Canadian child attending U.S. elementary school?

[Wexton 0]

Hello, my fiance is Canadian and is also a status First Nations person. I'm living in Buffalo currently and we are trying to move in together this fall. She has a 5 year old son and I was wondering it anyone could help me figure out if he would be able to attend U.S. elementary schools prior to my fiance obtaining U.S. citizenship?

Our plan is to obtain citizenship for both of them after we have our wedding, but we don't want to rush the wedding just to fulfill red tape. Would anyone be able to help answer this question or at least point me in the right direction?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Edited July 15, 2013 by Wexton

[canadian_wife 1,829]

What is the status of your fiancé and child now in the US? Do they have benefits in the US due to their First Nations' status?

Your fiancé's child (I do not believe) can attend school in NY without legal status, as in he must be a permanent resident. Does your fiancé's child also have full First Nations benefits? How are you planning on moving her legally to the US in the fall? Has the process already been started? I know the process is quite different for First Nations people and I'm curious to know as what the procedures are.

good luck

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

**** Moving from K1 fiance visa to Moving to and Living in the US as not visa related ****

I think you are getting ahead of yourself... citizenship is down the line, you;d need to get a visa and then a greencard first (and yes, the kids can attend school with a valid visa or greencard).

[aaron2020 11,651]

Your fiancee's child will be able to attend public school.

Your fiancee and her son will not be eligible for US citizenship immediately after your wedding. They will be Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) after they file to adjust their status. It takes 3 years of having LPR status and 3 years of residing with the US citizen spouse before a person is eligible to apply for US citizenship.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Native Americans can show up at the border and get a Greencard through a formal process that happens there. Does the child also have first nations status?

Are you planning for them to immigrate based on that status or based on their relationship to you, fiance of a USC and child of said fiance? That makes all the difference.

[baron555 934]

Hello, my fiance is Canadian and is also a status First Nations person. I'm living in Buffalo currently and we are trying to move in together this fall. She has a 5 year old son and I was wondering it anyone could help me figure out if he would be able to attend U.S. elementary schools prior to my fiance obtaining U.S. citizenship?

Our plan is to obtain citizenship for both of them after we have our wedding, but we don't want to rush the wedding just to fulfill red tape. Would anyone be able to help answer this question or at least point me in the right direction?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Our son attends the local elementary school with only his GC. They only want to establish legal guardianship and residency.

[NikLR 13,232]

What is the status of your fiancé and child now in the US? Do they have benefits in the US due to their First Nations' status?

Your fiancé's child (I do not believe) can attend school in NY without legal status, as in he must be a permanent resident. Does your fiancé's child also have full First Nations benefits? How are you planning on moving her legally to the US in the fall? Has the process already been started? I know the process is quite different for First Nations people and I'm curious to know as what the procedures are.

good luck

Found this for you and the OP to browse through.http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/information-for-canadians/first-nations-and-native-americans.html

[Wexton 0]

**** Moving from K1 fiance visa to Moving to and Living in the US as not visa related ****

I think you are getting ahead of yourself... citizenship is down the line, you;d need to get a visa and then a greencard first (and yes, the kids can attend school with a valid visa or greencard).

Yes you are correct Penguin. I was trying to post with out going into too many details about the long process of my new Canadian family becoming U.S. citizens. I figured everyone here has already seen plenty of posts about that part. Thank you for the info about my future step-son attending as long as his Mother has a valid visa or greencard. :-)

Native Americans can show up at the border and get a Greencard through a formal process that happens there. Does the child also have first nations status?

Are you planning for them to immigrate based on that status or based on their relationship to you, fiance of a USC and child of said fiance? That makes all the difference.

Hello Harpa. Her child does not have status. His biological Father was not a First Nations person. She has been looking into details regarding her ability to move here since she is a status First Nations person. They would end up immigrating based on their relationship to me once we are married.

Found this for you and the OP to browse through.http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/information-for-canadians/first-nations-and-native-americans.html

Thank you NikiR! Everyone here has been VERY informative and I can't thank all of you enough! :-D

Edited July 15, 2013 by Wexton

[NikLR 13,232]

She should look into getting her son status. His father does not need to native for the son to be considered native and have status!

Best wishes

[Wexton 0]

She should look into getting her son status. His father does not need to native for the son to be considered native and have status!

Best wishes

Normally that would be true. The only detail is that She is only 50% so her son is under that threshold. Trust me when I say she's pretty upset that he can't get status just because of that little detail.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Normally that would be true. The only detail is that She is only 50% so her son is under that threshold. Trust me when I say she's pretty upset that he can't get status just because of that little detail.

Yes, that is why I asked. So, it looks the only option is to go through a normal fiance visa process and not a native american process so the son can come too.

We have plenty of people doing the same and we have guides for the fiance (K-1) process. The son would be a derivative to the mother's petition, and will get his own visa. Once the son is in the US he can attend school immediately (K-2 visa-holders, as it is called for kids, can go to school). For both though, you will need to file an adjustment of status from K-1/K-2 to permanent resident after you marry. We have guides for that too. The kid can attend school the whole time. Good luck.

[Wexton 0]

Yes, that is why I asked. So, it looks the only option is to go through a normal fiance visa process and not a native american process so the son can come too.

We have plenty of people doing the same and we have guides for the fiance (K-1) process. The son would be a derivative to the mother's petition, and will get his own visa. Once the son is in the US he can attend school immediately (K-2 visa-holders, as it is called for kids, can go to school). For both though, you will need to file an adjustment of status from K-1/K-2 to permanent resident after you marry. We have guides for that too. The kid can attend school the whole time. Good luck.

Fantastic information Harpa! Thank you for your advise! It's a little more work than we were expecting, but at least we have more information to go off of.

[cdy 1]

In Florida my fiancees daughter was able to attend public middle school under a tourist visa, we explained we were waiting on the K1 visa -

Here in Florida i dont think they turn away any children - I know there are lots of illegals but they are able to attend.

[NikLR 13,232]

Normally that would be true. The only detail is that She is only 50% so her son is under that threshold. Trust me when I say she's pretty upset that he can't get status just because of that little detail.

Oh that would be upsetting for me too.

I hope you guys have a great journey otherwise. Read the comparison guides up at the top about spousal vs fiancée visas. You may pick one route over the other (we did a spousal visa.)

[Wexton 0]

Oh that would be upsetting for me too.

I hope you guys have a great journey otherwise. Read the comparison guides up at the top about spousal vs fiancée visas. You may pick one route over the other (we did a spousal visa.)

This is our little concern. We don't want to speed up the marriage just so we can live together first. I mean if we have to, then we'll do it. However, we'd like our wedding to be on our own terms. You've been very helpful. Figured I'd just let you into our thought process.

The main thing is that we've spent the past year and a half apart from each other. We'd like to get the ball rolling.

Another detail is that she is currently attending Trent University in Peterborough, ON. She is going to research if it's even possible for her to travel daily across the border to attend classes.

Yes we have a very complicated system going. LOL!