Green card for children while pending AOS

[HRQX 4,145]

16 hours ago, Gomast said:

My wife will try to submit the I-130 + I-485 packet and we'll see what happens.

Forms for 11 year old child:

• I-130 filled out by your wife and signed by your wife. Very first item must be I-130 fee ($535) payment method.
• I-485 and I-944 can be signed by you: "If you are under 14 years of age, your parent or legal guardian may sign the application on your behalf." I-864 filled out by your wife and signed by your wife. Very first item must be I-485 fee ($1140) payment method.
• I-765 is free but optional. If I-765 is approved before I-485 is adjudicated then child will be eligible for SSN issuance at that time. I-765 can be signed by you.
• I-131 is free but optional. I-131 can be signed by you.

 

Forms for 13 year old child:

• I-130 filled out by your wife and signed by your wife. Very first item must be I-130 fee ($535) payment method.
• I-485 and I-944 can be signed by you: "If you are under 14 years of age, your parent or legal guardian may sign the application on your behalf." I-864 filled out by your wife and signed by your wife. Very first item must be I-485 fee ($1140) payment method.
• I-765 is free but optional. If I-765 is approved before I-485 is adjudicated then child will be eligible for SSN issuance at that time. I-765 can be signed by you.
• I-131 is free but optional. I-131 can be signed by you.

Edited July 29, 2020 by HRQX

[HRQX 4,145]

18 hours ago, Gomast said:

- September 2019 I apply for AOS.

You'll note that I bolded I-944 above. Since they'll file I-485 forms after Feb. 23, 2020, the I-944 forms are required for them. Also, the I-485 edition has been updated. Thus, use the most current editions.

[Villanelle 4,121]

I still think there are issues with your timeline. You really need to sit down and write it all out and understand what happened when in order to fill out the forms correctly for both you and your children. You dont want to submit incorrect information and during an interview you need to be confident in your responses.

 

At one point you stated you were divorced abroad but then you refer to custody/divorce documents being done by a state court so they have no authority over the immigration system, um what? I think you are trying to say that you have some sort of US state custody order which is fine but its concerning that it says the kids will live in the US until 18 and that she will get them residency in the US -OR_ if she cant you will. When the order was written you did not have residency. You did not have a path to residency. A state court cant  make orders saying someone is going to live in the US so USCIS has to give them status because of said order. It sounds like really poor wording in the divorce/custody papers. If she didnt get them residency so now you have to what was your plan to do that if you didnt find a USC to marry? It makes your relationship very suspicious IMO. Its also concerning why the mom hasnt filed yet? Did she file for herself? 

 

 

[Gomast 65]

12 hours ago, Villanelle said:

I still think there are issues with your timeline. You really need to sit down and write it all out and understand what happened when in order to fill out the forms correctly for both you and your children. You dont want to submit incorrect information and during an interview you need to be confident in your responses.

 

At one point you stated you were divorced abroad but then you refer to custody/divorce documents being done by a state court so they have no authority over the immigration system, um what? I think you are trying to say that you have some sort of US state custody order which is fine but its concerning that it says the kids will live in the US until 18 and that she will get them residency in the US -OR_ if she cant you will. When the order was written you did not have residency. You did not have a path to residency. A state court cant  make orders saying someone is going to live in the US so USCIS has to give them status because of said order. It sounds like really poor wording in the divorce/custody papers. If she didnt get them residency so now you have to what was your plan to do that if you didnt find a USC to marry? It makes your relationship very suspicious IMO. Its also concerning why the mom hasnt filed yet? Did she file for herself? 

 

 

I'll try to clarify more. There is a lot going on here.

The divorce has been heard both in the Israeli courts and in the US state court, over a period of 3 years.

There were long delays due to conflicted court jurisdictions. I have a divorce order from an Israeli court (issued in 2018) and a post divorce order from the US state court which was issued on 5/30/2020. At that point of time, I was already married to my USC wife, and my ex was already married to her USC husband. The order states that if my ex wife is unable to obtain GC to the kids, then I will apply for their GC after my GC application is approved. At that point of time, my application for AOS was already submitted.

 

The order also states that the children will not be removed from the US, without a court order. I am not sure how a state court can make such a determination, considering that both parents do not have green cards.

I don't know if the mom filed for herself. I don't want to ask because she will not disclose it. 

I don't know if she already filed for the kids. I will give her a year or two to file for them, and if I see that she doesn't file, then I'll ask my wife to file in a couple of years. I just don't want them to get to age 18 (in 5 years) and still not have any legal status.

 

Regarding my relationship with my wife: I have separated from my ex in 2017, and I have been together with my wife since March 2018. She is the best thing that ever happened to me, other than having my kids. If I would not have met my wife, I would have happily lived in Israel and come to visit my kids as much as I could. Their mom would have had the obligation take care of their immigration status, and it's not different than her current obligation to do so.

BTW, throughout the years of my divorce proceedings, I was trying to convince the courts to issue a ruling that my kids would actually reside in Israel, and my wife would have moved to Israel with me.

 

 

[Boiler 43,593]

Family Law in the US is State, Immigration is Federal.

[Gomast 65]

25 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Family Law in the US is State, Immigration is Federal.

Yes, and this is the reason that I was surprised that the state court made a determination that the kids will not leave the US. I don’t think that it will have any affect on USCIS, except for the fact that both parents could use this order as a consent of each parent to apply for an immigrant visa for the kids. 

[Boiler 43,593]

A State family court ruling has no impact on Federal Immigration law.

[Villanelle 4,121]

left May 2017 - when you all were here you and children were H and she was R. But everyone left in May 2017.

Ex returned to the US on Nov 2017 with the R-1, and she probably obtained R-2 for the children, although I am not exactly sure about the children. Im not sure if the R 2 for the children would have required you to sign it was OK for them to go. At this point it doesnt matte=

 

Then you say you got a divorce in Israel in 2018 but also that in Jan 2018 your ex got married to a USC in the US I am assuming right? So this would mean you filed for divorce there while she was here and the process was completed. Your divorce there may or may not have had wording about the custody of the kids. Regardless of what it said you keep referring to something as a 'post divorce order' from a state court in 2020. I dont know what state you are referring to but there isnt anything I could think of really that would be considered a post divorce order. Typically when a divorce is done the divorce is done and not revisited. What you are most likely talking about is a custody order. Custody orders can be first included in the divorce but they are separate from the actual divorce. Custody orders contain information on where the children will live and who pays for what/any child support. They can be changed and modified if needed. 

 

Its incredibly odd that your ex got married in 2018 and in 2020 during the custody proceedings wording had to be included about the kids greencards. Most people apply for benefits immediately after they marry or after a short delay if funds are an issue. So if someone doesnt file for AOS and remains illegal for 2.5 years there has to be a reason and nothing good comes to mind. Is the ex still married? Could it be an income issue where they cant meet the guidelines for a household of 4? There is a chance she did apply for all of them and its still pending but if that was the case then I think she wouldve told the court its pending and not have had such wording included in the custody stuff. I am curious as to how that wording got put in. It can be that theres a problem with getting the kids status and shes managed to pass it on to you. I also dont understand why you would want to wait 1-2 years to figure out the kids status? Its very irresponsible to have your kids be living here with no status. And things can take a long time to process, if theres a problem its not going to get smaller the more time passes- probably the opposite. (although they are minors so most things you do as the parent are not held against them). Im also assuming you are planning on naturalizing as soon as you are eligible. Ideally youd want your kids to naturalize automatically when you do in which to do so they need to be LPRs and be in your legal and physical custody.