URGENT, spouse/daughter on ESTA.

[katie1996 0]

Hey! We REALLY need any advice!

 

Our situation is pretty complicated so I'll bullet point it all. 

 

 

- we have been together nearly 3 years and married for 1 year this May.

- I am on an ESTA visa, it runs out at the end of this month, as is my daughter.

- my daughter is technically a US citizen, however she was born in the UK, we were married when she was born. (HOW DO WE GET HER CITIZENSHIP PROVEN?) 

- We have been told we will be facing large fines, and possibly banned from the USA if we file or permanent residency whilst I am on the ESTA visa, is this true? your experiences?

- my husband is in the USMC, stationed in NC, is there anything that the military can do to help us? (base legal do not help, at all) 

- we have been told that myself and our daughter NEED to go back to the UK at the end of the month, before our ESTA runs out and then apply for the B1/B2 visa, THEN apply for the I-130

- we have also been told that on ALL paperwork we put my address back in the UK, and I have my interview / medial exam at the London Embassy.

- can i travel back and forth to the UK/USA on a B1/B2 visa if the I-130 is in process? 

- after we file for the I-130, what next??? 

 

thank you so much in advance!

 

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by katie1996
adding info

[Illiria 980]

If your daughter was a us citizen at birth, her father was a us citizen meeting the required residency at the time of her birth of 5 years in the us at least 2 of which were after his reaching the age of 14 then she should have had a crba (consular report of birth abroad) filed for her along with a passport application and never traveled to the us on an esta with a foreign passport. US citizens are required to travel to the us on a us passport, this includes children.

 

For this reason I suggest you go home before the esta is up and apply for a spousal visa for you and sort out her crba.

 

[Unlockable 7,315]

From what you wrote I understand that you are currently in the US right now. So you have two options.

 

1. File AOS while you are here. You can use the guides to help you with what to do. You will need to file the I-130 and I-485 simultaneously. The drawback to this is that you will have to remain in the US until you either receive authorization to travel  or you receive your green card, whichever comes first. Currently, that is taking anywhere from 3 - 4 months for authorization to travel abroad to 3 - 6 months for a green card. Also, you will not be able to immediately work while you are here until you get the authorization or the green card. The timelines for those are the same as above. So if you need to tie up loose ends back in your home country or need to work right away, you need to keep this in mind when choosing this option.

 

2. You can file for a spousal visa while you are here. You can continue to visit the US while the visa is being processed. You say your ESTA is about to expire. You can try for a renewal or you can try for a B2 visa. If you apply for either one, it will not effect your spousal visa. If you choose this option and you have a B2 or ESTA you can certainly visa your husband. Keep in mind that with this option, you will have to complete the process at the embassy in your own country. And you can't use the ESTA or visitor visa to live in the US. So the amount of time given for you to be here by the border agent may be limited. After you are given the spousal visa, you will be able to work and/or travel back home immediately at your leisure.

 

 

You WILL NOT get penalized for either of these options unless there is some time of marriage fraud (which it doesn't seem like you are doing). And you will not get fined or permanently banned if you choose to file for AOS now that you are here. Just be advised of the limitations you face that I mentioned above.

 

Here are the links to the guides....

http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides/

 

 

Good luck!

[Illiria 980]

I agree that the above are the options for you but the same doesn’t apply for your child, if they are a us citizen from birth then you need to submit the crba which can only be done at a consulate. This is what is potentially complicating things.

Edited January 14, 2018 by Illiria

[TNJ17 1,329]

Your best option is just to adjust status based on your marriage. If your daughter is a US citizen, just call USCIS and ask them what documents they need to prove her citizenship and gather those. 

[payxibka 10,047]

The damage has been done as it relates to the daughter. 

 

If it were me, I wouldn't be is a hurry to get the CRBA until after mom determines which path she will follow.  You have until age 18 to get the CRBA

[CEE53147 559]

2 hours ago, katie1996 said:

Hey! We REALLY need any advice!

 

Our situation is pretty complicated so I'll bullet point it all. 

 

 

- we have been together nearly 3 years and married for 1 year this May.

- I am on an ESTA visa, it runs out at the end of this month, as is my daughter.

- my daughter is technically a US citizen, however she was born in the UK, we were married when she was born. (HOW DO WE GET HER CITIZENSHIP PROVEN?) 

- We have been told we will be facing large fines, and possibly banned from the USA if we file or permanent residency whilst I am on the ESTA visa, is this true? your experiences?

- my husband is in the USMC, stationed in NC, is there anything that the military can do to help us? (base legal do not help, at all) 

- we have been told that myself and our daughter NEED to go back to the UK at the end of the month, before our ESTA runs out and then apply for the B1/B2 visa, THEN apply for the I-130

- we have also been told that on ALL paperwork we put my address back in the UK, and I have my interview / medial exam at the London Embassy.

- can i travel back and forth to the UK/USA on a B1/B2 visa if the I-130 is in process? 

