How can a US citizen bring the children of his wife's sister to the US (with a twist from the normally asked question)

[Tmc225usc 1]

Normal circumstances I know this would be basically impossible or very time consuming.

Here is a bit of a back story as to why I want to try to do this:

-My wife is in the US and has a green card.

-We recently finally got her daughter(age 4) over to the United States because I petitioned for her to be able to come join us.

-My wife had a sister who was the mother of 2 children now age 6 and 7.

-My wife's sister was never married to the biological father of either of those children and he is not a part of their lives nor has been for the past 5 years.

-My wife's sister sadly died and the children are now left without parents.

-The children currently live with Grandpa and Grandma in Thailand on a farm.

On our most recent trip back to Thailand it really started to bother me that I was going to be separating the children and taking my wife's daughter back with us to the United States while leaving the other 2 children there in Thailand. They are not naturally ours, but my wife and I have stepped in the best way we know how to try to fill the role of parents for both of the children.

If there was a way to get them to the United States, I could support them financially and look after them a lot better than I can when they are living half way across the globe on a farm with people getting up there age wise.

I'm looking for ideas or ways I can do this in the shortest time frame possible. I know this will be a lengthy and most likely expensive endeavor.

My ideas were to have my wife try to adopt the children on the Thai side so that they show they belong to her. From there, Id think we could petition them to come to the US.

Or would it be a better route to try to adopt them from the US? I have no idea if that is even possible.

Any suggestions or follow up are very much appreciated.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Immigration through Adoption

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

[daboyz 36]

Normal circumstances I know this would be basically impossible or very time consuming.

Here is a bit of a back story as to why I want to try to do this:

-My wife is in the US and has a green card.

-We recently finally got her daughter(age 4) over to the United States because I petitioned for her to be able to come join us.

-My wife had a sister who was the mother of 2 children now age 6 and 7.

-My wife's sister was never married to the biological father of either of those children and he is not a part of their lives nor has been for the past 5 years.

-My wife's sister sadly died and the children are now left without parents.

-The children currently live with Grandpa and Grandma in Thailand on a farm.

On our most recent trip back to Thailand it really started to bother me that I was going to be separating the children and taking my wife's daughter back with us to the United States while leaving the other 2 children there in Thailand. They are not naturally ours, but my wife and I have stepped in the best way we know how to try to fill the role of parents for both of the children.

If there was a way to get them to the United States, I could support them financially and look after them a lot better than I can when they are living half way across the globe on a farm with people getting up there age wise.

I'm looking for ideas or ways I can do this in the shortest time frame possible. I know this will be a lengthy and most likely expensive endeavor.

My ideas were to have my wife try to adopt the children on the Thai side so that they show they belong to her. From there, Id think we could petition them to come to the US.

Or would it be a better route to try to adopt them from the US? I have no idea if that is even possible.

Any suggestions or follow up are very much appreciated.

I've sort of checked into this myself for my niece. I was told the adoption would be difficult in Thailand since her mother is still alive. Father is long gone. I think the USCIS part shouldn't be too difficult. The Thai adoption part might be the difficult process. Might be easier since for all intents and purposes the children are now parentless.

[Leigh Ann 8]

As far as the immigration side (as opposed to the adoption side), I think it's going to be easier for you than it normally is. Children being brought to live in the US must either qualify as a "child" or an "orphan," both of which have fairly specific definitions. Since the father has had nothing to do with them, you can make a persuasive case that the kids have been abandoned by him, and now that the mother has passed away (sorry for the family's loss...), then they should be considered orphans. You'll have to prove the abandonment though.

[Tmc225usc 1]

As far as the immigration side (as opposed to the adoption side), I think it's going to be easier for you than it normally is. Children being brought to live in the US must either qualify as a "child" or an "orphan," both of which have fairly specific definitions. Since the father has had nothing to do with them, you can make a persuasive case that the kids have been abandoned by him, and now that the mother has passed away (sorry for the family's loss...), then they should be considered orphans. You'll have to prove the abandonment though.

I was originally thinking the same thing, that this shouldnt be too big of a deal since there are no real parents involved now. Id say my opinion of this changes because of our daughter's recent experience at the US Embassy. Her biological father has never been around. I had letters from witnesses and the amphur saying that the child was in my wife's custody only, he paid no support ever, and hasnt been around in years.

The embassy refused to take that and in the end I spent over a month tracking down the dead beat dad and I eventually had to have him show up at the Embassy and he had to sign away rights.

So that part scares me with the two children. Trying to find the original father would be so much harder this time around.

Im mainly wondering the best plan for getting the ball rolling on this. Id assume the Amphur in Udon Thani would have to supply documentation saying the children now belong to my wife. Id hope if it got that far, meaning the government recognizes my wife as the official parent now, Id hope the US Embassy wouldnt have the same issue with it as they did with our daughter's case.

[Leigh Ann 8]

I was originally thinking the same thing, that this shouldnt be too big of a deal since there are no real parents involved now. Id say my opinion of this changes because of our daughter's recent experience at the US Embassy. Her biological father has never been around. I had letters from witnesses and the amphur saying that the child was in my wife's custody only, he paid no support ever, and hasnt been around in years.

The embassy refused to take that and in the end I spent over a month tracking down the dead beat dad and I eventually had to have him show up at the Embassy and he had to sign away rights.

So that part scares me with the two children. Trying to find the original father would be so much harder this time around.

Im mainly wondering the best plan for getting the ball rolling on this. Id assume the Amphur in Udon Thani would have to supply documentation saying the children now belong to my wife. Id hope if it got that far, meaning the government recognizes my wife as the official parent now, Id hope the US Embassy wouldnt have the same issue with it as they did with our daughter's case.

Hm, I'm just not sure that last sentence true. We've looked into bringing my husband's niece over, and I did a bit of basic research. And the consensus seemed to be that legal adoption does NOT guarantee a visa for the child. You have to prove that they're either yours or they qualify under the INA's definition of orphan.

The thing with your wife is slightly different since they're required to have permission from both parents to allow a child to leave the country. I'm not sure what the standards will be if they're adopted...it's all quite confusing. I think the best thing is to look for a lawyer who specializes in transnational adoption.

Edited July 20, 2010 by Leigh Ann

[Meskal 0]

Hi

I would research adoption agencies in Us (you have to meet requirements here in order to get approved via uscis for their visas) that do adoptions from Thailand and see what they recommend for you guys to do since you have "identified children" .You might then be able to petion for them through orphan visa after getting approved for adoption yourselves via homestudy and other paper requirements. I do not know how easy or difficult it is to adopt from Thailand independantly vs with an agency but they should be able to point you to the right direction.

One place to start: http://www.rainbowkids.com/countries/CountryGuideLines.aspx?id=84 and http://adoption.state.gov/country/thailand.html

Good luck!

[Tmc225usc 1]

Hi

I would research adoption agencies in Us (you have to meet requirements here in order to get approved via uscis for their visas) that do adoptions from Thailand and see what they recommend for you guys to do since you have "identified children" .You might then be able to petion for them through orphan visa after getting approved for adoption yourselves via homestudy and other paper requirements. I do not know how easy or difficult it is to adopt from Thailand independantly vs with an agency but they should be able to point you to the right direction.

One place to start: http://www.rainbowkids.com/countries/CountryGuideLines.aspx?id=84 and http://adoption.state.gov/country/thailand.html

Good luck!

Thank you for the links! Im reading both of those places now.

Anyone know of or recommend a transnational adoption lawyer?