Hoping to move to US to be with my daughter

[sliemm 0]

I am a 41-year-old Australian citizen and I am looking to move to the USA as soon as I feasibly can. I have a 16-year-old daughter living in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I am very keen to move over there on an immigrant visa, to live and work, with a view to possibly having my daughter move in with me at some point.

I have done a fair bit of research into immigrant visas, but have really made no headway in trying to work out the steps I need to take to expedite my goal. I've called the US Consulate in Melbourne, emailed the US Embassy in Canberra, and input my query into some online forums, without much success. I was hoping to apply for the I-130 Family visa, but it is only applicable for a petitioner who is over 21. This excludes my daughter.

Is there any flexibility with this visa? It seems to be pretty cut and dry, but I'm hoping that having a daughter in the US, who I'd very much like to be with, would count in my favor in applying for an immigration visa. If not, I'd really like to know what my best, immediate options for moving to the US might be.

Any advice or help anybody could give me would be hugely appreciated.

[Done--Really 331]

It's not so easy, I'm afraid. The most common routes are through family, job, or asylum. In addition there are several special categories at this link, but it is unlikely they apply in your case.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=5a97a6c515083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=5a97a6c515083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

I'm also including the family, job, and and only for completeness, asylum links

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=4c2515d27cf73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4c2515d27cf73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=24b0a6c515083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=24b0a6c515083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=3416a6c515083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=3416a6c515083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

[Hypnos 6,578]

There is no flexibility whatsoever. If you do not qualify for the category you are applying under then that is that.

You could investigate an H-1B visa, although you would need to have a particular skill set and convince a company to sponsor you, which entails an extensive cost on their part.

If you have a million dollars lying around you could pursue an EB-5 investment visa.

[Boggy1974 124]

  On 2/27/2013 at 12:21 AM, sliemm said:

I am a 41-year-old Australian citizen and I am looking to move to the USA as soon as I feasibly can. I have a 16-year-old daughter living in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I am very keen to move over there on an immigrant visa, to live and work, with a view to possibly having my daughter move in with me at some point.

I have done a fair bit of research into immigrant visas, but have really made no headway in trying to work out the steps I need to take to expedite my goal. I've called the US Consulate in Melbourne, emailed the US Embassy in Canberra, and input my query into some online forums, without much success. I was hoping to apply for the I-130 Family visa, but it is only applicable for a petitioner who is over 21. This excludes my daughter.

Is there any flexibility with this visa? It seems to be pretty cut and dry, but I'm hoping that having a daughter in the US, who I'd very much like to be with, would count in my favor in applying for an immigration visa. If not, I'd really like to know what my best, immediate options for moving to the US might be.

Any advice or help anybody could give me would be hugely appreciated.

Where is your daughter's father? Are you married to your daughter's father? (I'm guessing not since you didn't provide any info on that). Is your daughter's father a US citizen? If you're married to your daughter's father or were to get married to him, he can petition for you.

Just curious, who is your daughter living with in the US? At 16 she's still a minor so why is she not living with you in Australia? Have you explored visitor's visa or the VWP? You can visit your daughter on these visas if granted, but NOT to stay here though.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Boggy1974

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

  On 2/27/2013 at 1:52 AM, Boggy1974 said:

Where is your daughter's father? Are you married to your daughter's father?

Why are you assuming the OP is female? Even if she is, why could the child not live with the dad in the USA?

[apple21 953]

  On 2/27/2013 at 12:21 AM, sliemm said:

I am a 41-year-old Australian citizen and I am looking to move to the USA as soon as I feasibly can. I have a 16-year-old daughter living in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I am very keen to move over there on an immigrant visa, to live and work, with a view to possibly having my daughter move in with me at some point.

I have done a fair bit of research into immigrant visas, but have really made no headway in trying to work out the steps I need to take to expedite my goal. I've called the US Consulate in Melbourne, emailed the US Embassy in Canberra, and input my query into some online forums, without much success. I was hoping to apply for the I-130 Family visa, but it is only applicable for a petitioner who is over 21. This excludes my daughter.

Is there any flexibility with this visa? It seems to be pretty cut and dry, but I'm hoping that having a daughter in the US, who I'd very much like to be with, would count in my favor in applying for an immigration visa. If not, I'd really like to know what my best, immediate options for moving to the US might be.

Any advice or help anybody could give me would be hugely appreciated.

There's no flexibility when it comes to a son/daughter petitioning for parents. They have to be 21 in order to file and they should also be financially capable to be your sponsor.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

  On 2/27/2013 at 12:21 AM, sliemm said:

I am a 41-year-old Australian citizen and I am looking to move to the USA as soon as I feasibly can. I have a 16-year-old daughter living in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I am very keen to move over there on an immigrant visa, to live and work, with a view to possibly having my daughter move in with me at some point.

I have done a fair bit of research into immigrant visas, but have really made no headway in trying to work out the steps I need to take to expedite my goal. I've called the US Consulate in Melbourne, emailed the US Embassy in Canberra, and input my query into some online forums, without much success. I was hoping to apply for the I-130 Family visa, but it is only applicable for a petitioner who is over 21. This excludes my daughter.

