Just got married with my first cousin, can I bring her to the US? (I became US citizen last month)

T

TriCitizen

Registered Users (C)
I became a naturalised U.S. citizen last month.

Two weeks ago, I returned to my home country where I married my first
cousin. She and I have been together for 10 years. We have two children
together.(8 and 9) I came to the US while she stayed behind, because she
felt it was necessary for the kids to attend some school in our home country.

While I was in the US, she and the kids visited me every few months on
visitors visa dn stayed maybe 2 to 3 weeks each time. I also travel back
and stay with them whenever I can.(a month or two, a couple of times
a year)

Now that I am a US citizen, will it be possible for her and the kids to
come to the US? She does not want the kids to leave school for another
year or two. I assume the kids are already automatically US citizens
based on my new citizenship. Is there a time limit on how soon I must
file to get the kids' citizenship status acknowledged by the USCIS?
 
triple,
congrats on the citizenship, you have been a great contributor to all of us here, congrats!! wish i have answers for your question :confused:
 
The children are not citizens because you were not a citizen when they were born, and they were not living with you in the US as permanent residents since you got citizenship. After you bring them to the US to live with you as permanent residents, they will automatically become citizens, if they are still under 18.

If you file for your wife and kids via consular processing, they can expect to have their green cards approved in 6-12 months. Then they will have 6 months after approval to move to the US. So if you time the filing right, they will be able to move to the US to start the school year in August or September 2010.

And when she comes to the US, don't tell people she is your first cousin. It is culturally frowned upon here, and marrying a first cousin is actually illegal in some states.
 
I checked the local marriage laws and regulations very carefully. In the state where I have resided since the day I arrived in the US, it is lega. (actually, other than short visits to my home country, I have not yet visited any of the other 49 states yet... :( unless you count 1-hour connecting time in New York and Chicago "visits" :) )

I know it's not everybody. My cousin and I have never seen each other. We lived 1800 kilometers apart. It is only when we started living to-gether that we realized that we were related. It was a shock... but was already too late.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top