Green card for stepchild

[ashitanojoe 0]

I am an American citizen currently living in Japan with my wife of almost 6 years (married in Japan), and 17 year old stepchild (both Japanese nationals).

My 17 year old stepchild would like to go to college in the United States next year. While I know it's possible to attend with an F-1 student visa, we would like access to the Financial Aid provided in the United States, which requires at least a green card.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/eligibility/non-us-citizens#can-i-get-aid

A quick look through the USCIS website leads me to believe that my stepchild qualifies for a green card as an immediate relative of a US citizen: a) unmarried b) 17 years old c) was 12 at the time my wife and I married.

As far as I can tell there are no legal barriers to qualifying for a green card. I have started gathering information and hope to be able to post my I-130 within the next week or so.

I do have a couple questions about what I have come across that I am hoping the community can answer:

1. The I-130 instructions for submitting documents proving relationship with a stepchild are FAR simpler than that of a spouse. Is this REALLY all I need to submit?
   1. Marriage certificate to child's natural parent (my wife) showing marriage occurred before child's 18th birthday
   2. Document showing wife's previous marriage was terminated
   3. Birth certificate of child
2. At this point neither my wife nor I are planning to move to the US while my stepchild is in college. Do I have to be in the US in order to petition? Will this cause any issues?
3. Can I as the petitioner provide a certified translation of the Japanese documents? I have a professional level proficiency in Japan and can perform the translation by myself. Would this be a problem?
4. There doesn't appear to be a lot of information on what is necessary once the petition goes to NVC. Will they let you know what you need? Is it safe to go ahead with the I-130 petition without fully preparing for the next steps?

I am certainly glad I found this community and I am certainly hoping with your guys' help I can get through this process on my own. The lawyer I consulted want my first born in legal fees.

[aleful 1,905]

hi

one huge issue, yes you do have to be in the US, the purpose of a GC is for family reunification, if there is no family, then there is no reunification,

the process takes over 1 year, so he won't be going to college soon

so if you and your wife won't be moving to the US, then the only way is a student visa, and having a lot of money to pay for it

you don't have to move immediately, but you will have to sponsor him, have you been paying taxes? if you haven't made enough you will need to find a joint sponsor in the US

[ashitanojoe 0]

one huge issue, yes you do have to be in the US, the purpose of a GC is for family reunification, if there is no family, then there is no reunification,

Yeah, that would be a huge issue. Why doesn't the USCIS website ever mention this? Seems like that should be on the front page. Do you happen to know the relevant site that details this policy?

the process takes over 1 year, so he won't be going to college soon

I have heard it could take that long. Some friends I talk to said it took 6 months, others said a year. Not sure how their situations differ.

so if you and your wife won't be moving to the US, then the only way is a student visa, and having a lot of money to pay for it

you don't have to move immediately, but you will have to sponsor him, have you been paying taxes? if you haven't made enough you will need to find a joint sponsor in the US

I have been considering a move home for some time now, so this might just be the push that sets that in motion. I'm sure my wife won't object to following her daughter to the States.

I have been filing my taxes, but only in the last 2 years have I earned more than the Foreign Earn Income Exclusion allows, and only just barely. So I haven't paid much in the 11 years I have been here.