Facinating just facinating these kinds of conversations. I am American and my husband is French. We were married in France and have been married for four years and will eventually return to the USA. We have a son who is three and has an american passport and french passport. He is all set. I wrote the American Embassy in Paris contact person and they sent me a very suncinct explanation of how I can immigrate to the USA with a french spouse.


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1. Since we have been marrried for over two years most time limits will not be an issue. Under two years immigration is taken on a case by case basis. So what my husband will need to do, is go to the USA embassy with me in Paris and take an appointment for an entrance visa. If his paperwork is in order on the day of the appointment he will get an entrance visa immediately during his appointment. They print them right up on the computer and print them out. I was told DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT let homeland security apply for the social security number this can be done at your local social security office using your entrance visa. It all goes very quickly once you are married for over two years.
2. If you are married in the USA it also takes anywhere from one to two years to get a green card (residence permit) and social security number. The general rule is that immigration likes to wait their two years to make sure it is not a white marriage as they are called in France. Or fake marriage although many are. I have met an american who has married two foriegn women for cash. The deal is half at the marriage and half when they get their green card. He never slept with either of them and provided troves of warm and loving photos for the immigration officer. I think he got 30K for the first marriage and an alarming 60k for the second. He has been bombarded by offers since but has declined over heightened fears since the early 2000's. Both these marriages took place during the 90's.

so the general immigration rule of thumb for getting permission to work is about two years unless you enter the country already past that mark and than you can get set in about 4-6 months.

either way it is a financial burden to marry a foreign person. The change in job qualifications from country to country is not good and most people end up underemployed in their new countries.

C. Nuttee