How do I...

[bluestone99 0]

Hi everyone! How do I bring my mother-in-law here to the USA (Louisiana) from Ukraine? My wife has been here since December on a K1 visa and we married in February. Currently we are waiting on her green card, we filed in March. Can I apply for her to come here before we get the green card? Does anyone know how long it takes for the visa? And which visa we are trying to get? Thanks for your time and any information!

[Pitaya 2,577]

For starters, take a look at this basic overview of the process:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/immigration-parents-overview

It helps everyone that uses the forum.

Good luck.

Edited August 18, 2013 by A&B

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You cannot petition your MIL to come live in the US. Your wife can petition for her if and when she becomes a citizen.

[bluestone99 0]

You cannot petition your MIL to come live in the US. Your wife can petition for her if and when she becomes a citizen.

Ok, not really trying to get her to come live but only visit for a few months.

For starters, take a look at this basic overview of the process:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/immigration-parents-overview

It helps everyone that uses the forum.

Good luck.

Great, thank you. I will check it out!

Sorry, it was unclear in my question but we just want to bring her mom here for a few months, she is not moving here.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Ok, not really trying to get her to come live but only visit for a few months.

Great, thank you. I will check it out!

Sorry, it was unclear in my question but we just want to bring her mom here for a few months, she is not moving here.

Your MIL can apply for a visitor visa.

There is nothing you can do to help her qualify for a visitor visa. She needs to prove that she will return after a brief trip and not stay and illegally immigrate to the US. This is required of all visitor visa applicants. She needs to show strong ties to her home country that indicates she will return; job, real estate, family, etc.

You and her daughter are ties to the US. So, your circumstances will not help her get a visa. These ties do not show she will return home, but could show reasons for her to stay illegally.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

The MIL can apply for a visitor visa. You don't do anything for her.

[Ryan H 3,828]

Moved from What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration forum to Tourist Visas forum; OP has stated that his MIL will only be visiting.

[dbarker2 1]

Contrary to what everyone else is saying, you can help her by making sure she is prepared with proper documentation. I would recommend helping her create an organized table of contents which says exactly what evidence she is taking to the interview, because the CO will probably not want to read too many documents. Also, if possible, and if she has a lot of family in Ukraine, then you can help her create a document which lists all of her family members in Ukraine (direct family like Spouse, Children, and Grandchildren are probably best). Also, the Consulate Officers can take into consideration the reason why the person wants to visit, so she doesn't have to avoid mentioning you completely.

The table of contents that we used for my MIL (approved and now here visiting us), had three headings:

1. Evidence showing Social/Familiar Ties to Mexico

2. Evidence Showing Economic Ties to Mexico

3. Evidence showing Purpose of Trip

We used that order because my mother in law has more social and familiar ties than economic ties. Under each heading give a specific, but short description of the evidence that falls under that category. My mother in law says that the CO that interviewed her spent most of his time looking at that and the declaration showing the family that she had in Mexico. He asked a few questions about my father-in-law and he asked about her relationship with me (because I had offered to pay for her trip.

Hopefully this helps, I just don't think it is good advice for people to say that there is "nothing you can do" to help her. Of course you cannot physically be with her in the interview, but you can help prepare her with everything she needs. There is never a guarantee that a person will be accepted, but in our case, I am pretty sure my mother in law would not have been if it weren't for the preparation that she had and the organization of her documents.

Good Luck!