US parent & non-US minor children: process & timing? [split topic]

[Jo&Ro 106]

I'm a multi generational natural U.S. citizen and my wife of 6 years this past week is filipina that's been here 4 years in Aug and a U.S. citizen for nearly a year now. She has 11 and 14 year kids that were DQ 12/20/23. As is right now it seems they will likely be another 4-6 months just for their medical and interviews. Is there any options to get them here sooner and finish the process here in the states? Maybe K-4? The US Embassy in the Philippines is an absolute joke! It's insane to take nearly 2 years to get here. Even more insane that's it takes a year after being DQ'ed to get here. We've already tried expanding multiple times to no avail. My congressman helped expedite my wife's process (U.S Embassy in Singapore though), but has assigned me a different assistant he is useless. 6+ years married and still not together as a family is torture. Covid is somewhat to blame, but definitely not the only holdup. 

[Boiler 45,449]

She could have filed for them as a LPR.

 

What would be the basis of any expedite?

[TBoneTX 45,259]

The above were split from someone else's thread in this same forum.

[SalishSea 17,804]

4 hours ago, Jo&Ro said:

I'm a multi generational natural U.S. citizen and my wife of 6 years this past week is filipina that's been here 4 years in Aug and a U.S. citizen for nearly a year now. She has 11 and 14 year kids that were DQ 12/20/23. As is right now it seems they will likely be another 4-6 months just for their medical and interviews. Is there any options to get them here sooner and finish the process here in the states? Maybe K-4? The US Embassy in the Philippines is an absolute joke! It's insane to take nearly 2 years to get here. Even more insane that's it takes a year after being DQ'ed to get here. We've already tried expanding multiple times to no avail. My congressman helped expedite my wife's process (U.S Embassy in Singapore though), but has assigned me a different assistant he is useless. 6+ years married and still not together as a family is torture. Covid is somewhat to blame, but definitely not the only holdup. 

Not eligible for a K-4.  

If your expedite requests have been denied (as they will, if the reason is just that you’re tired of waiting), there really isn’t anything else that you can do.

[Jo&Ro 106]

For expedite, we tried school end/start of new school year. We tried for financial stress. We tried when her father passed and it being too much for her 70 year old mom to handle (they are staying with her mother). 

She was working abroad in Singapore but got to see them 2 or 3 times a year. She was supposed to go home and get some of their paperwork in order before coming here but then covid hit and her visa too forever (750 days officially from NOA1 to Visa in hand) and the Philippines was locked down and she couldn't get home and accomplish anything so she came straight here. The Philippines didn't "open up" until mid 2022 for us to go there and get some of their paperwork in order (birth certificates, passports and such) for us to start. At that point she hadn't seen her kids in 2.5 year, which is crazy. She went home for her dad's funeral the end of last year (as a new U.S. citizen) but they hadn't been DQ yet. News and political figures make such a big deal about families being tore apart at the boarder doing this illegal but absolutely do not care at all about those of us doing this process legally. Under no circumstances is it right for a family that's trying to do everything legal and correct to be separated for so long. She's essentially seen her kids 3 times in the 6+ years we've been married. Super hard on her and terrible for the kids that's she been separated from half of their lives. Hind sight being 20/20 we would have done things differently, but we couldn't have predicted covid happening or how horrible immigration process in general could be. 

[Jo&Ro 106]

5 hours ago, SalishSea said:

Not eligible for a K-4.  

If your expedite requests have been denied (as they will, if the reason is just that you’re tired of waiting), there really isn’t anything else that you can do.

But then they approve expedites for some of the simplest things from some people. She has 2 or 3 friends her in the states that have had them approved for crazy reasons. One of them were approved because of danger from a volcano erupting. They were like 100 miles away and had zero problems from it. Fantastic for them, but school/financial/ and death in the immediate family are definitely more legitimate reasons. It's just crazy they make this process so difficult and time consuming. 

[Moda25 48]

Why didn’t you add them to your wife’s petition when you did for her?

[Jo&Ro 106]

7 hours ago, Moda25 said:

Why didn’t you add them to your wife’s petition when you did for her?

Because like I explained before, we had none of their paperwork prepared and they were in the in the Philippines, she was in Singapore and I was in the U.S. Also 6+ years ago when we started this family the wait times were MUCH quicker and we did what we thought was right for our circumstances. Times got longer and then covid hit and things just went bad. Knowing what we know now 6+ years later, we definitely would have. Unfortunately we don't have a time machine. 

[Boiler 45,449]

Is she with them now?

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~Two inappropriate posts have been removed. You are to help the OP not judge them. Post constructively only.~~