petitioning nephews and nieces

[JusaboB 0]

Any suggestions on petitioning the daughter of my wife's sister?

would it be easier for us to adopt her first if this is possible?

She is in the Philippines she is about 4 years old.

I am just looking for a starting place.

Would it be easier for her to petition her sister and the children.

[Indy90 21]

Any suggestions on petitioning the daughter of my wife's sister?

would it be easier for us to adopt her first if this is possible?

She is in the Philippines she is about 4 years old.

I am just looking for a starting place.

Would it be easier for her to petition her sister and the children.

To be honest there is no good option. This topic has been discussed before.

Petitioning your wife's sister is the only option that is likely to work, but you are looking at a very long process. First, your wife has to become a USC, because only USC are allowed to petition siblings. Then, her sister would have to wait about 20 years because there are only so many slots for siblings. By then the children would be about 30, creating its own problem.

Adoption is likely to fail; its an obvious fraud case with the mother (your wife's sister) alive, among a plethora of factors.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

Adoption for immigration purposes isn't allowed. If there was some other compelling reason to adopt her (like she's an orphan) then you'd be okay.

[GabiandVi 34]

Any suggestions on petitioning the daughter of my wife's sister?

would it be easier for us to adopt her first if this is possible?

She is in the Philippines she is about 4 years old.

I am just looking for a starting place.

Would it be easier for her to petition her sister and the children.

Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any way to do this. The US does not allow adoption of children that don't fit their definition of an orphan. Their definition is a child whose parents are dead or not available. Or if the child has one parent living and available, but unable to support the child. However, in the latter case, the parent must give up parental rights, but cannot give them up to a specific person.

Now if the Philippines is a Hague Convention country, which it might be, there might be a way for the mother to give the child up to you, but I'm not sure about that.

As for petitioning her sister, only USCs can do that and there is a decade long wait for that to be processed.

The only other way would be for the child to have been in your custody abroad for two years, and then you can petition them when you move home.

[payxibka 10,047]

Would it be easier for her to petition her sister and the children.

Not easier considering the long wait for a visa number for a sibling of a USC from the PI (two decades+)... but based on the current facts presented it is about the only path to immigration available for the 4 year old at the moment but your wife MUST become a USC first.

Edited June 2, 2010 by payxibka

[Indy90 21]

here is a thread previously posted about the same topic. there are some good links.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/222076-adopting-niece-and-petitioning-her/

[GabiandVi 34]

Adoption for immigration purposes isn't allowed. If there was some other compelling reason to adopt her (like she's an orphan) then you'd be okay.

This is not necessarily a case of adoption for immigration purposes. In many cultures, adopting a niece or nephew with one or even two living parents is commonplace. That whole "it takes a village" thing has many levels of meaning. If we were living in Africa, we would undoubtedly adopt my husband's nephew. In fact, we want to do it so badly, that we are considering moving abroad for a couple of years or longer in order to do this. It's not so he can immigrate, but so he can be part of our family.

[sachinky 465]

Nephews and nieces aren't considered immediate family and can't be petitioned. Adoption for immigration purposes is fraud. Besides, adoption, in of itself, is a lot of hoops to jump through. An orphan is considered to be a child without either parent.

Good thing, in my opinion, otherwise you'd see chain migration of entire villages.

Edited June 2, 2010 by sachinky