advice for bringing relatives over from PH

[kalamputi 0]

I am older than my wife by 10 years. We have decided to stay here in the States and not think of building a place in Cebu for a number of reasons.

My wife has been here almost 7 years and is a permanent resident. We have a 5-yr old daughter who we'd like to be able to get dual citizenship for so we're holding off on my wife's citizenship application for this reason. Until now we have had no sense of urgency around US citizenship; it just didn't matter much.

 

Now that our thinking has done a 180 degree shift, we will probably initiate citizenship application for my wife as soon as my daughter has her Filipino citizenship. Then we'd like to bring her family over here-mother, two sisters. 

 

I've heard that siblings are impossible to get over here and parents are easy but I'd like to find out if this remains the case? Anyone with this kind of hard info willing to help us out would be most appreciated. 

 

Kalamputi

[Unlockable 7,315]

The sisters will not be coming over for a while. If you wife files for them, they are looking at 20 years minimum. You wife can file for her mother when she becomes a citizen. But even that takes a year or two. As long as your wife can show she can sponsor her mother (financial requirements) and that her mother will not be a public charge it should be straight forward.

 

After her mother is here, the mother can apply for her daughters (your wife's 2 sisters), but that will take about 7 - 10 years depending on a few factors. I know the timeline sucks but be lucky they can immigrate at all. The Philippines, like most countries, isn't as generous with bringing over extended family like siblings like the US.

[Boiler 46,034]

I tend to assume some basic numbers working out ages but I may well be wrong.

 

So a couple of questions, how old are the sisters and are they likely to get married in say the next 15 years. How old is the mother, what about the father?

 

Is the Mother looking to retire in the US, how will that be funded, not cheap obviously.

[geowrian 22,338]

2 hours ago, Unlockable said:

After her mother is here, the mother can apply for her daughters (your wife's 2 sisters), but that will take about 7 - 10 years depending on a few factors. I know the timeline sucks but be lucky they can immigrate at all. The Philippines, like most countries, isn't as generous with bringing over extended family like siblings like the US.

Current wait for PH for both F2B and F1 (in case she naturalizes later) is currently 11 years and growing.

[kalamputi 0]

First choice would be to bring her youngest sister, 25, here. The youngest is unmarried and has a degree. Next choice would be to bring both her and older sister, 45-ish, also unmarried. Then probably last choice would be her mom, 64. Her mom would probably be better off staying in PH and I''m not even sure if she'd want to come here for good. Her social contacts would drop from dozens to zero and that to me spells depression, loneliness, early death. Father is out of picture (has other family and no contact).

 

We will be able to support anyone that comes here.

 

I think the best shot might be for the youngest to get a work visa and go from there. 

 

Thank folks.

[Boiler 46,034]

With this additional information I think you are correct, let the younger go for a work visa, also has a big advantage in keeping you out of the equation.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

5 hours ago, kalamputi said:

First choice would be to bring her youngest sister, 25, here. The youngest is unmarried and has a degree. Next choice would be to bring both her and older sister, 45-ish, also unmarried. Then probably last choice would be her mom, 64. Her mom would probably be better off staying in PH and I''m not even sure if she'd want to come here for good. Her social contacts would drop from dozens to zero and that to me spells depression, loneliness, early death. Father is out of picture (has other family and no contact).

 

We will be able to support anyone that comes here.

 

I think the best shot might be for the youngest to get a work visa and go from there. 

 

Thank folks.

If sister  goes for a work visa your ability to support is irrelevant. 

 

Agree it doesn’t seem worthwhile to bring mom, it often is really difficult on the elderly to be uprooted. 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[aaron2020 11,651]

7 hours ago, kalamputi said:

First choice would be to bring her youngest sister, 25, here. The youngest is unmarried and has a degree. Next choice would be to bring both her and older sister, 45-ish, also unmarried. Then probably last choice would be her mom, 64. Her mom would probably be better off staying in PH and I''m not even sure if she'd want to come here for good. Her social contacts would drop from dozens to zero and that to me spells depression, loneliness, early death. Father is out of picture (has other family and no contact).

 

We will be able to support anyone that comes here.

 

I think the best shot might be for the youngest to get a work visa and go from there. 

 

Thank folks.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  There are no quick ways for the sisters to come to the US.  Currently, it takes a US citizen about 24 years to petition for a sibling in the PI.  A work visa is extremely hard to get.  What's the degree in?

 

The best shot for the youngest is a US husband.  

[apple21 953]

Work visa?  The sister must find a US employer who would be willing to file the petition for her. It's not just any job, she must have skills that nobody else here in the US possess. Good luck.

[kalamputi 0]

Look, to be clear, we just started looking into all of this after the decision was made to NOT try and live in the Philippines. So, I am exploring my options-all of them. As explained, we haven't even bothered with my wife's citizenship because it simply did not matter that much. And it may still not, depending on what route we choose to go.

 

Not having even looked into a work visa, I am ignorant of the requirements but of course I know they're not letting just anyone in. But since it appears to be my wife's best bet to get a relative into the US, we're going to look into it some more and obviously will find out whether or not a bachelor's in psychology will get her very far. She had a friend with a similar degree get a job at a hotel here in Maine; she has since gone home. I'm guess for the lucky ones who get to stay, they're going to either meet and marry someone here-and then their requirements won't matter anyway-or they're going to be exceptionally qualified and allowed to stay on their own merit.

[Boiler 46,034]

Not an obvious route, would be very very difficult on the verge of impossible. Perhaps she might want to do her Masters etc in the US and go for a Student visa?

 

I would imagine her friend came on a J1 temp job for the season, I thought you were looking at a permanent move.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Understood that you are just starting to look into this.  This is why we are giving you the quick answers so you don't end up wasting time and having false hope.

The friend got a temporary season job on a non-immigrant visa and was required to go home.

 

A psychology major is unlikely to get a job in the US where an employer would sponsor.  These tends to be tech jobs.  

 

A masters in the US would be costly since she would need to pay out of state tuition and there's zero financial aid from the US side.  

 

Marriage to a USC or LPR is the only realistic route to immigrate to the US.

[SalishSea 18,125]

2 hours ago, kalamputi said:

But since it appears to be my wife's best bet to get a relative into the US, we're going to look into it some more and obviously will find out whether or not a bachelor's in psychology will get her very far.

Very, very unlikely.  The US is chock-full of people with bachelor's degrees in psych, many of them unemployed or under-employed.

[kalamputi 0]

There's a number of people telling me what isn't possible. For those who have told me, you're looking at 20 plus years for a sibling, I appreciate the hard info, that's what I'm here for but how about one of you tell me what is possible, outside the box. Otherwise I'll just sit here and get depressed reading the replies.

 

And believe me, I get it, a degree in psychology, big whoops! There's got to be another way.

Edited August 6, 2019 by kalamputi

[aaron2020 11,651]

1 minute ago, kalamputi said:

There's a number of people telling me what isn't possible. For those who have told me, you're looking at 20 plus years for a sibling, I appreciate the hard info, that's what I'm here for but how about one of you tell me what is possible, outside the box. Otherwise I'll just sit here and get depressed reading the replies.

Sorry, we're not hiding anything from you.  If it was possible, we would have told you.