If u r married with a us citizen,does the work permit arrives before green card?

Question

I m from Europe and i got married last november with a us citizen...my papers were received by the immigration the 3d of december 2006. I m waiting for the work permit,but until today i did not receive it yet. Instead i already received the notice regarding my interview for the green card (on the 13th of march)...how it works?
I should receive the work permit before having the interview...am i right?Please if anybody has gone throught something like that can explain me how it works? Thanks!!!!

Answer 1

If I recall my husband had to fill out a separate set of paperwork for his work authorization and then was fingerprinted at about 2 months and got his authorization about 3 months after he applied for a change of status long before we had our interview. I think you need to call your lawyer. If you don't have one you need to see one to find out what you forgot.

I don't know where Fla got his information. It take 7 years to get citizenship. You get permanant residance and that is only if you stay married for 2 years after you get your Temp/perm residency card. And then if you are in the US 7 years you can apply for citizenship. People have some strange notions if they have never been involved in the process.

Answer 2

The official time for issuing the working permit is 90 days. I assume you filed I-765 along with the rest of the documents. I guess whether the permit arrives before or after the green card depends on how fast your green card application is moving. In my case, we filed late-January, went to the biometrics exam yesterday, and have the interview late-March. I don't know why the documents moved so fast, but I can't say I'm not happy about it. So in my case it will be less than 90 days when we have the interview, so I don't expect a permit beforehand.

The only thing coming to mind is: what is your current status in the US? Are you on a student visa, or some other kind? I wouldn't get too worried about it. There's very little left until March and you can ask the officer at the interview (assuming everything goes okay) what the next step should be and when you could expect your working permit.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I got my work permit before my interview. But what I'm interested in your case is that you will have your interview within 4 months after you filed the petition. That's very unusual. Mine took about a year!

But anyway, these days, I guess they do things differently? So I can't really say that it's correct or it's wrong that you will get your work permit before your interview.

But I've read that some people who don't have a social security number don't get their work permit soon or something ( I actually got my social security number when I was a F-1 student in the states and I got married to a citizen later). I don't know if that's true or not. But if you have a question, call the USCIS National Customer Service Center. I know you need to wait for a long time to reach a customer representative. But it's worth it.

Answer 4

We are in the exact same situation. I am British and the wife is American. We filed an I-130, I-485 and Affidavit of Support on 16 Nov 06 and was told our case was moving to the California Service Centre in mid December. I was fingerprinted at around the same time and that is as far as we have got. We haven't heard a thing since until I spoke to my wife's Congressperson today who said they hadn't processed our paperwork yet because they hadn't received an application for a work permit. I guess I'll have to go over the paperwork and see what we missed but I was under the impression you didn't have to apply for it seperately with the I-485. It is all so confusing and frustrating. Good luck!

Answer 5

The Laws of Immigration are constantly changing and I believe you have it right to some extent. At the interview you will NOT get your Green Card, the Green Card is mailed later to you, If you were approved and all checked out OK during the interview. At this interview, again if everything is OK and were approved you will be given your work permit and a temporary ID with an expiration date that will be yours to keep while the Green Card arrives to you via mail.
Best of Luck !!!

Answer 6

your papers and my papers seem to have been filled at around about the same time. they received my work authorization application on dec 5,2006 and my the rest (I-485;i130 ect) dec 14,2006 and i received my interview date in feb 2007. It appears to me that we will be going for our interviews before our work authorization arrives. if you check the uscis.gov website new dates were just posted( they update monthly). my receipt number is just outside of those processing dates, so it is highly unlikely that i will receive my work permit. i had a friend who got married in august filled in sept and got her work permit in oct and yet is still waiting for her green card interview. i only got married nov 11, 2007. apparently by law (i have no idea which one) a friend has told me after 90 days you are supposed to received a work permit. i read this article "irish girl gets green card" (type it into google) apparently after 90 days of waiting for her work permit she camped outside her local uscis office and went in to inquire about it and they issued one to her the same day. it arrived in the mail a couple of weeks later. let me know how your interview goes mine is scheduled for march 21, 2007 in philadelphia. I never used a lawyer but i have contacted on to prepare for the interview.

Answer 7

As long as you have a social security number,you should have gotten it already.Kb,she's European,that's why the interview only took 4 months as opposed to everyone else's year or two.

Answer 8

well according to u.s. law if your married to a u.s. citizen you become a citizen nearly immidietly, you just need to prove your married and stay theat way for 6-12 months before the goverment recognizes you as a u.s. citizen once your paperwork is done, they do it so to prevent sham marriages where people do it for u.s. citizenship