adopted stepson through child citizenship act 2000?

[joalm 0]

hi, i'm a u.s. citizen who's been living abroad for 6 years now. my wife (british citizen) and i have no plans of going back to the states now or in the near future. i adopted my wife's 8 year old son and adoption went final since 2012. i meet all the requirements to apply for his u.s. citizenship but my dilemma is on how to go about it without me travelling to the states. the reason is because i'm a quadriplegic and avoid travelling long plane rides if i don't have to. it's really tough in my condition to travel,

anyway, if i petition my adopted stepson and file for an i-130, upon approval, can he travel to the u.s. with his mother, get his passport stamped by immigration, then leave the u.s. in a few of days, can i apply for his citizenship based on child citizenship act of 2000 at the consulate abroad then? does anybody have a similar experience? any reply is appreciated.. thanks!

Edited July 6, 2013 by joalm

[biz36 7]

If you adopted your stepchild without using forms I-600 or I-800 then the child has to live with you two years after the adoption before he can qualify for CCA 2000.

[Darnell 8,479]

if he is british citizen, then is quite possible he can travel with Visa Waiver Program. check into ESTA online this weekend,

and if he's granted 'stuff' with the visa waiver program,

then

when the two of you travel into USA together, you can finish up his USCitizenship stuff the day after arriving in the USA.

I don't suggest filing an I-130 at the moment, check into VWP / ESTA for the weekend.

Report back , when yer able.

[biz36 7]

I'd advice you to read the CCA 2000 very carefully.There are three differcent adoptions (Hague, non Hague and local). I don't know which one of those three options you chose but if it's not one of the first two then you are certainly going to have to file I-130. I have adopted two children in the last three years.

[biz36 7]

If the uscis didn't approve the adoption before it was finalized, I guarantee you that the child will need I-130 filed on his behalf before he qualifies for CCA 2000.

[sara..... 371]

I think you should check with an attorney ....... child citizen act of 2000 i think stated that the child had to be adopted again in the usa if it had been adopted over seas to qualify for that program.....that is how my citizenship came about and i remember we had to take the adoption papers for here in the usa for it to apply...........i had been adopted over seas and brought to the usa......

sara

[joalm 0]

If you adopted your stepchild without using forms I-600 or I-800 then the child has to live with you two years after the adoption before he can qualify for CCA 2000.

you're right i didn't file either of those forms. we've been living as a family since he was 2 years old and his mother and i got married in 2009.

[joalm 0]

I'd advice you to read the CCA 2000 very carefully.There are three differcent adoptions (Hague, non Hague and local). I don't know which one of those three options you chose but if it's not one of the first two then you are certainly going to have to file I-130. I have adopted two children in the last three years.

i've read the cca 2000 several times and i don't see anywhere where it distinguishes between type of adoption. unless i've been reading the short version? i'm almost positive that i need to file either an i-130 or n-600.

Edited July 6, 2013 by joalm

[Mark88 184]

We had a similar issue in a differnt descussion here in VJ board: Mother adopted a child in south america but didn't file I-800 or I-600 because she was living with the child abroad. She filed I-130 for her adopted daughter which is correct, but you only can do it this way if the adopotion has been finalized since at least two years. You won't be able to file I-130 until 2014.

In able for the CCA to work, the child has to be in the pysical and legal custody of the USC and enter as an immigrant (I-551 visa aka green card). DO NOT let the child fly with VWP or you will not meet the requirements for the CCA.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

For the N600 the child has to be in the US on a valid immigrant document. A friend went through this for his child. He had gotten citizenship , and later found out he had fathered a child in his 20's. He had to do DNA and then get the daughter here and then file the I130. Unless you want to come back to the US ( the I130 will require you to prove your intent to return to the US and actually doing it, they won't approve the child's I130 without you here ) you may want to forget the citizenship.

[Mark88 184]

...the I130 will require you to prove your intent to return to the US and actually doing it, they won't approve the child's I130 without you here ) you may want to forget the citizenship.

Filing the I-130 is the intent to return to the US. If you decide to emigrate back to the UK, it's your personal decision. They might ask you what you will do for work and where you will live, but you will have to meet the financial requirements anyway (assets or icome 125% above poverty line) in able to have the I-130 approved.

[joalm 0]

We had a similar issue in a differnt descussion here in VJ board: Mother adopted a child in south america but didn't file I-800 or I-600 because she was living with the child abroad. She filed I-130 for her adopted daughter which is correct, but you only can do it this way if the adopotion has been finalized since at least two years. You won't be able to file I-130 until 2014.

In able for the CCA to work, the child has to be in the pysical and legal custody of the USC and enter as an immigrant (I-551 visa aka green card). DO NOT let the child fly with VWP or you will not meet the requirements for the CCA.

the way i understood cca about the 2 years requirement is that you only have to prove that you have been living with the child for that amount of time. and i can easily proved that since i married his mother in 2009 besides the fact that we've been living as a family way before that. the adoption only has to be finalized and not necessarily 2 years ago.

forgive my ignorance but what's vwp? thanks for all the replies so far.

[joalm 0]

For the N600 the child has to be in the US on a valid immigrant document. A friend went through this for his child. He had gotten citizenship , and later found out he had fathered a child in his 20's. He had to do DNA and then get the daughter here and then file the I130. Unless you want to come back to the US ( the I130 will require you to prove your intent to return to the US and actually doing it, they won't approve the child's I130 without you here ) you may want to forget the citizenship.

i'm sorry, i meant n-600k not n-600. n-600k is an application to claim u.s. citizenship through parent for a child that resides outside the states.

here are the following requirements for cca;

1. Have at least one American citizen parent by birth or naturalization;

2. Be under 18 years of age;

3. Live in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent; and

4. Be admitted as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence.

In addition, if the child is adopted, the adoption must be full and final.

i'm assuming requirement 1 in conjunction with the addition after requirement 4 is a "yes". requirement 2 and 3 also a "yes". requirement 4 is for filing the i-130 to get the i-551 stamp on his passport.

i'm pretty much retired but i still own a house back in the states and my monthly retirement, although not a lot, should be enough to meet the financial requirements of the i-130.

[Hypnos 6,578]

i'm pretty much retired but i still own a house back in the states and my monthly retirement, although not a lot, should be enough to meet the financial requirements of the i-130.

You will not need to submit any affidavit of support on behalf of your stepchild, but will simply be able to use an I-864W to show that, since the child will automatically become a citizen as soon as they enter the US, sponsorship will not be needed.