the.fool

Firstly, I do realise there are numerous threads already on here about immigration from the UK to US but with everyone being different, I guess the issue becomes diversely problematic.

Basically, for many personal reasons I wish to move to the US as soon as I can. I'm a 22 year old male living in the UK (born and bred in England and no dual nationalities) and I have one year remaining on my undergraduate course that I intend to complete, after which I will receive a B.Sc Psychology degree from Manchester Metropolitan University and I would be interested in furthering as a masters degree and potentially a PhD.

My mother is (as far as I am aware) a UK citizen but a US permanent resident residing in Alabama and her husband (not my father) is a full US citizen. She is also, according to talks with her recently, looking to be starting her own contract cleaning company within the next few months.

I'm not entirely sure of the processes I would have to go through or what requirements must be met in order to gain residency/citizenship/dual-citizenship so I would much appreciate any information or advice people can offer.

Thanks.

meauxna

Hello, welcome to BE.

You are 22 years old; how old were you when your mother married her US citizen?
What were your past discussions with your mother concerning immigration when she got married and moved to the US?
Where do you intend to complete your education?
When you say you want to move 'as soon as you can', what is your expectation with that?

dreamercon

If you are not married, your mother should file an immigrant petition for you which will enable you to immigrate to the US in a few years. To make things faster, your mother should apply for US citizenship as soon as she can. Moreover, you should not get married until your mother becomes a US citizen or until you immigrate to the US.

But all this won't happen overnight, i will take at least six years or so for you to immigrate to the US using this path.

Now if your mother got married before you turned 18, you may have better options.

the.fool

Thanks for the welcome

I think I was 15 or 16 when my mum married my step-dad. At the time I was given the option to move over with her (not sure how it would have worked) but I stayed because I was at the pinnacle of my secondary education over here and didn't really fancy the fairly big change in education systems at such a impressionable stage.

I will complete my undergraduate course here and I really don't mind otherwise. I understand the financial concerns of pursuing higher education in the US... but as far as I'm aware there is very little financial assistance for higher education past the undergraduate stage in the UK anyway so I can't see it'd make a massive difference. But I'm more than happy to continue studying in the US, whether it be full time or part time combined with some sort of employment.

And as far as 'as soon as' is concerned, I understand it won't be as simple as 'pack my bags and go'... if I have to stay here for a few extra years then so be it. I expect I will just want to get the ball rolling as soon as I can as long as I can complete my university course and get my degree.

I'm not married, and have no plans what so ever to get married. Not really looking for a partner over here if I am only going to end up moving away... seems a little futile. And as I mentioned I was either 15 or 16 when my mum got married but that was before she gained permanent residency. Not sure if that makes any difference.

meauxna

If your mother married before you were 18, you were the "Immediate Relative" of a US citizen (your step father). Had you been on the stick with this, and he petitioned you before you turned 21... you'd probably have a green card now.

As it is now, you will have to get into line in a quota-limited category (there is no quote for the above mention Immediate Relatives).
google 'visa bulletin' for travel.state.gov and navigate to the 'current bulletin'.
Go read that page and get back with us (it's not long).

dreamercon

Your best bet now is to have both your mother and your stepfather file an immigrant petition for you, then you can immigrate in around six years. I say both because a lot can change during the waiting time, and having two petitions provides additional security.

If your stepfather had filed a petition before you turned 21 you wouldn't have to wait now.

the.fool

Hmm... one question that keeps shunting to the foreground of my mind... when I apply for residency/citizenship/whatever, am I allowed to live in the US while my application is pending or do I have to stay in the UK during processing?

dreamercon

You derive no rights to stay in the US while waiting for your priority date to become current which will take six years or so.

meauxna

What dreamercon says.

nettlebed

In other words, 'No'.

the.fool

Just out of curiosity, how long would it take for my mother to gain citizenship? And how much "faster" would that make my application?

Ginblossom

She can probably based on the limited info you have provided she can become one now as she has been married 3 or more years. Or at least begin the paperwork to become one.

dreamercon

In your case, your mother being a citizen will make no impact on your application - cause your stepfather who is a US citizen can sponsor you. But she should apply for citizenship nevertheless - and both she and your stepfather should file an immigrant petition for you.

the.fool

Okay so I've had a bit of an up and down experience with trying to work this all out... up until an hour ago I thought the quickest route would be to marry a US citizen... albeit not the most rational route... and not one I particularly want to go down.

However, my mum has been looking about and she said that my step-dad can file for me to come over by filling out an I-130 and I fill out the I-485. Apparently it says that he can file for a stepchild as long as the marriage in question began before the child's 18th birthday. I'm not entirely sure of the details but I would assume that wouldn't be applicable if I was over 21, but my mum is going to contact her immigration lawyer and clarify that.

Also, I'm not entirely sure how the processing works... are applications from certain states sent to certain processing information centers? I looked on the California processing times and the I-485 is currently about 7 months but the I-130 is at about 6 or 7 years. However, my mum said that her application was processed at the Texas Information Center. She lives in Alabama, which leads me to think that maybe applications from Alabama generally go to the Texan Center... and the processing time for the I-130 there is 5 months. So are applications sent to specific Information Centers depending on the state or origin? And I don't suppose anyone knows any particular reason why there would be such a dramatic difference between the Californian and the Texan processing times?

Something doesn't seem quite right so I'm not getting my hopes up haha

dreamercon

I thought we already advised you of this option. Didn't you read our responses to your questions? We already gave you the timeline. Six years or more - because you are over 21.