K2 Kid and Education Query

[R&RM 11]

Hi everyone,

I'm Rose and I'm a long way from getting to where I have to worry about my adjustment in the US but I am wondering if there is anyone here who moved to the US with their child(ren) on a K2 visa? I will be moving to the US with my son. If we are lucky, we will hopefully be in the US by the fall. I know that K2 visa holders are entitled to go to public school like other green card holders, I just don't know very much about getting kids into public schools. Does anyone have any firsthand experience with what they did once they arrived in the US and needed to enroll their kids into school. I have been homeschooling my son since last fall, he's been doing grade 1 American curriculum work so he should be joining 2nd grade this fall. I'm just curious as to what the procedure will be upon arrival. I know that will vary from state to state and right now I don't know what state we will settle down in but any general info will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[kptaylor 5]

Hi everyone,

I'm Rose and I'm a long way from getting to where I have to worry about my adjustment in the US but I am wondering if there is anyone here who moved to the US with their child(ren) on a K2 visa? I will be moving to the US with my son. If we are lucky, we will hopefully be in the US by the fall. I know that K2 visa holders are entitled to go to public school like other green card holders, I just don't know very much about getting kids into public schools. Does anyone have any firsthand experience with what they did once they arrived in the US and needed to enroll their kids into school. I have been homeschooling my son since last fall, he's been doing grade 1 American curriculum work so he should be joining 2nd grade this fall. I'm just curious as to what the procedure will be upon arrival. I know that will vary from state to state and right now I don't know what state we will settle down in but any general info will be appreciated.

Thanks!

You'll have to register him just like any other child for next fall. Bring a record of transcripts from his schooling, or any sort of official documentation for the homeschooling. The school may want to do an evaluation, plus they'll probably have him in an ESL program unless he speaks English proficiently.

Keep in mind the K1 and K2 visa means they can enter the country, then you must get married within 90 days. When you file for AOS, you do it for your spouse and his son. The AOS paperwork (or GC if you get it quickly) will be needed to show the son is a legal resident (or is filing to become a resident) and can attend school. We used our kids' transcripts, passport, birth certificate and NOA letters to show residency. Once we received the green cards we updated their school records with that and their SSNs.

[R&RM 11]

You'll have to register him just like any other child for next fall. Bring a record of transcripts from his schooling, or any sort of official documentation for the homeschooling. The school may want to do an evaluation, plus they'll probably have him in an ESL program unless he speaks English proficiently.

Keep in mind the K1 and K2 visa means they can enter the country, then you must get married within 90 days. When you file for AOS, you do it for your spouse and his son. The AOS paperwork (or GC if you get it quickly) will be needed to show the son is a legal resident (or is filing to become a resident) and can attend school. We used our kids' transcripts, passport, birth certificate and NOA letters to show residency. Once we received the green cards we updated their school records with that and their SSNs.

Thank you, that is helpful. I feel like our case is complicated by the fact that we will make it just as school is starting so we will have missed whatever admission processes that will have happened prior to school opening. When you moved to the US, were your kids in the US prior sufficiently prior to school starting? I've heard there are all sorts of complications with public schools regarding where a child is allowed to go because you need to establish that you are a resident of the designated area within which the school falls (and in some cases you have been residing there for at least a few months). Did you face any such queries when you were first enrolling your kids? Thanks again for sharing your experience with this.

[kptaylor 5]

No, our kids didn't arrive in the US until September, and school had started in mid August. Really, we just went to the school office with our paperwork and enrolled them as soon as we could. They all started their classes the same day. (We were actually expecting it to take time!) We used the I-94 in the passports and the NOA letters from the K-1 to establish residency, plus explained what they all meant to the secretary. We didn't have any problems. The question of residency for more than a few months really only applies to colleges. For elementary and high school, you're a resident as soon as you move in.

The only problem we had was for our high schooler. He was allowed to jump into classes that day, but he was only allowed to "audit" them. He had to redo them in summer school to receive full credit for the courses. The two elementary age kids did not have to retake anything, but they were still held to the pass/fail criteria at the end of the year. They did have to take an ESL summer school program the following summer, but that was based upon their English speaking, reading and comprehension skills.

[R&RM 11]

No, our kids didn't arrive in the US until September, and school had started in mid August. Really, we just went to the school office with our paperwork and enrolled them as soon as we could. They all started their classes the same day. (We were actually expecting it to take time!) We used the I-94 in the passports and the NOA letters from the K-1 to establish residency, plus explained what they all meant to the secretary. We didn't have any problems. The question of residency for more than a few months really only applies to colleges. For elementary and high school, you're a resident as soon as you move in.

