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Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA! I'm currently living in the US on TN status and am married to an American. Have you heard of anyone on TN status having difficult

Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA! I'm currently living in the US on TN status and am married to an American. Have you heard of anyone on TN status having difficulty applying for a green card? And do you have any sense of what the wait times currently are, particularly how long until you can get a travel authorization?

proberts 10mo ago
We've obtained lots of marriage-based green cards for those in TN status. The issue is intent at the time of the most recent entry prior to filing a green card application since the intent at that time cannot be to apply for a green card. Generally speaking, if there's a gap of at least 90 days between entry and filing, USCIS's concern about intent goes away or is at least greatly lessened.
kdazzle 10mo ago
There was just an article in the NYT where ICE is arresting people at the end of their green card interviews for essentially no reason. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/us/trump-green-card-interview-arrests.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/us/trump-green-card-inter...
- USMCAThrowAway 10mo ago
  Those targeted in this article are spouses of US citizens that had entered the US on ESTA and allowed that status to lapse whilst awaiting their AOS. That was tolerated previously. It does appear that these arrests have stopped since the NYT article was written.
- rayiner 10mo ago
  That’s misinformation. They’re being arrested because they were in the country illegally, usually overstaying a visa: https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/green-card-interview-spouses-detained https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/green-card... They have a green card interview because they married an American. But you can’t get an adjustment of status if you are in violation of your current visa terms.
  - kdazzle 10mo ago
    I havent been through the US process in a while, but usually that is allowed if your application is processing. You just can’t leave the country.
    - rayiner 10mo ago
      No, if your visa expires you need to maintain your legal status while a PERM application is pending: https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/maintaining-legal-h-1b-status-while-waiting-green-card.html https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/maintain... (“This is especially important if and when you are waiting to apply for lawful permanent residence, commonly called a ‘green card.’ If you are in the United States without any immigration status, you are considered to be here illegally, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may deny your green card application for that reason alone.”). What’s happening here is that these people were here on tourist visas or completely illegally. Then at some point they married a U.S. citizen and filed a PERM application. But that filing doesn’t protect them from deportation for their original illegal status.
      - USMCAThrowAway 10mo ago
        > What’s happening here is that these people were here on tourist visas or completely illegally. Then at some point they married a U.S. citizen and filed a PERM application. There's no PERM process in family based adjustment of status. You're confusing FB AOS with EB AOS.
      - yesb 10mo ago
        PERM is for employment based green cards, not relevant here. Pending AOS for a spouse grants them legal status, including a work permit if they apply. The underlying visa doesn't matter unless the PR application is denied. You'd then be out of status if you didn't maintain a "backup" visa.
        rayiner 10mo ago
        In general, the Attorney General is prohibited from granting an AOS if you have violated the underlying visa (8 USC 1255(c)): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1255 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim... (“subsection (a) [allowing AOS] shall not be applicable to… (8) any alien who was employed while the alien was an unauthorized alien, as defined in section 1324a(h)(3) of this title, or who has otherwise violated the terms of a nonimmigrant visa.”). Subsection (d) allows the attorney general to grant an AOS notwithstanding subsection (c) where an immigrant enters j to a bona fide marriage during proceedings regarding their immigration status. But under subsection (a) the AOS is entirely at the “discretion” of the Attorney General. Indeed, section 1255 doesn’t grant anyone legal status. It contains various provisions where an AOS must be denied. Then, it allows but does not require the Attorney General to grant an AOS under other circumstances.

proberts 10mo ago

We've obtained lots of marriage-based green cards for those in TN status. The issue is intent at the time of the most recent entry prior to filing a green card application since the intent at that time cannot be to apply for a green card. Generally speaking, if there's a gap of at least 90 days between entry and filing, USCIS's concern about intent goes away or is at least greatly lessened.

kdazzle 10mo ago

There was just an article in the NYT where ICE is arresting people at the end of their green card interviews for essentially no reason. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/us/trump-green-card-interview-arrests.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/us/trump-green-card-inter...

USMCAThrowAway 10mo ago
Those targeted in this article are spouses of US citizens that had entered the US on ESTA and allowed that status to lapse whilst awaiting their AOS. That was tolerated previously. It does appear that these arrests have stopped since the NYT article was written.
rayiner 10mo ago
That’s misinformation. They’re being arrested because they were in the country illegally, usually overstaying a visa: https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/green-card-interview-spouses-detained https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/green-card... They have a green card interview because they married an American. But you can’t get an adjustment of status if you are in violation of your current visa terms.
- kdazzle 10mo ago
  I havent been through the US process in a while, but usually that is allowed if your application is processing. You just can’t leave the country.
  - rayiner 10mo ago
    No, if your visa expires you need to maintain your legal status while a PERM application is pending: https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/maintaining-legal-h-1b-status-while-waiting-green-card.html https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/maintain... (“This is especially important if and when you are waiting to apply for lawful permanent residence, commonly called a ‘green card.’ If you are in the United States without any immigration status, you are considered to be here illegally, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may deny your green card application for that reason alone.”). What’s happening here is that these people were here on tourist visas or completely illegally. Then at some point they married a U.S. citizen and filed a PERM application. But that filing doesn’t protect them from deportation for their original illegal status.
    - USMCAThrowAway 10mo ago
      > What’s happening here is that these people were here on tourist visas or completely illegally. Then at some point they married a U.S. citizen and filed a PERM application. There's no PERM process in family based adjustment of status. You're confusing FB AOS with EB AOS.
    - yesb 10mo ago
      PERM is for employment based green cards, not relevant here. Pending AOS for a spouse grants them legal status, including a work permit if they apply. The underlying visa doesn't matter unless the PR application is denied. You'd then be out of status if you didn't maintain a "backup" visa.
      - rayiner 10mo ago
        In general, the Attorney General is prohibited from granting an AOS if you have violated the underlying visa (8 USC 1255(c)): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1255 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim... (“subsection (a) [allowing AOS] shall not be applicable to… (8) any alien who was employed while the alien was an unauthorized alien, as defined in section 1324a(h)(3) of this title, or who has otherwise violated the terms of a nonimmigrant visa.”). Subsection (d) allows the attorney general to grant an AOS notwithstanding subsection (c) where an immigrant enters j to a bona fide marriage during proceedings regarding their immigration status. But under subsection (a) the AOS is entirely at the “discretion” of the Attorney General. Indeed, section 1255 doesn’t grant anyone legal status. It contains various provisions where an AOS must be denied. Then, it allows but does not require the Attorney General to grant an AOS under other circumstances.