- after we file for the I-130, what next??? 

 

thank you so much in advance!

 

 

Military Helpline

 

https://www.uscis.gov/military/military-help-line

[Illiria 980]

3 hours ago, payxibka said:

The damage has been done as it relates to the daughter. 

 

If it were me, I wouldn't be is a hurry to get the CRBA until after mom determines which path she will follow.  You have until age 18 to get the CRBA

The problem with this is the daughter will not have an Ssn or proof of citizenship

so is under the same risk as all other overstays, there was a guy who was in a immigration detention center recently for years as he didn’t have anything to prove he was a citizen as he became one as the Really interesting read, no apology or compensation for him. 

 

3 hours ago, TNJ17 said:

Your best option is just to adjust status based on your marriage. If your daughter is a US citizen, just call USCIS and ask them what documents they need to prove her citizenship and gather those. 

USCIS will tell them to submit a crba. N-600 wouldn’t fit here, if the usc parent wasn’t able to pass on citizenship and a grandparent could then this would be the route but as it is the child was a citizen from birth and they need to have gone through the correct route to get it reccognised.  

[payxibka 10,047]

1 minute ago, Illiria said:

The problem with this is the daughter will not have an Ssn or proof of citizenship

so is under the same risk as all other overstays, there was a guy who was in a immigration detention center recently for years as he didn’t have anything to prove he was a citizen as he became one as the Really interesting read, no apology or compensation for him. 

 

USCIS will tell them to submit a crba. N-600 wouldn’t fit here, if the usc parent wasn’t able to pass on citizenship and a grandparent could then this would be the route but as it is the child was a citizen from birth and they need to have gone through the correct route to get it reccognised.  

You think they will put an infant child in a detention center?

[Illiria 980]

7 minutes ago, payxibka said:

You think they will put an infant child in a detention center?

Wouldn’t put anything past them these days to be honest

[JFH 12,191]

1 hour ago, payxibka said:

You think they will put an infant child in a detention center?

Possibly. Right now I wouldn't even want to have an overdue library book as a foreigner here. 

 

The situation for the daughter is serious. Ignorance is no defense of the law is the approach that is taken and she entered the US illegally by not using a US passport. Now it appears that this was an innocent mistake but it needs to be rectified immediately before it gets any worse. I'm surprised that someone in the military was not aware of the rules involving children born overseas - must happen all the time in military circles and you'd think the military would brief them on this before sending them overseas. 

[payxibka 10,047]

Just now, JFH said:

Possibly. Right now I wouldn't even want to have an overdue library book as a foreigner here. 

 

The situation for the daughter is serious. Ignorance is no defense of the law is the approach that is taken and she entered the US illegally by not using a US passport. Now it appears that this was an innocent mistake but it needs to be rectified immediately before it gets any worse. I'm surprised that someone in the military was not aware of the rules involving children born overseas - must happen all the time in military circles and you'd think the military would brief them on this before sending them overseas. 

What are the ramifications of this situation?  

[katie1996 0]

. 

Edited January 15, 2018 by katie1996
i figured out how to reply to specific people

[katie1996 0]

59 minutes ago, JFH said:

Possibly. Right now I wouldn't even want to have an overdue library book as a foreigner here. 

 

The situation for the daughter is serious. Ignorance is no defense of the law is the approach that is taken and she entered the US illegally by not using a US passport. Now it appears that this was an innocent mistake but it needs to be rectified immediately before it gets any worse. I'm surprised that someone in the military was not aware of the rules involving children born overseas - must happen all the time in military circles and you'd think the military would brief them on this before sending them overseas. 

 

59 minutes ago, JFH said:

Possibly. Right now I wouldn't even want to have an overdue library book as a foreigner here. 

 

The situation for the daughter is serious. Ignorance is no defense of the law is the approach that is taken and she entered the US illegally by not using a US passport. Now it appears that this was an innocent mistake but it needs to be rectified immediately before it gets any worse. I'm surprised that someone in the military was not aware of the rules involving children born overseas - must happen all the time in military circles and you'd think the military would brief them on this before sending them overseas. 

in reply to JFH -

 

 

my husband was not stationed in the UK, we met in the UK in high school, he is a duel citizen, he moved back over to the USA in 2016, ( he moved from the USA to the UK when he was 5 years old )  he enlisted in the USMC and has been stationed only ever in the USA. 

 

I gave birth in a civilian hospital, in the UK as that is where I am from, where my family are. Realising now that it would have been alot easier immigration wise to have had her in the USA. she is just 4 months old, and we can file for a CRBA come this May as that is when my husband has been in the USA for a total of 5 years, 2 of which have been when he is over the age of 14. We arent worried about our daughters situation, it is the most straight forward part of our whole process.  the only annoying thing about it is we will have to get her birth abroad cert in London, so thats ANOTHER trip across the pond with a baby! Tiring stuff. 

[Boiler 46,124]

You misunderstand CRBA