The only problem we had was for our high schooler. He was allowed to jump into classes that day, but he was only allowed to "audit" them. He had to redo them in summer school to receive full credit for the courses. The two elementary age kids did not have to retake anything, but they were still held to the pass/fail criteria at the end of the year. They did have to take an ESL summer school program the following summer, but that was based upon their English speaking, reading and comprehension skills.

Fantastic! This really calms my nerves a whole lot. Kept panicking about schooling for my son but your feedback is very reassuring. I can't thank you enough for giving me peace about that aspect of our future lives. If you don't mind my asking, what state are you in? We're not sure where we're going to end up since my fiance isn't there yet and will pretty much go where the work is so I'm just curious about where you are and if you and your kids like it there. Thanks again!

[R&RM 11]

Fantastic! This really calms my nerves a whole lot. Kept panicking about schooling for my son but your feedback is very reassuring. I can't thank you enough for giving me peace about that aspect of our future lives. If you don't mind my asking, what state are you in? We're not sure where we're going to end up since my fiance isn't there yet and will pretty much go where the work is so I'm just curious about where you are and if you and your kids like it there. Thanks again!

Oh, never mind, I looked at your timeline, I see you're in Phoenix. Relatively fast processing times for you, hope I get as lucky. All the best to you!

[StraightShooter 62]

No, our kids didn't arrive in the US until September, and school had started in mid August. Really, we just went to the school office with our paperwork and enrolled them as soon as we could. They all started their classes the same day. (We were actually expecting it to take time!) We used the I-94 in the passports and the NOA letters from the K-1 to establish residency, plus explained what they all meant to the secretary. We didn't have any problems. The question of residency for more than a few months really only applies to colleges. For elementary and high school, you're a resident as soon as you move in.

The only problem we had was for our high schooler. He was allowed to jump into classes that day, but he was only allowed to "audit" them. He had to redo them in summer school to receive full credit for the courses. The two elementary age kids did not have to retake anything, but they were still held to the pass/fail criteria at the end of the year. They did have to take an ESL summer school program the following summer, but that was based upon their English speaking, reading and comprehension skills.

Cool!

I'll be in the same situation as the OP once my fiancee and her son arrive. The boy understands some English but speaks very little. Getting him into an ESL class that has a Visayan interpreter could be difficult in the tiny little town where I live. LOL! His mom is working with him though, so hopefully he'll be able to catch on after he's here.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

Hi everyone,

I'm Rose and I'm a long way from getting to where I have to worry about my adjustment in the US but I am wondering if there is anyone here who moved to the US with their child(ren) on a K2 visa? I will be moving to the US with my son. If we are lucky, we will hopefully be in the US by the fall. I know that K2 visa holders are entitled to go to public school like other green card holders, I just don't know very much about getting kids into public schools. Does anyone have any firsthand experience with what they did once they arrived in the US and needed to enroll their kids into school. I have been homeschooling my son since last fall, he's been doing grade 1 American curriculum work so he should be joining 2nd grade this fall. I'm just curious as to what the procedure will be upon arrival. I know that will vary from state to state and right now I don't know what state we will settle down in but any general info will be appreciated.

Thanks!

You will have to there immunizations up to date, also bring his school records from his last grade, the schools requested them even though they were written in Vietnamese, I have no clue what good they were to them. Expect him to be in ESL(English second language) class for a few years other than that I don't expect you will need anymore items.

[R&RM 11]

You will have to there immunizations up to date, also bring his school records from his last grade, the schools requested them even though they were written in Vietnamese, I have no clue what good they were to them. Expect him to be in ESL(English second language) class for a few years other than that I don't expect you will need anymore items.

Thanks for the additional info :-) My son's fluent in English, I raised him bilingual (English and Swahili) so he at least doesn't have to worry about adjusting and the grade 1 work he's doing right now is at par with the American curriculum so not too worried there.

[R&RM 11]

Cool!

I'll be in the same situation as the OP once my fiancee and her son arrive. The boy understands some English but speaks very little. Getting him into an ESL class that has a Visayan interpreter could be difficult in the tiny little town where I live. LOL! His mom is working with him though, so hopefully he'll be able to catch on after he's here.

What grade will your son be in? Mine will be joining 2nd grade. Good your fiancee's working with him, at least no language barriers for my son, just didn't know what to expect administrative-wise all the more when I don't know what state we'll end up in.

[StraightShooter 62]

What grade will your son be in? Mine will be joining 2nd grade. Good your fiancee's working with him, at least no language barriers for my son, just didn't know what to expect administrative-wise all the more when I don't know what state we'll end up in.

