Parent Visiting Green Card holding Child in US with ESTA -- Frequency/length of trips?

[garebear397 69]

Anyone have experience with parents visiting a green card holding son or daughter in the US, relatively frequently? Just cover the first few responses....I know entering the US will always depend on the CBP officer, every case is different, no garauntees, etc. But I just wanted to see if anyone had experiences that were similar to ours -- to know what to expect and plan. 

 

Our situation: 

- Wife had green card previously, we moved back to her home country (Chile) 4 years ago, and now are in process to move back to the US 

- We all want her mom to be able to visit as much as is resonable (2 times a year? 1-2 months each?), we would also probably split those trips up with my wife going down to visit her mom in Chile

- Her mom is a widow and retired. Has two properties in her name: her house that she lives in, and a property on the beach that she rents for her monthly income 

- Her mom visited us once when we lived in the US before with ESTA, for 6 weeks, and she had no problems 

- Very likely my wife will sponsor her mom for a green card once she is a citizen 

 

So we just want gauge how often and frequent she could make trips up to see us (and grandkids), without getting her ESTA status revoked. We definitely aren't trying to have her "live" in the US, she would still be in Chile at least 9 months year, and even when she would be eligible to immigrate (with sponsorship from my wife when she is a citizen) it would be through the IR5 visa, definitely not having her come in as a visitor and do AOS. 

 

So again if anyone has a similar situation or experience I would appreciate to hear it! Most of the posts I see about frequency of visits are about boyfriend/girlfriends or spouses -- so just seeing if there are some examples with parents or family. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Boiler 45,638]

There are lots of posts on here about family visiting.

 

6 weeks twice a year is unlikely to raise eyebrows.