Can i bring my wifes brother from the Philippines

[conklin6615 2]

I married my wife in the Philippines 8 years ago. She has been here in the USA for a little over 6 years and is not a citizen yet. We would like to know if it is possible to bring her brother to live with us. He is 10 years old now. Is there any way to do this ? I would be willing to adopt him if needed. What do I need to do to start this process? Thank you very much in advance.

[kzielu 1,149]

I married my wife in the Philippines 8 years ago. She has been here in the USA for a little over 6 years and is not a citizen yet. We would like to know if it is possible to bring her brother to live with us. He is 10 years old now. Is there any way to do this ? I would be willing to adopt him if needed. What do I need to do to start this process? Thank you very much in advance.

Your wife needs to become a citizen, petition him and wait about 20-30 years. Then he'll be good to go...

Edited June 28, 2016 by kzielu

[conklin6615 2]

Your wife needs to become a citizen, petition him and wait about 20-30 years. Then he'll be good to go...

Wouldn't it be faster and overall better to just adopt him and petition him as my child? Your 20-30 year plan just sounds ridiculous, and not well thought out. Thanks for your input anyways, but in 20-30 years I plan on living in the Philippines full time.

Edited June 28, 2016 by conklin6615

[Merrytooth 5,748]

USCIS is aware of adoptions of family members to bring them to the US. It's not allowed unless the child is an orphan.

[kzielu 1,149]

Wouldn't it be faster and overall better to just adopt him and petition him as my child? Your 20-30 year plan just sounds ridiculous, and not well thought out. Thanks for your input anyways, but in 20-30 years I plan on living in the Philippines full time.

See Merrytooth's answer - if his parents are around - that's a no go. In addition you have to live with him for two years I think. 20-30 years comes out of number of petitions for siblings out of Philippines - for other countries this is around 13 right now. Regardless, sibling petitions (or cases) get the lowest priority - for a reason.

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

Would a student visa be possible? If he's a good student then perhaps he can qualify for a visa to study here in 8 years at the university level. At least the wait wouldn't be 20+ years.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Easiest and most common way :

Wife becomes USC -> Petition for her parents -> Her parents in turns petition for the brother.

[conklin6615 2]

USCIS is aware of adoptions of family members to bring them to the US. It's not allowed unless the child is an orphan.

Thanks for the info I was not aware of this. It doesn't make sense though.... I can adopt any random orphan child and bring them to the USA but not a family member.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Thanks for the info I was not aware of this. It doesn't make sense though.... I can adopt any random orphan child and bring them to the USA but not a family member.

Considering your main reason to adopt him would be to immigrate him, I can see how the US Gov was right to disallow that route.

See Merrytooth's answer.

Your wife needs to become a citizen, petition for her parents, once they're in the US they can petition for their son.

[JFH 12,190]

Thanks for the info I was not aware of this. It doesn't make sense though.... I can adopt any random orphan child and bring them to the USA but not a family member.

You've answered your own question. Orphan. The purpose of adoption is to find families for children who have lost theirs. Not to gain immigration benefits for children with one of more living parent. The primary motivation in overseas adoption has to be parenting a child that has no chance of family life in their birth country.

[Unlockable 7,314]

Wouldn't it be faster and overall better to just adopt him and petition him as my child? Your 20-30 year plan just sounds ridiculous, and not well thought out. Thanks for your input anyways, but in 20-30 years I plan on living in the Philippines full time.

You've answered your own question. Orphan. The purpose of adoption is to find families for children who have lost theirs. Not to gain immigration benefits for children with one of more living parent. The primary motivation in overseas adoption has to be parenting a child that has no chance of family life in their birth country.

Spot on, JFH!

The reason the OP wants to adopt is the exact reason why USCIS is so strict on child adoption for immigration.

Your 20-30 year plan just sounds ridiculous, and not well thought out.

The reason why the process is now over 2 decades long is because the Philippines is one of the few countries that has a massive backlog due to an enormous amount of people filing for visas. To give you an idea of how it works you have to understand that USCIS does not consider a sibling (even a minor) a high priority family member. High priority family members like spouses and minor children have visas relatively available ahead of everyone else. Also, the number of visas for siblings are limited, as in they only offer a set number per year. If there is more visa applicants than visas, then the extra applicants get rolled onto the following year's visa list. Since the Philippines is one of those joint family countries where the immigrants want to migrate their entire family tree, each year the number of applicants increase and the roll overs gets higher and higher. And now you have a 20+ year wait time today for countries like the Philiippines and Mexico.

Easiest and most common way :

Wife becomes USC -> Petition for her parents -> Her parents in turns petition for the brother.

OP,

Just so you are aware, the process that Merrytooth posted above would still take a few years. Just not 20 years long.

Edited June 28, 2016 by NuestraUnion

[JFH 12,190]

I still think it's remarkable that siblings can be petitioned at all. That doesn't happen here. My brother brought his wife to the UK from Mexico. She cannot petition any of her family members even though she is now a British citizen.

Edited June 28, 2016 by JFH

[NikLR 13,227]

Most countries don't allow it.

I always find it interesting that majority of Canadian visas are for work but majority of US visas are for family reunification. 33million people vs 330million. hrm

OP, your wife, once she becomes a citizen, can petition for her parents or her siblings. You cannot.

She could also petition for 1 parent, who could petition for the other parent and the child, just so he's not alone. It would take about 3 years.

Seems a lot better than 20 eh?

[joglen1210 10]

Brothers and Sisters of USC can be petitioned/sponsored to come but have to wait in line (takes about 20-25 years). It's F4 category if I am not mistaken.

[Ryan H 3,812]

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