US spouse visa for Guatemalan nationals
What this visa is
The CR-1 and IR-1 immigrant visas allow the husband or wife of a United States citizen to move to the US permanently. The applicant enters as a lawful permanent resident and receives a green card shortly after arrival.
Guatemalan applicants interview at the US Embassy in Guatemala City.
If the couple has been married for less than two years when the applicant enters the US, the visa is a CR-1 with a conditional two year green card. Two years or more and it is an IR-1 with a ten year card.
Who can apply
You can apply if you are legally married to a United States citizen and the marriage is valid where it took place. In Guatemala a marriage is celebrated before a mayor or a notary and registered with the Registro Nacional de las Personas, known as RENAP, which issues the certified marriage record.
A unión de hecho, even when formally declared and registered, is not a marriage for US immigration purposes. Couples relying on one generally need to marry.
Both spouses must have been free to marry, with a divorce record or death certificate for any earlier marriage.
Who can sponsor
The sponsor must be a United States citizen. Spouses of green card holders apply in the F2A category, which has annual limits and a waiting list.
Financial requirement
The sponsor signs Form I-864, the affidavit of support, which is enforceable against them in court.
Household income must be at least 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines: $27,050 for a household of two in the contiguous states. Shortfalls can be covered with assets worth three times the gap, or with a joint sponsor. Active duty military sponsors need only 100 percent.
Unlawful presence and the I-601A waiver
Many Guatemalan applicants have spent time in the United States without status. If that period exceeded 180 days, leaving the country to attend the interview in Guatemala City triggers a bar on returning: three years for more than 180 days, ten years for a year or more.
The remedy is Form I-601A, the provisional unlawful presence waiver, which must be filed and approved while you are still inside the United States, before you travel to the interview. It requires evidence that refusing you would cause extreme hardship to a US citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent.
There is a further trap. Anyone who entered the United States without inspection more than once after accruing a year of unlawful presence, or who re entered after a removal order, may face the permanent bar, which the I-601A does not cure. Take legal advice on your entry history before anything else.
Step one: the I-130 petition
Your spouse files Form I-130 with USCIS from the United States, with the RENAP marriage record, proof of US citizenship and evidence of the relationship over time.
Once approved, the case transfers to the National Visa Center.
Step two: the National Visa Center
The National Visa Center collects the DS-260 application, fees, the affidavit of support and civil documents. The case only progresses once every document has been accepted.
RENAP records should be recently issued certified copies. Documents in Spanish require certified English translations.
Step three: the interview in Guatemala City
Interviews take place at the US Embassy in Guatemala City and are conducted in Spanish. Applicants whose first language is a Mayan language such as K’iche’, Mam, Q’eqchi’ or Kaqchikel should tell the embassy in advance so that interpretation can be arranged, rather than relying on being able to follow the interview in Spanish.
Bring original documents even where scans were uploaded.
Medical examination
You must be examined by a panel physician approved by the embassy before your interview. Approved clinics are in Guatemala City and appointments are booked in advance.
The examination covers a physical check, chest x ray, blood tests and required vaccinations. Bring your vaccination records. Results go directly to the embassy.
Police certificates and civil documents
Guatemalan applicants provide two criminal record certificates: the antecedentes penales issued by the Organismo Judicial and the antecedentes policíacos issued by the Policía Nacional Civil. Both have a limited validity, so request them close to the interview date.
Birth and marriage records come from RENAP. Where a birth was registered late or the record has been amended, bring the supporting documentation as well.
If you have lived in another country for twelve months or more since turning 16, you need a police certificate from that country too.
Documents needed
- Valid Guatemalan passport
- Certified marriage record from RENAP
- Certified birth record from RENAP
- Documento Personal de Identificación
- Divorce record or death certificate for any previous marriage
- Antecedentes penales from the Organismo Judicial
- Antecedentes policíacos from the Policía Nacional Civil
- Court and prison records if ever arrested or convicted
- Sponsor’s proof of US citizenship
- Sponsor’s federal tax return, W-2 forms and recent pay stubs
- Completed Form I-864 with supporting evidence
- Medical examination results from an approved panel physician
- Two US visa format photographs
- Relationship evidence spanning the whole relationship
- Certified English translations of Spanish documents
Costs
- Form I-130: $625 online, $675 on paper
- Immigrant visa application fee (DS-260): $325
- Affidavit of support review fee: $120
- Medical examination in Guatemala City: typically $200 to $350
- RENAP records and criminal record certificates: modest local fees
- USCIS Immigrant Fee after the visa is issued: $235
- Form I-601A waiver, if needed, with its own separate fee
Verify current amounts on the USCIS and Department of State websites before paying.
Processing times
The I-130 stage at USCIS commonly runs from several months to well over a year. The National Visa Center stage is quick when documents are correct first time.
Plan for twelve to twenty four months in a straightforward case, and considerably longer where a waiver is involved.
After approval: what comes next
Your passport is returned with the visa and a sealed packet that must not be opened. Travel before the visa expires, normally within six months of the medical examination.
Pay the $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee online before you fly so that your green card is produced. You can work immediately on arrival and can apply for a Social Security number.
If you hold a CR-1, you and your spouse jointly file Form I-751 in the ninety days before the two year card expires.
FAQs
We registered a unión de hecho. Does that count?
No. US immigration law recognises marriage. A declared unión de hecho does not qualify, so most couples marry and register the marriage with RENAP.
I crossed into the United States without a visa more than once. Does that matter?
It matters a great deal. Repeated entries without inspection after a year of unlawful presence, or a re entry after removal, can trigger the permanent bar, which the provisional waiver does not cure. Get advice before filing anything.
I speak K’iche’ rather than Spanish. Can I have an interpreter?
Yes, but arrange it in advance with the embassy rather than turning up and hoping. Misunderstanding a question at interview is a common and avoidable cause of problems.
Which criminal record certificates do I need?
Both the judicial antecedentes penales and the police antecedentes policíacos. Time them so both are still valid on the interview date.
My spouse does not earn enough. What can we do?
Use a joint sponsor who is a US citizen or permanent resident living in the United States, or rely on qualifying assets.
Can my children come with me?
Not automatically. Your spouse files a separate I-130 for each child, and the stepchild relationship must have been created before the child turned 18.