B2 Tourist Visa Extension

[HappyAndIKnowIt 24]

43 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

It has not gone off the rail.  It's just that no one will gave you the answers you wanted to hear.  No one is going to tell you what you are doing is a smart or a worthwhile idea to pursue.  

 

You " wrote this thread hoping for a lead on something I could point to in court ahead of the multiple months of USCIS processing time."  Sorry, but the world doesn't work like that.  What court?  What court is looking at your MIL?  

 

41 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

And you came to VJ for help from people with more immigration experience than you have.  We have told you that the AOS is meaningless, but you can't accept that.  You keep working with erroneous information and keep insisting you can do something about your MIL's extension.  

 

3 hours ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

Can someone point me to an authoritative source, such as from USCIS, which specifies babysitting to not be a valid reason for an extension ?

 

My wife has filed for divorce and recently signed the required affidavit of support for her mother's extension request.  I have confirmed with USCIS that the affidavit of support affects our jointly-owned residence.  My wife will not show me the paperwork she filed, so I don't know what reason they used to justify the extension, but I do know she signed the affidavit of support.

 

I trust the information I read on this site, so I believe if USCIS learns of the true nature of the purpose of her extension, her request will be denied, visa canceled and possibly she will never be able to return to the U.S.  Since I can't cite "JohnDoeInternetPoster" as authoritative on USCIS' policy, I am seeking something from the horse's mouth so to speak.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, aaron2020 said:

You're not going to find anything definitive since there are tons of different jobs and there is no way there can be an exhaustive list with a bunch of different jobs.

 

Google "babysitting tourist visa."

 

You get things like this; https://www.cleveland.com/travel/2015/08/babysitter_versus_the_border_p.html

Aaron, you were the one who actually provided the answer when you said I would not get such a definitive source.  The discussion turned away from that and into the affidavit of support, vindictiveness, etc.

 

You were right when you said it wasn't the answer I wanted.  Sure, I was hoping for a link from USCIS but based on what you wrote, I can understand why such a thing would not exist.

 

To answer your questions about what court, etc.  The court that is handling my divorce, but more importantly the custody of my baby.  My wife's plan for custody is that her mother will handle the caretaking of my child, and therefore my son is better in that situation.  I, through my attorney, can't just respond that her plan is invalid because her mother is on a visitor visa and according to the folks at visajourney.com, USCIS doesn't like this.  I was hoping to provide something specific from USCIS themselves.  My wife thinks she can repeatedly apply for extensions on her mom's tourist visa (she claims her attorney said she could, and yes I know about the 1 year thing).  At whatever point her mom has to go home, my wife said she would take a couple weeks off work until her mom returns.

 

I know this is a stupid plan.  You all, I assume, know this is a stupid plan.  But, a local civil court is not knowledgeable on tourist visa extension laws.  This is why I asked the question I asked.  The affidavit of support was just backstory.

 

[Mollie09 1,543]

4 minutes ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

 

I know this is a stupid plan.  You all, I assume, know this is a stupid plan.  But, a local civil court is not knowledgeable on tourist visa extension laws.  This is why I asked the question I asked.  The affidavit of support was just backstory.

 

 

Civil courts aren't knowledgeable, and they don't care. 

[Boiler 45,486]

I doubt the civil court will be interested in her legal status, especially in California.

[HappyAndIKnowIt 24]

2 minutes ago, Mollie09 said:

 

Civil courts aren't knowledgeable, and they don't care. 

I think this Court cares a lot about the best interests of my son.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

4 minutes ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

Aaron, you were the one who actually provided the answer when you said I would not get such a definitive source.  The discussion turned away from that and into the affidavit of support, vindictiveness, etc.

 

You were right when you said it wasn't the answer I wanted.  Sure, I was hoping for a link from USCIS but based on what you wrote, I can understand why such a thing would not exist.

 

To answer your questions about what court, etc.  The court that is handling my divorce, but more importantly the custody of my baby.  My wife's plan for custody is that her mother will handle the caretaking of my child, and therefore my son is better in that situation.  I, through my attorney, can't just respond that her plan is invalid because her mother is on a visitor visa and according to the folks at visajourney.com, USCIS doesn't like this.  I was hoping to provide something specific from USCIS themselves.  My wife thinks she can repeatedly apply for extensions on her mom's tourist visa (she claims her attorney said she could, and yes I know about the 1 year thing).  At whatever point her mom has to go home, my wife said she would take a couple weeks off work until her mom returns.

 

I know this is a stupid plan.  You all, I assume, know this is a stupid plan.  But, a local civil court is not knowledgeable on tourist visa extension laws.  This is why I asked the question I asked.  The affidavit of support was just backstory.

Vindictiveness? 

We provide responses based on your provision of facts. Nothing vindictive here. 

 

Your wife's (MIL's) applications of extensions cannot last forever. She will eventually run out of legal status. There is no clear cut law that would say visitors are not allowed to work on a B2, which many here tend to believe childcare is. Therefore you cannot effect the MIL's i539. 

 

One advice.. try to stay clear of situations where you could again be accused of abuse. Ukrainian women may have a wide support network where they could share strategies for situations similar to yours. 

