Mother of US citizen with adopted niece

[lovinglive 25]

Hi all, 

 

I found out that my wife can't petition to bring either of her parents to the US until she is a US citizen.  Fair enough.  When she does become a US citizen, she may want to petition for her mother to come.  However, her mother is raising her grandchild who is the daughter of my wife's brother.  She's been raising her for about four years already.

 

If my wife petitions for her mother to come, can she also bring this adopted grandchild with her at the same time?  Or does she have to come herself first and only then petition for her granddaughter later?

 

TIA for your responses! 

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

13 minutes ago, lovinglive said:

If my wife petitions for her mother to come, can she also bring this adopted grandchild with her at the same time?

No.  Immediate relative petitions do not allow derivatives. 

[manyfudge 291]

1 hour ago, lovinglive said:

her grandchild who is the daughter of my wife's brother

The thing to do is for grandma to formally adopt the girl.  This will sever ties to bio parents.

 

1) your wife sponsors mother or father.

2) mother or  father arrives.

3) that parent stays put until they naturalize and also the parent files petition for spouse and child 
4) long wait for spouse and child of Lpr but petition will become current when they naturalize

5) don’t have the kid overstay a tourist visa or a student visa.

 

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by manyfudge

[lovinglive 25]

11 hours ago, manyfudge said:

The thing to do is for grandma to formally adopt the girl.  This will sever ties to bio parents.

 

1) your wife sponsors mother or father.

2) mother or  father arrives.

3) that parent stays put until they naturalize and also the parent files petition for spouse and child 
4) long wait for spouse and child of Lpr but petition will become current when they naturalize

5) don’t have the kid overstay a tourist visa or a student visa.

 

 

 

So my wife's mother can come but she can't bring her adopted child, right?

 

But if she has formally adopted the child then she can petition for her when she becomes an LPR?

 

You seem to also be saying that the petition for the child will not become active until the mother becomes naturalized. So it means a very long wait for the adopted child to be able to come to the US.

 

[Boiler 45,733]

2 hours ago, lovinglive said:

 

So my wife's mother can come but she can't bring her adopted child, right?

 

But if she has formally adopted the child then she can petition for her when she becomes an LPR?

 

You seem to also be saying that the petition for the child will not become active until the mother becomes naturalized. So it means a very long wait for the adopted child to be able to come to the US.

 

The mother can petition the adopted child (assuming all the legalities etc etc are in order) as a LPR, now that category is retrogressed, as we are talking obviously some time in the future I would not like to say how long it will take.

[Chancy 6,242]

On 6/24/2023 at 8:14 AM, lovinglive said:

If my wife petitions for her mother to come, can she also bring this adopted grandchild with her at the same time?

 

@Unlockable posted an excellent summary of the hurdles to overcome for US immigration of adopted children --

 

[lovinglive 25]

On 6/27/2023 at 11:31 PM, Chancy said:

 

@Unlockable posted an excellent summary of the hurdles to overcome for US immigration of adopted children --

 

Thanks I'll check that out.  Unfortunately I think it may not be possible.  Since my mother in law is the only really caregiver for this child, it would mean that she would be away from the child that she has been raising for a long time. 

[Boiler 45,733]

Perhaps wait until the child is grown?

[lovinglive 25]

@Boiler what did you mean above when you wrote "as a LPR, now that category is retrogressed,"?

[Boiler 45,733]

There is a long wait for the visa number to become available.