-24 | USCIS Started Reviewing I-485 |
| 2024-07-25 | USCIS Approved I-485 |
| 2024-08-02 | USCIS Printed Green Card (No Tracking Available) |
| 2024-08-07 | USCIS Updated Tracking Number |
| 2024-08-07 | I received my Green Card |
| 2026-03-20 | I received a reminder to apply to remove conditions |
| 2026-04-17 | I gave our lawyer all required documents for removing conditions |
| 2026-04-26 | USCIS reported receiving our application to remove conditions |
| 2026-05-01 | USCIS scheduled Biometric Appointment for May 22 |
| 2026-05-05 | I received my I-751 extending my green card for 48 months |
| 2026-05-22 | Biometric Appointment |
Overall, the process was quite fast. The biggest delay was the fact that I dragged my feet on finishing the application and making sure it had all the supporting material. We had quite a bit of stuff, which probably helped, including news articles about our IVF journey.
The USCIS website is quite nice. It records all of your stuff and you can look at your progress through the steps and everything. The timeline is an estimate for when your thing will be done, and it does move back and forth, presumably depending on other case load or not. At one point I was 3 weeks away before it switched to 5 months away. Later, I was supposedly months away when my case was suddenly picked up.
In the end the total time was 7 months and 5 days which is really quite fast! Within a month of application I had my I-765 EAD which allowed me to stay in the US even if I didn't have my H-1B, and Advance Parole which allowed me to re-enter the US in case I left.
I did travel abroad for my cousin's wedding, and when I returned I did so on my H-1B. This is not too good a move since it progresses the time on your H-1B (which has a maximum duration) but if you use Advance Parole to re-enter you have to go through Secondary Screening and that's quite a bit slow.
Parole Fee
[edit | edit source]
On Nov 1, 2025, I received a notice that I would be subject to a parole fee if I used my Advance Parole document to come into the country. Since I was already a Lawful Permanent Resident, this seemed entirely unnecessary since I'm not exactly going to use the parole document.
Later, a lawyer pointed out that it's probably that USCIS didn't update their documentation on the I-512L advance parole document that no longer matters to me.
Removing Conditions
[edit | edit source]The green card I originally received is conditional. I have to stay in a legitimate marriage with Julie. Two years after, I am supposed to apply to remove conditions on the green card. This will also extend the expiration date appropriately.
From a friend who did this before me, apparently this extension is backlogged so they give you a piece of paper acknowledging that you are extended. The actual renewal time takes over 12 months, but after 3 years on a green card while married, one is eligible to be naturalized. Therefore, like my friend, I will also likely be a US Citizen before my green card is extended.
The process to have conditions removed is much like getting the card in the first place. We have to prove our marriage is legitimate and so on: photos of our time together, our child, our shared accounts, affidavits from our friends testifying that we are actually married. The application was pretty straightforward with our lawyer mediating.
Acceptance of Application
[edit | edit source]The application was accepted in a week and I received a notice that I need to carry with my expired green card granting it validity for another 4 years. By this time next year I will be eligible to be naturalized at which time I'm told they'll likely interview me for both naturalization and the green card at once.
