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Hello All, I have a complex problem and I am trying to figure out the best way to deal with it. Background: My wife have been married for almost 3 years (6/28). My wife's green card expires (CIR-1) on (6/1). I'm in the process of applying for her I-751. She has two children, my step children, who still live in their home country. Ages 13 and 10. We didn't apply to bring them here initially because my wife wants to complete her nursing program first before she brought them here. This has taken more time than I originally expected due to her needing to go back and pass the GED and take ESL classes even though she is a Philippine college graduate and she is pretty fluent in English. Due to negligence at the Philippine consulate in Qatar, we ended up needing to use her maiden name ( passport ) on the visa. This passport expires in 2/2022. not close but not far way either. Dilemma: Money: As we all know these fees are quite burdensome and most of us look for any way we can to trim or combine things if possible. Time: Stepson's clock is ticking down. I want him to be able to attend US high school so he isn't hamstrung against joining the military like he wants to do. Stress: my wife is too worried about trying to juggle the kids, homemaker, studying and even some part time work, etc. Phil Passport - Green Card, SS number, in maiden name: Issue: I had hoped that once my wife obtained her USC after we file for her N-400 in July that we would be able to show her USC status to the embassy and obtain passports and citizenship for the kids while in their home country. After reading up on the N-600 page, the kids must be LPR's here in the US already to qualify. So now it comes down to how to optimize the filing process. Though process plan: We initially file for her I-751 and get that started. If we file for the kids I-130's before we file for her N-400 in June we can legally add the kids names to the N-400 form since it will not be processed in a year, before the kids arrive. From past experience bringing over step-kids, I have found their I-130's to be extremely fast tracked ( USCIS ~ 2months) and they were here within 6 months. Start to finish. This method saves us from having to file for the kids on the N-600. I am not sure on the cost for this form, I couldn't find a fee schedule on the form for it. Second idea: File the I-751 as normal. File the N-400 in July. Sometime after July but before she gets her citizenship apply for the kids I-130's. Most likely we won't be able to amend the N-400 to add the kids in time for a single process Most likely we will need to submit N-600 requests for the kids once both are present and wife is a USC. Q1: Any legal experts on this board that can tell me what we can and can't legally do in reference to adding the kids on her N-400 if they are not already in the USA. Q2: Would this cause the package to be denied if they weren't present and only she was? even if the kids were in the USCIS process stream, but not finished? Q3: Since they are too young to be required to take the oath of citizenship, I am wondering as long as they are in the process and unlikely to be denied due to their legitimate minor status, if this would be alright. Q4: any better solutions? Thanks for reading this book and commenting. Don

I am petitioning for my stepdaughter who lives in El Salvador. I have my I-130 sent in and things are going well. But I noticed for almost all of the petitions you have to have met the person (Husband/Wife has to have consummated the marriage, adoption must include meeting in person, I-129F requires meeting). But, my stepdaughter and I have never met in person. Is this required? I know the obvious answer is, well just go meet her and save yourself the hassle. But, my husband is opposed to my traveling to El Salvador as it is a dangerous country. On a side note, it also would not look good for me to vacation there as he has an asylum case and people who want to kill him there. If I have to meet her I believe it would require me going to a neighboring country and having her meet me there. Of course this would also be a lengthy and costly process. So, the final question is it is required that I meet my stepdaughter for her visa to be approved?

Good Evening All, I just acquired US Citizenship this past July 2019. My son is thinking of getting married August 2020 but I have been thinking lately about his options to immigrate to the USA. I wanted to post here before talking to my wife and him about these options. IR-2 Route (If him/his fiancee are willing to post pone the wedding): 1. Can he immigrate as the recipient of an IR-2 visa while being engaged? 2. Can he get married shortly after immigrating to the USA? 3. Back in May 2019 he had some mental health issues where he self-harmed, he is currently on medication and has not self-harmed since, will this be an issue? 4. Will he be allowed to immigrate to the USA at 18 years old? If he got married then he would have to go the F-3 route which would take 12 years or longer from the PD. If anybody has any other options they would be greatly appreciated.

