canada_hope

I am writing this in behalf my uncle and his family.

They arrived here about a month ago with Diversity Visas. They have already received their actual greencards. My uncle is well established businessman back home, but not very educated. Both my uncle and aunt cannot speak English (very little). They have not been able to find jobs so far. They are thinking about going back home and keep running the business (good thing that he did not sell it). But they want to leave their two kids with my family here, so they can get good education.

My questions are:

How can my uncle and aunt can keep their greencards, if there is a way? If not, they are probably going to let it go.

If the kids are here for five years, can they become US citizens without mom and dad becoming US citizens? The kids are 16 and 11 years old.

Can kids sponsor and bring their parents to the US to live with them in the future, if in case my uncle and aunt lost their greencards?

Thanks for your time and advice.

ian-mstm

They've only been in the US for a month. I am also Canadian. English is my first language, and I have a university degree. Even so, I did not find a job for 4 months after moving to the US. I don't think one month is very long.


There is absolutely no way to know in advance, whether or not they will lose their status.


What is the immigration status of the children? If they are PRs, then they can apply for citizenship after 5 years *if* they are at least 18 years old. This won't be a problem for the older one, but the younger one will have to wait an additional 2 years.


Yes. On the day the older child becomes a US citizen, he can petition for his parents.

Ian

canada_hope

Ian,

Thank you so much for your time and answers.

Both kids are PRs as well. The whole family received their PRs at the sametime.

Don't they have some rule like Canada where you can stay outside the country for 3 years out of 5 years or something like that after you get your PR and landed?

You said the older child can petition for his parents the day he becomes a US Citizen. How long do you think the wait would be for parents to be able to join him in the US? I know we are talking a long time from now, but what is the time frame that parents of a US Citizen have to wait in these days?

Somewhere I read that to sponsor parent(s), a US Citizen has to be at least 21 years old and has to have good income. Is that true?

Thanks

hcj1440

You read correctly; one does have to be 21 years old before he can petition for his parents. It's on the USCIS website under green cards - family - preference categories. Parents of USCs are in the immediate relative category which means there is no annual quota and hence no waiting for a visa number to become available. It should be relatively fast -- right now I think it's around 8-12 months for most people. Of course you can never predict the speed in the future.

All family-based petitions require a sponsor for the immigrant(s). The sponsor has to make 25% over the poverty guidelines for his/her household size, plus the sponsored immigrant. If he doesn't fulfill the income requirements, he can use a joint sponsor.

snowbunny

No. I know the rule you're speaking of with regards to Canada, and there isn't a cut and dried rule like that for the US. You risk losing your permanent residence if you leave the US for any substantial length of time, and while there are rules of thumb to follow as to how one long one can reasonably remain gone and maintain residency. It certainly isn't even one year let alone three.

And leaving two children behind? I cannot imagine doing that, as a parent, and would mean setting up guardianship for the children.

ian-mstm

Sorry, my mistake - yes, the USC has to be 21 before he can file for a parent.

Ian

canada_hope

I would like to thank all of you for taking time to answer my questions. It's very nice of you. Thanks to BritishExpats forum too.

snowbunny, you are right, I don't think it is a good idea to leave two kids here. I don't know how people can do that. I cannot imagine leaving my kids away from me even for a week. When kids are older, may be it is not that hard to leave them alone with somebody that you can trust.

They are like my own brothers, but I do want to take responsibility of taking care of them. What if something happens to them that is out of my control? What am I going to tell my uncle and aunt? I myself along with my wife and two kids are planning on moving to Canada in a couple of years if they accept me as a skilled worker. So, I told my uncle and aunt that one of them has to be here with their kids. Now, aunt is going to stay here with them. Uncle is going back and he wants to figure out what to do with his business. He may sell it and join his family in a few months or keep traveling back and forth for a while.