Greencard for spouse and children

[JustWatching]

Hello everyone -

I am trying to help a friend. Here is the situation:

She is a US Citizen but has lived in Mexico for most of her life. She has a US passport.
She is married to a Mexican national and has two children (under 10) who have lived in Mexico their whole life.

She would like to move back to the US with her family. They are currently in Mexico

1)She should be able to apply for a green card for her husband and get approved in relatively short period of time, correct? No visa limits, etc?

2)She is being told her children can not become citizens becaus even though she is a US Citizen they have not lived in the US. So the children would also need to apply for green cards. Are the kids 1st priority? For Mexico that would be 08OCT92.

3)Initial plans were to do I-130 for everyone and consular processing. Husband should get approved quickly but children would be a while. Is there a way for them to move to the US while processing completes?

Am I missing something?

Thank you everyone.

 

[Triple Citizen]

She a US citizen by birth or by naturalisation?

If by birth, how many years in total was she physically present in the US? How many years after her 14th birthday?

If by naturalisation, what year did she naturalise in and what years were her kids born in?

2)She is being told her children can not become citizens becaus even though she is a US Citizen they have not lived in the US. So the children would also need to apply for green cards. Are the kids 1st priority? For Mexico that would be 08OCT92.

 

[JustWatching]

She a US citizen by birth or by naturalisation?

If by birth, how many years in total was she physically present in the US? How many years after her 14th birthday?

If by naturalisation, what year did she naturalise in and what years were her kids born in?

Born in the US. Left the US before she turned 1.
Children were born in 2002 and 2004.

Thanks

 

[Triple Citizen]

Did either of the parents (maternal grandparents of the kids) of the US born mother spend more than 5 years physically in the US?

Born in the US. Left the US before she turned 1.
Children were born in 2002 and 2004.

 

[Jackolantern]

3)Initial plans were to do I-130 for everyone and consular processing. Husband should get approved quickly but children would be a while.

If anything it would be the other way around (take longer for the husband), due to the need to run background checks on him and have him interviewed. But still the husband and children can expect be processed within a year.

Is there a way for them to move to the US while processing completes?

Theoretically yes, but those other avenues may not be available to or practical for her husband and children. A tourist visa would be difficult to obtain and use because of her husband and children's ties to her as a US citizen, and even if the tourist visa is obtained it is still not really OK to use it as a stepping stone to enter the US to wait for a green card (some people do it successfully, but they can deny the green card for doing so). There are various categories of work visas available, but those require specific qualifications and take months to process.

Anyway, what TripleCitizen is exploring is the possibility of the children already being citizens or qualifying to directly become citizens via their mother and/or grandparents.

 

[Triple Citizen]

Correct, that is why I am waiting for the OP to let us know if the maternal grandparents are US citizens or not.

Anyway, what TripleCitizen is exploring is the possibility of the children already being citizens or qualifying to directly become citizens via their mother and/or grandparents.