school for child on tourist visa (while waiting for IR1/CR1)

[Coco8 1,042]

Beyond the visa issue, to enroll in a US school they would have to do some sort of test to decide the grade she should go to. Coming from another country it could be challenging for her to keep up with a different language and system. By the time she got used to school in the US she would have to go back. And if she is allowed to stay for 6 months, that in not enough to finish the year, so she would go back and she would not be able to finish the year there either. 

 

If you are really set on this, you could look into how to do a school exchange type of thing with a J-1. Usually, when people do those they don't miss class in their home country. But they are more common for high school students and not for younger kids. 

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Private school is usually cheaper than paying for public school because she isn't qualified to go to school for free. sending her and not paying could delay both visas until you pay for the services much like visa get held up for people that abuse subsidized medical services have to pay before their visas are issued. 

[JFH 12,190]

I understand that you don't want to be apart. Been there. Done that. Got through it. That's why we are all here. And if your wife can visit for six months then good for you. But is it really a good idea to uproot a young child for so long, put her into a school where she has no friends, doesn't speak the language (I'm assuming) only to do the reverse a few months later?   That would be very disruptive to her education and also to her personally. What might be wonderful for you and your wife to be together for 6 months might be hell for the child. The needs of the child should be considered as well as your desire to spend time with your wife. 

 

Incidentally, what job does she do that would enable her to take 6 months' leave? 

Edited May 1, 2017 by JFH

[Mollie09 1,543]

Also, this is not immigration-related, but how cruel is it to take a child out of the school/country/culture/language they're used to, throw them into a new one for 6 months, then back to the first one, then back to the second one once they immigrate?

Edited May 1, 2017 by Mollie09

[Auds 223]

As you are not married yet do a K1.  IR1 takes too long.  We just completed one year from filing  1.3 from seperation and no intw yet!

 

just as well we could afford a few trips.

 

 

[kcrb 24]

Oftentimes, CBP will see children being pulled from school as a sign of intent to immigrate. Your idea could very well be the reason why they are denied entry. Even if you can support your wife, CBP is going to want to see that she can support herself and her child. You do not factor into the equation at all. Once you start the process, there is a very good chance she will be denied at POE, especially if a child has been pulled from school and she has no job to return to. 

[Pennycat 880]

First, all folks here, if the child is in a Costa Rican school and not an American style international school, there is no "off for the summer" so even if she comes here while US schools are out, she'd still be missing out at home. They have a year-round schedule with about a month off at Christmas and a few weeks off in July or August or so (I think that depends on the school system)-- typical in Latin America, I understand (oddly, I understand that from my teacher friends here, some of whom work in schools which are immigrant-heavy and they are on a year-round system because of performance concerns but they mentioned that the parents don't mind because it's what they're used to, go figure).

 

Anyway, OP, the separation certainly stinks. No way around it. Could you consider K1 which is a bit faster? I can't really dole out parenting advice because I haven't walked that path but it does seem like an awful lot of disruption to be pulled out of one school, put into another, then sent back to the first one, to turn around to come back to the second one all in the span of one year-- kind of generally but especially so when you're talking new language/foreign culture/trying to make and keep friends. And for what? Her own best interest? It could very well be that her best interests are served by limiting separation time even with the crazy school ping-pong and that's entirely up to you guys to figure out. But add on the fact that you'd be breaking rules to do it... I don't know, man. Tons of families have gone through this kind of separation, and more. You're already ahead of the game that you're already living together at the start of this process. Also, the reason that this seems harsh is because there really isn't a visa for coming in to wait for a visa, you know? You're wanting to use a tourist visa to fill that gap, but that's not what a tourist visa is for, which is why this is an issue.

 

I'd just try to keep the big picture in mind as much as possible and remember that no matter what, this will be a temporary blip on the radar once its all said and done and you start your lives together. Cold comfort, I know (and go look at my early posts during the giant TSC backlog and you'll see I know from firsthand experience), but it's true. Does't make it any less crazy-making, but can help keep focus on the end goal.

[Gringuitico 4]

Hi folks (and thank you @CatherineA, especially, for that heartfelt response),

 

You're all right that bouncing back and forth would be hard on a kid, no doubt about that.  I wanted to reiterate that I never had any intention of breaking any rules, I just wanted to make sure that I understood exactly what the limits and the intentions of those rules included.  Believe it or not, this line of questioning was intended to discover the path of least harm for the daughter, but you're all correct that  my idea might not have been the best plan.  

 

The thing is, she's going to get bounced here or there no matter what we do, and it's correct that US school schedules don't line up at all with Costa Rica schedules, so it's a tough call, either way. My gf has no 9-5 job right now (she's a contract architect who largely works at home and in the field, on a per-project basis), so making the argument for her having solid reasons to return home from a tourist visit (much less an extended one), could be a bit of a hard sell at the POE (I mean, we could make the case, but... it's less clear than other cases).

After talking this out here and at home, though, I think we finally have a plan... for better or for worse.   We're going to do the K1, because (as you say), it requires the least amount of time to process before Visa, and thus generally implies the least forced separation.

