Adopted Sister

[ev808 0]

Can I sponsor my sister for a green card if she was adopted by another family member?

[Ontarkie 14,214]

If she was legally adopted to another family. She would no longer be considered your sister for immigration. 

[ev808 0]

Let me repharse the question. My sister is adopted by a US citizen, but her adopted parents are long passed away. Is there any way I can sponser her to come to the US. We are both biologically sister through the same mother and father.

[Timona 4,207]

1. When was she adopted? What age? 

2. Are you sure her adopted parents didn't file papers for her? You need to verify. 

3. Which country are we talking about so as to give you accurate timeline? 

[ev808 0]

Timona,

 

She was adopted as a child, before she turned a teenager. Her parents did not file to bring her over from the Philippine to the US. She is an adult now and yes we verified that no paper work was filed.

[SalishSea 17,801]

1 hour ago, ev808 said:

Timona,

 

She was adopted as a child, before she turned a teenager. Her parents did not file to bring her over from the Philippine to the US. She is an adult now and yes we verified that no paper work was filed.

Self-delete.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Jorgedig

[Boiler 45,442]

I know adoption cuts parental ties have not looked at sibling

 

Do you realise assuming possible how long it will take?

[ev808 0]

Boiler,

 

I was hoping that someone was in the same situation and maybe point me in the right direction. Time is a non issue as I'm just trying to see if it was possibe to bring her to the US.

[Boiler 45,442]

7 minutes ago, ev808 said:

Boiler,

 

I was hoping that someone was in the same situation and maybe point me in the right direction. Time is a non issue as I'm just trying to see if it was possibe to bring her to the US.

A quick search says you can. I do not recollect anybody on here who has.

 

How old is she?

[ev808 0]

She is of adult age, over 21 years old

[Adventine 3,196]

5 hours ago, ev808 said:

Timona,

 

She was adopted as a child, before she turned a teenager. Her parents did not file to bring her over from the Philippine to the US. She is an adult now and yes we verified that no paper work was filed.

 

When you say "no paper work was filed", do you mean to say it was the informal kind of adoption so common in the Philippines where the biological parents basically just give their child to another couple? Who are the parents listed on the birth certificate of the adopted child (now over 21 years old)?

 

 

 

[ev808 0]

Adventine,

 

She is legally adopted with all the necessary documentation. I meant to say that her adopting parent passed away before they could file any type of visa with the immigration office in the philippines.

[Demise 1,277]

5 hours ago, Boiler said:

I know adoption cuts parental ties have not looked at sibling

 

Do you realise assuming possible how long it will take?

Sibling is what I call a "second-degree relationship". Basically you are related because you share at a common parent-child relationship to the same parent, so it's you->parent(s)->sibling. You cut one of those connections and you're no longer legally related.

 

AFM 21.9(c)(1)(A) says "...Therefore, officers should carefully review the supporting documents to ensure that both the petitioner and beneficiary have a parent-child relationship with the claimed common parent(s), as defined at INA 101 (b)(1)-(2).". INA 101(b)(1-2) is a long list of what qualifies as a child for immigration purposes.

 

Going further

Policy Manual Chapter 4.B. says adoption severs the legal link between parent and child.

Siblings don't have any direct link to each other, it's basically two parent-child relationships with the same parent. But there is one exception that lets you undo it if:

• No immigration benefit was obtained or conferred through the adoptive relationship;

• A natural parent-child relationship meeting the requirements of INA 101(b) once existed;

• The adoption has been lawfully terminated under applicable law; and

• The natural relationship has been reestablished by law (citing Matter of Xiu Hong Li).

She never immigrated to US so point 1 is good. Point 2 depends but I assume that at some point your parents did raise her before giving her up and didn't just leave her unclaimed at the hospital. Point 3 and 4 would basically require her to go to court in the Philippines and basically seek to have the adoption order reversed and make her biological parents her legal parents again. From some cursory googling it looks like this can be done. https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/09/05/legal-advice/can-an-adoption-of-a-child-be-rescinded/1857260

 

Still, I would recommend getting a good immigration lawyer (particularly one that deals with international adoptions), this stuff is above the paygrade of this site and above the paygrade of most average lawyers.

 

But to answer your question, is it possible, yes with a very large but.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Demise

[Timona 4,207]

15 hours ago, ev808 said:

Timona,

 

She was adopted as a child, before she turned a teenager. Her parents did not file to bring her over from the Philippine to the US. She is an adult now and yes we verified that no paper work was filed.

 

Was there a need for adoption? What about you, were you also adopted?

[Rocio0010 5,579]

So if I understood correctly, she was adopted by a USC but never brought over. If so, what was the point of the adoption?