Hiya everyone! So this is super random, but I haven't really seen many people who're independently looking after their CR2/IR2 cases/petitions. With a CR2/IR2 being for an unmarried child of a U.S. citizen who is under the age of 21. As which you would also file a I-130. I was just curious to know if there are people out there like me. Most cases that have a CR2/IR2 involved are usually younger kids whose petition's were sent in along with their parent[parent's]. Usually when I'm having quiet a bit of confusion with the NVC I would always have to primarily look into the CR1/IR1 category which isn't really the same thing as a CR2/IR2 visa. Anyway! If anyone has a similar case to mine please join this discussion! Or if there is someone out there who's having a bit of trouble with their case[cases] join the discussion as well! I've made it as far as to have a CC ( case completed ) and currently waiting for an interview, I'd be more than happy to help in any way that I can. 😊

Good morning everyone. My wife came to the US in a K1 visa. We’ve been married almost 2 years. An I-130 was done for her daughter at that time but she didn’t come with my wife. She has been living with her grandparents. Our daughter (my step daughter) is now interested in coming. My question is once the IR-2 is approved/granted how much time does she have to travel before it expires? . She wants to come after she wraps up a specific grade in school. Knowing the process can take a long while I want to start it now and then when she is ready she can come, but I don’t want it to time out. Sorry for the long post. V/R Kev

Good day all, can anyone give me insight on how USCIS treat cases like this; My child is 7 years old, he was considered a deriative on the petition my husband filed for us (my son & myself) to become green card holders. However, when my husband naturalized he had to do a separate petition for my son. My sons father is deceased and I (his mom) is his only guardian and I'm concerned of him being able to migrate the same time with me as there will be no one for to stay with in my home country to then come at a later date. My petition was approved and his is at NOA-1? stage. Has anyone been in a similar situation? help please😟 *pls see my signature for dates*

Hi Everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me answer a few questions. I am the USC petitioning my stepson to become a permanent resident. Biological Dad is a PR while Biological Mom can no longer take care of child. I have read many different things about the parental consent letter we need to obtain from biological mother. We made an appointment at the US embassy in Mexico City where Mom will have a letter of consent notarized. Any idea or template of what the form should include??? Please help, appointment for letter to be notarized is in 2 days. Thank you.

I wanted to share our experience in case anyone was interested. My spouse was born an American citizen but never spent the 2 years over the age of 14 in order for my son to qualify for Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA). We went through the IR-2 process without any hassle. In fact in contrast to my own IR-1 application it was a breeze. We were given a letter by the Montreal Consulate to apply for a US passport to prove citizenship. I made an appointment with the local post office as they process passport applications. The woman was not familiar with IR-2's and warned me I may be required to send more information. I sent my son's original birth certificate along with notarized copies of what was required. This included my spouse's birth certificate, spouse's US passport, my Canadian birth certificate, my US green card and son's IR-2 entry stamp. I got a letter back from the Department of State asking for certified copies or originals including our marriage certificate. I sent more certified copies as my Canadian passport was lost for over a week after the Montreal consulate sent it back. I waited over 2 months for a response. I continued to get the same letter and then wrote a letter back asking what the status was. You only have a certain amount of time to get a US passport application completed. A nice fellow from the Department of State called to clarify what happened. He said he wanted ALL documentation to be original. That means I have to send my son's Canadian passport with the IR-2 stamp and original marriage certificate. I had a certified copy from LA county for my spouse's birth certificate. However, the official said this would not be good enough (despite this being good enough for the green card process). So I had to order another official copy of my spouse's birth certificate. He told me they are apprehensive of any type of identity fraud and want to know for an absolute fact the birth certificate is legit. I asked whether my son IS a US citizen upon the IR-2 stamp. The US Department of State official said this was a common misconception. My son is NOT a US citizen with a IR-2 stamp, he is only a Permanent Resident. He stated only someone from the Department of State or if we had applied for a Certificate of Citizenship, those who process those can make that determination. There is a process in which they review information and make sure the person is eligible. I wanted to clarify this as it is repeated on VJ that a child under the citizenship Act of 2000 is a citizen once they enter on a IR-2. Apparently that is totally false. You have to finalize the process by either applying for a passport or certificate of citizenship. I have to wait for this certified birth certificate to come and courier all originals back to the Department of State. He gave us a 90 day extension to sort all of it out. Upon inspection of the documents it is then determined whether my son becomes a US citizen. The official said once the process is complete you don't have to go through the process again.

Hi, hope you are all good. I called NVC and they received my case on 24th of September. People have said to call them once or twice a week, has anyone had any success with that? Does that actually expedite it or am I wasting my time? Should I just wait or call them once or twice a week until i get a case number? Us citizen mom filing for minor under 21 IR2 Visa I've noticed some people are rude on here so if you're going to be rude then do not comment. Thank you for those who are taking their time to answer my question, I appreciate your time. Have a nice day!