Advice needed please

[Davis1]

Originally Posted by crys

rough times for visa processing from us emabassy (any stories on how long you waited)
can my family be turned down for visas at the visa meeting (and if so on what grounds?
when they are for a police check, is that a standard CRB check or something else?
.

As a third preference candidate, Visa availility is currently
about an 8/9 year wait
google: visa bulletin

Yes, criminal record of CIMT

Yes. you will file a APCO police report

[crys]

thanks fat brit for your reply.

first of all, i am in no rush to go, though i thought it would be more like a 3 -4 year wait than a 10 year one but thats life.

secondly, im not too sure what my mother has here. she is a british citizen (her mother is british and bought her to england after divorcing my grandfather) but she has an american passport stamped to say she has the right to reisde in both the uk and the states.

with regards to the visa situation, we was told by the us embassy that the visa would be dealt with here in the uk at the us embassy as opposed to in the states because my mother resides here. the lady i spoke to seemed to think it may be slightly quicker process.

well i guess that answers most of my questions and im glad i asked as i know now if it happens its not gonig to happen anytime soon! i will keep you psoted on how we get on!

Thanks
crystal

[Davis1]

If your mother has a US passport she is a US citizen

I believe she has to reside in the US to file to bring you over
are you saying she resides in the UK

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by crys

thanks fat brit for your reply.

first of all, i am in no rush to go, though i thought it would be more like a 3 -4 year wait than a 10 year one but thats life.

secondly, im not too sure what my mother has here. she is a british citizen (her mother is british and bought her to england after divorcing my grandfather) but she has an american passport stamped to say she has the right to reisde in both the uk and the states.

with regards to the visa situation, we was told by the us embassy that the visa would be dealt with here in the uk at the us embassy as opposed to in the states because my mother resides here. the lady i spoke to seemed to think it may be slightly quicker process.

well i guess that answers most of my questions and im glad i asked as i know now if it happens its not gonig to happen anytime soon! i will keep you psoted on how we get on!

Thanks
crystal

It's impossible to tell how long the wait will be with a number-restricted category. The first sign of madness is following the limited information given monthly in the Visa Bulletin on the DOS website!

Your mother should regularize her status. She is undoubtedly a US citizen if she holds a US passport. There is insufficient information to tell whether she is a UKC. But if not, she should apply for UK naturalization and hold both passports. This will not affect her petition for you in any way.

One note I'd like to make here is never to rely on the US Embassy for any immigration advice. They take your application and fee for an immigration benefit, process it, and either grant or deny it. They have no interest in your circumstances beyond that! Indeed, you cannot and should not even rely on the information they give on their site as being a true representation of the law. The last place for advice as an alien is
the Embassy!

Having said that, the I-130 will be processed in London since the petitioner is resident there, and this is significantly faster. However at some stage in the process -- I'm unsure when -- your mother is going to have to prove that she is either resident in the US or intends to take residency there. She will also have to provide financial sponsorship for you which involves submitting her US tax returns. I hope (but doubt!) she has been filing them.

So, if you're prepared to wait whatever time it takes and your mother is prepared to take residency in the US at some time, your plan will certainly work.

However, I think you've jumped the gun on not taking the far better route of first finding out whether you yourself do not have a claim to US citizenship. With such a route, you would be the sponsor. The paperwork would take 6 months from beginning to end for the whole family, and any of your children under 18 who entered on an immigrant visa would also automatically become immediate US citizens. It's a far easier and more predictable route. I'd seriously;y consider investigating it if I were you.

[crys]

fat brit, i was always under the impression that i could now not claim us citizenship in the way you are saying as my mother did not spend enough time in the US (she left there at the age of 4 and has lived ehre ever since) this is from the embassy website and applies to my date of birth and my parents situation:

Child born in wedlock to one U.S. citizen parent and one non U.S. citizen parent on or after November 14, 1986: A child born outside of the United States to one U.S. citizen parent and one non-U.S. citizen parent may be entitled to citizenship providing the U.S. citizen parent had been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for five years, at least two years of which were after s/he reached the age of fourteen. This period of physical presence must have taken place prior to the birth of the child.

however, if you are saying i could still apply, could you point me in the right direction?

to answer your questions, no my mother has not paid taxes over in the states as she lives her. i was also told that she would not need to sponsor me financially as we can provide proof that we can sponsor ourselves (we have around £400K equity, including the sale of our property) financially.

hmm, it seems i should have ahd a read ehre before sending in our forms as the info given here is contradictory of what has been given to me from the embassy and i am inclined to beleive fellow expats over governments anyday!

would be interested to know if you know anymore about the cizenship route fatbrit!

