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CR-1 Visas for Cambodians Married to Americans Over 50

See transcript of the above video below:

As the title of this video suggests we are discussing the CR-1 Visa, specifically in the context of Cambodian Nationals and specifically in the context of Americans who are over 50 years of age.

Why is this such an issue?  Well there's another video on this channel where we discussed marriage in Cambodia or to a Cambodian National and the specific obstacles associated therewith when that Cambodian is marrying a foreign national who is 50 years of age or older. Not to go into greater detail is that video goes into detail on this topic, basically Cambodian law restricts Cambodian Nationals from marrying foreign Nationals who are 50 years of age or over and as a practical matter that restriction is pretty hard and fast.  It's not going to be really possible to overcome that restriction specifically within the Cambodian system.  

Now that being said, I have seen couples over the years who have utilized third-party jurisdictions to go ahead and affect a marriage which can then act as the basis for an application for, as the title of this video discusses, the CR-1 Visa. As discussed in other videos to CR-1 Visa is a conditional resident Visa. It provides conditional lawful permanent residence in the United States for 2 years upon admission and upon the issuance of an I-551 stamp at a Port of Entry in the United States.  So a Cambodian National married to an American citizen whether 50 years of age or older or not that is kind of irrelevant. That person entering the United States is issued with an I-551 stamp and that person is granted 2 years lawful permanent residence. 90 days prior to the two-year anniversary of that Cambodian National's entry to the United States, that Cambodian National needs to go ahead and file for a lift of conditions.  Basically the USCIS wants to go ahead and see that the couple remains married and that the marriage is in fact genuine and basically upon issuance of a lift of conditions, then at that point that Cambodian National is considered an unconditional lawful permanent resident of the United States and will be issued 10-year green cards into the foreseeable future. 

Issues involving  Americans over 50 years of age and Cambodian Nationals, they are rather daunting. They can be problematic because it can be a problem finding a third country jurisdiction that will allow a marriage between the parties; especially a jurisdiction that allows a marriage without certain documentation that has to be issued by the Cambodian Government which the Cambodian government is rather loathe to issue, even abroad, for the specific fact that they are very cognizant of this over 50 rule and they don't want to violate that per their own law.

So it's probably a good idea to consult a legal professional in these matters as in certain cases a fiancée visa may be optimal where as in other cases a marriage visa may be optimal; it's going to depend. 

So if you're not yet married to your Cambodian fiancée and you are looking at marriage visa options, it might be a good idea to contact an attorney first to get some insight into the interplay and the dynamics of these issues so one can be best prepared to go ahead and exploit their options in an efficient manner so as to be able to get their Cambodian loved one into the United States as quickly and efficiently as possible with the most amount of Immigration benefits upon arrival.