Chain Immigration.

[NickD 202]

No problems in petitioning for my wife and her 14 year daughter, but her son was barely over 21 years at the time, only my wife could petition for him.

 

We were strongly advised to wait until she received her US citizenship, would be much quicker, did this in 2008, it was not until last year, 2017 we finally received a notice from the NVC that he would be called in for an interview, but made the bad mistake of getting married.  Guess you can't expect a young man to stay single all of his life.

 

Response from the NVC was to check with them in the next 10-12 years, if we are still alive by then.  He did graduate from his university and is a professional architect, do does have some skills.  Of course we would have to submit an I-864 with a financial statement that we could support him.  Other concerns is the high cost of health insurance, is well over 26 years of age and cannot be a part of our policy.

 

Feel the word family is not part of the USCIS or the NVC vocabulary and wonder if chain immigration is really that bad since its extremely expensive and takes forever.

 

Is this just us, or do others have this same problem?  Spoke directly to my senator and congressman on this issue, but said they do not have any say with the Department of State, only the executive branch has this privilege.  They don't seem to care.

 

We also applied for the lottery every year hoping with his professional status would be chosen, odds were just as good as winning the powerball. 

[MiraW 58]

Well... did he not know he needed to remain unmarried during the whole process? Uh...

To be honest, he’s 31, married, he has his own life. Maybe he’s ok not living here... 

[gregcrs2 1,778]

Sorry to say this but chain migration is a problem.  You say that "family" is not part of the USCIS or the NVC vocabulary.  Well, let's look at it from a different perspective.  What are the immigration laws of the country where your son resides?  Are those immigration laws so "family oriented"?  I don't know but I'm certain it is much more strict than US immigration laws.  Otherwise, perhaps you would have moved there.  Your son is not a child anymore.  He is starting his own family now.  Nothing to stop you visiting him there.

[Going through 5,671]

40 minutes ago, NickD said:

Spoke directly to my senator and congressman on this issue, but said they do not have any say with the Department of State, only the executive branch has this privilege.  They don't seem to care.

It's not that they don't care----The senator and congressman cannot do anything about the fact that the son no longer fit the requirements, due to him getting married during the process.

[Boiler 45,486]

Strongly suggest you do not tell him and his wife that they made a bad mistake getting married.

 

Sounds like he has cut the apron strings.

[Unlockable 7,314]

I agree with others that him getting married was a personal decision of his and should not be looked at as a mistake. If he hos found a partner who loves him and wants to have a family with him it should not matter where he lives, as long as they are happy.

 

Another poster already touched on this, but a lot of countries don't even give a person to petition for multiple family members. If he was here in the US and move to another state across the country to raise his family you'd likely not have a problem with that.

 

In all honesty it sounds like him coming here is simply a personal desire that you want. It is not a need.

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

2 hours ago, NickD said:

Spoke directly to my senator and congressman on this issue, but said they do not have any say with the Department of State, only the executive branch has this privilege.  They don't seem to care.

"They don't care"???  On what grounds did expect them to "help"?  They can't just exempt the son from the law?

[Boiler 45,486]

4 minutes ago, missileman said:

"They don't care"???  On what grounds did expect them to "help"?  They can't just exempt the son from the law?

Because he is special?

[Going through 5,671]

 

2 hours ago, NickD said:

but made the bad mistake of getting married.

Sounds like he got married for all of the right reasons---

Love for another person, instead of love for another country.

[NickD 202]

This was before he was married, how is your petition going?

 

Europe was a mess during WWI, my grandparents hopped on a boat to North America, my wife's grandparents to South American, but both our grandparents lived within 500 mile each other.

 

In this view, in the USA, all of us are immigrants, even the Native Americans were immigrants,  DNA has shown from Asia or Europe, long before Columbus discovered America.

[Boiler 45,486]

2 minutes ago, NickD said:

This was before he was married, how is your petition going?

 

Europe was a mess during WWI, my grandparents hopped on a boat to North America, my wife's grandparents to South American, but both our grandparents lived within 500 mile each other.

