US Immigration from Chile

Hey everyone!

I met my now-fiance while traveling in 2023, and we have been together for some time now. She lives in Chile and I am a US Citizen. Our ultimate goal has been for her to come here permanently sometime in the future, ideally as soon as she'd be able to. We have a trip planned for her to come to the US in September, and when we planned it out the intention was just to have her visit and spend some time together. However, I recently looked into the immigration process, and realizing how long the timeline tends to be we discussed that it might make the most sense for us to get married while she is here in September, and then file for the CR-1 spouse visa to begin that process.

I have heard conflicting things about if we were to do this, some people saying it is illegal if she were to come here on a tourism visa and intend to get married, but I've heard that only really matters if her plan is to come here on the visa, get married, and stay here from then on. That was never our intent and she does have ties to her home country (full-time work, an apartment she rents, a cat she takes care of, family, friends, etc), so I am hoping that would factor in, but I wanted to hear what people think regarding the likelihood of her being turned away at the airport for any reason. We do not want to lie about her coming here of course, but the main reason she will be here is not just to get married, it kind of just seemed to make the most sense to do that since we'll be together and we want to begin the CR-1 process as soon as possible. In the eyes of an immigrations officer I imagine that may not mean a whole lot, but I'm curious whether or not it would be considered fraudulent if she does not explicitly state that she will be getting married while here. We don't want to jeopardize the application process or make it any harder for her to get here, but we want to marry and begin that process as soon as we can and this way seems to make sense for us.

Any thoughts, or anyone who can share their experience?

I just started my minor step sons i130 (ir2) last night (did not submit it yet) and then spoke with my husband this morning and he got a call from my step sons grandpa. My step son was arrested and was held on charges of illegal concealing and carrying a loaded illegal firearm. Needless to say we're quite upset with him and his behavior, especially after we had previously explained to him, because of some poor choices and bad behavior, the possible reprocussions for having a record. An investigation has been opened and therefore were all waiting to see what will happen with the case. If something like this ends up on his record what are the chances (if any even) of him being approved to come here? If he ends up facing jail time does that affect anything differently? It's besides the point that i'm reconsidering my offer to bring him here in the first place based on the obvious and other previous observations and during the past 24 hours.

Hi. I really need some help here. So, a student is currently taking refuge at my house. The father is very physically abusive. She is 18 years old but still in high school. There is a TRO against the father.

Visa status

I551 approved on February, 2024

I551 expires on February, 2025

Temporary green card is being sponsored by her stepmom s friend

Problem

She came to my home without any form of government identification. All she has is her school ID. The stepmom changed the locks, disconnected her cell phone, and refuses to talk with her. There is no way to retrieve any of her government ID like her passport, temporary green card, etc. She has her social security number but doesn t not have the physical card. She cannot apply form of renewal ID

So far

1. The police will not escort her to her parents house to retrieve her belongings.
2. The family attorney who volunteered to take her case for free for her upcoming Restraining Order case against father made an appeal to retrieve her documents. However, if the parents claim they lost it, then that will be the end of it.

3. Went to social security office, embassy and DMV to see if they will accept her school ID as a form of identification to apply for the listed ID s but failed.

Question

1. Can she file for I751 although her temporary green card wasn t established through marriage?
2. is there anything she can file under domestic violence? Her father has 3 previous police records on file for domestic abuse against the student.
3. How can she apply for a green card renewal without any form of government ID? I mean, surely there has to be a way ? What you got robbed? What do people do then?

she does have a copy of her passport and social security. That s all she has and she can t go back to that house. Help

I have a few questions regarding the IR2 for my step son.

1. What is the estimated difference in time if I as a US citizen file for my step son in comparison to if my husband who is a legal permanent resident files for his son?

2. If he gets into any legal trouble, am I on the hook or responsible for him in any way if I am his sponsor? Not that I think he will but he's 16 and if I'm honest I barely even know him.

3. I am stay at home mom, so if I am his sponsor my husband will have to sign an affidavit of support for him as well. If that happens does that mean that we are both equally responsible for him so he does not receive any government assistance for 10 years?

Thank you!

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.