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I have a friend who is a foreigner, and is in a master's CS degree program in the US. He's married to an American woman as of a few months ago.

What is the reasonable amount of time it should take for him to be able to get a green card and work here in the US?

And is there something he can do to help expedite any process(es) (maybe not a greencard?) so he can legally work and support himself and his new family?

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Largely because of the Biden administration's policy of waiving the in-person interview requirement in marriage-based green card cases, the process has been very fast over the last 4 years, often taking less than 6 months from the time of filing until the approval of the green card application. If the new administration brings back the interview requirement, then I suspect that the processing time will go back to what it was before, which typically was at least 1 year. While a green card applicant is waiting for their green card application to be reviewed and approved, they will receive a temporary work card. The processing of work card applications is all over the place but has been better over the past 2 years and can take less than 3 months now (although it also can take much longer). There is a way to request expedited approval of a work card application but the standard is high. Instructions for requesting expedite review of an immigration application are available on the USCIS web site.

Thank you!

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