Bringing granddaughter to US ( after adoption or being named guardian)

[cdy 1]

My wife ( fiance at the time) and  2  stepdaughters moved back to US with me 6 years ago - everything went fine, they are not citizens yet -maybe later this year. However the oldest daughter stayed behind in Colombia - she was young and just had a baby -  now a 6 year old and for various reasons both parents in Colombia have agreed to either let us adopt her or be named guardian - we have been supporting her since birth and see her about 4 times per year when we are in Colombia.  The question I have is how does immigration in the US look at a grandchild if we are now her legal guardian or parents - does it speed up the process? I know if she just remained as our granddaughter the process would take years - but as our daughter?

[Roel 7,192]

I don't think it's going to work at all. Her parents are alive and I believe you'd need to go back to Colombia for few years and actually live with that granddaughter before there is even a chance of bringing her to the US.  Nothing will speed this process up - it's all going to take long, long years IF it's even possible.

[aleful 1,905]

hi

 

it doesn't matter if you are the legal guardian, you are still the grandparents and there are no petitions for grandchildren, her parents are alive so it will be difficult to adopt, plus you have to live with her in Colombia for a couple of years, but as stated, she's not an orphan.

 

keep doing what you are doing, support her from here

 

 

[Unlockable 7,314]

21 minutes ago, cdy said:

My wife ( fiance at the time) and  2  stepdaughters moved back to US with me 6 years ago - everything went fine, they are not citizens yet -maybe later this year. However the oldest daughter stayed behind in Colombia - she was young and just had a baby -  now a 6 year old and for various reasons both parents in Colombia have agreed to either let us adopt her or be named guardian - we have been supporting her since birth and see her about 4 times per year when we are in Colombia.  The question I have is how does immigration in the US look at a grandchild if we are now her legal guardian or parents - does it speed up the process? I know if she just remained as our granddaughter the process would take years - but as our daughter?

It will not be as easy as you think. In fact, quite difficult depending on the circumstances. If the parents are living, then that poses a problem. There are very strict laws concerning adoption for immigration. This is to prevent people from trying to bypass normal immigrant proceedings or trying to bring over people who normally wouldn’t qualify. More importantly, it is also to prevent child trafficking.

 

You can adopt, but adoption does not guarantee immigration benefits.

[cdy 1]

We have attorneys in Colombia that can help with the adoption - its not an easy path but can be done - while we now live in US - we spend 2 -3 months a year in Colombia and can handle things on that end,  I am a little confused as to the living with the child statement - is that a US immigration requirement?  No she is not an orphan - but once we adopt her - does US immigration care that her natural parents are still alive?  We handled our move to US without an attorney - in this case it might be best to get one - at least to sort out the details from the US end.  

 Open to any other ideas on how to get a granddaughter to US for a better education - she is almost 7 - have no clue as to a student visa - age requirements those sort of things - if it is even possible.

Edited February 16, 2019 by cdy

[NikLR 13,227]

6 minutes ago, cdy said:

We have attorneys in Colombia that can help with the adoption - its not an easy path but can be done - while we now live in US - we spend 2 -3 months a year in Colombia and can handle things on that end,  I am a little confused as to the living with the child statement - is that a US immigration requirement?  No she is not an orphan - but once we adopt her - does US immigration care that her natural parents are still alive?  We handled our move to US without an attorney - in this case it might be best to get one - at least to sort out the details from the US end.  

Yes US immigration does care that her parents are still alive.  

You can read about the requirements on the USCIS and NVC website. 

[Unlockable 7,314]

2 minutes ago, cdy said:

We have attorneys in Colombia that can help with the adoption - its not an easy path but can be done - while we now live in US - we spend 2 -3 months a year in Colombia and can handle things on that end,  I am a little confused as to the living with the child statement - is that a US immigration requirement?  No she is not an orphan - but once we adopt her - does US immigration care that her natural parents are still alive?  We handled our move to US without an attorney - in this case it might be best to get one - at least to sort out the details from the US end.  

Yes they do care. Very much so. Like I said before, they are not going to approve a child for immigration if the adoption is an attempt to skirt immigration laws.

 

If the parents are alive, why. the need for adoption?

 

Also once again, you can adopt successfully, but that does not mean you would be able to immigrate. 

