How to best proceed - long term spouse and previous perm resident

[Lightbulb 1]

Hello, looking for a bit of feedback on my situation and where to go next.

 

I have been married to a US citizen for 23 years and lived in the US (perm resident) from 1998 - 2008.  We moved to live in my home country of New Zealand and I was told by an CBC official that I needed to return my green card if I was no longer intending on living in the US, so I did. I now understand that may not necessarily have been accurate, but what's done is done.

 

We have now decided that we want to return to the US to live, but have been informed that the processing time for my entry will be 12-24 months. Is there any way to hurry this along aside from getting a job offer? My husband has been trying to get one for the last several months but without being able to give a timeframe of when he can be in country, it's proving difficult. Given the instability of the last few years, we aren't keen on splitting the family between countries for an unknown length of time. Our children are dual citizens, it is just me who is the holdup. 

 

I read that there is precedent for adjustment of status for a spouse after entry on visa waiver, although I suspect that is more for the case of 'unexpectedly' getting married... correct? I could enter the country on the VWP looking like I was going to leave, but that image would fall apart pretty quickly if the rest of the family showed up within that 90 days and I applied for AoS. 

 

We don't want to destroy my long term chances of being able to reside in the US, so want to 'walk in the front door' - but also would like to achieve this in the quickest legal way possible.

[Redro 4,611]

39 minutes ago, Lightbulb said:

Hello, looking for a bit of feedback on my situation and where to go next.

 

I have been married to a US citizen for 23 years and lived in the US (perm resident) from 1998 - 2008.  We moved to live in my home country of New Zealand and I was told by an CBC official that I needed to return my green card if I was no longer intending on living in the US, so I did. I now understand that may not necessarily have been accurate, but what's done is done.

 

We have now decided that we want to return to the US to live, but have been informed that the processing time for my entry will be 12-24 months. Is there any way to hurry this along aside from getting a job offer? My husband has been trying to get one for the last several months but without being able to give a timeframe of when he can be in country, it's proving difficult. Given the instability of the last few years, we aren't keen on splitting the family between countries for an unknown length of time. Our children are dual citizens, it is just me who is the holdup. 

 

I read that there is precedent for adjustment of status for a spouse after entry on visa waiver, although I suspect that is more for the case of 'unexpectedly' getting married... correct? I could enter the country on the VWP looking like I was going to leave, but that image would fall apart pretty quickly if the rest of the family showed up within that 90 days and I applied for AoS. 

 

We don't want to destroy my long term chances of being able to reside in the US, so want to 'walk in the front door' - but also would like to achieve this in the quickest legal way possible.

Planning to permanently stay in the US when arriving on ESTA is immigration fraud so that is not possible.

 

Unfortunately, there are no "short cuts" unless your husband is offered a job with short relocation notice and New Zealand allows you to DCF (direct consular file).  So, when and if your husband interviews for a job he should state he is able to move to the US asap. And move when the job starts. This would probably still involve some type of separation for your family but you'd be able to move to the US sooner. 

 

I'm sorry to say, you'll have to start the process all over and wait for the visa to be issued like the rest of us. 

Edited July 4, 2022 by ROK2USA

[Lightbulb 1]

Just now, ROK2USA said:

Planning to permanently stay in the US when arriving on ESTA is immigration fraud so that is not possible.

 

Unfortunately, there are no "short cuts" unless your husband is offered a job with short relocation notice and New Zealand allows you to DCF (direct consular file).

 

I'm sorry to say, you'll have to start the process all over and wait for the visa to be issued like the rest of us. 

NZ consulate does offer DCF -- hence why he has been looking for a job. We expect the long way to be the outcome, but thought it worth checking on the off chance. Thanks for your response.

[Redro 4,611]

3 minutes ago, Lightbulb said:

NZ consulate does offer DCF -- hence why he has been looking for a job. We expect the long way to be the outcome, but thought it worth checking on the off chance. Thanks for your response.

So, your husband should let the company dictate his starting date. 

