B2 (BCC) Visa for child - Parent LPR?

[emmaface 12]

I'm not sure how unique our situation is, but if anyone has a similar experience, I would greatly appreciate any input you may have!

My husband became a permanent resident of the US last year. He has an 8-year-old son from a previous marriage in Mexico, who we see on weekends. Right now, we cross the bridge to Juarez every weekend, pick up my stepson, spend the weekend at my in-laws' house (disrupting everything there, sleeping in my brother-in-law's room since there's no extra space for us to stay) then drop him off and come home Sunday evenings. As wonderful as it is to have the opportunity to see him every weekend, our lives would be about a million times easier if we could just bring him back to our house for the weekend. As much as I love them, it feels awful disrupting my in-laws' lives, and it means we never have any alone time together as our own happy little family, like we did when my husband had his own place in Juarez. We used to spend plenty of time together the three of us, visit with the in-laws for a bit, but we had our own place to go.

One day, our greatest dream would be to get residency for my stepson too, so he can come to school in the US - but right now, his mom isn't on board with that, and of course we can't do it without her permission. Until she changes her mind (or until he's old enough to ask to live with us), we'd like to get him a border crossing card, so we can continue our weekly routine, just with the freedom to come to our own house, and to go out and do fun things together in El Paso.

Our concern is overcoming the hurdle of proving that we don't intend for him to live with us. I've read many times that for tourist visas, USCIS will always assume the intent to remain in the US, and you must prove intent to return to the home country, particularly Mexico. In our case, since my husband just received his residency, and his ex-wife has no intention of even visiting the US, we're sure this case will be looked at with scrutiny. I'm certain other families have gone this route to bring a child to live in the US illegally, getting away with only spending $160 on a BCC rather than $1,000 on proper residency. It happens all the time, thus, the scrutiny.

My questions go out to anyone who has obtained a BCC for a child. Are his school records enough? What if we aren't able to begin the process until he's on summer vacation? Will divorce papers declaring the child to be in custody of the mother be helpful?

Would it be best to ask the mother to go through the process of filing the visa instead of us, since she is the one living in Mexico?

Obviously these are very specific questions, but anyone who has had similar experience with this process would be very helpful.

Thank you!

Edited March 22, 2016 by emmaface

[Unlockable 7,314]

Has his mother agreed to giving permission to have her son enter into another country?

[dwheels76 5,468]

Ypu still have to have mom's permission. Showing divorce papers and her having custody means nothing if she doesn't give permission even for a visit.

[emmaface 12]

Has his mother agreed to giving permission to have her son enter into another country?

Ypu still have to have mom's permission. Showing divorce papers and her having custody means nothing if she doesn't give permission even for a visit.

Yes, she gives permission for him to visit, just not for him to live with us in the US. She totally agrees it would be great for us to bring him for visits on weekends, though. She prefers that we take him on weekends so she can make her own plans.

Edited March 22, 2016 by emmaface

[Boiler 45,519]

Apply and find out.

Does your husband have immigration issues in his past?

[emmaface 12]

Apply and find out.

Does your husband have immigration issues in his past?

No, he doesn't. We're already intending to apply, so "Apply and find out" isn't really a helpful suggestion. We don't want to apply without any preparation to just see what happens. We want to succeed the first time.

Due to the long-term nature of a BCC as opposed to a B2 visa from any other country, it's scrutinized more than a visa one receives for one visit to the US. It's indended for repeated use and unlimited crossings for up to 10 years, which means it is very easily abused by individuals skirting immigration law - thus, more to prove on our end. Anecdotal evidence from friends and relatives indicate a BCC is not as easy to get as it once was, and just crossing the bridge with a BCC is faced with more scrutiny now than before. Of course that may not truly be the case, but among the people we know, it is a perception. We just want to present our best case for our clearly legal intentions.

Edited March 29, 2016 by emmaface

[Boiler 45,519]

If your intentions are clearly legal then what is the problem.

B2 standard is 10 years multiple visits. There are variants.

[emmaface 12]

If your intentions are clearly legal then what is the problem.

B2 standard is 10 years multiple visits. There are variants.

Thanks for your input. As I asked in my first post, I'm just looking for people in a similar situation who have navigated the process from Mexico. What types of records are helpful, what are not needed or potentially harmful to the case, etc.

[az2014 381]

Thanks for your input. As I asked in my first post, I'm just looking for people in a similar situation who have navigated the process from Mexico. What types of records are helpful, what are not needed or potentially harmful to the case, etc.

For a BCC you still need to meet the exact same standards as a B2 so just look at all the past threads regarding B2 visas.

And the only real advice apart from that is apply and find out, nothing else to it really.

Let us know the result.