Is it possible for a US citizen to file for spousal visa while a permanent resident for 5 years of an EU country?
Here is our situation: I (29) am a Slovak citizen, my boyfriend (44) is a US citizen. We met on the internet, and are currently long distance. We would like to meet as soon as possible, and prevent any long separation afterwards. We are considering different options about how to go about it, and trying to figure out which are actually possible, and how they compare as regards their likelihood of unproblematic success, length of necessary separation, cost etc.
One possible option:
He would come visit me in Slovakia on ETIAS/visa waiver, and during the visit we would get married (in Slovakia). As a spouse of a Slovak citizen, he could be granted permanent residence in Slovakia for 5 years - getting the permit would take up to 3 months (after the application is filed). He would probably have to go back to the US and come back after the permit is issued, because of the processing length (3 months ETIAS - 3 months application processing; and we would file after a month or so in Slovakia). After receiving the residence permit, and either while he was still in the US or after coming to Slovakia the second time, we would file for a spousal visa.
However, we are unsure: Is it even possible to file for a spousal visa as a permanent resident of Slovakia?
The point of getting the residence permit would be to prevent prolonged separation. We would file as soon as possible after getting the residence permit. He has a history of voting, a driver's license, and a bank account in the US - would that suffice as establishing domicile?
A further complication: he is currently unemployed, has been unemployed last year (so no tax returns), has a spotty history of employment for years, and has limited assets. His mother (90) agreed to cosponsor, but we wonder how her age might affect the viability of the co-sponsorship, especially since we would be filing while resident in Slovakia.
Thank you very much for any information!
[link] [comments]
source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/msmx46/is_it_possible_for_a_us_citizen_to_file_for/