Generally job offers have to be "short notice" for DCF to (usually) work. 

Good luck! I hope your husband is able to find a job that starts soon ^^ 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by ROK2USA

[mytruelove18 608]

4 hours ago, Lightbulb said:

Hello, looking for a bit of feedback on my situation and where to go next.

 

I have been married to a US citizen for 23 years and lived in the US (perm resident) from 1998 - 2008.  We moved to live in my home country of New Zealand and I was told by an CBC official that I needed to return my green card if I was no longer intending on living in the US, so I did. I now understand that may not necessarily have been accurate, but what's done is done.

 

We have now decided that we want to return to the US to live, but have been informed that the processing time for my entry will be 12-24 months. Is there any way to hurry this along aside from getting a job offer? My husband has been trying to get one for the last several months but without being able to give a timeframe of when he can be in country, it's proving difficult. Given the instability of the last few years, we aren't keen on splitting the family between countries for an unknown length of time. Our children are dual citizens, it is just me who is the holdup. 

 

I read that there is precedent for adjustment of status for a spouse after entry on visa waiver, although I suspect that is more for the case of 'unexpectedly' getting married... correct? I could enter the country on the VWP looking like I was going to leave, but that image would fall apart pretty quickly if the rest of the family showed up within that 90 days and I applied for AoS. 

 

We don't want to destroy my long term chances of being able to reside in the US, so want to 'walk in the front door' - but also would like to achieve this in the quickest legal way possible.

And what happened that you didnt apply for citezenship ?

when you move to other country , best idea is apoly for citezenship first, you never know when you have to come back

[iwannaplay54 985]

6 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

Planning to permanently stay in the US when arriving on ESTA is immigration fraud so that is not possible.

 

Unfortunately, there are no "short cuts" unless your husband is offered a job with short relocation notice and New Zealand allows you to DCF (direct consular file).  So, when and if your husband interviews for a job he should state he is able to move to the US asap. And move when the job starts. This would probably still involve some type of separation for your family but you'd be able to move to the US sooner. 

 

I'm sorry to say, you'll have to start the process all over and wait for the visa to be issued like the rest of us. 

This is exactly what I would have advised.

 

No short cuts.  We’ve been there 😂

[JeanneAdil 6,511]

don't wait to do the petition/ file now as the wait time is long

it can be done online

and getting the US job will not allow DFC if NZ doesn't do it

u need spouse visa / no 90 day window to AOS / this is not a fiancee visa 

and u can not travel on tourist visa and adjust to stay

 

unfortunately the wait time is over a year but that gives him time to get the US job,  US income,  making sure he has filed all US tax returns as needed even on foreign income (use foreign income exclusion with form 2555 as NZ has a tax treaty with the US-example is year 2021 exclusion is $108700.

he also needs to establish a US residency 

proof of which would be any or all of the following

US bank account

lease on apartment or owning a house

state ID or DL

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

8 hours ago, Lightbulb said:

was told by an CBC official that I needed to return my green card if I was no longer intending on living in the US, so I did. I now understand that may not necessarily have been accurate, but what's done is done.

Just as an aside that was actually accurate, especially given that you clearly had a long term intention to relocate (that is, longer than the 5 years successive re entry permits would have allowed you to keep your green card while being absent). If you’d gotten citizenship then, it would have circumvented all this, but that’s water under the bridge.

 

Intending to adjust when entering on VWP, regardless when you marry, is considered immigration fraud and you would be refused entry to the US - and lose your VWP privileges in the process - should CBP figure this out (as they in all likelihood would given the totality of circumstances you mention). Hopefully you can get it done faster than the normal process via DCF - good luck 

[Lil bear 4,218]

5 hours ago, mytruelove18 said:

And what happened that you didnt apply for citezenship ?

when you move to other country , best idea is apoly for citezenship first, you never know when you have to come back

Self deleted 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Lil bear

[Redro 4,611]

delete

Edited July 5, 2022 by ROK2USA

[Lightbulb 1]

