Marriage Green Card · By Country
Country-Specific Marriage
Green Card Guides
Consular Processing is not the same experience in every country. The U.S. consulate, the civil documents required, the medical exam location, and the common administrative delays all depend on where your spouse was born. Choose your country below.
Why your country of origin matters
Different consulate, different process
USCIS assigns each applicant's immigrant visa interview to the U.S. consulate with jurisdiction over their country. Mexico → Ciudad Juárez. Each consulate has its own processing norms, wait times, and common administrative holds.
Country-specific documents
Beyond the standard USCIS forms, your spouse needs civil documents from their home country, birth certificates, marriage certificates, police clearances, each with its own apostille and translation requirements.
Country-specific pitfalls
Administrative holds, high refusal rates, and particular document issues vary significantly by country and consulate. Knowing them in advance is the difference between a smooth interview and a months-long delay.
Select your country
Mexico
9 guides available
Acta de nacimiento apostille, CURP, cartilla militar, and the Ciudad Juárez consulate and panel physicians.
View Mexico guides →Philippines
12 guides available
PSA documents, the St. Luke's medical exam, NBI clearance, the CFO seminar, and the Manila embassy.
View Philippines guides →India
11 guides available
Civil documents, name discrepancies, police clearance, panel physicians, and the Mumbai and New Delhi consulates.
View India guides →Dominican Republic
8 guides available
Acta Inextensa documents and the 2025 unified format, the Santo Domingo panel physicians, and 221(g) refusals.
View Dominican Republic guides →Vietnam
7 guides available
Civil documents, the Judicial Record Card No. 2, the Ho Chi Minh City panel physicians, and 221(g) refusals.
View Vietnam guides →China
10 guides available
The notarial certificate system (公证书), one-child-era birth-record gaps, names and pinyin, the Guangzhou panel physicians, and 221(g) refusals.
View China guides →Nigeria
10 guides available
NPC documents, the two-visit Lagos Document Review, the Fraud Prevention Unit, DNA testing, the panel physicians, and administrative-processing timelines.
View Nigeria guides →Ghana
8 guides available
Births and Deaths Registry documents, customary marriage registration, the Ghana Police Criminal Check, day-names, the Accra panel physicians, DNA testing, and 221(g) refusals.
View Ghana guides →Jamaica
5 guides available
RGD birth and marriage certificates, the JCF police certificate, Kingston interview logistics, and 221(g) refusals.
View Jamaica guides →Colombia
7 guides available
The Registro Civil copia del folio, the Cancillería apostille and certified translation, the free police antecedentes, the Bogotá panel physicians, and 221(g) refusals.
View Colombia guides →Also here: I-864 Field-by-Field Guide
Household size, current annual income, prior obligations, the fields where sponsors make costly mistakes.
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