Charles M. Goldsmith Immigration Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Certain provisions of our immigration laws make it better to be from one country rather than another.  This aspect of our immigration law has to do with the quota system that governs a major part of who gets to immigrate to the U.S. and when.  Except for immediate relatives, for the most part those who immigrate to the U.S. do so under the family-based or employment-based preference system.  The number of persons who can immigrate in any one year under one of the family-based or employment-based preference systems is limited.  Limitations also exist concerning the number of persons who can immigrate in any one year from a particular country.

The quota system is based on a person’s place of birth, not their nationality.  For example, if someone is born in France and subsequently becomes a Canadian citizen, they are usually treated by our immigration law as French.  I wrote “usually” because there are many people who can use their spouse’s place of birth instead of their own to receive an important advantage.

1.      One option involves “cross-chargeability”.  This is important because, as stated above, visas are based on quotas, and certain countries have more people applying for green cards under certain preference categories so it might take significantly longer to get a green card if you are born in one country rather than another.

For example, if an Indian-born engineer with a Master’s Degree is sponsored by his company, it might take more than 4 years of waiting because the Indian quota is oversubscribed.  If he were married to someone born in Pakistan or England, there might not be any waiting period (besides administrative processing) because those quotas may be current.

Another example, but under family-based petitions, is a married Mexican who is sponsored by his USC father.  He or she would face about a 15 year waiting period for a green card.  If that Mexican were married to someone from Guatemala or Argentina, the current waiting period for a green card would be half that time.

Another instance where cross-chargeability is helpful is qualifying for the annual “green card lottery”.  If you were born in one of the 13 non-lottery countries, but your spouse was born in a country that qualifies, you would not only be eligible for the lottery, but you would be able to file the application(s) (one for you and one for your spouse) and double your chances of winning.

I should point out that there are other ways to qualify for cross-chargeability other than through marriage.  For the sake of brevity I’ll simply suggest you contact our office, or for more information see 8 C.F.R. § 42.12

For more than 30 years, the law firm of Garganigo, Goldsmith & Weiss has been assisting people with immigration, green card or visa issues. For more information on how our NY immigration lawyers can help, please call us at 212-643-6400, email us online, or visit our office at 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1020, New York, NY 10122.