While in the United States, many aliens wish to bring their alien spouses abroad to the United States to live together. Aliens of both lawful and unlawful status get married in the United States with U.S. citizens, permanent residents, aliens with valid non-immigration status, or aliens out of status. In any case, involving marriage, concern may arise surrounding immigration benefits or statuses for those couples who wish to stay together in the United States.

Generally speaking, a U.S. citizen is able to confer immigration benefits to his or her alien spouse where the spouse is already in the U.S. Similarly a U.S. permanent resident may confer immigration benefits to his or her alien spouse.