CR1 Common Law

[lukehimself]

Hi,

I'm not able to find much information on getting a green card with common law marriage, so i was hoping for some advice.

My partner is a US citizen and currently living with me in Australia as a de facto (common law) partner. It was the grounds for her getting residence here. This is a recognised common law partnership in Australia.

Where I live in Victoria, Australia you can also "register a relationship" so we receive an official Government issued certificate that we are an official de facto couple.

Furthermore, when our son was born in Oklahoma, where we were living at the time, they classified us as a common law partnership by us signing the birth certificate as a paternal couple.

Will we be able to get a green card through our common law marriage? How do we go about it - are there any major differences we should take note of compared to the normal process?

[rayb]

There are no provisions in the petition instructions for a common-law spouse relationship to be the basis for Permanent Resident status.

There may be some very good reasons for USCIS (formerly INS) not addressing the immigration basis of a common-law relationship (unlike Canada and Australia), but they don't appear to be documented with the standard instructions for immigrant visa forms completion.

Assuming that you must be legally married for your wife to petition you to immigrate to the U.S., with proof of the marriage registration, why don't you just go ahead and "make an honest woman" of your wife. (That's just an expression, no malice intended)

A legal marriage in most states of the U.S. would cost about $100 and take about two hours to be accomplished. I can't believe that it would be that much more difficult in Australia.

--Ray B

Hi,

I'm not able to find much information on getting a green card with common law marriage, so i was hoping for some advice.

My partner is a US citizen and currently living with me in Australia as a de facto (common law) partner. It was the grounds for her getting residence here. This is a recognised common law partnership in Australia.

Where I live in Victoria, Australia you can also "register a relationship" so we receive an official Government issued certificate that we are an official de facto couple.

Furthermore, when our son was born in Oklahoma, where we were living at the time, they classified us as a common law partnership by us signing the birth certificate as a paternal couple.

Will we be able to get a green card through our common law marriage? How do we go about it - are there any major differences we should take note of compared to the normal process?

[lukehimself]

Hi rayb, I understand and you make a good point. But we also could get married in the USA, with her family there, which is why we would consider applying with common law. I was wondering if it would be possible, or are they likely to reject it?

[rayb]

The USCIS policy manual discusses this issue at the following link:

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter2.html#S-B

But the language cited above does not clearly allow nor prohibit recognition of common-law relationships as proof of a marital union for immigration purposes.

Unless you are prepared to have an attorney sufficiently experienced in international family law to argue your point, and such argument would have no guaranteed chance of success, get a marriage license and have a simple ceremony before you submit an I-130 petition for a spousal visa.

--Ray B

Hi rayb, I understand and you make a good point. But we also could get married in the USA, with her family there, which is why we would consider applying with common law. I was wondering if it would be possible, or are they likely to reject it?

[lukehimself]

Sounds good, thanks again rayb!

[rayb]

Luke,

As an alternative, since you have no proof of a legally-registered marriage, you might consider the fiancee visa procedure. It was the fiancee visa that Canadian immigration law dropped in favor of a common-law relationship visa a few years back.

You would have less chance of a fiancee visa denial than a spousal visa denial, the latter of which looks for a legally-registered marriage record.

--Ray B

Sounds good, thanks again rayb!

[lukehimself]

Hi rayb,

We did look at the fiancee visa, the only issue was that i wouldn't be able to work for a few months while waiting for AoS. The CR1 was our choice because the green card is pretty much instant on entry.

We have plenty of evidence to prove a bona fide marriage. We've lived together in the USA and Australia, have all our account together and big purchases together. We would have our wedding ceremony later in the USA.

[rayb]

Luke,

If you don't want to be tied down by the fiance visa AOS requirement (for at least 3 months before you get the interim Work Authorization), then you need a marriage certificate as proof of a legally registered marriage.

It may seem short-sighted of our immigrant agency, USCIS, to require a couple to be married in order to qualify for a spousal visa, especially since common law relationships are proof of a legal relationship if initiated in the U.S. But the browbeating and search for a workaround are counterproductive to your goal, of getting an immigrant visa. This is a very simple solution, so I can't grasp your reluctance to meet the legal marriage requirement.

--Ray B

Hi rayb,

We did look at the fiancee visa, the only issue was that i wouldn't be able to work for a few months while waiting for AoS. The CR1 was our choice because the green card is pretty much instant on entry.

We have plenty of evidence to prove a bona fide marriage. We've lived together in the USA and Australia, have all our account together and big purchases together. We would have our wedding ceremony later in the USA.

[lukehimself]

OK thank you!