Is there any flexibility with this visa? It seems to be pretty cut and dry, but I'm hoping that having a daughter in the US, who I'd very much like to be with, would count in my favor in applying for an immigration visa. If not, I'd really like to know what my best, immediate options for moving to the US might be.

Any advice or help anybody could give me would be hugely appreciated.

Sorry but it's pretty cut and dry.

Your options for VISITING and LIVING and WORKING (but not immigrating) are:

- Student visa

- H1-B or E-3 (E-3 is specific to Australians: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=71256811264a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=71256811264a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD)

- B-1/B-2 visa

Your option for immigration is:

- Diversity visa (no guarantees, it's a lottery system)

- After your daughter is 21 she can petition you.

- Being married to an American or LPR

otherwise sorry, you're just out of luck. Having a USC child, let alone a child in the US does not help the parents with their status. This is mainly to stop the whole risk of "anchor baby" issues.

[Boggy1974 124]

  On 2/27/2013 at 2:22 AM, Penguin_ie said:

Why are you assuming the OP is female? Even if she is, why could the child not live with the dad in the USA?

Question should be rephrased: "where is your daughter's father or mother"? Sure child can live if the United States. Question(s) asked out of curiousity...that's all.

[Boiler 46,404]

E3 is the obvious one.

[sliemm 0]

Thanks for the replies and advice, everyone. I should state that I am the father, not the mother. The situation, in a nutshell, is that the mother and I were never married. She gave birth to and brought up my daughter in the US. My daughter has always lived with her, however, I feel the situation requires my going over there now and at the very least being closer to my daughter, if not actually having her move in with me.

I figured the immigration visa was pretty strict. It still makes no sense to me that the petitioner needs to be over 21 - I would've thought that kids *under* 21 would be in more need of a parent than those over 21. Still, it is what it is I guess.

I'm now angling to line work up over there before I head over, although there's a real catch 22 there, as most companies I've applied for won't look at me yet as I don't have a visa ... and I'd like a job so I can get a visa.

I'm going to look at consulting an immigration lawyer to put all my options on the table. I'm going to avoid organisations with shocking online reviews, like Global Visas. Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer who might be able to point me in the right direction?

[aaron2020 11,651]

  On 2/28/2013 at 12:30 AM, sliemm said:

Thanks for the replies and advice, everyone. I should state that I am the father, not the mother. The situation, in a nutshell, is that the mother and I were never married. She gave birth to and brought up my daughter in the US. My daughter has always lived with her, however, I feel the situation requires my going over there now and at the very least being closer to my daughter, if not actually having her move in with me.

I figured the immigration visa was pretty strict. It still makes no sense to me that the petitioner needs to be over 21 - I would've thought that kids *under* 21 would be in more need of a parent than those over 21. Still, it is what it is I guess.

I'm now angling to line work up over there before I head over, although there's a real catch 22 there, as most companies I've applied for won't look at me yet as I don't have a visa ... and I'd like a job so I can get a visa.

I'm going to look at consulting an immigration lawyer to put all my options on the table. I'm going to avoid organisations with shocking online reviews, like Global Visas. Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer who might be able to point me in the right direction?

The reason the US does not allow a child under 21 to petition is because of "anchor babies."

People come to the US to have US citizen babies thinking that entitles them to live and work in the US. The policy is to discourage this type of thinking.

Nothing prevents your daughter from moving in with you in Australia is the way the US thinks. If you feel your daughter needs you, then she can move to your country.

An immigration lawyer will not help you find a job. You need to look for companies recruiting people with university degrees to work in the US.

Edited February 28, 2013 by aaron2020

[Boiler 46,404]

The Lawyer handling a work visa would be appointed by the Employer.

What are your qualifications?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Most work visas require the hiring company to apply and pay for the visa. The company usually also has to show that there isn't a person here already for the job. In this job market with so many people looking for work it can be a deal breaker unless you have a unique skill.

[sliemm 0]

I'll be using the immigration lawyer primarily to explain to me what options I have in terms of getting over there - immigration and non-immigration visas. I've found the USCIS site, not to mention the US Consulate and US Embassy sites in Australia, less than helpful.

As for the job, that's something I'm trying to hunt down myself - and through contacts. I'm skilled in web development, design and print journalism.

[aaron2020 11,651]

  On 2/28/2013 at 3:24 AM, sliemm said:

I'll be using the immigration lawyer primarily to explain to me what options I have in terms of getting over there - immigration and non-immigration visas. I've found the USCIS site, not to mention the US Consulate and US Embassy sites in Australia, less than helpful.

As for the job, that's something I'm trying to hunt down myself - and through contacts. I'm skilled in web development, design and print journalism.

Not trying to rain on you. This is the reality of your quest for work visa.

Do you have a university degree? Without one, you have no shot at a work visa.

There are plenty of people in the US who can do web development, design, and print journalism. Why should the US let you in to take a job that could go to an unemployed American. Why should a US employer go through the expense and time to bring you over on a work visa instead of opting to hire a qualified US person?