If I am married in my country of origin can my current spouse bring me to the US?

If you’re a US citizen and you’re contemplating the possibility of bringing your husband or wife from any other country to reside permanently in the United States, there are some requirements that you cannot ignore.

Although it could be a somewhat time-consuming process, it gives your spouse the opportunity to obtain citizenship in the medium or long term in addition to the ability working legally in the United States and enjoying the same rights and obligations as any other resident. Find out how!

Can you bring your foreign spouse to the US?

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One of the requirements to bring your partner from another country is that you express an official intention to marry them within a period of 90 days after the moment they set foot on US territory. However, it is also possible to make a formal request to bring your spouse, even if they are in another country.

In some cases, you can not only file a petition to bring your husband or wife, but you can also request for their children to travel with them and reside permanently in the United States. All of this requires that you present concrete evidence to meet the requirements for marriage in the United States.

Visa for spouses

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The visa for spouses that you get when you file a petition with the Citizenship and Immigration Service can be requested only if there is a legal union before an authority of the United States or of the country from which the beneficiary of the petition comes from. In this case, co-habitation does not qualify a person to receive a visa or permanent residence card.

Another option is common-law marriage, which does qualify for USCIS petitions, while other circumstances such as polygamy are also valid. In the case of the latter, only the first official wife of the applicant may be petitioned before the Citizenship and Immigration Service.

Documentation needed for a US visa

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If a person is married to the citizen making the request but the marriage took place in another country then they must present documents such as the marriage certificate, passport-type photos and legal evidence that the person has not changed their name.

In cases where the current partner is still married to someone else, you will first need to obtain the appropriate annulment or divorce papers that prove the official termination of any legal engagement with a person other than the US citizen responsible for the petition.