Advice Re. American Citizenship ~ Complicated

gravitytolls

Hi all,

I didn't know where else to put this post, so I'm hoping someone will be able to advise; I'm posting on behalf of an elderly lady I work with.

The lady's son moved to America after the death of his wife with his four children. He did so with the help of a friend in the US military, as his mother in law was trying to have the children removed from his care.

HE has since met and married someone else, she is expecting their first child.

He has applied for green card/citizenship(?) but it is taking a long time.

His wife is currently not working as she had an op on her back before becoming pregnant.

They cannot pay the rent, the elderly lady is working several jobs to send money to them.

She has called me to say she feels sick with worry, he has told her they are 'rounding poor people up and putting them in concentration camps'.

I've assured her this is not the case, and rather than 'rounding folk up' it is likely that some sort of hostel thing is going on.

Anyhoo, she's gotten herself in a tizzy, she's given him thousands and now she's brassic, and he's still tapping her for money.

It all sounds fishy to me, but I can't tell her that, though I do keep saying that she has to consider herself, and there's only so much she can do.

I browsed the interweb, and I think perhaps he means transitional housing for the homeless, but not if this applies to him, also not sure if he's entitled to anything as he's not an American citizen.

These are the facts as she tells me, based on what he tells her. If anybody can shed any light on the likelihood of him being kicked out of the country, beaten up by the landlord, rounded up by the government etc. I'd be very grateful, as I'd like to be able to give her something to try to set her mind at ease.

harrys_nan

contact the American Embassy and tell them, is his new wife American?

Also why was his 1st wife's mother trying to remove the children from his care?

gravitytolls

harrys_nan wrote: »

contact the American Embassy and tell them, is his new wife American?

Also why was his 1st wife's mother trying to remove the children from his care?

Yes his wife is American.

My friend believes she doesn't really want the children, but she does want the income they bring with them. Apparently she never visited her daughter in hospital while she was dying, she wasn't with her when she died, she refused to help with childcare while she was in hospital.

The deceased wife also had another daughter who made allegations against her son, SS naturally became involved, she lived with her GP's (her father's parents), she made similar allegations and attacked her Gran; she went home, attacked her mother, went into foster care, made allegations against FF, went into care, where she remains, although she has a relationship with the GP (her mother's).

There were also questions about the cause of death, the wife had cancer, but the coroner raised questions about amounts of drugs administered as death was unexpected. The inquiry is ongoing. Apparently the SS became actively involved in suggesting the children be placed with adoptive parents (the GM opposed this) when the son asked for the coroner's report.

It's been in the press, the MP is involved in the inquiry, I have no reason to disbelieve anything she says to me, but I don't quite believe everything the son tells her, as she is worried sick about 'my little lad'. Her husband died when he was 2.5, he's been her world ever since, 40 yrs.

Person_one

Sorry OP, but this is definitely a 'bargepole' situation.

Stay well away from it!

gravitytolls

Person_one wrote: »

Sorry OP, but this is definitely a 'bargepole' situation.

Stay well away from it!

I know what you mean. Really I'd just like to be able to settle her mind re. the 'rounding up/concentration camps' malarky, so she doesn't feel obliged to send yet more cash to him!

Errata

Given the vast numbers of legal American citizens who are living in dumpsters, their cars, tents or simply on the streets, I doubt the US gov will spend any cash on rounding foreign nationals up (whatever that means) or shoving them in concentration camps (whatever that means).

thorsoak

A green card is not an application for citizenship - it is merely a right to work legally in the USA.

BritAbroad

If he's married to an American citizen, a green card doesn't take that long - I think it's about a year or so. If the wife is merely a green card holder, then it will take longer, probably about 5 years.

Citizenship is an entirely separate process and it is not mandatory for a green card holder to become a citizen. If they do, the earliest point at which they can take citizenship is five years after getting the green card.

However, the OP mentioned he'd moved to America with the help of a friend, which seems odd. If he's there with e legitimate visa then the path to a green card could be somewhere in between 1 and 5 years, if it exists at all (not all visas lead to a green card). If he's there illegally, that's a whole other issue and married to an American or not he stands a good chance of being kicked out.

The suggestion that poor people are being rounded up and put in camps is simply nonsense. In America, if you're poor, you're on your own, or you have to depend on charity, unless you can get benefits through your employer. As a non-citizen, he's unlikely to be eligible for any government assistance.

harrys_nan

This does all sound so far fetched to me, has your friend any other relatives that could advise her?
I'm not sure if I could be the one to tell her that her son is playing her.
Wouldn't like to be in your shoes

TheEffect

America has an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants (number is likely much higher). There's currently a huge debate at the moment on whether to vote on an immigration bill that will give all 11 million a path to citizenship.

I wouldn't worry about them throwing the person in question out of the country.

The green card process may be taking longer if the person in question was in the US illegally and overstayed a ESTA/visa.

My recommendation, stay far away from this.

claire16c

BritAbroad wrote: »

If he's married to an American citizen, a green card doesn't take that long - I think it's about a year or so. If the wife is merely a green card holder, then it will take longer, probably about 5 years.

Citizenship is an entirely separate process and it is not mandatory for a green card holder to become a citizen. If they do, the earliest point at which they can take citizenship is five years after getting the green card.

However, the OP mentioned he'd moved to America with the help of a friend, which seems odd. If he's there with e legitimate visa then the path to a green card could be somewhere in between 1 and 5 years, if it exists at all (not all visas lead to a green card). If he's there illegally, that's a whole other issue and married to an American or not he stands a good chance of being kicked out.

The suggestion that poor people are being rounded up and put in camps is simply nonsense. In America, if you're poor, you're on your own, or you have to depend on charity, unless you can get benefits through your employer. As a non-citizen, he's unlikely to be eligible for any government assistance.

I agree I'm not sure how a friend could have helped him, unless the friend got him a job on a specialised work visa, or married him!

The entire thing sounds bizarre. Especially if he doesn't have a green card then how is he working there?

Or is it he has a green card but no citizenship?

Of course there are no concentration camps!