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That may well be my long-term plan, but it's not theirs. The mother wants to get a master's degree and the boy wants to attend school in the US. I've had no contact with them and they have given zero thought to getting a green card.

They would be entering the US to attend school, they would not be eligible to adjust status at the time of entry.

So I posted here a month or so ago with a question about how best to facilitate my brother-in-law's immigration, and got some great advice. Unfortunately, as of two days ago the whole thing has been thrown into chaos because the boy's US citizen father suddenly died. So now we're back to square one. Here are the facts: 1. 11 year old boy living in Ghana with his and my wife's mother. 2. My wife will be eligible to naturalize in 2027 and would immediately file for her mother. 3. My mother-in-law is considering coming on an F-1 to pursue a master's degree in the US, she would bring her son. The old plan was to file to adjust both of their statuses while they were in the US in student status (my wife filing for her mother and the boy's father filing for him), but that's no longer feasible. So now the process has become more complicated. The goals are to get him his green card as quickly as possible while having him live with his mother as much as possible during the process. My understanding is that if the mother comes on F-1 with the boy as F-2, he would lose status as soon as my wife files for her mother (or possibly as soon as the green card is approved? this is unclear). It does seem that it's possible for minors to get their own F-1 status to attend a private middle or high school in the US, and that would be an option to keep him in the country with his mom. Would it be possible for him to adjust his status from F-2 to F-1 once in the US? Or would it be better for him to apply with his own F-1 status from the start? Assuming he is in the US on F-1 status when his mother gets her green card, the next question is whether the mother should immediately file for him or wait until she naturalizes (in 5 years). The wait time for F2A doesn't seem that long, so this would probably get him his green card faster than waiting until she naturalizes. But I'm unclear on how this interacts with F-1 status. An F-1 holder who belongs to a green card category with no wait time (such as spouses, children of US citizens) can file to adjust status while in the US without causing problems, provided they don't leave the country without an advance parole document. Would this apply in the case of an F2A applicant? Could he simply remain in the country, continue to attend school, and wait for his number to be called? Or would he have to return to Ghana as soon as his mother's green card arrives in order to remain eligible to file the I-485? That would be difficult, since the mother would have to balance being with him without staying out of the country so long that she loses her own green card status. The other option would be to wait a further 5 years for his mom to be eligible to naturalize, with him in the US on F-1 the entire time, but that has a lot of financial disadvantages (he wouldn't be eligible for financial aid to go to college, for instance) and he would be brushing up against the age limit of 21 if there are delays at any point in processing the various applications (wife's naturalization, mother's green card, mother's naturalization). I throw myself once more upon your mercy.

Interesting, thanks a bunch. Sounds worth a try, worst case scenario they deny the passport and they're out $135 or whatever.

Thank you, this is very helpful. It seems like the best option might be the "slow route" of filing a concurrent I-130/I-485 while he's here on an F-2 with his mom. He would get a green card and be fine to live in the country, and my wife will be able to file for her mom once she naturalizes anyway so they wouldn't have to be separated. His dad doesn't seem to have any desire for any degree of custody anyway. Do you foresee any issues with that sort of arrangement? I imagine the I-485 interview might get a bit weird if all three of them attend it, but it doesn't seem like they'd be doing anything actually against the rules by having the dad file for him without actually acting as the custodial parent.

My wife is the sister of her brother. My wife is the daughter of her mother.

Ghana, which treats all children as legitimate. My wife will petition their mother when she naturalizes, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Does past support matter for any of this? My understanding is that the issues are legitimacy for the green card and actual physical and legal custody for citizenship.

Father is on the birth certificate, support has not been particularly consistent

Hey all, I'm trying to figure out how best to help my brother-in-law immigrate. Here are the facts: 1. 10 years old, lives abroad with his non-US citizen mother 2. Parents never married, father has since become a US citizen and has lived in the US for more than 5 years 3. Laws of his country treat all children as legitimate 4. Ideally everyone agrees that he is better off living with his mother, but short stays with his father would be OK 5. His mother is considering coming to the US on a student visa to complete master's degree in the next couple of years From what I've researched, the surest albeit slowest way is for him to come to the US on an F-2 with his mom when she does her master's and for his father to do a concurrent I-130/I-485 for him once he is in the country. He would continue living with his mother and would not be eligible for citizenship for 5 years after receipt of the green card (which could cause problems down the line since his mom will probably have to return to her country when she finishes her master's). There seem to be two other possibilities, but I'm a bit confused as to the specifics and maybe there are more that I haven't considered: 1. Same as process above, except once he receives the green card he goes to live with his father for a certain amount of time in order to qualify as a US citizen. He applies for a passport and goes back to live with his mom once he receives it. It is unclear to me exactly how long he would have to live with his father to be eligible for a citizenship, or how to prove his father's custody. Father would have to file I-864 for this. 2. His father files I-130 for him while he's abroad, he gets a green card via consular process and goes to stay with his father in the US. He automatically becomes a citizen as soon as he enters the country, he applies for a passport and then goes back overseas to live with his mom once the passport arrives. Under this scenario, it seems like custody is demonstrated during the process of applying for the green card (since his mom allows him to leave her custody to go live with his dad). Furthermore, his father would be able to file an I-864W since he would never actually be at risk of being a public charge. Do I mostly have the right of it? None of the other options (N-600K for example) seem to work for this situation, but I'm almost certain I've missed stuff. Thank you!