I need help!?!?

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cccullen

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I'm very new to this forum so I hope I can educate myself regarding my problem. I'm A U.S. Citizen living in the Philippines since 1988, i was 15 when I moved here. In 1997 I was married and later on had 2 daughters. When my first daughter was born I found out that she cannot be a U.S. Citizen because I lacked physical presence in the U.S. So, both my daughters are Philippine Citizens (my luck). We travel to the U.S. almost every year so obviously my wife and two daughters have non-immigrant visas.

I'm now planning to move back the U.S. My question would be that since my wife and daughters have visas (non-immigrant) already, would it be better to work on getting them green cards in the U.S. or should I start it over here in the Philippines? By the way, my wife is a registered nurse and she is taking her exam in a few months so she can work in the states.

Sorry for my ignorance but is this a very long process? If so, if i were to leave for the U.S. in the next month or so what kind of time frame am i looking at before i can see me family again?

I really need help with what to do.... Thank you..
 
Thanks PraetorianXI. So I guess it will not be hard to get my two daughters citizenship because my mother is still residing in the U.S. I can just file FORM N-600, N-600/N-643 SUPPLEMENT A. Do you have any idea on how my wife should go about applying? she will be taking her NCLEX for nursing in a few months, so what would be my best bet?
 
Would it be possible since my wife and children have tourists visas, to let them go to the U.S. and petition them when they are there (Atlanta, GA.)? Would that be legal? I've read in a few threads that if you apply for say the I-130 or I-129F petition and you can stay in the U.S. legally until the outcome of the petition.

I just don't want to be away from my family for too long... I want to find the easiest way possible. Thanks for your replies PraetorianXI. I hope others will have some comments for my situation...
 
I-130 does not give you a legal status. They are not supposed to come to the US with visitor visas and apply for AOS, but it can be done. It is all about the intent at the port of entry. Visitor visas are for visits not to have an immigrant intent of staying and adjusting status.
 
cccullen said:
Would it be possible since my wife and children have tourists visas, to let them go to the U.S. and petition them when they are there (Atlanta, GA.)? Would that be legal?
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How do your wife and children plan to be admitted to the US? A visa does not guarantee admission to the US, it is merely permission to ask to be admitted. If they are here to see their US citizen spouse/parent, that's a good way to get sent right back to Manila.

I've read in a few threads that if you apply for say the I-130 or I-129F petition and you can stay in the U.S. legally until the outcome of the petition.
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Not here. If you can get proof of citizenship for the children via the N-600 that takes care of them. I'd file an I-130 for your spouse, and once that is pending get her a K-3 and bring her here the right way.
 
Just so you know. You can do the process described above from the country where you reside at this moment. You do not need to leave your family to start processing the paperwork.

You can do it all from there. Through consulate/embassy.
 
Since your wife is a registed nurse, you can also look at having her apply for a GC through employment. One of the few jobs that given GC's directly instead of making people go through a nonimmigrant employment process first. :eek:
 
Did you know that Child Citizeship Act of 2000 allows your kids to acquire citizenship if either of your parent (your daughter's grand parents) is a US citizen and has fulfilled the physical presense requirement? They can be granted US citizenship even if they in the US in a non-immigrant capacity.

cccullen said:
I'm very new to this forum so I hope I can educate myself regarding my problem. I'm A U.S. Citizen living in the Philippines since 1988, i was 15 when I moved here. In 1997 I was married and later on had 2 daughters. When my first daughter was born I found out that she cannot be a U.S. Citizen because I lacked physical presence in the U.S. So, both my daughters are Philippine Citizens (my luck). We travel to the U.S. almost every year so obviously my wife and two daughters have non-immigrant visas.
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austriacus said:
Since your wife is a registed nurse, you can also look at having her apply for a GC through employment. One of the few jobs that given GC's directly instead of making people go through a nonimmigrant employment process first.
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There are no jobs that require people to go through a non-immigrant employment process before permanent residence. In fact, there are many jobs that qualify for a GC that do NOT qualify for any non-immigrant employment status.
 
Triple Citizen said:
Did you know that Child Citizeship Act of 2000 allows your kids to acquire citizenship if either of your parent (your daughter's grand parents) is a US citizen and has fulfilled the physical presense requirement? They can be granted US citizenship even if they in the US in a non-immigrant capacity.
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Yes, I've read up a lot regarding this. My mother who is a naturalized American citizen has been living in the U.S. for a very long time (well over 30 years) so I know that getting my children citizenship wouldn't be a problem. I'm going to start looking into that, I guess my mother would have to work on that from the U.S.?
 
TheRealCanadian said:
How do your wife and children plan to be admitted to the US? A visa does not guarantee admission to the US, it is merely permission to ask to be admitted. If they are here to see their US citizen spouse/parent, that's a good way to get sent right back to Manila.



Not here. If you can get proof of citizenship for the children via the N-600 that takes care of them. I'd file an I-130 for your spouse, and once that is pending get her a K-3 and bring her here the right way.
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If I file the I-130 for my wife and once it is pending. What kind of time frame am i looking at to get her a k-3 visa? Should i do this in the Philippines or should I work it out from the U.S.?
 
This is what i found out regarding the k-3 visa for my wife:

To obtain K-3 status for an alien spouse, the U.S. citizen petitioner must first file an I-130 petition with INS in the United States. The U.S. citizen petitioners must also file a second petition, the I-129F, with the INS in the U.S. on behalf of the alien spouse.

Confirmation of INS approval of the I-129F petition is required before a K-3 may be issued and will be relayed to overseas posts by the National Visa Center. If the marriage occurred abroad, a K3 visa must be issued in the country where the marriage took place. The U.S. citizen petitioner must also file a second petition, the I-129F, with the (INS) in the U.S. on behalf of the alien spouse.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
There are no jobs that require people to go through a non-immigrant employment process before permanent residence. In fact, there are many jobs that qualify for a GC that do NOT qualify for any non-immigrant employment status.
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Well, I didn't say require, what I meant was that for many jobs it is typically not practical to apply for an employment based GC without being in the country on nonimmigrant status because of labor certification and retrogression, and labor certification is not required for nurses and they have a separate category, Schedule A, which is less impacted by retrogression. But I do agree with you that nonimmigrant employment is technically never required for an employment based GC.
 
austriacus said:
labor certification is not required for nurses and they have a separate category, Schedule A, which is less impacted by retrogression.
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There is no separate category for Schedule A anymore; they're EB3 like everyone else. With PERM, skipping the LC is less of an advantage than it used to be.
 
You all have me lost already. All i know is that i do understand why they make it very difficult for k-3 visas in the Philippines. There are a lot of older men marrying younger women and the women are just looking for a way out of the country. It's not like that in my case, my wife is the same age as i am we've been married for 10 years already. She is a nurse and will be taking the NCLEX very soon. I know they aren't giving H-1 visas until next year and i also know that k-1 and k-3 visas are really backed up here in the Philippines. I don't want to be away from my family for a year. Is my only option to get my wife over is the K-3 visa?
 
TheRealCanadian said:
There is no separate category for Schedule A anymore; they're EB3 like everyone else. With PERM, skipping the LC is less of an advantage than it used to be.
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Thanks for pointing out that they don't have a separate category anymore. My understanding is that Schedule A workers can still benefit from recaptured visa numbers if they are made available to them, which "regular" EB3 applicants can't, but it's not predictable when and to what extent that happens.

In any case, the EB3 category is current thru Aug. 17, right? So with the spouse of the OP not requiring labor certification, she would be eligible to file, correct (I believe she needs the NCLEX and a sponsoring employer)? Any advantage/disadvantage as compared to K-3?
 
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