MrDellimore

Hello All, My wife and I have been married for two year and just gave birth to our first child 6 months ago. My wife is Australian and has entered the US several times with an ESTA since 2017. During the pandemic she overstayed for over a year, but she was able to apply for an ESTA and visit the US last year. Not sure if her overstay will effect her green card application if she was still able to get an ESTA. We currently reside in Malaysia where we gave birth to our daughter, but next week we are planning to visit the states while I start a new job. We are planning to stay for maybe 8 months and I have been looking into applying for a green card to avoid any future travel issues. Otherwise we would have to make visa runs to reset the ESTA. With a child this is not ideal for us. Is it possible to apply for the green card once we arrive under an ESTA? Also how long would we have to reside in the US? I am looking into using a service like simple citizen to get some support with organizing the documents since I feel like my situation more complex and I can’t afford a lawyer. We intended to go back to Malaysia to visit after about 8 months. Our goal is to have the freedom to stay in Malaysia and US free. Thanks for any advice on the matter!