Immigration Site

Hi all
i want to thank u all for the valuable information that u provide in this forum, i have been reading a lot but im still confused somehow and need someone to clarify things for me.

first im from egypt and my GF(green card holder) is from egypt too, we are getting engaged within a couple of months and married at the end of this year, we are both working here in egypt
so we wanted to go to usa and live there but my only concern is how could i work there,
so i have read a lot of options but i dont know which one is suitable for me taking into consideration that we can not be separated anyhow.
1-options like getting a student visa and then apply for a work visa but i dont know whether in this case it will be a full time or limited to a number of hours per week
2-soon as we get married we file I130+I765, but i dont know how long would it take.
3-apply for fiance visa then I765, will this work for a GC holder or only USC
4-we wait till she becomes a USC then i take a GC which i read would take a maximum of 9 months, but i dont know if this case will work because she never stayed in the US, she only visited every 11 monthes(its been 4 years now on her GC). so she needs to stay there for at least 2 years to change status to USC(what i heard from a lawyer).

correct me if im wrong in anything, and waiting ur reply in my questions
thanks for ur time

1. With a student visa, they normally limit you to working 20 hours per week and it must be on campus (40 hours on-campus per week during the summer break). In addition, having a green card holder for a fiancee makes it likely to have the visa denied (yes they do ask about your fiancee on the visa application).

#2 and #3 wont work, because youre not eligible to apply for the I-765 or I-485 or fiance visa right now without her being a citizen, and the I-130 by itself provides no legal status for you.

4 - what do you mean "she only visited every 11 months"? She only visited the US once every 11 months, or she only visited Egypt once every 11 months? Describe her travel pattern more clearly so we can evaluate how it affects her eligibility for citizenship.

she visited US once every 11 months in the last 4 years and stays there for almost a month every time, this is due to our relation and that we couldnt be separated, but now since we are getting engaged and married there is no problem going to US

So she has only 4 months total in the US in the past 4 years? Thats a big problem. To qualify for citizenship she needs at least 30 months* in the US in the past 5 years. In addition, trips outside the US of 6 consecutive months or longer within the past 5 years put her at risk of being disqualified from citizenship due to breaking "continuous residence". With one trip over 6 months she might have had a chance to defend her case and get approved, but with 4 trips of 11 months approval is practically impossible**. Shell probably have to wait 4 years because of so many long trips.

Does she have a reentry permit? Shes at great risk of losing her green card if she doesnt. And even with a reentry permit, 44 months outside the US in 4 years could still result in losing her green card.


*with limited exceptions such as being abroad in the US military or working for the US government.
**unless she works for a US employer or qualifying international organization (e.g. IMF, NATO, UN) and has an approved N-470.