On Jul 5, 2:10 pm, Noorah101
wrote:
> > Am a green card holder since 1999 (got it thru lottery) and most of
> > the time stayed overseas and made very short regular visits into the
> > USA every year till today. Now I just decided to permanently
> > physically stay and work in the USA for good. Just last month I re-
> > entered the USA again. My wife (37), my daughter (6) and my son (7)
> > are not green card holders, they came in with me under visit visa and
> > are now with me in the USA. As I just decided not to stay overseas
> > anymore and will be residing all time in the USA, all of us insisted
> > and wanted to stay close together all time now and going forward.
> > Please advise any possible options we should take/do in order for us
> > to stay together in the USA, especially what to do with my wife/
> > daughter/son status. Any comment is very much appreciated, thanks.
>
> There is nothing you can do at the moment. Your wife and children
> should go home before their visitor visas are up. You should become a
> US Citizen as soon as you are eligible (might be a while, since you were
> out of the USA so much) and file petitions for your wife and children to
> immigrate to the USA.
>
> If your wife and children stay in the USA after their visit visa is
> finished, they will be in overstay status. If they intend to stay in
> overstay status, make sure they do not leave the USA at any time,
> since after a 180-day overstay they will incur a 3-year ban from
> returning to the USA...overstay of more than 1 year gives them a 10-
> year ban from returning. So your wife will not be able to work or
> travel abroad while she is in the USA, and your kids should not travel
> abroad either. That is, if you don't mind if they are in the USA
> illegally after their tourist visa runs out. Once you are a USC,
> their overstay will be forgiven when you file their adjustment of
> status to permanent resident...but it means several years of them
> living in overstay status here.
>
> If you want to do things the proper way, they should return home and
> wait for you to file an immigrant petition for them. You can file one
> now as a green card holder, but it takes about 5 or 6 years for a visa
> number to become available for them. Once you become a USC, the
> petition gets upgraded and a visa number becomes immediately available,
> and from then the process takes about a year for them to immigrate.
>
> You got very lucky living outside the USA as a PR. You should have been
> living in the USA, making short visits outside the USA.
>
> I advise having a consultation with an immigration attorney who can
> explain your options and advise you of the best, legal, route to take.
>
> Rene
>
> --
> Posted viahttp://britishexpats.com
Many thanks Rene... appreciate your advise.
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