> Hi Jan
>
> Welcome back. As a PR the wait for your children to obtain
> immigration visas will be long. However, as others have said your
> husband, as their step-father and a USC, can petition for them. As
> for the issue of custody, that might not be an issue being that your
> children are older, i.e. 16 and 15. The 16 yo might not require the
> consent of the other parent while the 15 yo might. Or then again,
> they both might. Your wisest move is to seek at minimum a
> consultation with an immigration versed in this type of situation.
> You're using the Nebraska Service Center so you can look up the
> timeline there for the I-130. Once approved it will be forward to the
> US Consulate in London for their interview and immigration visa
> approval. They will go through the same thing you did, even though
> you were a K-1 visaholder, i.e. the medical, long form birth
> certificates, son will need police clearance and daughter will if she
> turns 16 before the interview.
>
> Under the VWP they are only allowed to enter the US for 90 days under
> the VWP. They cannot legally stay longer than that unless they have a
> tourist visa and obtaining one when you have the intent to migrate is
> almost non-existent.
>
> Last year or late in 2004 someone had a young child who faced a
> similar situation in the UK. The child came into the US as a tourist
> and step-dad filed for her and she remained here until the process was
> finished. While the situation was similar, it was different in that
> the father no longer wanted the child and was going to throw the
> youngster out of the house if the child returned to the UK.
>
> Is there anyone in your family who can care for the teenagers until
> the visa process is completed? A grandparent, aunt, uncle? What does
> their father have to say about his girlfriend's decision to abandon
> his children while he is serving his country?
Thanks everyone for your replies, we had worked out that my husband
could file for them, but were erring on the cautious side as we dont
want to be responsible for any problems they might face by overstaying
their VWP.
Firstly Elivra, my ex and I have joint custody, Alex and Madelaine
originally stayed in the UK as they were settled in boarding school,
they spend most of their vacation time with me here in the US as their
father has been busy with work / various girlfriends (I wont elaborate
as it'll start me ranting).
Rete, my ex doesnt seem to have any influence over his present g/f and
her attitude to his own children, It seems 'cuckoo in the nest' would
apply here, shes moved hers in and is now busy moving mine (ours)
out. The damage has been done, neither of them trust my ex any
longer, but then would you ? He phoned back in November saying Alex
was going to my mothers as he was off to sea soon, It took me 2 days
to make arrangements for Alex to fly out here instead. Unfortunately
I dont have any family they can stay with, my mother has parkinsons
disease and is incapacitated, they did spend some time with ex's
brother and his wife but shes an alcoholic and not a particularily
good influence on them.
I'll consult an immigration lawyer today, they have their long form
birth certs with them so we may be able to get things going right away.
My main concern is my daughters schooling I have a feeling she wont be
able to start at a school here until she has a SSN etc.
Thanks
Jan
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