He "graduates" from kindergarten this week and will be joining 1st grade classes once he arrives here later this year.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi everyone,

I'm Rose and I'm a long way from getting to where I have to worry about my adjustment in the US but I am wondering if there is anyone here who moved to the US with their child(ren) on a K2 visa? I will be moving to the US with my son. If we are lucky, we will hopefully be in the US by the fall. I know that K2 visa holders are entitled to go to public school like other green card holders, I just don't know very much about getting kids into public schools. Does anyone have any firsthand experience with what they did once they arrived in the US and needed to enroll their kids into school. I have been homeschooling my son since last fall, he's been doing grade 1 American curriculum work so he should be joining 2nd grade this fall. I'm just curious as to what the procedure will be upon arrival. I know that will vary from state to state and right now I don't know what state we will settle down in but any general info will be appreciated.

Thanks!

Us. We had a 13 year old that came with Alla and another son that came later due to his being in college.

Your fiancee in the US needs to get down to the local school and get your son enrolled, get ESL instruction lined up for him (if needed) and get everything ready. Our 13 year old started 8th grade on the second day after arrival. he does NOT need a green card to go to school My wife started a Masters degree program at a local university 5 days after arrival with a 50% private scholarship

Get preparing now.

For what it is worth our 13 year spoke little English when he arrived, I worked with him 2-3 hours every night and the ESL teacher had him for part of each day, the rest of the time he was in regular class. By Christmas he was promoted to 10th grade! He is now doing a four year HS program but began with 10th grade level classes and has currently "urn the table" of HS math classes and is taking two math classes at the University of Vermont in addition to his regular school. The HS pays for this but he gets full college credit for it. He had the highest score in the state, at age 15, on the Governor's "Math Olympiad" and was awarded $1000 scholarship, handed to him by the Governor!

So YES your son can go to school and can do very well even if language is an issue. Pasha now speaks English with virtually no accent at a level appropriate for his age.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

What grade will your son be in? Mine will be joining 2nd grade. Good your fiancee's working with him, at least no language barriers for my son, just didn't know what to expect administrative-wise all the more when I don't know what state we'll end up in.

Adminstratively we had NO problem. They signed him right up and got him enrolled even before he arrived. We only had to show up when he arrived with his identifcation and a copy of his DS3025 vaccination record, a copy of his translated BC and a copy of his K-2 visa and I-94, they put him right in class, same day. He arrived just a few days into the school year so it was no problem. We later handed over translated transcripts from his school in Ukraine but really they did not require that.

[R&RM 11]

He "graduates" from kindergarten this week and will be joining 1st grade classes once he arrives here later this year.

Ah, good age to be transitioning, I'm sure he will catch up with English just fine, he's exactly at the right age for it. I myself moved to Belgium when I was 10 and spoke very little English. I was put in a British and then an American school and I adjusted just fine. I was way older in comparison to your son so he will be fine.

[R&RM 11]

Us. We had a 13 year old that came with Alla and another son that came later due to his being in college.

Your fiancee in the US needs to get down to the local school and get your son enrolled, get ESL instruction lined up for him (if needed) and get everything ready. Our 13 year old started 8th grade on the second day after arrival. he does NOT need a green card to go to school My wife started a Masters degree program at a local university 5 days after arrival with a 50% private scholarship

Get preparing now.

For what it is worth our 13 year spoke little English when he arrived, I worked with him 2-3 hours every night and the ESL teacher had him for part of each day, the rest of the time he was in regular class. By Christmas he was promoted to 10th grade! He is now doing a four year HS program but began with 10th grade level classes and has currently "urn the table" of HS math classes and is taking two math classes at the University of Vermont in addition to his regular school. The HS pays for this but he gets full college credit for it. He had the highest score in the state, at age 15, on the Governor's "Math Olympiad" and was awarded $1000 scholarship, handed to him by the Governor!

So YES your son can go to school and can do very well even if language is an issue. Pasha now speaks English with virtually no accent at a level appropriate for his age.

This is useful info, thanks so much. Just a couple of follow-up questions if you don't mind...my fiance will be in the US before I go of course, so is there something he can actually do to get the ball rolling before I get there with my son? What documents would he need to take any action? I'm also curious about what you said about your wife being able to start a master's degree almost right away. I thought as long as you don't have a green card, you would be treated as an international student and charged fees accordingly. Are you saying she was treated the same as a permanent legal resident even prior to marrying you or are you saying that she got a 50% discount off of international student tuition rates? Thanks again for your help.