abrahambueno

Gotcha! That makes sense now! Thank you very much guys!

Gotcha! That makes sense now! Thank you very much guys!

The 3 years is counted from the date on the green card, not from the date she arrived/got married. If her green card expires June 2024, that means the "clock" for N-400 began around June 2022. 

No.  To file the N-400, she must have been married to a US citizen for 3 years AND she must have had a Green Card for 3 years.  She cannot skip the I-751.
The 3 year clock for citizenship started when her Adjustment of Status was approved.   Normally, the N-400 can be filed about a year after the I-751 is filed.

Father and mother incurred 10 year bans, father for getting deported and for unlawful presence, mother just for unlawful presence. Unlawful presence bans are automatic, there doesn't have to be an official finding by an immigration judge, USCIS, DOS, or any other agency for them to kick in. These bans have since expired, they'll just have to prove that they maintained residence in Mexico or elsewhere and didn't reenter US.
 
Anyways the way to go about this would be:
Dad and mom - petition them as immediate relatives, will take about 2 years for them to become LPRs.
20 year old sister - petition for her directly in F4 (sibling of US Citizen), it's backlogged less than F3 and parents wouldn't be able to petition for her anyways until they've naturalized since there's no category for married children of LPRs.
11 year old bother - Kid's a USC, all he needs is to get a passport and board a plane
10 year old sister - Have either parent petition for her as an F2A, it's a bit backlogged for Mexico but I think that backlog will clear soon. Even if not, 3 years isn't an insurmountable wait.
 
Regarding the F4 backlog, I think it might loosen up a bit after the priority date passes the 245(i) cutoff date of April 30, 2001. Something similar happened with F2B for Philippines, there was a crazy amount of petitions that were filed during the December 21, 2000 to April 30, 2001 window of 245(i) getting briefly reopened. Don't get me wrong, it'll still be a long wait, but less than 22 years.

Yes, the wait is only marginally better for unmarried over 21 children of LPRs, around a year faster than your wife filing sibling - but given the wait time till the parents could file it would still end up being faster for your wife to file a sibling visa as soon as she naturalizes (and then it also wouldn’t matter if the sister does get married).
 
Yes, the sisters would absolutely have to return home after tourist visa visits before their admitted period ends. Any overstay would see them lose their tourist visas and as you already know from the father, there is a potential ban if they stay too long. 
 
If you are able to afford a private education at a SEVP-approved school then you could consider looking into student visas for the children to do schooling in the US. Not a slam dunk as they’d have to show non immigrant intent but certainly an option to investigate if it’s affordable.

1. Her parents are IR ( immediate relatives), so only the time req to get through I.130 approval/NVC and to CDJ for interview. Guess time 1.5 yrs
 
2 ( am aware 10 yrs passed ) BUT CDJ will likely slap smuggling inadmissibility at interview IF your wife and 20 yr old sister came over EWI w parents in the past. If so then add another year for I-601 waiver…
This is a CDJ anomaly.
 
3. Unless the 20 sister will be waiting some decades , per Visa Bulletin 
 
4 The youngest sister waits for parents to be LPR 
 
 

From when she becomes a citizen and files:
- mom and dad will be the processing time (uscis processing plus NVC processing + wait time to get appointment in Mexico) Maybe 2-3 years, maybe less if the Mexico queue backlog improves 
 
- yes, sibling visa for Mexico is currently 22 years, see category F4 in table 1 https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2022/visa-bulletin-for-august-2022.html
No, there is no way to speed it up. Hypothetically your parents in law could also file for her older sister eventually but because she is married, they will have to be citizens first, so above 2-3 years + 5 years to naturalize+ the wait time for F3 category, which (same doc as above) is actually even longer than F4. So that’s not cutting any corners. For the younger sister parents could file for under 21 child once they are LPRs, that’s F2A in the doc and the current wait is 3 years - so that is a faster option for the younger sister, but not in any way “fast”. There is no way the younger sister can come with them at first either, so would she stay with the older sister?
If her sister or sister’s spouse have good degree/experience they could get a sponsored work visa, but at only 20 years old I’m guessing it’s too soon to be thinking about that for the older one much less the younger one. Maybe a future option if they are on good career paths. 

The police report went smoothly. We just ended up going to a local police station and it took about 30 minutes. The interview also went very smoothly. It was a little bit of a wait for her but once she sat down with the interviewer, it took about 10-15 minutes. 

This is a good start.  Now, they just need to completely eliminate conditional green cards to make another great impact.  

My wife and I had the same idea for her K1 interview (except with protective sleeves instead of 3 hole punch). The interviewer never asked to see anything from the binder. However, it's better to be over prepared than underprepared! 

Military benefits are excluded from all of that and even if you would have gotten something besides the usual BAH etc:
https://www.uscis.gov/news/public-charge-fact-sheet
 

As people are stating above, this process is very doable to do on your own. However, if you felt that way then you wouldn't be asking this question, which I understand because that's exactly how I felt as well. I personally did use an online resource and I did find it really helpful. The website was VisaTutor. I recommend to do as much of the forms on your own as possible, and follow the instruction pages more. However, I still paid for this for the reassurance and pretty much as a second-check for all my paperwork and any questions I had on those funky-worded questions that are confusing. Again, it is still very possible to do this on your own, but if you don't mind spending a little extra for piece of mind, than definitely I recommend VisaTutor. However, do not be afraid to search or ask questions on this forum. We are all here to help and there are very experienced and intelligent people who have definitely helped me on here, through my whole process with my wife more than anyone or anything else, who will gladly help you as well.  

"It also eliminates the so-called “3 and 10-year bars,” and other provisions that keep families apart."
 

What’s done is done. She is out of status now because her I-94 expired in December. But the chances of anything negative happening are slim. The authorities have bigger fish to fry when it comes to deportations than a law-abiding spouse of a USC who is a month late in filing for AOS.
 
Should you have planned better for the cost of AOS? Arguably yes. But that can’t be undone now so no point worrying about that. 

There really are no benefits in waiting to file for adjustment of status.  I would file as soon as I could.  Good Luck.

Technically there is no deadline to filing the AOS from a K1 marriage.  Some people wait for whatever reason.  Most folks here will recommend filing within the I94 period but it is not a hard requirement.  In a worst case scenario, even if someone was put in removal proceedings, an Immigration Judge would most likely toss the case if the AOS is filed.
 
I agree with @Lucky Cat, file when you can and try not to worry so much about it.
 
Good Luck!

Thank you! 

Just file as soon as you can.  Once she files a proper I-485, she will be granted authorized stay in the US while the case is pending.  There is no reason to worry.

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.
K-1
        
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-6 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
    A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
  
CR-1
   
    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765, I-944) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.
    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  �

 

The police report went smoothly. We just ended up going to a local police station and it took about 30 minutes. The interview also went very smoothly. It was a little bit of a wait for her but once she sat down with the interviewer, it took about 10-15 minutes. 

PM Sent to you....I have questions.  I am in the same situation in Juarez.

It’s pretty much the same thing. Your case was already at the embassy/consulate as is mine. 

You stay vigilant of the phone(hopefully they have the right number) and they call you and give you interview dates available. Usually pretty quick for the dates. The call can take some time 

Thought K1 was already expidited? This is new...well if they say they will contact her then they will...just keep us in the loop we all might learn something...and goodluck