Adopted Sister

[LexieJ 44]

9 hours ago, Demise said:

Sibling is what I call a "second-degree relationship". Basically you are related because you share at a common parent-child relationship to the same parent, so it's you->parent(s)->sibling. You cut one of those connections and you're no longer legally related.

 

AFM 21.9(c)(1)(A) says "...Therefore, officers should carefully review the supporting documents to ensure that both the petitioner and beneficiary have a parent-child relationship with the claimed common parent(s), as defined at INA 101 (b)(1)-(2).". INA 101(b)(1-2) is a long list of what qualifies as a child for immigration purposes.

 

Going further

Policy Manual Chapter 4.B. says adoption severs the legal link between parent and child.

Siblings don't have any direct link to each other, it's basically two parent-child relationships with the same parent. But there is one exception that lets you undo it if:

• No immigration benefit was obtained or conferred through the adoptive relationship;

• A natural parent-child relationship meeting the requirements of INA 101(b) once existed;

• The adoption has been lawfully terminated under applicable law; and

• The natural relationship has been reestablished by law (citing Matter of Xiu Hong Li).

She never immigrated to US so point 1 is good. Point 2 depends but I assume that at some point your parents did raise her before giving her up and didn't just leave her unclaimed at the hospital. Point 3 and 4 would basically require her to go to court in the Philippines and basically seek to have the adoption order reversed and make her biological parents her legal parents again. From some cursory googling it looks like this can be done. https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/09/05/legal-advice/can-an-adoption-of-a-child-be-rescinded/1857260

 

Still, I would recommend getting a good immigration lawyer (particularly one that deals with international adoptions), this stuff is above the paygrade of this site and above the paygrade of most average lawyers.

 

But to answer your question, is it possible, yes with a very large but.

Can the adopted child self petition? Will I-360 appropriate for this case?

 

 

 

[Demise 1,140]

1 hour ago, LexieJ said:

Can the adopted child self petition? Will I-360 appropriate for this case?

No, there's no self-petition for an orphan. 204(l) doesn't apply either because that requires the beneficiary to have lived in US at the time of the petitioner's death.