[HappyAndIKnowIt 24]

Just now, Boiler said:

I doubt the civil court will be interested in her legal status, especially in California.

Nah.  California Service Center was where our K-1 was processed.  I live in Ohio.

[Mollie09 1,543]

Just now, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

I think this Court cares a lot about the best interests of my son.

They are not knowledgeable on immigration issues, which is what you mention in your quote. They are not, and they don't care about immigration issues.

If they determine it's in the best interests of your son for him to be with his mother and grandmother, they won't ask about their immigration status. They are not knowledgeable, and they don't care.

[HappyAndIKnowIt 24]

1 minute ago, WeGuyGal said:

Vindictiveness? 

We provide responses based on your provision of facts. Nothing vindictive here. 

 

Your wife's (MIL's) applications of extensions cannot last forever. She will eventually run out of legal status. There is no clear cut law that would say visitors are not allowed to work on a B2, which many here tend to believe childcare is. Therefore you cannot effect the MIL's i539. 

 

One advice.. try to stay clear of situations where you could again be accused of abuse. Ukrainian women may have a wide support network where they could share strategies for situations similar to yours. 

I appreciate the advice.

 

The vindictiveness line was not accusatory of any of you.  It was a reference someone posted about my feelings / actions in the situation.

[HappyAndIKnowIt 24]

4 minutes ago, Mollie09 said:

They are not knowledgeable on immigration issues, which is what you mention in your quote. They are not, and they don't care about immigration issues.

If they determine it's in the best interests of your son for him to be with his mother and grandmother, they won't ask about their immigration status. They are not knowledgeable, and they don't care.

Judges are people with their own life experiences and reasons for doing that job.  Pretty hard to make such generalizations that they don't care whether they put a baby in the care of someone who disregards the law.

Edited April 16, 2019 by HappyAndIKnowIt

[Boiler 45,486]

4 minutes ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

Nah.  California Service Center was where our K-1 was processed.  I live in Ohio.

Probably best you can do is play along with wife/MIL and that she will only stay as long as she is legally allowed which as a Tourist will be limited and therefore her presence is only a temporary situation. After all a long term solution involving the MIL would be for to take the child back with her.

 

Difficult to believe any Court would assume you can live in the US as a temporary tourist.

[Villanelle 4,122]

37 minutes ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

Judges are people with their own life experiences and reasons for doing that job.  Pretty hard to make such generalizations that they don't care whether they put a baby in the care of someone who disregards the law.

What you posted is logical but unfortunately the law takes a different approach. In ALL family courts that I know of immigration status is a non-issue. It is not considered when deciding custody matters. I know logically people think of course it matters but it doesnt. It is possible and happens every day that illegal aliens get custody/visitation/child support etc. Once again, immigration matters are not relevant in family court and if you attempt to bring them up you will quickly be shut down. 

[SalishSea 17,827]

I'm curious as to why you think you will get the short end of the stick when it comes to custody/parenting plan.  

 

Is your wife bent on keeping you from your child?  Why would your MIL's presence in your child's life have any bearing at all on that arrangement?  In general when it comes to family court matters, if a parent is willing and able to co-parent, that is always preferable over extended family.  

 

Your research time may be better suited to looking up scholarly articles on the benefits of fathers' involvement in their children's lives, rather than focusing on the immigration stuff.

 

On a personal note, I divorced when my youngest was 4.  Both of my boys are now extremely successful, well adjusted, kind and wonderful men.  I know that a big part of how they have fared and how they "turned out" has been because my ex and I were committed to our joint custody arrangement and to making sure that we were equal participants in their lives.  

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

My wife thinks she can repeatedly apply for extensions on her mom's tourist visa (she claims her attorney said she could, and yes I know about the 1 year thing).

Well...technically the attorney is correct on that part.  One can repeatedly apply for a tourist visa extension...getting approved repeatedly is another matter, entirely.

 

Probably your wife is trying to stall for time until she naturalizes (how far away is that, btw?) and then file for her mother to get a green card.

 

As noted before, your wife's immigration status/your mother's immigration status is irrelevant in family court when it comes to custody/visitation agreements.

[HappyAndIKnowIt 24]

9 minutes ago, Going through said:

Well...technically the attorney is correct on that part.  One can repeatedly apply for a tourist visa extension...getting approved repeatedly is another matter, entirely.

 

Probably your wife is trying to stall for time until she naturalizes (how far away is that, btw?) and then file for her mother to get a green card.

 

As noted before, your wife's immigration status/your mother's immigration status is irrelevant in family court when it comes to custody/visitation agreements.

In about 3 weeks she will be eligible to begin the process of naturalization, having reached 3 years of marriage after K1 visa.

 

I can understand immigration status as irrelevant if it was my wife's status, but it's about her mother, who is simply my wife's choice of guardian while she is at work, instead of my son's father.  She will be asking the Court to give my son to MIL instead of his natural father, with no justification.  No domestic violence, abuse of substances, none of any of that to justify.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

1 minute ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

In about 3 weeks she will be eligible to begin the process of naturalization, having reached 3 years of marriage after K1 visa.

 

 

In order for her to be approved for Naturalization under the 3 year rule, she has to be living in marital union with you on the date of oath.