Turco

Hi gurus,

I've been married to an American woman for a year or so now and I've got my green
card, a good job, etc. I've been married before in Australia where a have 2 kids ages
12 and 10. They've got the K2 visas but they live with their mother, an Aussie
citizen like myself.

My ex and I have a reasonable good relationship and we were talking on her moving to
the USA temporarily (2 or 3 years), and live near where I live so I can gain access
to the kids whom I miss badly. Can their mother get some kind of visa or work permit
so she can live and work 2 or 3 years in the USA? She doesn't want a green card, she
is doing well in Australia but we want to have share custody and access to the kids
and some sense of family life. My American wife is supportive of all that, she has
kids of her own and their father is also around a lot.

Can anyone help me? Thanks a lot, mates!

Rete

If you've been married for a year or more now, then the children's K-2s have expired I believe. As for your former wife, if she has the college degree/work experience required for an H-1B then she can get a work visa if she is lucky enough in today's economy to find an employer to sponsor her.

Rete

Maarten W.G. An

"Turco" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi gurus,
    >
    > I've been married to an American woman for a year or so now and I've got my green
    > card, a good job, etc. I've been married before in Australia where a have 2 kids
    > ages 12 and 10. They've got the K2 visas but they live with their mother, an Aussie
    > citizen like myself.
    >
    > My ex and I have a reasonable good relationship and we were talking on her moving
    > to the USA temporarily (2 or 3 years), and live near where I live so I can gain
    > access to the kids whom I miss badly. Can their mother get some kind of visa or
    > work permit so she can live and work 2 or 3 years in the USA? She doesn't want a
    > green card, she is doing well in Australia but we want to have share custody and
    > access to the kids and some sense of family life. My American wife is supportive of
    > all that, she has kids of her own and their father is also around a lot.
    >
    > Can anyone help me? Thanks a lot, mates!

This is not going to be easy. Obviously, she cannot get married to you again so a K-1
visa or I-130 visa is out of the question unless she has an American boyfriend that
is willing to marry her.

She could try to apply for a job in the United States, but its unlikely that this
will happen unless she is a really high-end hi-tech IT manager of some kind. The
process that a company has to go through to prove that they could not fill the
position with a local employee and they really really really want this ozzie chick
takes a long time and is dificult at best. Especially since the economy is not doing
too well, and jobs can be filled with local employee's without problems.

She could try to apply for the visa lottery, but that could take many many years....

There is one light on the horizon however, your kids may immigrate to the
U.S if you have permanent residency. You could see if your wife allows them to stay
with you for 2 years or so after which they will return to the Australia. It won't
be the easiest process to go through but its very well possible. Technically, if
one of your kids is over 18 of age they in return could get their mum over but then
it gets way too complicated and suscpicious on the sponsoring issue....

Its not going to be real easy i'm afraid, unless Alvena or Andy can give you more
info as they give *excellent* replies here.

Maarten

Andy Platt

    > Its not going to be real easy i'm afraid, unless Alvena or Andy can give
you
    > more info as they give *excellent* replies here.

Only to add that it's been asked before believe it or not! All these people wanting
to bring their ex-es ... beat's me

Two things:

1. H-1Bs are not as difficult as you make out but yes you do really need to be
working in a technical field and have a related bachelor's degree. I came to the
US on an H-1B so it can't be that difficult

2. US citizens can sponsor their parents when they reach 21, not 18.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination. "Maarten W.G. Andriessen"
<@.dutchusa.com> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    >
    > "Turco" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Hi gurus,
    > >
    > > I've been married to an American woman for a year or so now and I've got my green
    > > card, a good job, etc. I've been married before in Australia where a have 2 kids
    > > ages 12 and 10. They've got the K2 visas but they live with their mother, an
    > > Aussie citizen like myself.
    > >
    > > My ex and I have a reasonable good relationship and we were talking on her moving
    > > to the USA temporarily (2 or 3 years), and live near where I live so I can gain
    > > access to the kids whom I miss badly. Can their mother get some kind of visa or
    > > work permit so she can live and work 2 or 3 years in the USA? She doesn't want a
    > > green card, she is doing well in Australia but we want to have share custody and
    > > access to the kids and some sense of family life. My American wife is supportive
    > > of all that, she has kids of her own and their father is also around a lot.
    > >
    > > Can anyone help me? Thanks a lot, mates!
    >
    > This is not going to be easy. Obviously, she cannot get married to you
again
    > so a K-1 visa or I-130 visa is out of the question unless she has an American
    > boyfriend that is willing to marry her.
    >
    > She could try to apply for a job in the United States, but its unlikely
that
    > this will happen unless she is a really high-end hi-tech IT manager of
some
    > kind. The process that a company has to go through to prove that they
could
    > not fill the position with a local employee and they really really really want this
    > ozzie chick takes a long time and is dificult at best.
Especially
    > since the economy is not doing too well, and jobs can be filled with local
    > employee's without problems.
    >
    > She could try to apply for the visa lottery, but that could take many many
    > years....
    >
    > There is one light on the horizon however, your kids may immigrate to the
    > U.S if you have permanent residency. You could see if your wife allows
them
    > to stay with you for 2 years or so after which they will return to the Australia.
    > It won't be the easiest process to go through but its very well possible.
    > Technically, if one of your kids is over 18 of age they in
return
    > could get their mum over but then it gets way too complicated and suscpicious on
    > the sponsoring issue....
    >
    >
    > Maarten