Thanks
Crystal

[Bevdeforges]

Not sure of the details (perhaps fatbrit will have more on this) but it is possible to claim US citizenship if your grandmother or grandfather was a US citizen and spent the appropriate amount of time resident in the US.

Several US expat groups have spent lots of time and effort on this (and other issues of claiming citizenship). You might try checking with AARO - Association of Americans Resident Overseas or with ACA American Citizens Abroad if you can't find info elsewhere.
Cheers,
Bev

[twostep]

I am trying to sort this out. One post - your mother applied I130 for you the next you want to know if you can apply???
As governments as you call them make the decisions it does not matter what you think about them:>)

[crys]

thanks bev, i have found lots on grandparents etc but it all seems to be geared towards the under 18's. i will check thos elinks out though, thats brilliant!

Thanks
crystal

[crys]

Originally Posted by twostep

I am trying to sort this out. One post - your mother applied I130 for you the next you want to know if you can apply???
As governments as you call them make the decisions it does not matter what you think about them:>)

twostep - i HAVE applied for an immigrant visa, however if you read back, fatbrit seems to think it would be quicker, and possibly easier to get residency by going down the citizenship route. i want to find out if i can claim US citizenship, as oppossed to going into a queing system for a visa, thats what i am asking.

i never said i thought anything about the government, i said i tend to beleive the ex pats ehre because they are after having to go through this process themselves. as fatbrit says, the embassy are not interested in your circumstances, they are there to process and adjudicate the applications only!! if you read back, you will see this!

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by crys

fat brit, i was always under the impression that i could now not claim us citizenship in the way you are saying as my mother did not spend enough time in the US (she left there at the age of 4 and has lived ehre ever since) this is from the embassy website and applies to my date of birth and my parents situation:

Child born in wedlock to one U.S. citizen parent and one non U.S. citizen parent on or after November 14, 1986: A child born outside of the United States to one U.S. citizen parent and one non-U.S. citizen parent may be entitled to citizenship providing the U.S. citizen parent had been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for five years, at least two years of which were after s/he reached the age of fourteen. This period of physical presence must have taken place prior to the birth of the child.

however, if you are saying i could still apply, could you point me in the right direction?

There's a nice little blog about citizenship passing from grandparents here to get you started. The route is more complicated than if your mother had been able to transmit it directly. My advice, since this is a very complicated area of immigration law, would be to use a US immigration attorney, at least for an initial consultation to see if it's viable. Write out the family history with dates of birth, marriage and death for all the parties, the countries they lived in and the citizenship(s) they held. Although there are some US immigration attorneys in the UK, they tend to be expensive, and your consult can be done by email/phone etc. Find a lawyer here or if you want my recommend try Fong & Chun. Never used the latter but he contributes to immigration boards and IMO writes as much sense as is possible for a US immigration attorney. A consult shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred bucks. And if this route is open to you, it's a far easier and quicker route than having mom sponsor you.

Originally Posted by crys

to answer your questions, no my mother has not paid taxes over in the states as she lives her. i was also told that she would not need to sponsor me financially as we can provide proof that we can sponsor ourselves (we have around £400K equity, including the sale of our property) financially.

If you have to use this route, your mother must be the primary sponsor, and for this she will have to produce her US tax returns. As a USC, she is taxed on her worldwide income wherever she lives. However, with a large deduction for those overseas and a US/UK dual taxation agreement this usually means she has to file rather than pay. This will not come up till the interview many years away so no need to worry about it now. She can back file when your number comes up if necessary. You can self-sponsor with the dosh -- but she must still be the primary sponsor.

Also, there's that tricky problem that she has to be resident in the US. I'm unsure whether this will be a requirement when your number comes up (years away) or whether this will cause the initial I-130 petition to be denied before you start. But as you've already filed, we'll soon find out the answer.