8 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

don't wait to do the petition/ file now as the wait time is long

it can be done online

and getting the US job will not allow DFC if NZ doesn't do it

u need spouse visa / no 90 day window to AOS / this is not a fiancee visa 

and u can not travel on tourist visa and adjust to stay

 

unfortunately the wait time is over a year but that gives him time to get the US job,  US income,  making sure he has filed all US tax returns as needed even on foreign income (use foreign income exclusion with form 2555 as NZ has a tax treaty with the US-example is year 2021 exclusion is $108700.

he also needs to establish a US residency 

proof of which would be any or all of the following

US bank account

lease on apartment or owning a house

state ID or DL

 

Thanks. NZ does do DCF -- it what a staff member at the Consulate office here advised us to do, but she couldn't give a timeframe of how long it would take, even with a short notice job offer. 

 

We still maintain a couple of US bank accounts, so that helps. I am aware we need to catch up on our tax situation and that is on the list to do very soon. We're not in the income bracket that will cause any problems or back taxes, so it should just be a matter of paperwork, much like most of this. 

13 hours ago, mytruelove18 said:

And what happened that you didnt apply for citezenship ?

when you move to other country , best idea is apoly for citezenship first, you never know when you have to come back

There are reasons, none of which are pertinent to the current situation.

[Lightbulb 1]

8 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Just as an aside that was actually accurate, especially given that you clearly had a long term intention to relocate (that is, longer than the 5 years successive re entry permits would have allowed you to keep your green card while being absent). If you’d gotten citizenship then, it would have circumvented all this, but that’s water under the bridge.

 

Intending to adjust when entering on VWP, regardless when you marry, is considered immigration fraud and you would be refused entry to the US - and lose your VWP privileges in the process - should CBP figure this out (as they in all likelihood would given the totality of circumstances you mention). Hopefully you can get it done faster than the normal process via DCF - good luck 

Thanks, that's good to know it was actually correct advice. I was kicking myself a bit that I had shut down and option when potentially I hadn't needed to. I didn't question it at the time because it did make sense that if I wasn't intended on residing in the country, then that status would lapse. I was given other info recently which contradicted that which made my head spin a bit. 

 

We will try to go the DCF route and see how that works out. Is there any gauge on time frames for this or is it a very individual thing based on location etc? The NZ Consulate was closed and not processing from August - Dec 2021 and again in Feb - March 2022 b/c covid mess, so it has really mucked things up. 

[Redro 4,611]

10 minutes ago, Lightbulb said:

Thanks, that's good to know it was actually correct advice. I was kicking myself a bit that I had shut down and option when potentially I hadn't needed to. I didn't question it at the time because it did make sense that if I wasn't intended on residing in the country, then that status would lapse. I was given other info recently which contradicted that which made my head spin a bit. 

 

We will try to go the DCF route and see how that works out. Is there any gauge on time frames for this or is it a very individual thing based on location etc? The NZ Consulate was closed and not processing from August - Dec 2021 and again in Feb - March 2022 b/c covid mess, so it has really mucked things up. 

Usually DCF takes about 6 months... but it could be quicker. It really depends on the consulate. And as mentioned before, your husband might have to leave NZ before you.

The two most active consulates for DCF are Frankfurt and London. You can read about experiences over in the DCF forum. 

[SalishSea 17,836]

21 hours ago, Lightbulb said:

I read that there is precedent for adjustment of status for a spouse after entry on visa waiver, although I suspect that is more for the case of 'unexpectedly' getting married... correct? I could enter the country on the VWP looking like I was going to leave, but that image would fall apart pretty quickly if the rest of the family showed up within that 90 days and I applied for AoS. 

Fraud.  Do not do.

[SalishSea 17,836]

4 hours ago, Lightbulb said:

Thanks. NZ does do DCF -- it what a staff member at the Consulate office here advised us to do, but she couldn't give a timeframe of how long it would take, even with a short notice job offer. 

 

As all of the USCIS international offices have been closed for years, DCF is on a case-by-case basis.  It is not automatic.