getting a green card through barely US citizen wife

[Robob]

Hi,
My wife was born in the US, but left with her family shortly afterwards and grew up in Australia. I'm German and we're living in Scandinavia.
We'd like to permanently move to the US. She has a valid passport. We have a one year old child. Since my wife hasn't spent more than 5 years
in the US, our child is not eligible for citizenship. So here's our problem, as I see it so far:

1. She is not resident in the US.
2. She doesn't work in the US, which means she doesn't meet the requirements for income above poverty level.
3. Instead of a minimum income, we'd need 3x the equivalent in liquid funds, which we don't have.

What are our options?

1. Is it possible for her to go to the US by herself with the child, quickly get a minimum income job and then for me to get there as well and apply for the green card? How would the child get into the country under those conditions?
2. I'm currently finishing up my PhD, but could I enrol in an American university, get a student visa, change into green card and drop out of the degree program? Again, how would the child get into the country under those conditions?
3. I know, in theory I could be sponsored by an employer, but that seems to be quite rare and difficult and seems to involve some amount of luck.
4. Is there anything else we could conceivably in?

Also, if we end up having to save up the money for the sponsorship, what happens afterwards? How difficult would it be then to get the process rolling since she's not a resident in the US?

Any help and comments are very much appreciated! Thanks!

[rayb]

Robob,

Your wife has to petition the child, though not yet eligible for derived U.S. citizenship, with form I-130. If your wife is not willing to leave the child with you until she has employment sufficient enough to sponsor the child, she needs a co-sponsor in the U.S. to assist with the child's immigration.

--Ray B

Hi,
My wife was born in the US, but left with her family shortly afterwards and grew up in Australia. I'm German and we're living in Scandinavia.
We'd like to permanently move to the US. She has a valid passport. We have a one year old child. Since my wife hasn't spent more than 5 years
in the US, our child is not eligible for citizenship. So here's our problem, as I see it so far:

1. She is not resident in the US.
2. She doesn't work in the US, which means she doesn't meet the requirements for income above poverty level.
3. Instead of a minimum income, we'd need 3x the equivalent in liquid funds, which we don't have.

What are our options?

1. Is it possible for her to go to the US by herself with the child, quickly get a minimum income job and then for me to get there as well and apply for the green card? How would the child get into the country under those conditions?
2. I'm currently finishing up my PhD, but could I enrol in an American university, get a student visa, change into green card and drop out of the degree program? Again, how would the child get into the country under those conditions?
3. I know, in theory I could be sponsored by an employer, but that seems to be quite rare and difficult and seems to involve some amount of luck.
4. Is there anything else we could conceivably in?

Also, if we end up having to save up the money for the sponsorship, what happens afterwards? How difficult would it be then to get the process rolling since she's not a resident in the US?

Any help and comments are very much appreciated! Thanks!

[Robob]

So without another sponsor it's basically impossible to immigrate unless she moves to the US by herself? If so, how long would the process take so that we could come after her?
And what if we did have the money in a few years? Would we still need someone inside the US to sponsor? Otherwise, is it ok for her to just get the green cards for us while living outside the US?

[Robob]

I'm not sure how it works on this forum, but would no answer be automatically a yes or a "don't know"?

[rayb]

Your last question on this subject was more than two weeks ago. The answer to that question is that the Green Card is not released until an immigrant is in the U.S.

A lack of response to a question could mean many things, but most likely nobody felt that your question needed a response, or your query dropped out of the active message base before anyone could respond.

--Ray B

I'm not sure how it works on this forum, but would no answer be automatically a yes or a "don't know"?