Student Visa for 12 year old

[Hilde 381]

Hi Friends, 
I am trying to help a friend figure this out... 

She lives in Brazil with husband and child. She wants to send her 12 year old son to stay with his aunt (Green card holder) in New York State for 6 months and go to public school there.

The child is a Brazilian and German citizen. 

Can he go with a tourist visa and stay for 6 months? The parents will not stay in the US during this time - the son will stay with aunt.

Thanks so much!
 

 

[arken 4,197]

17 minutes ago, Hilde said:

Can he go with a tourist visa and stay for 6 months?

Yes, if visa is approved.

 

17 minutes ago, Hilde said:

. She wants to send her 12 year old son to stay with his aunt (Green card holder) in New York State for 6 months and go to public school there

Not allowed unless he is at grade 9 or above. One can go to public school at grades 9-12 only.

[Hilde 381]

29 minutes ago, arken said:

Not allowed unless he is at grade 9 or above. One can go to public school at grades 9-12 only.

What do you mean "one can go to public school at grade 9-12 only"? Eventhough there is a public school in the town he won't be allowed? I was under the impression schools could not ask for immigration status of parents/students. 

[Unlockable 7,314]

8 minutes ago, Hilde said:

What do you mean "one can go to public school at grade 9-12 only"? Eventhough there is a public school in the town he won't be allowed? I was under the impression schools could not ask for immigration status of parents/students. 

That is a totally separate scenario. That "not allowed to ask immigration status" is to prevent discrimination against undocumented children. This is for refugees and undocumented who are already here are are seeking status.  Coming on a tourist visa to put a child in school is not allowed. In order to do what you want the child would have to qualify for a student visa. But you can't use the tourist visa to enroll the child in school.

 

But the foreigner has to qualify for a student visa to go to school here. And even if it is a public school, the foreigner has to show that they will pay for the the schooling (anywhere from $10k - $15k per year).

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler vs. Doe (457 U.S. 202 (1982)) that undocumented children and young adults have the same right to attend public primary and secondary schools as do U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

 

 

now how a 12 year old petition for a visa and Prove strong ties to home country?

 

the best way to attend school in the US is thru an exchange program such as rotary club but i believe it is for high school students as all ours were in their junior or senior years and we hosted 3 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

26 minutes ago, Hilde said:

What do you mean "one can go to public school at grade 9-12 only"? Eventhough there is a public school in the town he won't be allowed? I was under the impression schools could not ask for immigration status of parents/students. 

https://www.ailawoffice.com/blog/2015/august/can-my-child-attend-school-in-the-usa-on-a-touri/

 

The regulations specify that a B-1 visitor for business or B-2 visitor for pleasure visa holder "violates the conditions of his or her B-1 or B-2 status if the alien enrolls in a course of study." The regulations further specify that a person who wishes to study must first obtain an F-1 or an M-1 student visa before starting studies in the USA. Parents who enrol their children in school in violation of this prohibition risk visa cancellation (revocation) for their child and permanent visa ineligibility for themselves.

Edited June 30, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[Unlockable 7,314]

I'm trying to look for an old thread where a Grandmother was bringing her Grandchild from Canada to the US to go to public school here on a B2 visa. She was bringing the child over to stay for months at a time. Eventually the border agents were questioning how this school-aged child could spend so many months in the US during the school year. They found out the child was enrolled in school here and they denied entry and revoked the visas for both the grandmother and grandchild.

 

If I come across the thread I will post it.

[Hilde 381]

You guys are amazing! Thank you!
I knew this group would guide me in the right direction to properly advise them that this is a bad idea!

[Verrou 1,962]

just sharing my older sister situation. back in 1999 she's coming to the states with her 2 children with B1/B2 visa. children was around 5 and 7 yo at that time. at that time she's visiting her US bf and want to see if the relationship will go any further. she enrolled both kids to public school. kindergarten and primary school with no question from the school. after 3-4 months relationship is not going anywhere she went back to our country with her kids. fast forward 10 years later her son studied in seattle for university with student visa and no issue. 

[Unlockable 7,314]

20 minutes ago, Misscloud said:

just sharing my older sister situation. back in 1999 she's coming to the states with her 2 children with B1/B2 visa. children was around 5 and 7 yo at that time. at that time she's visiting her US bf and want to see if the relationship will go any further. she enrolled both kids to public school. kindergarten and primary school with no question from the school. after 3-4 months relationship is not going anywhere she went back to our country with her kids. fast forward 10 years later her son studied in seattle for university with student visa and no issue. 