 

So, my plan is this:

 

1) Get a job in the US (asap) and move up there.   Work for 4 months before starting the application (to be able to show a minimum of 3 months of pay stubs + letter of open-ended, full time employment).
2) During those 3 months, fiance and daughter come up to visit me for a couple weeks (before we apply) as tourists.

3) After we apply, I come down to Costa Rica at least once to visit (and they don't come back to the US until Visa is approved).  Me visiting CR takes away the complication of visa complications and having to prove intentions to return.  This way, the daughter at least gets a chance to visit the US once before she moves there full time.
4) Whenever they're approved, we bring them up with whatever the best timing we can work out relative to the daughter starting the school year in the US.  We already know of good ESL programs for where we're headed, and the daughter is in a great bilingual school right now. Plus, I live with them for now too, so she gets plenty of chances to talk to me in English and watch English tv and movies and read English books.  So she won't be starting from scratch on the English front, which is good.

 

[Pennycat 880]

8 minutes ago, Gringuitico said:

Hi folks (and thank you @CatherineA, especially, for that heartfelt response),

 

 

 

1) Get a job in the US (asap) and move up there.   Work for 4 months before starting the application (to be able to show a minimum of 3 months of pay stubs + letter of open-ended, full time employment).

 

Not a problem-- we've all been there, done that. It's really best to keep in mind that almost every international couple you meet (who did NOT meet while the foreigner was living in the US) has been through this and there have been times in the not-so-distant past when the spouse visas were taking 18+ months. So we all get the forced separation thing, and you've got a good position at the moment in that you're fairly flexible and living together so you can try to maximize that situation.

 

Anyway-- is it necessary that you get a job here first? Could you do a co-sponsor? I admit, I don't know anything about the establishment of domicile or anything like that, but there have definitely been cases where folks living together abroad go for K1 and then move together when the visa comes through. No separation needed. I read your other thread and I don't think that the co-sponsor is a problem in Costa Rica. I believe that folks here generally know which consulates take them and which don't. It could be worthwhile to dig through the histories of other Costa Rica K1 filers and look for co-sponsors just to be sure before you act. Also, is your current job the type of job that you COULD keep when you move to the US? So that between the US bank account and evidence of making arrangements to re-establish domicile (other ideas here) plus the ability to maintain that employment in the US could help. I'm far from certain about these things, so you'd need to reach out to others who re-established domicile from abroad. But I'm pretty sure it can be done.

[mrtravel 40]

It does not matter to Immigration in the treatment of public vs private school. For immigration law, they would need the same visa.  Assuming this is a young child, you aren't getting the parent in on a tourist visa if their husband lives here and their child is coming on a school visa.  

On the recoupment of public school costs or the ability to attend school where you live:  The Supreme Court has ruled that education can not be prevented based on immigration status. Even undocumented students can do that, and if they are staying in your house they should be able to attend school just as if they were a citizen living there.  I am NOT saying you should do this, due to how it might affect immigration, but there should be no issue with the school district regarding the ability to attend without cost.  As noted, that would be OK with the school, but not OK for the Immigration people 

[NikLR 13,227]

7 hours ago, Auds said:

As you are not married yet do a K1.  IR1 takes too long.  We just completed one year from filing  1.3 from seperation and no intw yet!

 

just as well we could afford a few trips.

 

 

Some of us purposely choose not to do the K1 because of it's limitations.  K1 would have NEVER worked for us.   I assume the OP has looked at the options and picked the best route for their family. 

[qtime 24]

Students cannot travel on the Visa Waiver Program or with Visitor Visas

Citizens of Visa Waiver Program (VWP) participating countries who intend to study cannot travel on the VWP or on visitor (B) visas, except to undertake recreational study as part of a tourist visit. Students must travel to the United States with student (F-1 or M-1) visas. For more information on the VWP, see Visa Waiver Program.

 

F-1 can not be used for Public Elementary School only Private elementary school

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/student.html

[Auds 223]

8 hours ago, NikLR said:

Some of us purposely choose not to do the K1 because of it's limitations.  K1 would have NEVER worked for us.   I assume the OP has looked at the options and picked the best route for their family. 

I know, he is open to K1 - read the last line of his post...hence the suggestion.

 

Our lawyer had misguided us on the process saying we could just get married on that trip or next and adjust and we were not on VJ yet (at that point I wanted a real answer and paid a lawyer to get wrong advise!).  Our long separation has meant I lost lifetime savings of USD150K plus.. 

[NikLR 13,227]

1 hour ago, Auds said:

I know, he is open to K1 - read the last line of his post...hence the suggestion.

 

Our lawyer had misguided us on the process saying we could just get married on that trip or next and adjust and we were not on VJ yet (at that point I wanted a real answer and paid a lawyer to get wrong advise!).  Our long separation has meant I lost lifetime savings of USD150K plus.. 

Thats excessive and no where near normal. 

[Auds 223]

4 hours ago, NikLR said:

Thats excessive and no where near normal. 

Yes, i know but its what happened to us - business related partly and Dubai is not cheap - rent itself about usd35k per annum...