Age of Majority in Russia

[John24689 0]

My fiancée has a 20 year old daughter. She does not have full legal custody of her. I have asked her to get a statement from her ex-husband giving his permission for his daughter to leave Russian and move to the US permanently. I know it would have to be certified and translated and taken with them to Moscow for the interview.

The US Embassy web site states: "If the immigrating parent does not have a document showing he/she has full legal custody of the child, the child immigrating with the parent may be required to submit the other parent’s notarized statement that he/she gives full permission for the child to leave Russia for the purpose of immigration to the United States meaning the stay is permanent and not temporary."

I have started thinking and that can be dangerous for me. If the age of majority is 18, the father would not have to give his permission. She is listed on the I-129F and wants to come with her mother to the US. If she is at the age of majority, then can she come with her mother on a K-1 Visa? This could turn into a mess if she is not allowed to come. The other mess is if the father does not give his permission.

Thanks for your help in this. Have a great weekend.

John

[Chuckles 0]

Please clarify. Obviously you do not mean your wife has a 20 year old daughter with joint custody. Also, what is age of majority?

[Jaylen Brit 0]

Age of majority is the age a child is legally viewed as an adult - and can make her own decisions - thereby nullifying the requirement for parental consent to emigrate.

As to your question - I'm afraid I don't know - perhaps you can clarify with the consulate via email?

John if the daughter is already 20 please make sure she will not 'age out' for AOS - if she does she may not be able to stay. Make sure you get good advice on this - as at least one VJer was/is going thru a nightmare due to her child's age at AOS.

Good luck

[timelena 0]

I would think that at an age of 18 or older one does not need parent's content on anything. Starting 18, one has full legal responsibility, may marry, etc.

Still, I would recommend that you contact the embassy and ask them your question.

[meauxna 15]

You' better look into the issues attached to a 20 year old K-2. Look up posts from Girona40 before you get too excited. The girl can get to the US on the K but may wind up ineligible to adjust.

[Satellite 1]

According to Wikipedia the age of majority is 18. But do as others said. Contact the consulate and consider the age out issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_majority

Edited May 20, 2006 by Satellite

[timelena 0]

Whether she can adjust or not is another issue. Who knows, maybe she also meets a man of her dreams in US Don't leave a 20-years old in Russia all alone - I mean without her mom!

[John24689 0]

Thanks for the input. I did write the Embassy last night. Now I will have to check on the AOS. It never ends..... I put the I-134 in the mail yesterday via USPS. Our petition is still at the NVC as far as I know. I am trying not to get too anxious about all of this, but it is hard. Thanks again.

John

[slim 1,523]

Whether she can adjust or not is another issue. Who knows, maybe she also meets a man of her dreams in US Don't leave a 20-years old in Russia all alone - I mean without her mom!

That's why I'm on here!

(Elena was away from home while she was 20... without her mom!)

[timelena 0]

Slim

Then you must understand that it's better to bring her here, she will not have much difficulties adjusting

It's probably one movie that I watched a couple of years ago and which still makes me thrill when thinking about leaving a kid in Russia. Have you seen "Lilya forever" ("Лилия навсегда")?

[akdiver 3]

My fiancée has a 20 year old daughter. She does not have full legal custody of her. I have asked her to get a statement from her ex-husband giving his permission for his daughter to leave Russian and move to the US permanently.

I could very well be incorrect on this, but I think that as far as the U.S. is concerned, in the area of marriage-based visas, children can only be included on the main petition if, they are, well, CHILDREN. A 20 year-old hardly qualifies as a child. Maybe "offspring", or "spawn of one's loins", "decendent", or even "dependent", but not "child".

I'm pretty sure that in this instance, children must be minors under U.S. Federal Law, which would mean under 18 years of age. Also, as others have pointed out, "aging out" can be an issue even if the person is under 18 at the time the visa is granted.

Another possibility is to petition for your beloved's offspring separately. This would almost certainly require you to be married to your beloved at the time of the petition for her offspring, and may require your beloved to already be in-country. It also has the drawback of the timeline involved in bringing non-immediate relatives to the country. I don't think the adult offspring of your wife, whom you did not adopt (and it's a little late at this point) would be considered YOUR immediate family, so they would be subject to the longer timelines. Your wife could not petition for them until she has citizenship.

In any event, this 20 year-old will hardly be expected to have EITHER parent's permission to relocate to the U.S. - she is an adult as far as the Russian authorities are concerned.

I could have a lot of incorrect info here since I didn't read up on it, since it doesn't apply to my situation - so look for confirmation elsewhere.

Good luck.

Cheers!

akdiver

[Satellite 1]

AK mostly got it right.

1. There is conflicting information as to whether applying for AOS tolls the age of the applicant. If this is correct then in theory someone one day away from being 21 would be able to adjust status even if they are say 23+ by the time the interview occurs.

2. If aging out is based on the interview date (adjudication) date then someone under 18 could face problems.

3. Immigration laws differ from federal age of majority laws. K1/K3 visas allow the issuance of K2/K4 visas to "off-spring" up to a certain age, but not necessarily 18.

4. Other discrepencies seen in the general age of majority includes drinking laws, gambling laws, military induction, and certain professions, most notably the US presidency. Immigration laws would similarly fall into this discrepancy category.

[slim 1,523]

I say go for it. Just try it, at worst they can deny her a visa based on the fact that the ex-husband will not give up custody. However, with her being old enough, couldn't she decide on her own at the embassy? If they ask her at the interview if she wants to go, isn't she old enough to make the call for herself?

[John24689 0]

These are the two questions I sent to the Embassy and their answers:

1. My fiancee has a daughter who is 20 years old that she wants to bring with her to the United States. Does she need to get a statement from her ex-husband giving his permission for the daughter to leave Russia for the purpose of immigration to the US?

Children older than 16 are not required to provide permissions to travel from their parents.

2. Is there a problem with a 20 year old coming to the US with her mother on a K-1 Visa? The daughter is listed on the I-129F.

Your fiancee’s daughter should receive her K2 visa before she overcomes 21

I called NVC and asked about Aging Out. The Representative transfered me to a Subject Matter Expert. She said do not worry about Aging Out. It does not apply to the K-2. I asked her a number of times and she was getting upset with me. She was nice and assured me it would not affect a K-2.

Maybe we will be all right if we ever get an interview date. Ones with numbers before ours and after ours are scheduled, but not us.

Have a great day.

John

[Girona40 0]

Technically, the daughter does not need the permission of her father to make the decision herself to live in the US.

As far as K-2's not aging-out is concerned - read my profile and the story I have list ed on it. It will give you an idea of what can happen. I agree, K-2's should not age-out, but the immigration officers, caseworkers and even District and Regional Directors cannot agree on the matter!

As far as the Immigraiton and Nationality Act is concerned, the "child" is a "child" up to the age of 21. There is a section of the INA which is entitled "Definitions" and this is where you will find what the USCIS considers the definition of "child" to be. However, it doesn't state in the INA with regard to K-2's that they have to be a "child" at the time of adjustment, only at the time of application - after they have entered on the K-2 and the K-1 parent has married the original petitioner within 90 days of arrival.

If you have any further questions on this matter please don't hesitate to PM me. Unfortunately a lot of people on this forum are too happy to give you advice. They are well-meaning, however, most of them have not experienced dealing with an age-out situation and are simply not correct.

Hope this helps.