Thanks for sharing. But there needs to be some clarification here. What happened was the kids were admitted because they did not plan to go to school here. And the schools are not tied to immigration, so once they are here, yes, it is possible to enroll them. But the main point of your story is that your sister (and her ex-bf for that matter), broke the rules of the B2 by enrolling the kids in school. It wasn't an acceptable offense that was waived. It was because  they were never caught and simply got away with it. Schools do not actively enforce immigration laws, so many people exploit this, like your sister and her ex-bf did (albeit, they may have done it out of not knowing that it was wrong to do it). But if immigration would have found out, their B2s would have been revoked.

[arken 4,197]

One can misuse the law for sure that doesn't mean one should condone it. While the schools don't ask for immigrations status, they will ask for proof of child address to see if they are in proper school district. The address will be of the parent or guardian living in that school district. Claiming the child resides in that address is misusing the law since the child was just visiting.

 

It's different in case of illegal aliens case. A child of an illegal alien would be living in that school district not just visiting and US doesn't want to punish children for their parents' mistake by barring them from studying.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Some good answers above. Thought it might be useful to add the official page from the part of the DoS website that deals with studying in the US. To confirm, at age 12 a visa would only be available for private school. No time limit fir private. One year at a public high school is allowed assuming  they are SEVP-certified and the cost of attendance must be paid even if a relative is a taxpayer in the district. 

https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/guide/f-1/f-1-kindergarten-through-grade-12

As an F-1 student, you may only attend a public high school in the United States and may not attend a U.S. public school in kindergarten through eighth grade. If you attend public high school, you may only do so for a maximum of 12 months and must pay the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of attending in the school district. Payment of this fee must occur before you can apply for your visa. However, F-1 students may attend private K-12 schools at any grade level and regulations place no limit on the length of time you may be enrolled. For more information, please visit the K-12 Students page.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, Misscloud said:

just sharing my older sister situation. back in 1999 she's coming to the states with her 2 children with B1/B2 visa. children was around 5 and 7 yo at that time. at that time she's visiting her US bf and want to see if the relationship will go any further. she enrolled both kids to public school. kindergarten and primary school with no question from the school. after 3-4 months relationship is not going anywhere she went back to our country with her kids. fast forward 10 years later her son studied in seattle for university with student visa and no issue. 

If they had stayed longer than the 6 months of the visa there would likely have been an issue after they left  - she broke the law by getting her children to violate the terms of their visas but got away with it because they only stayed a few months and flew under the radar. This absolutely does not mean you should encourage others to do the same thing. Luckily for her son children do not get penalized for violations while they are under 18 as that is on the parent. If your sister had been caught her visa would have been revoked and likely not received another one. In this thread, the child’s aunt is a green card holder. Do you really think she should be getting knowingly  involved in trying to violate a child’s B status? Of course not. I know you said “just sharing” but you seem to be doing so to say there are no repercussions. There totally can be, your sister got lucky.

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[Hilde 381]

3 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Some good answers above. Thought it might be useful to add the official page from the part of the DoS website that deals with studying in the US. To confirm, at age 12 a visa would only be available for private school. No time limit fir private. One year at a public high school is allowed assuming  they are SEVP-certified and the cost of attendance must be paid even if a relative is a taxpayer in the district. 

https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/guide/f-1/f-1-kindergarten-through-grade-12

As an F-1 student, you may only attend a public high school in the United States and may not attend a U.S. public school in kindergarten through eighth grade. If you attend public high school, you may only do so for a maximum of 12 months and must pay the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of attending in the school district. Payment of this fee must occur before you can apply for your visa. However, F-1 students may attend private K-12 schools at any grade level and regulations place no limit on the length of time you may be enrolled. For more information, please visit the K-12 Students page.

This is extremely helpful. Thank you!

 

Thanks everyone for your knowledge and insight! 

[carmel34 3,626]

To get an F-1 student visa, the student must show strong ties to their home country and intent to return which should bevery possible in this case since the parents will remain in Brazil.  As others have said, an F-1 is for grades 9-12 plus college only, in addition the pre-payment of full tuition is required which are both big hurdles to overcome.  Maybe wait a few years until the child is old enough for grade 9 or higher, until then save up enough money to cover the tuition cost, and apply for an F-1 visa and see what happens.  Good luck!