LPR Bringing Spouse and Adopted Children, NEED HELP!

[peteycosta 0]

Hello VJers!

We have a somewhat complicated situation and need some straight answers that will help us with what is happening. Here's our story.

My wife (now a USC, went through CR-1/IR-1, DCF filed in Buenos Aires Argentina Embassy) has her family that is in Argentina still. Sadly, her sister passed away 2 years ago from breast cancer and left 2 children, a 5 year old and 3 year old. Their father hasn't been the most responsible and my wife's parents have been taking care of the children on/off for the past 2 years . Now that my wife is a USC she is wanting to petition her parents. Her parents told the father that they were going to be moving to the USA and that he would have to take care of them permanently. The father and his new wife/children decided that they would have a better life here in the US and offered them for adoption to my wife's parents. Confused? Ok..

From my understanding we could do the following:

-Petition for my wife's father.

-When her father arrives in the US, he would do a petition for the Family 2A category visa for his spouse(my wife's mother), and then 2 *hopefully* adopted children.

-Spouse would stay in Argentina and care/provide for them until the 2-3 year wait of an available visa.

-Spouse/Children would come to the US

-Big Happy Family.

I've been reading about the requirements for adoptions, and this is where my questions arise...

-You must have at least 2 years evidence of both legal and physical care of the adopted children? Is this correct?

-Would this 2 years be valid even though it is just the spouse that is caring for the adopted children?

-Would they have to be legally adopted for 2 years at the time of the interview or at the time of petitioning the i-130?

We had considered doing the green card petition and then my father-in-law returns to Argentina and comes back later on a reentry permit, but because of employment issues it would be more practical for him to come to the US and work here.

We are hopefully going to do his I-130 in the next 2-3 weeks so please let us know if I'm missing anything crucial (like trying to get the adoption done before doing his petition so that way we can include his new children under the i-130 paperwork.)

Abrazo!

[peteycosta 0]

Quick question! I just read on Visa Bulletin, and it says that F2A categories are current? Does that mean that there is no wait time for i-130 approval? So the 2-3 years is now 5-7 months?

[Penguin_ie 5,988]

More like 9-11 months but yes, as of now there is no waiting list, just procesing times.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Adoption is one thing. Immigration visas for the children is another thing.

The adopted child must be an "orphan" as defined by immigration laws. You will need to prove that the father abandoned the children or cannot provide care for them. Please look into this before starting.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=724c18a1f8b73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=724c18a1f8b73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

Edited August 8, 2013 by aaron2020

[Mrs Tams 5]

Peteycosta, I'm confused. Why doesn't the children's father take them to The US when he moves there? Your wife can take of them until her parents get there and then custody of the children can be sorted out afterwards. Please let me know if I misunderstood the sentence "The father and his new wife/children..." ~~~

[peteycosta 0]

The question I asked was more based on qualifying to be an adopted child available for an Immediate Family Visa. Argentina is not part of the Hague Adoption Convention, neither would they be orphans because technically they would be adopted before the petition has been sent out for them (hopefully). I believe if we were to do a petition for an orphan they would actually have to be abandoned and not have any legal guardian at the time of being petitioned for. Also, adoption in Argentina is horrible and can take years to complete, so who knows, in the end it may not be the US visa process that is difficult but the ridiculous argentine bureaucracy that would keep my wife's parents from adopting their grandchildren and bringing them to the US.

The biological father of these kids has married someone who already had children. She and him have basically arrived at the conclusion that their family would function better if his own children were to live with their grandparents. It's really sad, and I can't imagine why someone would want to basically abandon their children because of inconvenience.

@Miss Tams, the father I was referring to was my wife's father, or the grandfather of the children. The biological father and his new wife are Argentine nationals and have no link to anybody that lives in the United States. Therefore they have no way of receiving/petitioning for any type of family-based visa.

[aaron2020 11,651]

The question I asked was more based on qualifying to be an adopted child available for an Immediate Family Visa. Argentina is not part of the Hague Adoption Convention, neither would they be orphans because technically they would be adopted before the petition has been sent out for them (hopefully). I believe if we were to do a petition for an orphan they would actually have to be abandoned and not have any legal guardian at the time of being petitioned for. Also, adoption in Argentina is horrible and can take years to complete, so who knows, in the end it may not be the US visa process that is difficult but the ridiculous argentine bureaucracy that would keep my wife's parents from adopting their grandchildren and bringing them to the US.

The biological father of these kids has married someone who already had children. She and him have basically arrived at the conclusion that their family would function better if his own children were to live with their grandparents. It's really sad, and I can't imagine why someone would want to basically abandon their children because of inconvenience.

@Miss Tams, the father I was referring to was my wife's father, or the grandfather of the children. The biological father and his new wife are Argentine nationals and have no link to anybody that lives in the United States. Therefore they have no way of receiving/petitioning for any type of family-based visa.

You may want to consult with a reputable immigration attorney.

Your statement that they would not be orphans because they have adopted parents is not the correct definition of orphan for immigration purposes.

The US is concern about sham adoptions to bring relatives who otherwise would not qualify as adopted children. There are very specific rules.

In a case like your parents, the fact that there is a living parent will present a major problem.

[peteycosta 0]

ok thanks Aaron!

[aaron2020 11,651]

Here is how the US looks at a situation like this.

USC aunt can never file for a nephew or niece.

Grandparents can never file for grandchildren.

A living parent not related to the USC aunt or grandparents who cannot bring the kids to the US.

There is no relationship that allows the children to immigrate through a family member.

Sham adoption to allow children to be petitioned.

Your parents need to prove that the adoptions were not just for immigration visas. The burden is on them because they want something from the US government. It's not up to the US to prove the adoption was a sham. It's up to the adopted parents to prove the adoptions was not motivated by immigration. It will be hard to do if you petition and the timing is close to the adoptions.

This is why you need a good immigration lawyer if you are going to pursue this.

The worst case scenario is a successful adoption and no immigration visas.