 

Btw, there is a couple on this site that adopted a girl a few years ago but could not immigrate her. They now pay for her schooling in her country and send her money.

[Roel 7,192]

23 minutes ago, cdy said:

We have attorneys in Colombia that can help with the adoption - its not an easy path but can be done - while we now live in US - we spend 2 -3 months a year in Colombia and can handle things on that end,  I am a little confused as to the living with the child statement - is that a US immigration requirement?  No she is not an orphan - but once we adopt her - does US immigration care that her natural parents are still alive?  We handled our move to US without an attorney - in this case it might be best to get one - at least to sort out the details from the US end.  

 Open to any other ideas on how to get a granddaughter to US for a better education - she is almost 7 - have no clue as to a student visa - age requirements those sort of things - if it is even possible.

I think you need to focus on supporting her in Colombia OR having your daughter immigrate with her granddaughter. That seems like the only possible option. Student visa. Not happening, not with this situation and her ties to the US.

 

Adopting and immigration... it is not happening. Be aware of attorneys that will tell you that it's simple. They will just scam you out of money.

[cdy 1]

We already support her - so that won't change - we have attorneys both in Colombia and US that we trust - but sounds like its not a viable option - in the next 5 years we will be spending more time in Colombia - possibly up to half the year  - so we hopefully will provide stronger guidance for her - we have tried in the past to get her ( and her mother ) a tourist visa - turned down both times - possibly we can try to get her one solo.   Life would be better if her mother stepped up and was a better parent - but she had her when she was 16 and was not ready to be a parent. Luckily the granddaughter is a great kid but we worry about her future opportunities in a small town in Colombia, we have an apartment there and a business - but the local school just is not very good.

[Boiler 45,525]

I am not so sure a F1 is unobtainable, schooling is not going to be cheap but if you can afford it certainly something to look into.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

3 hours ago, cdy said:

We have attorneys in Colombia that can help with the adoption - its not an easy path but can be done - while we now live in US - we spend 2 -3 months a year in Colombia and can handle things on that end,  I am a little confused as to the living with the child statement - is that a US immigration requirement?  No she is not an orphan - but once we adopt her - does US immigration care that her natural parents are still alive?  We handled our move to US without an attorney - in this case it might be best to get one - at least to sort out the details from the US end.  

 Open to any other ideas on how to get a granddaughter to US for a better education - she is almost 7 - have no clue as to a student visa - age requirements those sort of things - if it is even possible.

Yes uscis cares that the parents are alive and yes the living with adopted child for 2 years is a uscis requirement. As posters stated, there are safeguards against  trying to bypass various laws (immigration and other) through adoption. 

 

For a student visa, I’m not sure of minimum age but it will only be available for private schooling for what you envisage (for a student visa, public school is only allowed for a maximum of one year in high school and the full unsubsidized cost of attendance needs to be paid for that.) if there are decent private schools in Colombia that probably makes more financial sense.

Edited February 16, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[accumbyte 149]

4 hours ago, cdy said:

My wife ( fiance at the time) and  2  stepdaughters moved back to US with me 6 years ago - everything went fine, they are not citizens yet -maybe later this year. However the oldest daughter stayed behind in Colombia - she was young and just had a baby

Not a fast process (takes 7-8 years), but:

1. Was your oldest stepdaughter still under the age of 18 when you married your wife? https://www.visajourney.com/content/child "A stepchild if the marriage creating the steprelationship took place before the child reached the age of 18"
2. Is she still unmarried?
3. Does she want to come to the US (and remain unmarried until US entry with the immigrant visa)?

If the answer to the above questions is yes then the Family First Preference process is an option for her and her daughter.

Edited February 16, 2019 by accumbyte

[cdy 1]

Interesting idea but now too complicated - the oldest stepdaughter now has two kids -  and the father is a part of the grandson's life - and she would not leave him behind - plus I would take on the responsibility of one more kid- the granddaughter - but not the step daughter and another grand kid on top of that- got to draw the line somewhere

[Unlockable 7,314]

Less complicated than the adoption route.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 hours ago, NuestraUnion said:

Less complicated than the adoption route.

Not only less complicated, also workable...unlike the adoption route in current circumstances.