Minor Children Brought To USA by Grandparents

[Canerican 242]

Good Evening, 

 

I have been on this forum for the past seven years. In my professional life I work with children in my community. Today I came across the following situation:

 

While meeting with a minor child this morning I was informed that the child and a minor sibling were brought to the USA four years ago from Canada and have not went back since. Parents passed in Canada. The guardian stated that if the children would have been left in Canada they would have lived on the streets. Since they are minors, I assume they do not accrue unlawful presence till 18 years old? Is there any way for them to get LPR status? I believe the grandparents, who are LPR’s, have guardianship/custody of the children. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

You are correct about not accruing unlawful presence. 
The grandparents need competent legal advice. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Also note there is a difference between not accruing unlawful presence and being in valid status. Even if the grandparents can sponsor them (they need a lawyer to assess this imo to get their exact legal standing vis-a-vis the children) they will not be able to adjust status but will need to do consular processing. 

[Boiler 45,487]

I find it difficult to believe that Canada would leave children on the street.

 

I assume guardian is used in an unofficial capacity and that the Canadian system may not have been involved, did they have permission for them to migrate?

[Lemonslice 4,840]

1 hour ago, CDN(ON)-USA(VT) said:

Good Evening, 

 

I have been on this forum for the past seven years. In my professional life I work with children in my community. Today I came across the following situation:

 

While meeting with a minor child this morning I was informed that the child and a minor sibling were brought to the USA four years ago from Canada and have not went back since. Parents passed in Canada. The guardian stated that if the children would have been left in Canada they would have lived on the streets. Since they are minors, I assume they do not accrue unlawful presence till 18 years old? Is there any way for them to get LPR status? I believe the grandparents, who are LPR’s, have guardianship/custody of the children. 

Not sure what is your role, and their goals, but you can receive some guidance from Global Affairs Canada  [ 1-844-880-6519 / ccs.scc@international.gc.ca ] - you/them should reach out.  As a Canadian, you know that orphans are not dropped on the streets - not sure why they believe that.  

[aaron2020 11,651]

2 hours ago, CDN(ON)-USA(VT) said:

Good Evening, 

 

I have been on this forum for the past seven years. In my professional life I work with children in my community. Today I came across the following situation:

 

While meeting with a minor child this morning I was informed that the child and a minor sibling were brought to the USA four years ago from Canada and have not went back since. Parents passed in Canada. The guardian stated that if the children would have been left in Canada they would have lived on the streets. Since they are minors, I assume they do not accrue unlawful presence till 18 years old? Is there any way for them to get LPR status? I believe the grandparents, who are LPR’s, have guardianship/custody of the children. 

The children would not have ended up on the streets.  The grandparents are rationalizing breaking immigration laws by saying this.

The grandparents could have chosen to do this the legal way, but choose to break immigration laws out of laziness and/or ignorance.

 

The kids will not accrue unlawful presence til they turn 18.

 

There is NO WAY to get the kids LPR status through LPR grandparents.  

 

What the grandparents need to do is legally adopt their grandkids and the kids could have immigrated as their adopted children.  They could have gotten reentry permits to be with the kids in Canada.  

 

This case requires a competent US immigration attorney and a competent Canadian family law attorney.  

[Canerican 242]

8 hours ago, Boiler said:

I find it difficult to believe that Canada would leave children on the street.

 

I assume guardian is used in an unofficial capacity and that the Canadian system may not have been involved, did they have permission for them to migrate?

I’m not 100% sure, all I know is that the parents passed away up in Canada and the children were brought here to the USA as stated in my original post. 

[Canerican 242]

8 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

Not sure what is your role, and their goals, but you can receive some guidance from Global Affairs Canada  [ 1-844-880-6519 / ccs.scc@international.gc.ca ] - you/them should reach out.  As a Canadian, you know that orphans are not dropped on the streets - not sure why they believe that.  

I know the basics, social services would have got involved and figured out the situation. It did not cross my mind yesterday as I was flabbergasted that grandparents were LPR’s but the children were not. I will make the suggestions that have been given here to the family. 

[Mollie09 1,543]

A lot of these cases aren't malice, just people who don't understand how the system works thinking "there's HAS to be a way to do this" and they'll figure out how eventually, and only worry about it when it becomes a problem. I've met people in real life who reacted to the issues I was having with immigration by saying I just wasn't doing it right, because it couldn't POSSIBLY be THAT complicated. I entered legally, was US college educated and working, how could it be a challenge to stay in the US permanently?

This seems like something similar. The parents have passed, they are the grandparents who have been taking care of the kids for years, how could it not be a simple process? They entered legally, they are with family. If that's the case, I feel for them because reality is gonna hit them like a ton of bricks.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

This is not in any way, shape or form a DIY case. Please make sure they understand that.

 

3 hours ago, CDN(ON)-USA(VT) said:

I know the basics, social services would have got involved and figured out the situation. It did not cross my mind yesterday as I was flabbergasted that grandparents were LPR’s but the children were not. I will make the suggestions that have been given here to the family. 

 

[Canerican 242]

3 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

This is not in any way, shape or form a DIY case. Please make sure they understand that.

 

 

Thank you

[Canerican 242]

4 hours ago, Mollie09 said:

A lot of these cases aren't malice, just people who don't understand how the system works thinking "there's HAS to be a way to do this" and they'll figure out how eventually, and only worry about it when it becomes a problem. I've met people in real life who reacted to the issues I was having with immigration by saying I just wasn't doing it right, because it couldn't POSSIBLY be THAT complicated. I entered legally, was US college educated and working, how could it be a challenge to stay in the US permanently?

This seems like something similar. The parents have passed, they are the grandparents who have been taking care of the kids for years, how could it not be a simple process? They entered legally, they are with family. If that's the case, I feel for them because reality is gonna hit them like a ton of bricks.

They have been here for four years. They have overstayed for a long time. I agree this is not a DIY case and that they need to talk to lawyer. Just found out that grandparents were informed they need to adopt the children. Is there an option through adoption?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

23 minutes ago, CDN(ON)-USA(VT) said:

They have been here for four years. They have overstayed for a long time. I agree this is not a DIY case and that they need to talk to lawyer. Just found out that grandparents were informed they need to adopt the children. Is there an option through adoption?

Yes, but it’s not as simple as just adopting them. You can have legal adoptions that are not accepted for immigration purposes. LAWYER. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[Boiler 45,487]

And adopt where,  on what basis were they brought across the Border?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

12 minutes ago, Boiler said:

And adopt where,  on what basis were they brought across the Border?

I am a little worried that they may have inadvertently broken some kind of child trafficking law somewhere if they do not have legal custody of these kids and did not legally bring them here in that capacity, despite the best intentions. That’s why I keep saying....lawyer.

Edited September 9, 2020 by SusieQQQ