 

In this view, in the USA, all of us are immigrants, even the Native Americans were immigrants,  DNA has shown from Asia or Europe, long before Columbus discovered America.

My Grandfather had emigrated to Canada, joined the Canadian Artillery and was sent to France, injured and never went back to Canada.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

[Unlockable 7,314]

17 minutes ago, NickD said:

This was before he was married, how is your petition going?

 

Europe was a mess during WWI, my grandparents hopped on a boat to North America, my wife's grandparents to South American, but both our grandparents lived within 500 mile each other.

 

In this view, in the USA, all of us are immigrants, even the Native Americans were immigrants,  DNA has shown from Asia or Europe, long before Columbus discovered America.

That is true but what does that have to do with how things are today?  There is no World War

Immigration reform has happened before. The last one took place in the 80's. The great migration to the US (the one that help shaped this nation) happened waaaay before then.

 

Change happens.

 

At one point horse drawn carriages were the main source of traffic in the streets. Today it is fossil fueled cars. When our great great grandchildren are adults, itmay be all electric cars.

 

Many years ago a man could fly to another country, meet a woman, and marry her. Then bring her back on his return flight and she would get entrance to the US. Now, with the current timelines and changes in immigration policy, a man may have to wait up to a year and a half to bring over a spouse.

 

We know it is hard to accept that you son will not be coming over any time soon but this is the current state of affairs. What is worse is the NEXT immigration reform is likely to make it even more difficult for people to migrate.

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by NuestraUnion

[Ischnura 285]

 I guess we all have a different idea of how families operate. Have you tried supporting him in his life decisions rather than making it known his parents think he's made a "bad mistake" marrying the woman he loves? Or that his choice of school wasn't good enough in comparison to what the rest of his family have available to them? 

 

 It sounds like he's accepted his hand in life, he couldn't go with his family to another country and he's over it. Found someone to love and spend his life with and got himself some very good career prospects. You know architects aren't confined to their country of origin, right? They build all over the world! Chances are, if he sets his mind to it, he'll visit way more than the US anyhoo. Be proud of him, he's stood on his own two feet and made his start in life. There are plenty of people his age in the US that have no idea still what they want to do with themselves. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

3 hours ago, NickD said:

No problems in petitioning for my wife and her 14 year daughter, but her son was barely over 21 years at the time, only my wife could petition for him.

 

We were strongly advised to wait until she received her US citizenship, would be much quicker, did this in 2008, it was not until last year, 2017 we finally received a notice from the NVC that he would be called in for an interview, but made the bad mistake of getting married.  Guess you can't expect a young man to stay single all of his life.

 

Response from the NVC was to check with them in the next 10-12 years, if we are still alive by then.  He did graduate from his university and is a professional architect, do does have some skills.  Of course we would have to submit an I-864 with a financial statement that we could support him.  Other concerns is the high cost of health insurance, is well over 26 years of age and cannot be a part of our policy.

 

Feel the word family is not part of the USCIS or the NVC vocabulary and wonder if chain immigration is really that bad since its extremely expensive and takes forever.

 

Is this just us, or do others have this same problem?  Spoke directly to my senator and congressman on this issue, but said they do not have any say with the Department of State, only the executive branch has this privilege.  They don't seem to care.

 

We also applied for the lottery every year hoping with his professional status would be chosen, odds were just as good as winning the powerball. 

Chain immigration is precisely what comes into play as not only is your not-minor stepson still allowed to immigrate, but he can now bring his whole family with - high probability they will have kids by the time his case number is current. Most countries limit family immigration to spouses and minor children, and some like the UK make spousal visas much harder than the USto get.

 

odds of winning the DV lottery are around 0.5-1.0%, which is way better than powerball odds, by the way. Of course looks like that avenue is about to close, hopefully if the administration is truthful about skills based visas he can get in that way. And if he is professional he should be well able to afford his own health insurance.

 

as an aside it’s a pity you waited, if you’d at least started the petition while she was a LPR it would have been upgraded when she became a citizen but with original priory date.

Edited February 2, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

 Did your son married after you became a citizen ?