Green Card - Immigration doctor

WHERE
To find an immigration doctor in your area you can check here.

WHAT DO YOU NEED  
Make sure you bring you vaccine record(s) to prove you have all the mandatory vaccines (a list can be found here). If you don't have them, or if you don't have proof of having them, you will need to get them and pay for all of them. They also check your blood pressure, listen your heart and lungs, look at your eyes and ears.  

Next, they draw some blood to check a few things (among them the chickenpox teeter, so if you have proof you had the chicken pox you may want to give it to them). The more blood they draw, the more you pay. So anything you have or had, bring documentation and show them because my experience was that they do not ask for anything - they just take the blood samples and pass you the bill. 

Finally, you pay and go home (they may have you pay, then get the blood drawn, and then go home). The following is a breakdown of the costs I payed as of 2011 per a North Carolina immigration doctor.
-Physical exam $150
-RPR (STS) $20
-QuantiFERON-TB Gold $60
-Varicella Teeter $30
With a total of $260, out of the $350 we expected after our research.

About 10 days later you will receive a copy of the completed paperwork for you, and a sealed envelope (not to be open) to be sent to USCIS with the other paperwork.

Updated January 2017

Green Card - Checklist

We used a checklist when going through all this process, and the checklist looked something like what follows. I invite you to print yourself a copy to help you and keep track of what you have done and have yet to do. I hope it helps!

Green Card - Starting the process

The process we will be following through the next posts is how to apply for a Green Card through marriage - immediate relative visa - from inside of the country (once in the United States of America). Nevertheless, if you are applying from another country there are resemblances and it may be beneficial for you to keep reading. Even if you are doing the fiancé visa there will be some similarities, so you are welcome to read.
To know other options you can look at this post.

Once inside as a tourist, the process starts. 

NOTE: If you are inside of the US with a Visa you may need to double check there are no conditions to your visa, conditions from your home country or conditions from the US. In such a case you would need to waive first your conditions before apply to this whole process.

PAPERWORK
You will need to fill a form called I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status - you can get it here together with the instructions and supplemental information. You will also need the I-130, Petition for Alien Relative - you can get it here together with the instructions. It helps to fill the form G-1145 (found in both previous links) which would allow you to know when your application gets accepted. 

You usually send all the files together like we did in 2011 but in the website (here) can be read:"You still have the option to file your I-485 application any time after your petitioner files a Form I-130, for you, as long as it has not been denied. Generally, you will need to submit a copy of Form I-797, Notice of Action, with your Form I-485, that shows the Form I-130 petition is either pending or approved." Thus, you are to send the form I-130 first, and as you receive the form I-797 (receipt confirmation) you may send a copy of it, with the I-485. I think its easier just to submit everything together though.

INFORMATION
The I-485 part of the paperwork requires a bunch of personal information and financial information that shows financial support from a family member (or more). In a nutshell,  the financial documentation verifies you are not going to rely on the government once you are legal. And as part of the required information, you need an immigration doctor (learn more here) to fill in some more papers after your physical exam. You may want to start looking for a doctor now so you can get his filled papers by the time you are ready to send all this so you do not have to wait.

DOCUMENTS
You will need to send a birth certificate in English (NOTE For Spaniards: the "multilingual" birth certificate is not accepted as a translation. You will need to provide the original language birth certificate together with an official translation, which you may do for about $60 here in the US as of prices in 2011).

FEES
Each document has a correspondent fee to pay (make checks or money orders payable to Department of Homeland Security):
-With the I-130, the fee is $535.
-With the I-485, the fee varies, filing through marriage it will most likely be $1,140.
-For the Biometric, sent with the I-485, there is an $85 fee.

NOTE: Keep an extra copy of every document that is requested because they may ask them at the interview. Thus I recommend to make two copies, send one and keep one of each for later. Try to keep them all together. Always keep the originals. 

Updated January 2017

Green Card - Initial process as an immigrant - Choosing a way

There are basically 2 main ways to enter the United States (US) legally even if there are many ways within those two types.

JOB RELATED
The first main way is you can enter the country through a job. For information on how to get a job in the USA without being a resident or citizen check this website. If the job is for a time period long enough, you can start paperwork to obtain a Green Card (which would be somewhat similar to what I will be addressing later on in more detail) or you could come as an immigrant based on your job skills.

MARRIAGE RELATED
The second way would be through marriage, which is the focus of this post. There are several ways to come through marriage.
You can enter the USA with a visa for fiancé and to get married within 90 days from the arrival date.
It goes without saying that there is paperwork involved and that some requirements have to be met. However, first there is paperwork to request the visa, then, once in the US, there is paperwork to get married, and finally there is paperwork to be legalized. Add to that all the fees, which are not cheap.
You can also enter with the immediate relative visa, effective for spouses, parents, or unmarried children. There are two ways to start this process, one while inside of the US (can take about 5 months or more), or while outside of the US (can take about 8 months or even over a year). Both methods have many parts in common, paperwork, doctor's visit, biometrics, interview... and if you have all the documents needed and no mistakes, it sure helps with speeding it all up. Regarding doing it from abroad, there seems to be a common loophole when US citizens send paperwork from a foreign address, which is a way to expedite the process (so it seems to be faster to collect and send all documents from the foreign country rather than collect and send everything from the US). However, there doesn't seem to be any official reason for this.

With the first immediate relative visa process - which is the option we will be following up in the following posts - you can be in the country as a tourist and then do the paperwork requesting a change of status from tourist to immigrant as the paperwork is filed to request the Green Card. But this can be problematic if you intentionally try to come to the US as a tourist for the real purpose of getting married. The tourist visa (or visa waiver program) is for tourists, not for coming to get married, so you'd be in violation of that tourist program if you did that intentionally. However, if you are marrying a citizen after already coming to the US, such as making the decision after being in the country, then you can opt for this method.