Bringing Children from Ex-Wife Over, with Ex-Wife?

[Myopia 93]

"The child lives abroad in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent and has been lawfully admitted into the United States as a nonimmigrant."

She is not going to give us custody at their ages, nor do we want it at this point, however in case of emergency (medical issues) we will keep this in mind... thanks!

You are going to have to apply for a greencard for the children and for all intents and purposes they will be staying with their father, right? So in all actuality they would be able to get automatic citizenship if they were residing with their father even for 6 months right?

Anyways you have the relevant information now. Take Care.

[MmeZeeZee 0]

Actually it is automatic. The only thing is you have to either apply for their passport as proof of citizenship and/or a certificate of naturalization.(N600)

They do not go through the same process. Thanks.

If it's automatic, then how come there is a form for it? (I-130 specifically applies to children.)

for all intents and purposes they will be staying with their father, right

No. This is the problem. She wants to retain custody, though she is willing to let them get residence. I don't think she is doing this to get residence herself as it took her a long time to even be willing to get to that point.

[sachinky 465]

As far as I'm aware, the children will not be granted a visa (immigrant or non-immigrant) without the express written permission and consent of the biological mother.

[Myopia 93]

If it's automatic, then how come there is a form for it? (I-130 specifically applies to children.)

No. This is the problem. She wants to retain custody, though she is willing to let them get residence. I don't think she is doing this to get residence herself as it took her a long time to even be willing to get to that point.

The I-130 is for the greencard. The automatic part is them receiving citizenship. You would still have to file for them to enter the USA legally.

If she is willing to let them get residency then she must be willing to do what has to be done in order for that to happen and in order for that to happen she is going to have to allow them to stay with the father in order to facilitate that. She has the rights. She can allow joint physical custody of the children. There's a myriad of things that she can do. All she has to do is write a letter to say she agrees that the children live wit the father in the US. If your husband is the honorable man that he seems to be then he will let the children return to their mother once the paperwork is done.

Best of luck.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

There you go. So they would only need to come back every 364 days and we might even be able to get a waiver.

It's not that cut and dried.

Read from that link posted:

Remain outside of the United States for more than 1 year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However, in determining whether your status has been abandoned, any length of absence from the United States may be considered, even if less than 1 year

I have seen cases where CBP has caused issues with people's greencards without get an re-entry permit. If they detect a pattern like your suggesting - they could determine you are not maintaining your part of the bargain with the greencard.

Your suppose to actually be living in the US as an LPR, not using it as a visa to just come to the US for a few days - but if your willing to take the chance - go for it.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

The only path for the EX is if the child is a USC at 21 they can then apply to bring their parent over. But that is probably a few years off.

[MmeZeeZee 0]

Your suppose to actually be living in the US as an LPR, not using it as a visa to just come to the US for a few days - but if your willing to take the chance - go for it.

To clarify, my husband worked abroad and that was his profession (international aid and development) for ten years. So did I. If I can use my citizenship while working overseas, surely he can, too. This is an issue of the children staying with one parent while maintaining residence with another parent as well, so that they can choose when they come of age. The visa was NOT for the purpose of a visit. It is for the purpose of permanent residence when employment can be found / the other parent is ready and able to accompany the children.

The problem is that their father is a soldier and if anything happens to him, it will be very hard to bring them over (even though there are ways). So I hopefully a consular officer will see the sense in what we are doing (and what we did... the visa was NOT for fun and giggles, it was to ensure the children have a right to their father's adopted citizenship when they can benefit from it).

But that is probably a few years off.

Over a decade.

We will have to convince her to write a letter. Ugh. If something happens to him and I have to do this all on my own right before some darn statute of limitations expires I'm going to be really pissed off at her.

[Dakine 26]

Actually it is automatic. The only thing is you have to either apply for their passport as proof of citizenship and/or a certificate of naturalization.(N600)

They do not go through the same process. Thanks.

Wrong. The father wasn't a USC when the kids were born. They must go thru the I-130 process.

[Myopia 93]

Wrong. The father wasn't a USC when the kids were born. They must go thru the I-130 process.

Ok people try to read the posts in their entirety as we may end up confusing the OP.

The Children will be AUTOMATIC citizens as soon as they arrive on a green card, in their US fathers legal custody.

The father will have to apply for a citizenship certificate (of course) but this is the goal of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, to make it easier for children of US parents (whether natural or adoptive) to be able to come to the US and become citizens.

What would be the sense of a minor child of a Us citizen arriving on a green card and NOT being a citizen? Think about adopted children who do NOT get a US consular record of birth abroad. Those adopted children all receive automatic citizenship on their arrival in the US.

This Act is one of the better written Immigration acts in my opinion.

To the OP: You are doing the smart thing in looking at all your options. People don't think about the ramifications on the children enough and the fact that you are supportive in helping your husband says a lot about what kind of wife you are.

If you present the same case to the childrens mother and let her see what benefits this could give her children then I am sure that she will consider this the smartest move,

Good luck with everything.