Residence Based on Marriage

For residency based on marriage, the applicant must be legally married to a permanent resident or citizen of the United States. Merely living together or only having a religious wedding does make the applicant a qualified individual for residency.

Those marrying must be single or divorced before marriage and then apply for residency. Being married in another country, disqualifies applicants. Before marrying again, the previous marriage must be dissolved. It is also important to point out that it must be annotated in the Civil Registry.

Marriage based residence may be permanent or conditional, depending on how long the couple has been married at the time of delivering permanent residence. The marriage must be for love, real and in good faith, not for interest. Also, to be approved, supporting documents must be presented as evidence.

Regularly required documents to process this type of case are spouses' birth certificates, spouses' children's birth certificates, if applicable, divorce decrees, petitioner’s proof of residence or citizenship, and evidence confirming a good faith marriage.

The application used for this type of procedure is the I-130. If the person seeking residency/the beneficiary entered the United States legally and marries a citizen, he/she may apply for residency within and without leaving the United States. If the beneficiary has the Law 245i protection, he/she may pay a $1,000.00 fee. In addition, he/she will be able to get their residency within the United States. If the beneficiary is not eligible to obtain residency within the United States, he/she will be required to attend an interview at the United States Embassy in their country of origin where the decision on their application will be made.