N-600-k

[Cati's mom 0]

Hello All, I hope you can help me sort this out!

I am a 45 yo USC, currently living in Guatemala as a Guatemalan resident for the past 11 years. I am ALMOST done adopting a Guatemalan child. I have had legal and physical custody of her since 2009. She has a Guatemalan passport and a 10 year B-2 visa. My question is this: can I head back to the US using her B-2 visa, making trips to Guatemala as needed to not overstay her visa AND to keep my residency there legal until the adoption is (finally) finalized, and then apply for a N-600-K from within the US? It seems to me like it should work... Does anyone know how long a N-600-K takes? Thanks!!

[grrrrreat 109]

Hello All, I hope you can help me sort this out!

I am a 45 yo USC, currently living in Guatemala as a Guatemalan resident for the past 11 years. I am ALMOST done adopting a Guatemalan child. I have had legal and physical custody of her since 2009. She has a Guatemalan passport and a 10 year B-2 visa. My question is this: can I head back to the US using her B-2 visa, making trips to Guatemala as needed to not overstay her visa AND to keep my residency there legal until the adoption is (finally) finalized, and then apply for a N-600-K from within the US? It seems to me like it should work... Does anyone know how long a N-600-K takes? Thanks!!

Isn't N-600K for a child who resides overseas? Why not get her an immediate relative visa (IR-2/IR-3/IR4). Under the Child Citizenship Act, the child becomes a USC immediately upon entering the U.S. with you.

[Gigli2008 70]

Isn't N-600K for a child who resides overseas? Why not get her an immediate relative visa (IR-2/IR-3/IR4). Under the Child Citizenship Act, the child becomes a USC immediately upon entering the U.S. with you.

I don't think s/he can file IR Visa yet until the adoption is complete. In the meantime, the OP is asking if the B2 Visa can allow the adoptee and her/himself to make trips to the US and back to Guatemala making sure not to overstay the adoption timeline. Can the B-2 Visa be used this way, is his question. Please note that the adoptee is not an Immediate Relative until the adoption is final, which it is not, yet.

[Cati's mom 0]

I don't think s/he can file IR Visa yet until the adoption is complete. In the meantime, the OP is asking if the B2 Visa can allow the adoptee and her/himself to make trips to the US and back to Guatemala making sure not to overstay the adoption timeline. Can the B-2 Visa be used this way, is his question. Please note that the adoptee is not an Immediate Relative until the adoption is final, which it is not, yet.

True, the adoption is not finalized yet. My interest is to spend as much time in the US as soon as possible. I think I can go back for months at a time with my daughter on her B-2 visa. Once the adoption is finalized, I'd like to apply for the N-600-K while in the US, since she will be there on legal and temporary status. I know not many people have experience with N-600-K, but do you think this will work? I think filing for immediate relative status would require me to be in Guatemala for a number of months while I am waiting, right? And again, my interest is to be in the US (so my older, biological child can be in school). Any ideas? Thanks!

[grrrrreat 109]

True, the adoption is not finalized yet. My interest is to spend as much time in the US as soon as possible. I think I can go back for months at a time with my daughter on her B-2 visa. Once the adoption is finalized, I'd like to apply for the N-600-K while in the US, since she will be there on legal and temporary status. I know not many people have experience with N-600-K, but do you think this will work? I think filing for immediate relative status would require me to be in Guatemala for a number of months while I am waiting, right? And again, my interest is to be in the US (so my older, biological child can be in school). Any ideas? Thanks!

Again, the risk remains that your adopted child will not qualify for N-600K because she will not be an alien child that "regularly resides abroad". Generally, the IR visa route is the route for adopted children to move to the U.S. I also believe that you can get different IR visas depending on whether the adoption is final or not, so you might be eligible now, although you will have to agree to re-adopt the child once in the U.S. under that route. Unless the child is an orphan, you will have to meet the legal custody time requirements too.

In addition, you're not supposed to use B-2 to immigrate to the U.S., which is what the child will be doing.

I would talk to a lawyer about your plans--since they seem sufficiently complex and potentially bear risk. I wouldn't immediately discount the IR route either, especially if as you say the adoption is "ALMOST" done. I think that it's often quicker to get an IR visa for an adopted orphan than for other relatives.