Dr. William:

My EB1-OR based I-140 has been approved, thank you very much for your great help and service! Now I plan to marry soon in my home country, and I want to file I-485 soon also. I want to know how could my marriage impact the I-485 process? and how could my wife join the I-485 application after the marriage?

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A: For your wife to join the I-485 application after the marriage, the marriage can be planned to coordinate with the immigration process. By doing so, your spouse becomes eligible for derivative immigration benefits. You do not want to receive the I-485 approval prior to the planned weddings, which will create an enormous problem.

Generally, you should get married before your I-485 is approved. You should consider marrying either before the I-485 is filed, or before you are fingerprinted. The case cannot be approved without fingerprinting.