Can I file for my girlfriend and her family?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I am a United States (US) citizen. I am planning on marrying my girlfriend, who has two children from a previous relationship (five, and 10 years old), in July 2014. Her mother also lives with her in Jamaica. Can I file for her and her two children along with her mother at the same time?

- H.F.

Dear H.F.,

As a United States (US) citizen, you can file for your wife and two stepchildren. However, you cannot file for your mother-in-law.

As your stepchildren will be under age 18 when you marry their mother, they will be allowed to receive immigration benefits from you their US citizen step-father.

You will need to file three separate petitions for your family at the same time to ensure that they all will be able to be interviewed at the same time and will be able to migrate together. The National Visa Center usually keeps all the files for one family together; however, sometimes the files do get separated.

During your courtship, please ensure that you are documenting your relationship. Do not discard any proof of communication between you and your fiancée and her children. Keep all proof of your visits to Jamaica, including photographs and receipts for any purchases and or places you visit. It is also important to document your wedding - even if it is a small affair. The US embassy can get very particular about weddings and are always on the lookout for what they deem to be staged events.

If at the time of the issuance of her Green Card you and your wife have been married for less than two years, she and the children will receive Green Cards valid for two years. One year and nine months after receiving their Green Cards they must file for 10-year cards. Three years after your wife receives her Green Card, if you and her are still married and living together, she can apply for US citizenship.

Once your wife receives her US citizenship, she can file for permanent residency for her mother. It is important that for both the application for the 10-year Green Card and for US citizenship under the three-year timeline you keep proof that the family is residing together in the US. This proof will need to be submitted with both applications.

If your wife obtains her US citizenship before her children are 18 years old, they will be able to derive US citizenship from her as they cannot derive citizenship from a step-parent.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington is a Jamaican-American attorney who practices immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal & personal injury law in Florida. She is a mediator, arbitrator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com